Premise: Now , is it ?<br>For mercy 's sake do n't be so sly .<br>You might tell me , your own and only sister , if it is . ''<br>`` Oh , shut up , '' was Young Thomas 's unfeeling reply to his own and only sister .<br>Young Thomas told himself that night that Valley View gossip would drive him into an asylum yet if it did n't let up .
Hypothesis: Young Thomas was about 9 years old.