Kitty. Look at the industry on a warm morning. I’ll be the sluggard. (Seats herself in the hammock and opens a book.) How’s the fancy work, Hilda?
Hilda. I wish the old thing was done. Carolyn sails next week and I want this traveling case to be finished in time.
Hope. I wish I were going on a nice trip like Carolyn.
Kitty. Uncle Fred went to Europe last summer, and he said he was simply tired of the everlasting tipping. Finally he saw a sign in his room at the hotel, “Please tip the basin after using,” and he said he drew the line there.
Hilda. I’d love the ocean voyage, and I know I wouldn’t be afraid, even in a storm. Mother told me that when she went over, there was an old lady who was terribly nervous, and each day she pestered the captain, asking him how far it was to land. Finally one day he answered her politely, “Five miles, madam.” She was delighted and asked very eagerly “where?” and he told her “straight down below our keel, madam.”
Kitty. Uncle Fred wasn’t a bit seasick, but one day on deck a man and his wife were near him, all bundled up in their steamer chairs and looking terribly woebegone. Their little boy was playing around full of mischief, and the mother said feebly, “Papa, won’t you speak to Willie?” And papa said just as feebly, “How do you do, Willie?”
Ruth. Well, I don’t like troublesome children. I had to take care of Cousin Julia’s baby all one afternoon and he did nothing but cry. So I let him cry into the phonograph, so that when he grew up he could hear what a troublesome baby he had been.
Kitty. I ought to be studying, seeing as I flunked in history this June.
Hope. I don’t believe you know a thing about history, Kit.