She came back in a moment, looking rather disgusted.
“It only means ‘tight,’ ‘firmly.’ Why in creation didn’t they say so?”
Fortunately, the remaining directions were sufficiently simple, and in a few minutes the roll of exposures was in Eunice’s hand. The children went back into the closet, to make ready the chemicals.
The careful measuring and mixing of the powder with the required amount of water went on. The trays were arranged in due order, and Eunice announced, for the third time:
“Everything is positively ready now, so we can begin to cut apart the pictures,” taking up the roll of thick, black paper. “How can we tell where to cut them? Oh, here are little white lines on the back. Can you see to cut, Cricket?”
“Yes. What’s all this white stuff between for? It looks like paraffin paper something, only it smells like fury.”
“It’s just to keep the other paper from rubbing when it’s rolled over the spool,” said Eunice, sniffling at the paper, which, you all know, was really the film, on which the picture had been taken. “I should say it does smell. Throw it on the floor after you have cut off the black pieces.”
“Here’s one,” said Cricket. “Oh, I’m so excited, Eunice. Listen: ‘Put it in the water, edge down, to prevent air bubbles.’”
“Done,” said Eunice. “Next.”
Cricket read on under the dim red light, till she came to “In about one minute the film will begin to darken in spots.”