Guinivere stood
in grave danger of being called Prue, after somebody's grandmother,
and Henrietta was to be shortened to Etta.
It was understood that the agents from the Society were to call for
the youngsters on Christmas Eve, so that they might be ready for
delivery the first thing in the morning. The Society was prepared to
attend to all of the legal requirements incident to the transfer. Mr.
Bingle was to sign what he quaintly called a "blanket affidavit,"
covering the entire collection, and that was to be the end of the
Bingle regime.
Christmas Eve came at last. The day had been bitterly cold, and Mr.
Bingle coming in from his final walk with the four small children, who
had been taken out to see the lighted shop windows before the last
supper they were to have together, was blue in the face and shivering
as with a chill. Melissa caught him in the act of removing his muffler
from Rosemary's neck. He had already taken his thin overcoat from
Harold's shoulders, so she missed that part of his personal sacrifice.
She asked with considerable asperity if he was trying to get
pneumonia.
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