"I keep on drinking all the time," said poor Drusie, giving her tumbler, still nearly full, a glance of strong distaste.
"Perhaps you only sip it," said Jim gravely. "Shut your eyes, and take big mouthfuls. You must finish it, you know."
The sense of duty was strong in Drusie, and so she shut her eyes and made one more heroic effort. The instant her eyes were closed, Jim filled up her glass as she drank. He had hoped to make her finish the entire jugful, but he shook so with suppressed laughter that instead of pouring it into her glass he poured it on to her nose.
"O Jim!" she said reproachfully, as the truth burst upon her; "how much have I drunk?"
"Four tumblers full," he said triumphantly. "You make a splendid chairman, Drusie."
She couldn't help laughing, too, when she saw the nearly empty jug. She dried her face, scolded Jim, and then forgave him in the same breath, for a sweeter-tempered child than Drusie never lived. After that the meeting broke up, and a few minutes later the bell rang for breakfast.
Hal was already seated at the table when they reached the nursery. He was a nice-looking boy, taller than Drusie by a couple of inches, and well grown for his years, which would be twelve on the following Tuesday.
"Hallo!" he said, as they all trooped in; "what have you been up to? I know," he said, catching sight of the tumbler now really empty at last in Drusie's hand. "A secret meeting. You might have asked me. What was it about?"
