Probable Sons | Page 6

it's a thing that
happens when you don't expect it--a surprise, she called it. I'm sure it
was a dreadful surprise to me, and to Fritz, too; but I'll never play ball
in the hall again, never!"
A week later, and Sir Edward was in his study, absorbed in his books
and papers, when there was a knock at his door, and, to his
astonishment, his little niece walked in. This was so against all rules
and regulations that his voice was very stern as he said,--
"What is the meaning of this intrusion, Millicent? You know you are
never allowed to disturb me when here."
Milly did not answer for a moment. She walked up to her uncle, her
small lips tightly closed, and then, standing in front of him with clasped
hands, she said,--
"I've come to tell you some dreadful news."
Sir Edward pushed aside his papers, adjusted his glasses, and saw from
the pallor of the child's face and the scared expression in her eyes, that
it was no light matter that had made her venture into his presence
uncalled for.
"It's a dreadful surprise again," Milly continued, "but I told nurse I must
tell you at once. I--I felt so bad here," and her little hand was laid

pathetically on her chest.
"Well, what is it? Out with it, child! You are wasting my time," said her
uncle impatiently.
"I have--I have broken something else."
There was silence. Then Sir Edward asked drily,--
"And what is it now?"
"It's a--a flower-pot, that the gardener's boy left outside the tool-house.
I--I--well, I put it on Fritz's head for a hat, you know. He did look so
funny, but he tossed up his head and ran away, and it fell, and it is
smashed to bits. I have got the bits outside the door on the mat. Shall I
bring them in?"
A flower-pot was of such small value in Sir Edward's eyes that he
almost smiled at the child's distress.
"Well, well, you must learn not to touch the flower-pots in future. Now
run away, and do not disturb me again."
But Milly stood her ground.
"I think you have forgot, Uncle Edward. You told me that if I broke
anything again you would punish me 'most severely.' Those were the
words you said; don't you remember?"
Sir Edward pulled the ends of his moustache and fidgeted uneasily in
his chair. He always prided himself upon being a man of his word, but
much regretted at the present moment that he had been so rash in his
speech.
"Oh! ah! I remember," he said at length, meeting his little niece's
anxious gaze with some embarrassment. Then pulling himself together,
he added sternly,--
"Of course you must be punished; it was exceedingly careless and

mischievous. What does your nurse do when she punishes you?"
"She never does punish me--not now," said Milly plaintively. "When I
was a very little girl I used to stand in the corner. I don't think nurse has
punished me for years."
Sir Edward was in a dilemma; children's punishments were quite
unknown to him. Milly seemed to guess at his difficulty.
"How were you punished when you were a little boy, uncle?"
"I used to be well thrashed. Many is the whipping that I have had from
my father!"
"What is a whipping--like you gave Fritz when he went into the game
wood?"
"Yes."
There was a pause. The child clasped her little hands tighter, and set her
lips firmer, as she saw before her eyes a strong arm dealing very heavy
strokes with a riding-whip. Then she said in an awe-struck tone,--
"And do you think that is how you had better punish me?"
Sir Edward smiled grimly as he looked at the baby figure standing so
erect before him.
"No," he said; "I do not think you are a fit subject for that kind of
treatment."
Milly heaved a sigh of relief.
"And don't you know how to punish," she said after some minutes of
awkward silence. There was commiseration in her tone. The situation
was becoming ludicrous to Sir Edward, though there was a certain
amount of annoyance at feeling his inability to carry out his threat.
"Nurse told me," continued his little niece gravely, "that she knew a

little boy who was shut up in a dark cupboard for a punishment; but he
was found nearly dead, and really died the next day, from fright. There
is a dark cupboard on the kitchen stairs. I don't think I should be very
frightened, because God will be in there with me. Do you think that
would do?"
This was not acceptable. The child went on with knitted brows:
"I expect the Bible will tell you how to punish. I remember a man