“What is it about? Is somebody coming here? Do tell me, Hugh.”
“Catch a weasel asleep and you’ll catch me answering questions. But I see you won’t buy, and you can’t guess my secret, so I’ll be off,” and in spite of all the entreaties of Jessie and the biting speeches which Emily made, master Hugh left the room, carrying his secret with him.
Jessie, sighed, and turning to her dolls, said, “Hugh is a great tease, isn’t he Emily?”
“He’s a great ugly monster!” retorted Emily, who was in the habit of using strong words, without much regard to their meaning. “If he was my brother he shouldn’t tease me so.”
“Oh, Hugh only does it for fun. He is a dear good brother, after all, only,” and here Jessie lowered her voice almost to a whisper, “only I wish he was as good as Guy.”
“For fun, eh? I’d fun him: I’d pull his hair, and hide away his books, and steal his playthings, and call that fun, if he was my brother,” cried Emily.
“Oh, fy! cousin Emily. That would be wicked fun, and would make both you and your brother unhappy,” said Guy, who had just entered the room.
The girls looked on the speaker, who, before Emily had time to reply, went on to say,—
“Girls, Carrie Sherwood invites you to go nutting with her this afternoon. Richard Duncan, Norman Butler, Adolphus Harding, Walter, Hugh, Charlie, you two young ladies, Carrie, and a young lady or two of her acquaintance, are to make up the party. Carriages will call for you at one o’clock. You must get ma to give you an early dinner, and be ready in time.”
“That is what Hugh meant by his secret. Oh, I’m so glad,” said Jessie, clapping her hands. “Won’t it be nice, Emily?”