"They're all done," said Daisy, meaning the corks, "now we'll eat the sugar."
But the dividing of the sugar proved a difficult matter; for the lump was large and thick, and resisted the efforts of both pairs of little hands.
"I'll crack it with this stone," said Frankie; and, suiting the action to the word, he laid it upon the step and gave it a blow with the stone.
One part of the much prized morsel remained in very good condition, but the rest suffered severely under this violent treatment, and was reduced very nearly to powder.
"Just see what this horrid old stone did!" said Frankie, looking at his work in much disgust.
"Never mind," said Daisy, "you can have the whole piece, and I'll eat the mashed."
The swain made a feeble resistance to this generous offer, feeling in duty bound to do so; but Daisy insisted, and he was so moved by the magnitude of her self-sacrifice that he said,—
"Daisy, I shall make those other girls wait till you're dead, and marry you first, 'cause you're the best of all the lot."
Here Carrie joined them, for she had soon quitted Nellie, telling her that she was tired; but the true reason was that she feared her sister might say something that would force her to confess that she had not obeyed orders about the mice.