Bob returned to the farm in high spirits, and enjoyed the sensation he caused there, when, after having given a glowing description of his day's pleasure, he brought his tale to a close by an account of how he had given Rupert Coker a black eye.
"And yet you are invited there again next Saturday?" Mrs. Wills said wonderingly.
"Yes," nodded Bob, "and I'm going earlier next time; and oh, Aunt Mary, need I wear my best clothes?"
Mrs. Wills put on her spectacles and surveyed her nephew's dusty suit of black in silence for a moment, then she replied that perhaps, all things considered, his every-day clothes might do.
[CHAPTER IV.]
THE BEGINNING OF THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS.
"THERE! No more work for a month!" And the speaker, Nellie Coker, jumped from her seat at the schoolroom table as the clock struck twelve, and was making for the door, when her governess called her back.
"Not so fast, my dear. Put away your lesson books, and help to clear the table. Why are you in such a hurry?"
"Mother and cook are making the Christmas puddings, Miss Long; and I don't want to miss my stir."
"You are not in the least likely to do so. We will all go down to the kitchen presently."