His upraised hands and appealing eyes were irresistibly funny. Elizabeth laughed helplessly, and the children rolled on the floor in an ecstasy of mirth.
When presently all trooped out to dinner neither parent observed Doris as she nibbled a second bonbon.
"Oh-o-o! You naughty girl!" whispered Carroll enviously. "Where did you get that?"
"Out of the box," replied the small maiden, with a toss of her yellow head. "Um-m, it's good; don't you wish you had some?"
"Mother said——"
"Don't talk so loud; I'll give you half!"
"It's most all gone now. I'll tell mother, if you don't give me all the rest." And the boy reached masterfully for the coveted morsel.
"You're such a rude child you oughtn't to have any," observed Doris, nonchalantly bestowing the debatable dainty in her own mouth. "If you tell, I'll call you 'tattle-tale'!" she said thickly; "then the' won't either of us get any."
Carroll scowled fiercely at this undeniable statement. His father did not encourage unmanly reprisals.