Tillie was always cheerful, and her tongue was still for scarcely a minute during the day. She thought her brother the most important man in Moonstone. This morning, when Thea and her two younger brothers sat down to breakfast, Tillie was remonstrating with Gunner because he had not learned a recitation assigned to him for George Washington Day at school. The unmemorized text lay heavily on Gunner's conscience as he attacked his buckwheat cakes and sausage. It's all right for girls.
Boys ought to like to speak up for their country.
I'd rather wear my old one, anyhow. Tillie was turning buckwheat cakes at the griddle. Thea can play and sing, she don't need to speak. But you've got to know how to do something, Gunner, that you have. An' that's what they'll say to you, Mr. Gunner.