human
There'll be buttermilk to-morrow,
gpt
Splendid and more splendid! exclaimed Lewis.
human
And will you and your brother just come every day and take care of us?
gpt
You mean Josh? He is not my brother.
human
Oh, cousin, then?
gpt
No, he is no relation to me. I live with his mother, though, Aunt Mandy. I have lived with her for five years. I am very fond of Josh, but if he were my brother, I'd simply make him take baths.
human
Can't you anyhow as it is?
gpt
No, sadly.
human
He thinks it is foolishness. Teacher has told him time and time again and even sent him home, five miles across the mountains, but he won't wash for her or for me. Aunt Mandy thinks it is foolishness, too, but she makes him bathe oftener than he used to in summer.
gpt
Boys will be boys and it is hard to make them anything else. I remember the time well when bathing was something that I thought grown-ups wished on me just for spite, and now a cold shower every morning is as necessary to my happiness as dirt used to be when I was a kid. Bill and I are going to pipe from the spring up there and concoct a shower somehow under the pavilion.
human
That will be glorious. Father always meant to use that spring and get a shower at the cabin.
gpt
Your father!
human
Yes, my father was the man who built the Englishman's cabin. He died five years ago.
gpt
Gee whilikins! Now I understand!