"They are coming; run, Wiseli, and open the door," said the aunt.
Then the woman drained a large kettle of potatoes, which she took from the stove, ran to the living room and dumped them in the middle of the warped dining table. Next she brought a large pan of sour milk, and said to Wiseli, "The knives and forks are in the table drawer; you can put them on."
Wiseli found five knives and five forks in the drawer and put them on the table; then supper was ready. The father and the boys took their places on the bench behind the table next the window. There was a chair at one end of the table, and one at the side next the kitchen, which the aunt took. The uncle motioned Wiseli to take the other chair, saying to his wife, "She can sit there, I suppose?"
"Of course," snapped the aunt, and then went out to the kitchen on pretense of being busy. She kept coming back for only a moment at a time. The uncle, understanding her, said impatiently, "I wish you would sit still and eat your supper."
"I don't find the time to sit still," she retorted; "I should like to know who is going to look after things out there if I don't." Just at that moment she noticed that Wiseli was not eating her supper.
"Why are you sitting with your hands in your lap?" she demanded.
"She hasn't anything to eat with," replied Rudi, who had already solved the problem to his own satisfaction, for he could not understand how anybody could help eating so long as there was anything on the table.
"So that is it," said the aunt. "How was I to know that all of a sudden we must have six knives and forks when we have always needed but five. I suppose we must get an extra spoon, too. Why couldn't you have said something?" she went on, turning to Wiseli. "You must know that one has to have a spoon to eat with."
Wiseli timidly answered, "It didn't matter, because I am not hungry."