But Jimmy chose an unfortunate moment to exhibit these delicacies, for at that moment Herb’s sisters, Amy and Agnes, entered the room and immediately espied the box of tempting confections.
“Oh, isn’t that nice!” exclaimed Agnes. “Did you bring these just for Amy and me, Jimmy?”
“Well—er—not exactly,” stammered Jimmy. “I was figuring that we’d all have a hack at them, I guess.”
“But I thought boys didn’t care for chocolate creams,” said Agnes. “They’re just for girls, aren’t they?”
Jimmy fidgeted uncomfortably, but before he could think of anything to say, Herb came to his rescue.
“You’d better act nicely or you won’t get any,” he said with true brotherly frankness. “If you’re real good we may let you have one or two, though, just as a special favor.”
“I thought those candies belonged to Jimmy,” said Amy quickly. “I don’t see what you’ve got to say about them, anyway, Herbert darling.”
“I guess we’d better compromise,” suggested Bob, laughing. “Suppose we set them on the center table, and then we can all help ourselves. That’s fair enough, isn’t it?”
“Yes it is not!” exclaimed Herb. “The girls’ll eat them all while we boys are fooling with the radio. But I suppose we might as well let them have the things that way as any other. They’ll get them some way, you can bet on that.”
“You’re just mad because you can’t have them all yourself,” said Agnes serenely, as she nibbled at a chocolate. “You boys go ahead with your radio. We’ll take care of the candies.”