"Every girl has the making of at least one boy, if she manages him in the
right way. I agree with your father in that, Cis, agree with him with all
my heart. She must forget, though, that they are boy and girl, and only
remember that they are comrades. Flirting never helps things. But a girl
has more patience than a boy, as a rule, and more tact. Where a boy
fights, she waits till the time comes for her to put in a word that
tells. Moreover, she is willing to stand by her friends through thick and
thin, if she has any conscience at all, and most boys go through an age
when every such loyal friend counts in holding them steady. A girl that
neither preaches nor flirts, can sometimes carry a boy through hours when
his own mother would be helpless to manage him. It's a great gift in the
hands of you girls, Cis; and it shouldn't make you careless or conceited,
but very conscientious in the way you use it."
"I think I understand why Cousin Will looks at you just as he does
sometimes," the girl said slowly. "But about Allyn?"
"You can do whatever you choose with him," Theodora answered quickly.
"Allyn is very fond of you, Cis. I know him better than you do, and I
know that he cares a good deal more for you than you suspect, even if he
does take queer ways of showing it. You have it in your hands to help him
over one of the worst spots in his life."
"How?"
"By making up with him and, if he fights again, making up again. Keep
friends with him, keep him bright and interested and healthy. I don't
mind his being cross half so much as I do his going off by himself and
looking glum. If you are willing, Cicely, you can do more to break that
up than I can."
The girl shook her head.
"I can help; but you stand first, Cousin Ted."
"Not in this. I'm related to him, and I am a great deal older than he is.
Those are two serious handicaps, sometimes. He will come to me always
probably in emergencies; at least, I hope he will, but it is the steady
companionship that counts for more than this, the chance to lessen the
friction in all manner of little things. There I am helpless. Allyn knows
that I have my house and my writing and my husband to look out for, and
he would be on his guard directly, if he saw me turn my back on them and
give my time to him. But, Cicely, this is asking a great deal of you."
"Not so much as it sounds," the girl said earnestly. "I'm not all a
child, Cousin Ted; and I have watched Allyn a good deal. It hasn't seemed
to me that things went right with him; but there was nothing I could put
my finger on, nothing at all. I like him, and I like to do things with
him, even if he is younger; but I don't want you to think I am horrid
and forward with him, when he doesn't want me."
She was silent for a moment, while Melchisedek licked her face,
unrebuked. Then she rose, pushing the dog gently away.
"Is this what you mean, Cousin Theodora: that it will be a good idea, for
me to do things with Allyn, to care for the things he likes, and, if he
gets cross and goes off not to care, but just go after him and bring him
back again?"
"If you feel as if you could, Cicely."
"I do; I'd be glad to. Sometimes I wonder if any one else were ever half
so good fun; sometimes I wonder how such a grumpy thing can be a
McAlister," she said, with thoughtful frankness. "It's the grumpy side
that must be kept under, I suppose; but he isn't real sweet to handle
under such circumstances."
"I know that," Theodora answered, as she rose and stooped to pick up
Melchisedek who was pulling at her skirts appealingly. "But it's only the
chance of helping him forget to be grumpy, till he outgrows the habit. It
isn't that I want to spoil him, Cicely. It wouldn't do any good to coddle
him or give in to him. Just keep out of all the skirmishes you can; and
when he forces you into one, do what you can to establish a truce. Most
boys go through this thorny age; it's as inevitable as mumps, but Allyn
is taking it very hard, and we want to break it up before it becomes
chronic. Do you see what I am driving at, dear?"
"Enough so that I am going to wave the olive branch, to-morrow," she
answered, laughing. "If he ignores it, I'll try it again in some other
form. I only wanted to make sure that you approved of my meddling." She
put her hand through Theodora's arm and together they paced up and down
the broad piazza. Above them, the stars were dotting the still, dark air,
and the ragged outline of The Savins showed itself faintly through the
great trees. "His eyes have looked so heavy, the last day or two," she
added, as she looked across to the light shining out from Allyn's window.
And again, after a long interval, "It's not so easy, after all, Cousin
Ted, this being a girl."