II

_Birth_

ELSIE, _age 6_.

TERESA, _age 8_.

BOB, _age 7_.

(_They are sitting on the steps of the large piazza of a beautiful country house, the two little girls affectionately close, the boy at an awkward distance. There has been a pause in the conversation, which the boy breaks._)

BOB.

We've got a new baby at our house!

(_Splendid effect!_)

ELSIE, TERESA.

(_Together._) Oh!

(_Their eyes are suddenly bright and their faces glow with a sort of awed curiosity and pleasure, not unmixed with envy._)

ELSIE.

What kind?

TERESA.

(_Eagerly._) Yes; which is it?

BOB.

(_Proudly._) A boy, of course!

(_The two little girls' faces fall for a second, and they are silent, but not for long._)

ELSIE.

Of course there have to be boys sometimes.

TERESA.

Yes, to make a change.

ELSIE.

Isn't it funny where babies come from!

BOB.

Yes, you find them in cabbages.

ELSIE.

Oh, no! They come down in rainstorms.

TERESA.

No, no! They come out of the flowers.

BOB.

Stuff!

ELSIE.

They do come from the skies, because you know the stars are little babies waiting to be picked.

TERESA.

I thought the stars were the places where G.o.d put his fingers through.

BOB.

They aren't any such thing; they're the gold tacks that fasten on the carpet of heaven.

ELSIE.

When I grow up I shall have eleven babies, because I have eleven favorite names, and I shall have them all at once, so they can have nice, happy times playing together, and there won't have to be any horrid older brother and sister, always getting the best of everything.

TERESA.

And I'll tell you what! I'll have eleven children too, to marry yours.

BOB.

No, I'll marry one of them.

ELSIE.

No, you must marry one of us.

BOB.

Which one?

ELSIE.