“You don’t look delicate.”
“I am, though. I tried doing without meat at supper for a week, and what do you think happened?”
Mr. Middleton looked curious.
“I got up in the night—fast asleep, you know—and set the bed-clothes on fire. Came near burning up the house. All on account of not eating meat.”
“Bless my soul!” exclaimed Mrs. Middleton alarmed. “Do you walk in your sleep, Mr. Temple?”
“Not when I’ve had a hearty supper, ma’am.”
“I think, Corinthia, you’d better get some meat,” said her husband, who looked anxious.
“Warm meat—beefsteak, for instance—is better than cold to make me sleep,” said Tom. “By the way, Mrs. Middleton, the butter is out, and so is the bread.”
“I never saw so voracious a boy,” said the lady to herself. “He really has an ungovernable appetite.”
But she got the bread and the butter. Tom generally managed to have his way.