it is settled—but not without a fight—i do not have to wear the furs with heads and tails, and all the rest. to please my grandmother, who was so afraid i might catch cold, i submitted to accepting a plain set, a set which[pg 57] dear grandmother had selected herself. aunt gwendolin was furious, and fought hard that i should be compelled to wear the first set, but grandmother overruled. i see the mother can be the head of the house in america when she chooses.
it was the kittens that decided grandmother. one day she and i were out for a short walk, and we met a girl with two little kittens around her hat—not real live kittens, but the skins of two little gray and white kittens stuffed with cotton batting, and with glass eyes, arranged as if meeting and sparring around the crown of that girl's hat. "it is barbaric," said grandmother. "there are two kinds of heathen. there are the heathen who are born such, and there are the heathen by choice. and if we look about us we must [pg 58]acknowledge we have a great multitude of them at home." it almost made grandmother sick, and she decided at once that i could get the furs changed. "i never seem to have awakened to the enormity of it before," said poor grandmother with a sigh. how glad i am that the mother can be the head of the house in america when she chooses!
a young man whom we all call cousin ned, because he is a distant relative of the family, comes here to grandmother's house very often. he talks incessantly about "first base," "second base," and "third base," "innings," and "runs," "pitchers," and "short-stop," "outfield," and "infield," "right-fielder," "centre-fielder," and "left-fielder," "scores," and "catchers." it is all greek to grandmother and me, but we can get him to talk about nothing[pg 59] else. i asked uncle theodore the first time i saw this cousin of ours, what he was doing—his home is many miles away, and he is boarding in the city.
"he is here ostensibly to attend the university," said uncle theodore, "but ned is a great sport."
as uncle theodore was walking away he sang lightly:
"if fame you're on the lookout for and seek it over all
the words you must engrave upon your mind are these: play ball!"
this was rather unusual, for uncle theodore rarely sings, and i am sure i do not know what he meant by it.
by reason of the relationship, cousin ned feels free to come to the house without ceremony at all hours of the day. most of the time he is wearing a "sweater," with a large letter on the breast.
