Page:The Story of Opal.djvu/198

 Grundy wore his christening robe and he looked very sweet in it. I gave him a nice warm bath before we did start, so as to get all the pig-pen smells off. Sometimes smells do get in that pig-pen, though I do give it brush-outs every day, and I do carry old leaves and bracken ferns and straws in for beds for Aphrodite. After I did give Solomon Grundy his bath I did dust talcumatum powder over him. I was real careful not to get any in his eyes.

As we did go along I did sing to them a lullaby about Nonette and Saint Firmin, and more I did sing about Iraouaddy. We went on. Then I did tell them about the beautiful love the man of the long step that whistles most all of the time does have for the pensée girl with the far-away look in her eyes. But he is afraid to tell her about it—Sadie McKibben says he is. Sadie McKibben says he is a very shy man. Thomas Chatterton Jupiter Zeus did go to sleeps while I was telling them about it—and Solomon Grundy did grunt a little grunt. It was a grunt for more sings. So I did sing to him,—

"Did he smile his work to see?  Did he who made the lamb make thee?"

He had likes for that song and he grunted a grunt with a question in it. So I did sing him some more, "Indeed he did, Solomon Grundy, indeed he did. And the hairs of thy baby head—they are numbered." Soon I shall be counting them to see how many they are.