Shelley had washed and dressed her own three boys, and
had introduced the little stranger to the two elder, Charlie, the baby,
being already on intimate terms with his foster sister, for whose sake
he had to submit to much less attention than had hitherto fallen to his
share, for which reason he was unusually cross this morning. Willie, the
second boy, the living image of his father, was barely three years old,
and too young to pay much attention to the baby, or to understand that
it had arrived in an unusual way; but Jack, the eldest boy, quite took
it in, and stood lost in admiration of the wonderful baby with its
beautiful clothes, so unlike Charlie's, and the lovely coral and bells,
as his mother showed them all to him. Jack was five years old, a tall,
strong child for his age, and very like his mother in face; he had her
quick temper, too, though Mrs. Shelley had hers pretty well under
control, while little Jack often got into trouble by giving way to his.
Nothing ever escaped Jack's notice; he was always all ears and eyes, and
he took in every detail of the strange baby's belongings as
intelligently as his mother could have done, and, to her joy, for she
was by no means sure what kind of a welcome Jack, who resented the
arrival of little Charlie, saying, "Mother didn't want anyone else to
love her when she had him," would give to the strange baby, he was
enchanted with it, and was as anxious as Mrs.
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