WALTER

Mother.

MRS. EVERITT

What, Walter?

WALTER

I must be an awful coward--

MRS. EVERITT

Why, what do you mean?

WALTER

I mean that when I really want something, and ought to say so, I go along
without saying it. I don't mean that I'm _really_ afraid to say it, but I
always feel somehow that other people ought to know what I want, and save
me the trouble of asking it. No, not _trouble_ exactly--but you know what
I mean.

MRS. EVERITT

Yes, Walter, I'm afraid I know exactly what you mean. Lots of us are
cursed with the same instinct. I am, and sometimes I believe your father
is, too. It ought to be that when one sees a thing clearly in his own