just before she puts us to bed, you know."

"Of course--I remember now," said Everychild. "She 'whips you all
soundly.'"

"That's no word for it," declared the first son. "You know she's had
an awful lot of experience all these years. And there's so many of us."

He concluded this sentence in so meek a manner that Everychild
exclaimed indignantly, "I think it ought to be stopped. If I were you
. . . did you ever try hiding her whip?"

The first daughter replied hopelessly, "We couldn't do that. Her whip
. . . it's the kind of whip that grows, you understand."

"Some sort of limb?"

"You might call it that. But it's her own limb."

"Yes, if she got it first."

"She did. It's her hand."

"Do you mean," demanded Everychild, "that she whips all of you with her
hand?"

"And does a thorough job, too," said the first daughter.

Everychild assumed a very grave air. "How often does this happen?" he
asked.

"Every night," he was assured.

He made a very wry face. "But such things . . ." He couldn't think of
the right word at first. Then he asked, "But isn't it all very--very
vulgar?"

The first daughter sighed. "I suppose so," she admitted. "But when
there are so many children you can't help being a little vulgar."

The first son put in here: "And you mustn't think too hard of mother.
You can imagine her position: so many of us, and the high cost of
living, and all. Sometimes I think she whips us just to get our minds
off our stomachs. You know, a supper of broth without any bread--and
that's just what it is--is about as bad as nothing at all. But if
you've been whipped soundly you forget about being hungry. You think
about running away, or something like that. And the next thing you
know it's morning."

Everychild still felt very uncomfortable. "But how does she manage
about breakfast?" he asked.

"Oh, she has to feed us well in the morning--to keep us from starving,"
explained the first son.

Everychild nodded as if the matter had been made perfectly clear. And
then the Old Woman cried out quite alarmingly, "Are you coming, or
shall I have to fetch you?"

Several of the children replied to this: "We're coming!" Nevertheless
they did not go immediately. The first daughter would not go without
saying to Everychild, "Of course we ought to invite you to have supper
with us--but you see it isn't quite like a regular supper." She
blushed painfully.

Everychild reassured her immediat