noyed by his humiliating
outspokenness. "You wait"--with a toss of her head--"until I am grown
up, then I shall marry some one, and I shall travel, and--"

"All right," said Dan, "I will wait; and I hope I never have a headache
till it happens."

CHAPTER VII.

THE "ROVER" TAKES THEM HOME.

Tony was nearly asleep on Kitty's shoulder, and Kitty herself was
distinctly drowsy, but the arrival of the teapot and the ham and eggs
roused them effectually. Kitty took her place before the tea-tray, Dan
before the hot dish, Betty got as near the cream as she could, and Tony
drew a chair close to Kitty, and very soon their spirits began to rise
to their highest, and their tiredness vanished. The tea was refreshing,
the ham and home-made bread and everything on the table were perfectly
delicious, and they ate, and ate, and talked and laughed until Kitty
wondered how it was that Mrs. Henderson did not come in and ask them to
be quiet. They had all, at the same moment, reached that mood when
everything one says, or thinks, or does, sounds or seems amusing; and
they laughed and laughed without being able to check themselves, until
at last Kitty found herself with her head in the tea-tray, while Dan
hung limply over the back of his chair, and Betty and Tony laid their
heads on the table and held their aching sides.

"Oh dear!" cried Kitty, straightening herself and trying to compose her
face. "They say it is unlucky to laugh so much. I wonder if it is
true. It does seem hard, doesn't it?"

The thought sobered them a little, and they gave themselves up to their
tea.

"I never know," said Betty thoughtfully, after a somewhat long silence,
"whether it is better to begin with ham and end with cream and jam, or
to begin with cream and then have the ham, but it seems to me that it is
just the same whichever I do--I _can't_ eat much of both. I have tried
and tried."

"I call that a real affliction," said Dan soberly. "Of course there is
just a chance that you may grow out of it in time, but it is hard
lines."

"Yes," sighed Betty, "it really is," and lapsed into quietness.
"Another time," she said at last, very gravely, "I think I shall come
twice, and not have both at the same tea."

"Perhaps you would like Mrs. Henderson to save you some till to-morrow,"
suggested Dan ironically.

"No--o," said Betty seriously, "I don't think I will. I don't expect I
shall want any more as soon as to-morrow, but--"

"You aren