Explore "Janet's Boys" by Annette Lyster on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
LITTLE Fred, all alone in the world, and thrown upon the mercy of perfect strangers, was surely very fortunate in having crept up Betty's garden walk, rather than to any other cottage in Edgestone. For I suspect that he would have found his way to the poorhouse, and, in the state he was in at the time, this would have had most disastrous effects.
Having been the youngest, and not quick at speaking, he spoke very indistinctly long after he was voluble enough. His inability to pronounce the letter "r" made his speech sound babyish. But in two years, he had grown so much, and had so completely lost the baby face and the baby ways of the little brother Frank had taken such care of, that Frank would hardly have known him again. He looked as old for his six years now as he had looked young for four. A silent, sad-looking boy, with a half-puzzled expression in his fine dark eyes, which sometimes made people wonder if he were "quite like other children. " His step-grandmother would never have recognized her merry, mischievous, laughing torment in this quiet, tall boy, who seemed to care for nothing but being of use to Betty.