"No, thank you; give those to King. I'd rather have torpedoes."
"All right, my girlie, here you are! And here's a cap to replace the ribbons you so kindly gave me."
Cousin Jack drew from his pocket a tissue-paper cap, that had evidently come in a snapping-cracker. Then he produced another one for King, and one which he laid aside for Rosy Posy. They were gay red, white, and blue caps, with cockades and streamers.
"Now, we'll be a procession," he went on. From a nook on the veranda, where he had hidden them, he produced a drum, a tambourine, and a cornet.
The cornet was his own, and he presented the drum to King, and the tambourine to Marjorie.
"Form in line!" he ordered; "forward,—march!"
He led the line, and the two children followed.
Being a good cornet player, Cousin Jack made fine martial music, and King and Midget had sufficient sense of rhythm to accompany him on the drum and tambourine. After marching round the house once, Cousin Jack went up the steps and in at the front door. Upstairs and through the halls, and down again.
Nurse Nannie and Rosamond appeared at the nursery door, and were instructed to fall in line behind the others. Then Sarah, the waitress, was discovered, looking on from the dining-room, and she, too, was told to march.
At last Mr. and Mrs. Maynard appeared, laughing at this invasion of their morning nap.