human
I live out near the dumps, with my grandmother,
gpt
We've a grandmother too, said Flossie.
human
We go to see her at Christmas. We've two grandmas. One is my mother's mother, and the other is my father's mother. That's my papa and my mother back there,
gpt
Doesn't your father live with you and your grandmother?
human
I--I haven't any father, said Tommy, and once more the tears came into his eyes.
gpt
He was lost at sea. He was a captain on a ship, and it was wrecked.
human
Oh, please tell us about it! begged Freddie.
gpt
I just love stories about the ocean; don't you, Flossie?
human
Yes, I do.
gpt
I'm going to be a sea captain when I grow up, said Freddie.
human
Tell us about your father, Tommy.
gpt
I don't remember my father very well, said Tommy Todd.
human
I was real little when he went away. That was just after my mother died. My grandmother took care of me. I just remember a big man with black hair and whiskers, taking me up in his arms, and kissing me good-bye. That was my father, my grandmother told me afterward.
gpt
What made him go away from you? asked Flossie.
human
Didn't he like to stay at home?
gpt
I guess maybe he did, said Tommy.
human
But he couldn't stay. He was a sea captain on a ship, you know.
gpt
Of course! cried Freddie.
human
Don't you know, Flossie? A sea captain never stays at home, only a little while. He has to go off to steer the ship across the ocean. That's what I'm going to do.
gpt
I don't want you to, returned Flossie, as she nestled up closer to her brother.
human
I want you to stay with me. If you have to go so far off to be a sea captain couldn't you be something else and stay at home? Couldn't you be a trolley-car conductor?
gpt
Well, maybe I could, said Freddie slowly.
human
But I'd rather be a sea captain. Go on, Tommy. Tell us about your father.
gpt
Well, I don't know much, went on Tommy Todd.
human
I don't remember him so very well, you know. Then my grandmother and I lived alone. It was in a better house than we have now, and we had more things to eat. I never get enough now when I'm home, though when I was on the fresh air farm I had lots,