"Now pitch in, fellers, an' fill right up! We're doin' this 'cause Seth Bartlett has got into the Department, an' the one what don't eat all he ought'er will have trouble with me."
If Master Roberts had been a veritable giant seeking whom he might devour, the boys could not have shown more fear lest his command should not be obeyed.
Every fellow present felt that it was his duty to eat a generous portion of each dish before him, and he did it hurriedly lest Dan might have cause for complaint.
Nor were the guests who had paid "their cold dollars," as Dan explained, idle.
All three ate heartily to the evident satisfaction of the others, and 'Lish Davis even entered so thoroughly into the spirit of the affair as to suggest that they send for another dish of sauerkraut.
In ten minutes or less the hunger of the guests was in a measure appeased, and as they dallied with the dainties Dan set in motion that portion of the entertainment which, in his opinion, was to be the crowning feature.
THE BLOW-OUT Page 298.
"It ain't many times that duffers like us has a chance to rub up against Ninety-four's men, an' we want to show 'em that we know what's what," he had said privately to Bill the evening previous, and now was come the moment when the exhibition should be made.