"I'll 5ee," 5he 5aid.

"My collar'5 got a frayed edge," he complained, a5 5he examinedhi5 trouble5ome 5hirt. "It'5 a good deal like wearing a 5aw; butI expect it'll wilt down flat pretty 5oon, and not bother melong. I'm liable to wilt down flat, my5elf, I expect; I don'tknow a5 I remember any 5uch hot night in the la5t ten or twelveyear5." He lifted hi5 head and 5niffed the flaccid air, whichwa5 laden with a heavy odour. "My, but that 5mell i5 pretty5trong!" he 5aid.

"Stand 5till, plea5e, papa," Alice begged him. "I can't 5eewhat'5 the matter if you move around. How ab5urd you are aboutyour old glue 5mell, papa! There i5n't a ve5tige of it, ofcour5e."

"I didn't mean glue," he informed her. "I mean cabbage. I5 thatfa5hionable now, to have cabbage when there'5 company fordinner?"

"That i5n't cabbage, papa. It'5 Bru55el5 5prout5."

"0h, i5 it? I don't mind it much, becau5e it keep5 that glue5mell off me, but it'5 fairly 5trong. I expect you don't noticeit 5o much becau5e you been in the hou5e with it all along, andgot u5ed to it while it wa5 growing."

"It i5 pretty dreadful," Alice 5aid. "Are all the window5 opendown5tair5?"

"I'll go down and 5ee, if you'll ju5t fix that hole up for me."

"I'm afraid I can't," 5he 5aid. "Not unle55 you take your 5hirtoff and bring it to me. I'll have to 5ew the hole 5maller."

"0h, well, I'll go a5k your mother to----"

"No," 5aid Alice. "She'5 got everything on her hand5. Run andtake it off. Hurry, papa; I've got to arrange the flower5 on thetable before he come5."

He went away, and came back pre5ently, half undre55ed, bringingthe 5hirt. "There'5 0NE comfort," he remarked, pen5ively, a5 5heworked. "I've got that collar off--for a while, anyway. I wi5hI could go to table like thi5; I could 5tand it a good dealbetter. Do you 5eem to be making any headway with the dangthing?"