buds and blossom and leaf, all were there--_such_ buds, such
blossoms, heavy and fragrant with richness.
Ermie adored flowers. She uttered a little shriek of delight when her
father held up a great mass of enormous waxen bells for her to bury
her face in.
"Oh, delicious!" she exclaimed, "but how tired you all are!"
"Yes, yes, yes," exclaimed Victor No. 1, "tired and starving,
absolutely starving. Get us some breakfast, good Ermie, and put the
lilies in water as quickly as you can."
Miss Nelson presided at the breakfast-table, and as this meal was
eaten in the comfortable old schoolroom, and as Miss Nelson looked
just as usual, just as orderly, just as neat and prim as she did
yesterday, and as she would again to-morrow, her presence had a
certain calming effect upon the rioters. They ate their meal with some
decorum, and not more than three children spoke at the same moment.
There was a grand consultation immediately after breakfast as to the
proceedings of the day, and here it must be confessed Chaos once more
mounted his throne, and held a most determined sway.
After ten minutes of babel, Marjorie suddenly squatted herself on the
floor, and began to write furiously.
This was her programme: "Rush upstairs and dress as fast as
possible--don't be long on account of keeping the carriages waiting.
Put on our oldest, but we must be neat on account of father not liking
dirty hands, and smuts on the top of the nose, and smears anywhere--we
had better wear our best, perhaps--tumble into the carts and carriages
and wagons, and drive to Bee's Head, that's ten miles away. Eric wants
to go, the others don't; Lucy and I are for Salter's Point, on account
of the shells, and that's in the other direction. I think it's quite
eleven miles. Ermengarde votes for the Deep Woods, although I hate
midges. Well, we'll all go somewhere, and we'll take every scrap of
food that the house holds, even if there is to be a famine afterward;
well, perhaps we oughtn't to take every scrap, for the servants at
home will be hungry, and we'll want supper ourselves; we'll be
starving for it, I expect. Eric says the ferrets must come with us,
for they ought to have fun like the rest of us on father's birthday,
particularly Shark, who has a great sense of humor. Ermie is nearly
crying, for she's afraid Shark will bite her, and Basil is winking at
her, and trying to comfort her, and he's frowning at Eric with the
other side of his mouth, and Er
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