Artie was as fond of talking as any of the rest, but he had an odd habit of stopping suddenly, just when his listeners thought he was well started.
“You make a wish,” he began again, “and then you must go upstairs and down twice, outdoors and all around the house and around the barn—Of course, Mr. Williamson hasn’t any barn,” Artie interrupted himself to say; “but the summerhouse will do, I guess. The book said an ‘outdoor building,’ and a summerhouse must be an outdoor building. Say, Fred, isn’t a summerhouse an outdoor building?”
“Oh, of course it is,” the impatient Fred assured him. “Hurry up, Artie, I’m going to sleep.”
“Where was I?” asked Artie, calmly.
“The wishes,” Margy prodded. “We make a wish and walk upstairs and downstairs twice and around the house——”
“Oh, yes, I remember,” said Artie. “Well, you walk around the house and the barn and then you come in again.”
“Then what happens?” asked Ward.
“Your wishes come true,” Artie said.
“Well, I call that too queer for anything,” remarked Jess, and the others were inclined to agree with her.
“I don’t see how walking around like that can make wishes come true,” said Fred.