"Why, it hasn"t any hair!" Connie protested.
"Well, give it time," urged the baby"s father. "Be reasonable, Connie. What can you expect in fifteen minutes."
"But they always have a little hair," she insisted.
"No, indeed they don"t, Miss Connie," he said flatly. "For if they always did, ours would have. Now, don"t try to let on there"s anything the matter with her, for there isn"t.--Look at her nose, if you don"t like her hair.--What do you think of a nose like that now? Just look at it."
"Yes, we"re looking at it," was the grim reply.
"And--and chin,--look at her chin. See here, do you mean to say you are making fun of Fairy Harmer? Come on, tootsie, we"ll go back up-stairs.
They"re crazy about us up there."
"Oh, see the cunning little footies," crowed Connie.
"Here, cover "em up," said Jerry anxiously. "You mustn"t let their feet stick out. Prudence says so. It"s considered very--er, bad form, I believe."
"Fairy! Honestly, Jerry, is it Fairy? When did you decide?"
"Oh, a long time ago," he said, "years ago, I guess. You see, we always wanted a girl. Prue didn"t think she had enough experience with the stronger s.e.x yet, and of course I"m strong for the ladies. But it seems that what you want is what you don"t get. So we decided to call her Fairy when she came, and then we wanted a boy, and talked boy, and got the girl! I guess it always works just that way, if you manage it cleverly. Come now, Fairy, you needn"t wrinkle up that smudge of a nose at me.--Let go, Connie, it is my daughter"s bedtime. There now, there now, baby, was she her daddy"s little girl?"
Flushed and laughing, Jerry broke away from the admiring, giggling, nearly tearful girls, and hurried up-stairs with Jerry Junior.
But Fairy stood motionless by the door. "Prudence"s baby," she whispered. "Little Fairy Harmer!--Mmmmmmm!"
CHAPTER XI
THE END OF FAIRY
Now that the twins had attained to the dignity of eighteen years, and were respectable students at the thoroughly respectable Presbyterian college, they had dates very frequently. And it was along about this time that Mr. Starr developed a sudden interest in the evening callers at his home. He bobbed up unannounced in most unexpected places and at most unexpected hours. He walked about the house with a sharp sly look in his eyes, in a way that could only be described as Carol said, by "downright nosiness." The girls discussed this new phase of his character when they were alone, but decided not to mention it to him, for fear of hurting his feelings. "Maybe he"s got a new kind of a sermon up his brain," said Carol. "Maybe he"s beginning to realize that his clothes are wearing out again," suggested Lark. "He"s too young for second childhood," Connie thought. So they watched him curiously.
Aunt Grace, too, observed this queer devotion on the part of the minister, and finally her curiosity overcame her habit of keeping silent.
"William," she said gently, "what"s the matter with you lately? Is there anything on your mind?"
Mr. Starr started nervously. "My mind? Of course not. Why?"
"You seem to be looking for something. You watch the girls so closely, you"re always hanging around, and--"
He smiled broadly. "Thanks for that. "Hanging around," in my own parsonage. That is the grat.i.tude of a loving family!"
Aunt Grace smiled. "Well, I see there"s nothing much the matter with you. I was seriously worried. I thought there was something wrong, and--"
"Sort of mentally unbalanced, is that it? Oh, no, I"m just watching my family."
She looked up quickly. "Watching the family! You mean--"
"Carol," he said briefly.
"Carol! You"re watching--"
"Oh, only in the most honorable way, of course. You see," he gave his explanation with an air of relief, "Prudence always says I must keep an eye on Carol. She"s so pretty, and the boys get stuck on her, and--that"s what Prudence says. I forgot all about it for a while. But lately I have begun to notice that the boys are older, and--we don"t want Carol falling in love with the wrong man. I got uneasy. I decided to watch out. I"m the head of this family, you know."
"Such an idea!" scoffed Aunt Grace, who was not at all of a scoffing nature.
"Carol was born for lovers, Prudence says so. And these men"s girls have to be watched, or the wrong fellow will get ahead, and--"
"Carol doesn"t need watching--not any more at least."
"I"m not really watching her, you know. I"m just keeping my eyes open."
"But Carol"s all right. That"s one time Prudence was away off." She smiled as she recognized a bit of Carol"s slang upon her lips. "Don"t worry about her. You needn"t keep an eye on her any more. She"s coming, all right."
"You don"t think there"s any danger of her falling in love with the wrong man?"
"No."
"There aren"t many worth-having fellows in Mount Mark, you know."
"Carol won"t fall in love with a Mount Mark fellow."
"You seem very positive."
"Yes, I"m positive."
He looked thoughtful for a while. "Well, Prudence always told me to watch Carol, so I could help her if she needed it."
"Girls always need their fathers," came the quick reply. "But Carol does not need you particularly. There"s only one of them who will require especial attention."
"That"s what Prudence says."
"Yes, just one--not Carol."
"Not Carol!" He looked at her in astonishment. "Why, Fairy and Lark are--different. They"re all right. They don"t need attention."
"No. It"s the other one."
"The other one! That"s all."
"There"s Connie."
"Connie?"
"Yes."