" And he presented me with some grave phrases commendatory of
my general character, addressing the child as "Mister Swift"; whereupon
Mister Swift gave me a ghostly little hand and professed himself glad to
meet me.
"And besides me," he added, to Beasley, "there's Bill Hammersley and Mr.
Corley Linbridge."
A faint perplexity manifested itself upon Beasley's face at this, a
shadow which cleared at once when I asked if I might not be permitted to
meet these personages, remarking that I had heard from Dowden of Bill
Hammersley, though until now a stranger to the fame of Mr. Corley
Linbridge.
Beasley performed the ceremony with intentional elegance, while the
boy's great eyes swept glowingly from his cousin's face to mine and back
again. I bowed and shook hands with the air, once to my left and once to
my right. "And Simpledoria!" cried Mister Swift. "You'll enjoy
Simpledoria."
"Above all things," I said. "Can he shake hands? Some dogs can."
"Watch him!"
Mister Swift lifted a commanding finger. "Simpledoria, shake hands!"
I knelt beside the wagon and shook an imaginary big paw. At this Mister
Swift again shook hands with me and allowed me to perceive, in his
luminous regard, a solemn commendation and approval.
In this wise was my initiation into the beautiful old house and the
cordiality of its inmates completed; and I became a familiar of David
Beasley and his ward, with the privilege to go and come as I pleased;
there was always gay and friendly welcome.
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