"Bleat, my little goat, bleat,Cover the table with something to eat," sangDum. "Zebedee, you seem to me to be workingmagic. I don't see how all those things could have been packed in that basket."
"If yours had been the task to 'tote' it this far, you would have thought there was more than that in it," he answered.
"Well, ours will be the task to help 'tote' it back," said Dee in tones muffled by cream cheese.
The crowning wonder of the repast was some great thermos bottles that finally emerged from the bottom of the capacious basket. One was filled with hot coffee and the other with hot chocolate, and lying snugly by them was a jar of whipped cream.
"Well, by the great jumping jingo, what next?" said Shorty. And then funny Mary Flannigan used her ventriloquist's powers and made a noise exactly like a puppy trying to get out of something, and Shorty bit. He dived into the basket to the assistance of the imaginary canine!
The coffee and chocolate were smoking hot, in spite of the long journey they had taken. Mr. Tucker had made a clever calculation, also, asto the number of guests, so the drinkables just did go around.
"I thought I heard Miss Binks say she was going to have supper with you," said Harvie Price to Dum.
"Ah, indeed! I fancy she did intend to, but after she made a hole in the ice with poor little Page, I reckon she forgot to wait for her invitation."
We ate up every crumb of that supper and the little birds who hoped to feast on what we left must have had but poor pickings.
"We shan't have to say:'Bleat, bleat, my little goat, I pray,And take the table quite away,'" laughedMr. Tucker. "If I had been twins instead of Tweedles, I'd have brought twice that much."
We had had enough, and much gayety and good-humored repartee had made it a very delightful party. Mr. Anderson proved very agreeable and made himself pleasant to everybody. Miss Cox was happy and full of fun, and even Annie Pore forgot to be shy and actually rolled Shorty in a patch of snow because he stole apiece of chocolate cake, all icing, that she was saving for the last mouthful.
Everything must have an end, even skating parties and books—but there will be more skating parties and more books, too.
On the way back to Gresham, Mr. Tucker divulged to us that he had a scheme for pleasure, and if we girls, one and all, studied hard, and if Miss Cox would promise to be as blind to our faults as she honorably could, we were all of us included in the scheme! He had engaged a cottage at Willoughby Beach for the month of July and there we were to camp out and live the simple life.
"Oh, how grand!" we gasped together.
We had something to look forward to now and knew that the last half of the year would fly by. We could hardly wait for the camping time to come,—and I just hope my readers are as anxious to hear about my "Vacation with the Tucker Twins" as I am anxious to tell them about it!
THE END.
Transcriber's Notes:Obvious punctuation errors repaired.Varied hyphenation was retained. This includes words such as Cotton-tail and Cottontail; gatehouse and gate-house.
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
Varied hyphenation was retained. This includes words such as Cotton-tail and Cottontail; gatehouse and gate-house.