With his short legs wide apart , his hands behind him , and his rosy face as round and radiant as a rising sun , Toady stood before the fire surveying the scene with the air of a man who has successfully carried through a difficult and dangerous undertaking , and was n't proud . His face brightened , then fell , as he heaved a sigh , and answered , with a shake of his curly head , -- `` You ca n't give me what I want most . There are three things , and I 've got to wait for them all . '' `` Gracious me , what are they ? '' cried the old lady , good-naturedly , for she felt better already . `` A mustache , a beaver , and a sweetheart , '' answered Toady , with his eyes fixed wistfully on Baa-baa , who possessed all these blessings , and was particularly enjoying the latter at that moment . How Aunt Kipp did laugh at this early budding of romance in her pet ! And all the rest joined her , for Toady 's sentimental air was irresistible . `` You precocious chick ! I dare say you will have them all before we know where we are . Never mind , deary ; you shall have my little watch , and the silver-headed cane with a boar 's head on it , '' answered the old lady , in high good-humor . `` You need n't blush , dear ; I do n't bear malice ; so let 's forget and forgive . I shall settle things to-morrow , and have a free mind . You are welcome to my money , and I hope I shall live to see you all enjoy it . '' So she did ; for she lived to see Sophy plump , cheery , and care-free ; Polly surrounded by a flock of Lambkins ; Van in possession of a generous slice of the Van Bahr fortune ; Toady revelling in the objects of his desire ; and , best of all , she lived to find that it is never too late to make oneself useful , happy , and beloved . PSYCHE 'S ART `` Handsome is that handsome does . '' I Once upon a time there raged in a certain city one of those fashionable epidemics which occasionally attack our youthful population . It was n't the music mania , nor gymnastic convulsions , nor that wide-spread malady , croquet . Neither was it one of the new dances which , like a tarantula-bite , set every one a twirling , nor stage madness , nor yet that American lecturing influenza which yearly sweeps over the land . No , it was a new disease called the Art fever , and it attacked the young women of the community with great violence .
Nothing but XXXXX could cure it , and it ran its course to the dismay , amusement , or edification of the beholders , for its victims did all manner of queer things in their delirium .
blessings city dances epidemics legs money rest romance sweetheart time