"Ah, yes," said Aunt Amanda, "there's no place like the Old Tobacco Shop, after all. I wouldn't exchange it for a palace if you'd give it to me."
"Wouldn't you?" said Freddie, a little surprised at this.
"I should say not. I wouldn't be myself in a palace. I'm pretty well satisfied here."
"But what about the children?" said Freddie.
"The children?" asked Aunt Amanda.
"Yes. Robert and Jenny and James. You know."
Aunt Amanda looked at him for a moment, and then nodded her head and sighed.
"Yes," she said. "You know about them, don't you? I forgot that you knew. Yes, I miss them a good deal, and I suppose I even cry sometimes because I haven't got them. But I love to think about them. I'm happy thinking about them, even if I can't have them."
"James was the littlest," said Freddie.
"Yes," said Aunt Amanda, nodding her head to herself as if at a gentle memory.
"He was too little to go out much with the others," said Freddie.
"Yes," said Aunt Amanda, "he was too little."
"And Jenny," said Freddie, "she wouldn't go with Robert the day he ran away. He wanted her to, but she wouldn't."
"No," said Aunt Amanda, "she wouldn't."
"He was gone all day," said Freddie.
"Yes," said Aunt Amanda, "he was gone all day, and he didn't get back until after dark. I didn't know where he was. When he got back it was dark, and he was muddy all over. I was terribly worried."
THE END.
Transcriber's Note
Archaic and variable spelling preserved as printed.
Author's punctuation style preserved.
Hyphenation standardized.