udder--it's Aunt Alice's birthday now."

"Needn't bweak my earzh open, if '_tis,_ whined Toddie."

"I only holloed in _one_ ear, Tod," remonstrated Budge "an' you ought
to love dear Aunt Alice enough to have _that_ hurt a little rather than
not wake up."

A series of groans, snarls, whines, grunts, snorts, and remonstrances
semi-articulate were heard, and at length some complicated wriggles and
convulsive kicks were made manifest to the listening ear, and then Budge
said:

"_That's_ right; now let's get up an' get ready. Say; do you know that
we didn't think anything about having some music. Don't you remember how
papa played the piano last mamma's birthday when she came down stairs,
an' how happy it made her, an' we danced around?"

"Aw wight," said Toddie. "Let's."

"_Tell_ you what," said Budge, "let's _both_ bang the piano, like mamma
an' Aunt Alice does together sometimes."

"Oh, yesh!" exclaimed Toddie. "We can make some awful _big_ bangsh
before she can get down to tell us to don't."

Then there was heard a scurrying of light feet as the boys picked up
their various articles of clothing from the corners, chairs, bureau,
table, etc., where they had been tossed the night before. The
chambermaid hurried to their assistance, and both boys were soon
dressed. A plate containing bananas, and another with the hard-earned
grapes, were on the bureau, and the boys took them and tiptoed down the
stair and into the drawing-room.

"Gwacious!" said Toddie, as he placed his plate on the sideboard, "maybe
the gwapes an' buttonanoes has got sour. I guesh we'd better try 'em,
like mamma does the milk on hot morningsh when the baddy milkman don't
come time enough," and Toddie suited the action to the word by plucking
from a cluster the handsomest grape in sight. "I _fink_," said he,
smacking his lips with the suspicious air of a professional wine-taster;
"I fink they _is_ gettin' sour." "Let's see," said Budge.

"No," said Toddie, plucking another grape with one hand while with the
other he endeavored to cover his gift. "Ize bid enough to do it all
myself. Unless," he added, as a happy inspiration struck him, "you'll
let me help see if your buttonanoes are sour."

"Then you can only have one bite," said Budge, "You must let me taste
about six grapes, 'cause 'twould take that many to make one of _your_
bites on a banana."

"Aw wight," said Toddie; and the boys proceeded to exchange duties,
Budge taking the precaution t