The Project Gutenberg EBook of Phebe, Her Profession, by Anna Chapin Ray

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Title: Phebe, Her Profession
A Sequel to Teddy: Her Book

Author: Anna Chapin Ray

Release Date: June 11, 2004 [EBook #12584]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Phebe, Her Profession

A Sequel to Teddy: Her Book

BY ANNA CHAPIN RAY

1902

CHAPTER ONE

"How do you do?"

The remark was addressed to a young man who roused himself from a brown
study and looked up. Then he looked down to see whence the voice
proceeded. Directly in his pathway stood a wee boy, a veritable cherub
in modern raiment, whose rosy lips smiled up at him blandly, quite
regardless of the sugary smears that surrounded them. One hand clasped
a crumpled paper bag; the other held a rusty iron hoop and a cudgel
entirely out of proportion to the size of the hoop.

"And how is everybody at your house?" the babe demanded. "Are vey
pretty well?"

"Very well, thank you." The young man was endeavoring to remember where,
during the two weeks he had spent in Helena, he had seen this child.

"So is my people," the boy explained politely. "It is a great while
since I have seen you."

Amicably enough, the stranger accepted his suggestion of a past
acquaintance.

"It is a good while. Where have you been keeping yourself?"

The atom tried to drop into step at his side, tangled himself in the long
tails of his little coat, gave up the attempt and broke into a jog trot.

"My mamma wouldn't let me go to walk alone for 'most a monf."

"Why?"

"'Cause I used to stay a good while, and spend all my pennies at
Jake's shop."

"Where is that?"

"Vat's where vey sells candy. I've got some now. Want some?" He rested
the hoop against a convenient lamp-post and opened the bag invitingly.

"Thanks, no. You don't appear to have much to spare."

With a sigh of manifest relief, the child gathered up the crumpled top of
the bag once