Thinking that a change of occupation would be the best thing to divert the little boy’s thoughts, she wrapped up the pistol with its accompanying box of caps, and calling Basil Gray, Vivian’s younger brother, she gave it to him, asking him to take it home, and give it to Vivian, who was in bed with a chill; then she proposed a game of charades, choosing Vivi for one of the actors; and as she saw his face brighten as he ran upstairs with the others to dress, she hoped that the disappointment was only temporary, and that by the next morning he would have forgotten all about it.
CHAPTER V.
A FALSE STEP.
BREAKFAST was late next morning, for it had been nearly midnight before the party was over and the last of the guests had gone, so Aunt Dora had made the welcome announcement, when she said good-night, that no one need be called before half-past eight, or be expected to be downstairs before nine o’clock. Isobel was dressed before that, however, and so was Vivian, and they amused themselves playing ‘touch’ round the gallery, making so much noise that at last Aunt Dora opened her bedroom door.
‘Parties do not seem to have any power to tire you two,’ she said, laughing. ‘I wish my bones were as free from aches; but I must have a little less noise when Claude comes in to say his prayers, so I think I shall set you to do something for me. It just wants five minutes till breakfast-time, and perhaps in these five minutes you could carry up all the things that were brought down for the charades from the cloakroom to the schoolroom. The maids will be busy putting the hall in order, and there will be so much dust. We can put them back in their places after breakfast.’
The two children ran obediently downstairs, followed by Ronald, who had just finished dressing; and by the time Anne appeared in the hall with the breakfast-tray, bringing with her a most tempting odour of bacon and eggs, the cloakroom was quite tidy, and the last armful of toys, rugs, and cloaks had been carried into the schoolroom.
‘I think we had better take up our caps and greatcoats, Vivi,’ said Ronald taking his own garments down from the peg where they were hanging. ‘You know mother told us to keep our things all together in our own bedroom, so that we might find them easily when we come to pack. Your things are all over the place already; I saw your woollen gloves in the schoolroom, and your silk neckerchief on the window-ledge in the back hall.’
‘What a nice time you would have if Miss Ritchie were here!’ laughed Isobel, trying to see how long she could hop on one foot without losing her balance; ‘she always fines us a halfpenny for everything that we leave about. She warns us once, then if we don’t put it away we have to pay the fine.’
‘I’m afraid that I’d lose an awful lot of money if mother did that to me,’ said Vivian. ‘Somehow I never can remember to put things in their right places. As for Ronald, I think he must have been born tidy, for he can always find anything he wants, even in the dark.’