Aunt Janet says that I 'd have no bringing up at all , if it was n't for her . Aunt Olivia says children should just be let COME up -- that everything else is settled for them long before they are born . I do n't understand that . Do you ? '' No , we did not . But it was our experience that grown-ups had a habit of saying things hard to understand . `` What is Uncle Roger like ? '' was our next question . `` Well , I like Uncle Roger , '' said the Story Girl meditatively . `` He is big and jolly . But he teases people too much . You ask him a serious question and you get a ridiculous answer . He hardly ever scolds or gets cross , though , and THAT is something . He is an old bachelor . '' `` Does n't he ever mean to get married ? '' asked Felix . `` I do n't know . Aunt Olivia wishes he would , because she 's tired keeping house for him , and she wants to go to Aunt Julia in California . But she says he 'll never get married , because he is looking for perfection , and when he finds her she wo n't have HIM . '' By this time we were all sitting down on the gnarled roots of the spruces , and the big gray cat came over and made friends with us .
He was a lordly animal , XXXXX a silver-gray coat beautifully marked with darker stripes .
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