"All right, I'll subside," answered Tom. "But really, do you know, I'm bubbling all over, like an uncorked soda-water bottle."
"Don't you feel hungry?"
"Hungry! Just you try me and see."
"I made a big cherry pie for you, Tom," said his aunt. "I know you like it."
"Oh, Aunt Martha, that's worth an extra hug." He gave it to her. "Your pie can't be beat!"
"And I've got some fried chicken. Dick likes that."
"And I like it, too," said Sam.
"Yes, I know it, Sam. But I made some spice cakes too—"
"Oh, aunt, just my weakness!" cried the youngest Rover. "There's another kiss for you, and another! You're the best aunt a boy ever had!"
They were soon washed up and sitting down to the table. Scarcely had they seated themselves than Alexander Pop came in, acting as waiter, something he always did when the boys came home. Alexander, usually called Aleck for short, was a good-natured colored man who had once been employed at Putnam Hall. He had gone to Africa with the Rover boys, as already related in "The Rover Boys in the Jungle," and had been with them on numerous other trips. He was now employed steadily in the Rover household.