Page:Georgie by Dorothea Deakin, 1906.djvu/269

 VIII

When the Girls Came Out to Play

EORGIE was always a most shocking boy!" His mother beamed proudly at me over her embroidery. "I can remember the time when there wasn't a single complete pack of cards in the house. Old Mr. Borricole used to get terribly annoyed when he dropped in to play picquet with me in the evenings. He counted only fifty-one cards in each of six new packs one night. It really was annoying when you come to think of it."

"Yes," said I puzzled. "But I don't quite see what use Georgie—"

She laughed heartily. This handsome lady has an infectious jolly laugh, and her son inherits it.

"In every case," said she, "it was the 253