"Well, me and Snap don't want him up, and I bet you Jimmy and Belle
don't, either. I ain't been twisty inside once since I been here, and I
don't want to go away, and Snap don't, either. He told me so."
"Billy! That is not true. Dogs can't talk," cautioned Margaret.
"Then what makes you open the door when he asks you to?" demanded Billy.
"Scratching and whining isn't talking."
"Anyway, it's the best Snap can talk, and you get up and do things he
wants done. Chipmunks can talk too. You ought to hear them damn things
holler when Snap gets them!"
"Billy! When you want a cooky for supper and I don't give it to you it
is because you said a wrong word."
"Well, for----" Billy clapped his hand over his mouth and stained his
face in swipes. "Well, for--anything! Did I go an' forget again! The
cookies will get all hard, won't they? I bet you ten dollars I don't say
that any more."
He espied Wesley and ran to show him a walnut too big to go through the
holes, and Elnora and Margaret entered the house.
They talked of many things for a time and then Elnora said suddenly:
"Aunt Margaret, I like music."
"I've noticed that in you all your life," answered Margaret.
"If dogs can't talk, I can make a violin talk," announced Elnora, and
then in amazement watched the face of Margaret Sinton grow pale.
"A violin!" she wavered. "Where did you get a violin?"
"They fairly seemed to speak to me in the orchestra.
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