A JUNE DAY CHAT 



halting occasions the Spartan mother slapped her 

 child to give him confidence! But as this state- 

 ment was made by a person who entertains a 

 prejudice against Madame Jolie-Queue, the as- 

 sertion must be taken with several grains of salt. 



When the twilight hour came, I looked out 

 toward the table d'hote region to see if any needy 

 little creatures were stranded there. Two small 

 figures were barely discernible on the summit of 

 the brush-heap. The larger was evidently re- 

 monstrating, urging, and threatening, but the 

 smaller remained unresponsive and impassive. 

 You have already guessed that the forms repre- 

 sented the energetic disciplinarian, Madame 

 Jolie-Queue, and the poor, bruised, exhausted 

 baby. In vain she urged him to mount to the 

 home shelter. In vain she related to him grue- 

 some stories of the wilful little squirrels who, 

 through late staying-out, had become the prey of 

 owls or cats. He was too wretched, too worn 

 out, to care what became of him, and he positively 

 refused to stir from the brush-heap. Why his 

 mother did not pick him up and carry him away 

 in her mouth, cat and squirrel fashion, I cannot 

 understand. 



As much as possible I pursue the non-interfer- 



[201] 



