Jennie, with a keen perception of her power over her guests, went from one to the other, inquiring, in her sweetest voice: "Won't you have another slice of bread? Please do!"
Elsie, less secure of manner, followed her with the pitcher of milk, while the young men bruised each other's shins beneath the table in their zealous efforts to diminish the joy each one took in the alluring presence of his cup-bearer.
Calvin sat near the end of the table, and his assured manner made the others furious. "Look at that stoatin' bottle," growled Green, out of the corner of his mouth; "he needs killin'."
"Ah, we'll fix that tommy-cod!" replied Galvin.
While the girls were at the upper end of the table the man on Calvin's right leaned over and said:
"Say, Cal, 'pears like you got the run o' the house here."
Calvin, big with joy and pride, replied: "Oh, I ride round and picket here once in a while. It pays."
"Well, I should say yes—carry all your cheek right with ye, don't ye?"
As the boys began to shove back, Curtis brought out a box of cigars and passed them along the line.
"Take hearty, boys; they don't belong to the government; they're mine, and you'll find them good."