"Sister," they said, "tell Bettina what happened when you took us to grandmother's and she gave you the book, won't you?"
Marianne laughed.
"We had cherry compote for supper," she said, "and we all had some, and Otto whispered to Wolf that he could keep more stones in his mouth than Wolf could, and all the others heard and in whispers they all dared each other, and they kept on eating and eating until their cheeks were quite puffy."
Bettina laughed gaily.
"And there was company," put in Elsa.
"And grandmother asked Otto a question," said Ilse.
"And then——" Carl shouted.
"Otto couldn't keep his in——"
"And Wolf laughed——"
"And, oh, Bettina, it was awful! Stones shot everywhere out of everybody's mouth and oh, grandmother!" She held up her hands.