"Black ones!" cried Zoie in horror, and she faced about quickly as
though expecting an attack from their direction.
"Which particular one of these would you recommend?" asked the practical
Aggie of the Superintendent as she surveyed the first lot.
"Well, it's largely a matter of taste, ma'am," he answered. "This seems
a healthy little chap," he added, and seizing the long white clothes
of the nearest infant, he drew him across his arm and held him out for
Aggie's inspection.
"Let's see," cried Zoie, and she stood on tiptoe to peep over the
Superintendent's elbow.
As for Jimmy, he stood gloomily apart. This was an ordeal for which
he had long been preparing himself, and he was resolved to accept it
philosophically.
"I don't think much of that one," snipped Zoie. And in spite of himself.
Jimmy felt his temper rising.
Aggie turned to him with a smile. "Which one do YOU prefer, Jimmy?"
"It's not MY affair," answered Jimmy curtly.
"Since when?" asked Zoie.
Aggie perceived trouble brewing, and she turned to pacify Jimmy. "Which
one do you think your FRIEND ALFRED would like?" she persisted.
"If I were in his place----" began Jimmy hotly.
"Oh, but you AREN'T," interrupted Zoie; then she turned to the
Superintendent. "What makes some of them so much larger than others?"
she asked, glancing at the babies he had CALLED "white."
"Well, you see they're of different ages," explained the Superintendent
indulgently.
"We told Mr. Jinks they must all be of the same age," said Zoie with a
reproachful look at Jimmy.
"What age is that?" asked the Superintendent.
"I should say a week old," said Aggie.
"Then this is the one for you," decided the Superintendent, designating
his first choice.
"I think we'd better take the Superintendent's advice," said Aggie
complacently.
Zoie looked around the room with a dissatisfied air. Was it possible
that all babies were as homely as these?
"You know, Zoie," explained Aggie, divining her thought, "they get
better looking as they grow older."
"They couldn't look worse!" was Zoie's disgusted comment.
"Fetch it home, Jimmy," said Aggie.
"What!" exclaimed Jimmy, who had considered his mission completed.
"You don't expect US to carry it, do you?" asked Aggie in a hurt voice.
The Superintendent settled the difficulty temporarily by informing them
that the baby could not possibly leave the home until the mother had
signed the necessary papers for its release.