"What a beautiful room!" sighed Violet, sinking down into one of the soft cushioned chairs.
But all the children shouted when they saw Benny's room. The wallpaper was blue, covered with large figures of cats and dogs, the Three Bears, and Peter Rabbit. There was a swinging rocking-horse, nearly as large as a real horse, a blackboard, a tool chest, and low tables and chairs exactly the right size for Benny. There was an electric train with cars nearly as large as the little boy himself.
"Can I run the cars all day?" asked Benny.
"Oh, no," replied Henry quickly. "You're going to school as soon as it begins."
This was the first that his grandfather had heard about school, but he agreed with Henry, and chuckled to himself.
"The finest schools in the country," he said. This came true, for all the children finally went to the public schools, and are they not the finest schools in the country?
In Jess' room Benny discovered a bed for Watch. It was, in fact, a regular dog's straw hamper, but it was lined with heavy quilted silk and padded with wool. Watch got in at once, sniffed in every corner, turned around three times, and lay down.
Just then a distant doorbell rang. It had such a low, musical chime that the children listened delightedly, never once giving a thought as to who it might be.
But almost at once a soft-footed servant appeared, saying that a man wanted to see Mr. Cordyce "about the dog." The moment Jess heard that word "dog" she was frightened. She had never thought Watch a common runaway dog, and it always made her uncomfortable to see passers-by gaze curiously at him as he ran by her side.
"They won't take Watch away?" she whispered to Henry, her breath almost gone.