If, however, he declared himself to be "Hamilton Swift,
Junior," which was his happiest mood, Bill Hammersley and Simpledoria
were in the ascendant, and there were games and contests. (Dowden,
Beasley, and I all slid down the banisters on one of the Hamilton Swift,
Junior, days, at which really picturesque spectacle the boy almost cried
with laughter--and old Bob and his wife, who came running from the
kitchen, DID cry.) He had a third appellation for himself--"Just little
Hamilton"; but this was only when the creaky voice could hardly chirp at
all and the weazened face was drawn to one side with suffering. When he
told us he was "Just little Hamilton" we were very quiet.
Once, for ten days, his Invisibles all went away on a visit: Hamilton
Swift, Junior, had become interested in bears. While this lasted, all of
Beasley's trousers were, as Dowden said, "a sight." For that matter,
Dowden himself was quite hoarse in court from growling so much. The
bears were dismissed abruptly: Bill Hammersley and Mr. Corley Linbridge
and Simpledoria came trooping back, and with them they brought that
wonderful family, the Hunchbergs.
Beasley had just opened the front door, returning at noon from his
office, when Hamilton Swift, Junior's voice came piping from the
library, where he was reclining in his wagon by the window.
"Cousin David Beasley! Cousin David, come a-running!" he cried. "Come
a-running! The Hunchbergs are here!"
Of course Cousin David Beasley came a-running, and was immediately
introduced to the whole Hunchberg family, a ceremony which old Bob, who
was with the boy, had previously undergone with courtly grace.
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