Page:Willa Cather - The Song of the Lark.djvu/92

 Archie laughed. "Getting?"

"Yes. People are n't young when they 're children. Look at Thor, now; he 's just a little old man. But Gus has a sweetheart, and he 's young!"

"Something in that!" Dr. Archie patted her head, and then felt the shape of her skull gently, with the tips of his fingers. "When you were little, Thea, I used always to be curious about the shape of your head. You seemed to have more inside it than most youngsters. I have n't examined it for a long time. Seems to be the usual shape, but uncommonly hard, some how. What are you going to do with yourself, anyway?"

"I don't know."

"Honest, now?" He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes.

Thea laughed and edged away from him.

"You 've got something up your sleeve, have n't you? Anything you like; only don't marry and settle down here without giving yourself a chance, will you?"

"Not much. See, there 's another rabbit!"

"That 's all right about the rabbits, but I don't want you to get tied up. Remember that."

Thea nodded. "Be nice to Wunsch, then. I don't know what I 'd do if he went away."

"You 've got older friends than Wunsch here, Thea."

"I know." Thea spoke seriously and looked up at the moon, propping her chin on her hand. "But Wunsch is the only one that can teach me what I want to know. I 've got to learn to do something well, and that 's the thing I can do best."

"Do you want to be a music-teacher?"

"Maybe, but I want to be a good one. I 'd like to go to Germany to study, some day. Wunsch says that 's the best place,—the only place you can really learn." Thea hesitated and then went on nervously, "I 've got a book that says so, too. It's called 'My Musical Memories.' It made me