“It was, Bess,” said Thaddeus, gravely. “It was great; but—by Jove, I wish I’d known, because—Did you really tell the ladies the truth about it?”
“Yes, I did,” said Bessie. “They were so full of praises for everything that I didn’t think it was fair for me to take all the credit of it, so I told them the whole thing.”
“That was right, too,” said Thaddeus; “but those fellows will never let me hear the end of that infernal Grimmins story. I almost wish we—”
“You wish what, Teddy dear?”
“I almost wish we had not attempted the tipsy-cake, and had stuck to my original suggestion,” said Thaddeus.
“What was that?” Bessie asked.
“To have lemon pie for dessert, for Bradley’s sake,” answered Thaddeus, as he locked the front door and turned off the gas.
AN OBJECT-LESSON
It was early in the autumn. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins, with their two hopefuls, had returned from a month of rest at the mountains, and the question of school for Thaddeus junior came up.
“He is nearly six years old,” said Bessie, “and I think he is quite intelligent enough to go to school, don’t you?”