when he smiled. He was very obedient to Sode-ko, and so they got on well together. How much easier it was to amuse him than to amuse Mitsu-ko, who was restless, and often proved too much for Sode-ko! She was able to go anywhere she liked carrying this baby boy like a doll in her arms, or if she desired, she could keep him always at her side.
Kinnosuke was born in the month of January, two years before, but he could hardly speak at all. The only sounds that came from his rose-bud lips were “uma, uma,” or some sounds to that effect. The only other word that he knew was “Char-chan,” and this he used when he wanted to address his mother, or any other person who was dear to him.
When he was with Sode-ko, he was often brought into close contact with her father and her two brothers, but he never once addressed them as “Char-chan,” for this word was kept specially for the ones who were specially dear to him. It was Ohatsu, the maid-servant, who had first brought Kinnosuke to play with Sode-ko, for she too was extremely fond of little children.
“Char-chan!” was the cry from the child as he toddled toward the sitting-room to seek for Sode-ko. “Char-chan!” And when he went into the kitchen to seek for Ohatsu, this also was the name that he called. He would cling, intensely happy, to the shoulders of Sode-ko or Ohatsu, or would follow them about, hanging onto their skirts.
In March snow fell, and covered the town like cotton-wool, and again completely melted away in the
