“Lewis Carroll was a clergyman himself,” said Hilda; “so probably your minister is familiar with his works.”
“Probably he isn’t,” returned Clementine; “you don’t know our minister. I don’t believe he ever read anything more frivolous than ‘Foxe’s Book of Martyrs’ or the ‘Lamentations of Jeremiah.’ ”
“Then do go,” said Flossy, “and I’ll go with you. It would take two of us to make a man like that smile. But I’ve finished this scrap-book, and my! but it’s a pretty one. Observe those yellow daffodils on the cover and the lion under them. That’s a most humorous decoration, besides being artistically beautiful.”
“Ridiculous!” exclaimed Editha, looking at the book Flossy held up so proudly. “It’s enough to make a cat laugh!”
“Then I’ll send it home to Hilda’s cat,” said Flossy quickly; “it may help to brighten one of her nine sad lives.”
By this time it was nearly noon, and though they had enjoyed the work, the girls were nevertheless pleased when they saw a maid come in at the door with a large tray which held seven cups of cocoa and piled-up plates of sandwiches.
“Do you know that tray makes me laugh more than these scrap-books, with all their side-splitting pictures,” said Clementine.
“Yes, it’s the merriest thing I’ve seen this morning,” said Adelaide; “it really puts me in quite a good humour; I wouldn’t even be cross with Editha just now.”
The Grigs did full justice to Mrs. Morse’s hospitality, and then that lady herself came into the play-room.
She was most enthusiastic over the girls’ morning work and quite agreed that they were true missionaries in their chosen field.