Charlie was
heard shouting across the stable-yard to his brother:
"Harry, Harry! Mamma has got a new baby. Isn't it jolly?"
"Where did she get it?" cried Harry in return.
"In the parsley-bed, I suppose," answered Charlie, and was nearer right
than usual, for the information on which his conclusion was founded had no
doubt been imparted as belonging to the history of the human race.
But my reader can easily imagine the utter bewilderment of those of the
family whose knowledge of human affairs would not allow of their curiosity
being so easily satisfied as that of the boys. In them was exemplified that
confusion of the intellectual being which is produced by the witness of
incontestable truth to a thing incredible--in which case the probability
always is, that the incredibility results from something in the mind of the
hearer falsely associated with and disturbing the true perception of the
thing to which witness is borne.
Nor was the astonishment confined to the family, for it spread over the
parish that Mrs. Walton had got another baby. And so, indeed, she had. And
seldom has baby met with a more hearty welcome than this baby met with from
everyone of our family.
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