father to take care of me. And he does, only he had to go to the
Philippines with his soldiers; so his sister, Aunty Edith, is taking
care of me until he comes back. Everybody else calls me William, but he
calls me "Billy," so I am the one this chapter is named after.

Aunty May says I can begin with the very day Aunty Edith brought me down
here. That was the day Uncle Burt went away to join his regiment, and
everybody was sort of quiet, and even the big people cried a little. I
cried a good deal, when nobody was looking, and when Uncle Burt caught
me at it in the corner of the room, he didn't say a word, but just
picked me up and held me so tight that one of his buttons got stamped
on my cheek like a seal. He said he'd give way and cry, too, for it was
good for the eyes, only his Colonel had expressly ordered him not to,
saying he would leave all red-eyed men home, which would be terrible for
a soldier. So I begged him not to give way, and he said he wouldn't if
I'd stop, because one fellow bawling makes it hard for the other fellow
not to. So I stopped and we laughed a little, and then he showed the
mark on my cheek to Aunty Edith, and said, "This shows that this young
man belongs to me, so be careful of Uncle Burt's Billy and return him in
good condition, for there will be a dreadful time if I find him chipped
or broken, when I come back."

Then the lady I call Aunty May, though she isn't any relation to me
either, but is just Aunty Edith's friend, laughed and said she would be
careful to treat me nicely. And she has. I like her best next to Uncle
Burt. She didn't cry. She laughed a lot, and every time Uncle Burt got
sad and tried to talk to her, she laughed more, and she took me on her
lap and kept me there all the time Uncle Burt was saying good-bye
to her.