The children got this down upon a place where the ground was smooth and hard; and Lucy got so much interested in playing boat, that she entirely forgot her pricking for two hours; and then the first bell rang, to call them in to dinner.
The first bell always rang ten minutes before the second bell. This was to give Royal and Lucy time to come in and get ready. Lucy thought that she should just have time to finish the two lines, and she ran in to Miss Anne’s room to sit right down to her work. To her surprise, however, as soon as she got in, she saw that her chair was not before the little table, but had been set back; and the pin-cushion, pointer, and paper, had all entirely disappeared.
Lucy went into the parlor, and found Miss Anne placing the chairs around the dinner table.
“Miss Anne,” said she, in a tone of complaint, “somebody has taken away all my things.”
“That is some of my mischief, I suppose,” said Miss Anne.
“Did you take them away?” said Lucy.
“I put them away,” replied Miss Anne. “I went into my room, about an hour after I left you there, and found that you had gone away to play, and had left your work all out upon the table; and so I had to put it away.”
“Why, I was coming right back again,” said Lucy.
“And did you come right back?”
“Why, no,” said Lucy. “Royal wanted me to stay with him so much!”