"That's just the right way!" said Patty, nodding approval. "I can pick them up that way, too, but there are so many sprinkled around this floor, I'm afraid they'll pick me up first."
"Yes, they might, Apple Blossom. You sit tight, till I round them all up. Lend a hand, Farrington."
So Roger poked out the unwilling creatures from their lairs, and Bill assisted them to their destination, while the two girls looked on.
"Good work!" cried Patty as the last shelly specimen disappeared beneath the bubbles. "Now, they must boil for twenty minutes. They don't mind it NOW."
The girls came down from their tables, and explained the situation.
"Don't worry, Mona," said Farnsworth, in his kind way. "Patty and I will cook luncheon, and this afternoon I'll go out and get you a cook if I have to kidnap one."
"All right, Bill," said Mona, laughing. "Come on, Roger, let's leave these two. You know too many cooks spoil the broth!"
"So they do!" called Bill, gaily, as Mona, after this parting shaft, fled upstairs. "Do I understand, little Apple Blossom," he observed, gently, "that you're really going to cook this elaborate luncheon all yourself?"
"Yes, sir," said Patty, looking very meek and demure.
"CAN you do it?"