"Oh-h! You whopper!"
"Oh, Father, she hasn't!"
"Mother, did you hear? Louise says she's finished her bacon. She hasn't."
"Not near!"
"Not half!"
"Not a quarter!"
"Well—of all the whopping lies!"
Mr. Denny sprang up, his eyes glistening. He, too, enjoyed a scene. The plate was retrieved from its hiding-place and its guilty burden laid bare.
"Emma, do you see this? Emma! Leave that child alone and attend to me! Flagrant! Flagrant disobedience! Louise, I told you to eat it. Turning up your nose at good food! There's many a child would be thankful—Emma! Am I to be disobeyed by my own children? And a lie into the bargain! If that is the way you are taught at your fine school, I'll take you away. Disgraceful! Eat it up now. Emma! Are you or are you not going to back me up? Is all that food to be wasted?"
Mrs. Denny's calm eyes surveyed the excited table.