Now remember--"
"Yes, and no snooping or hanging around either!" put in Phil, standing
on tip-toe to rest his chin on Fee's crown and glare at us. Then the
door was locked.
Such a hammering and dragging about of furniture you never heard; and
when every now and then Phil would come out for something or other,
Fee would open the door very cautiously, as if afraid somebody'd see
something, and shut and lock it with a bang when he re-entered. As you
may imagine, our curiosity was excited to the highest pitch to know what
we were going to have. Then just before dinner Jack came running in, in
a great state of excitement; he had been to rehearsal, and had done so
well in the piece he had to sing that Mr. Hawkins had really engaged
him, at fifty cents a week, with the promise of more as he improved.
Jack was almost wild with delight. "Isn't it fine! Isn't it just jolly!
You should have heard me sing; really, it didn't sound bad!" he
exclaimed about twenty times; and the knowing looks and nudges and
winks that he bestowed on me couldn't be counted. No amount of
snubbing could repress him.
It seemed to us as if dinner would never be over; but at last it came to
an end, and Jack and I and the younger children flew upstairs and stood
waiting for the signal to enter the "banqueting hall.
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