“Wake up, Al, old man! What’s the matter with you?”
“Oh, nothing,” replied Alfred, “I was only wondering where I had read that before.”
There was another laugh, and the major led the way to the red drawing room. It had been the ball room in the old days.
“It’s a long time,” observed the major, “since anyone has danced on these floors.”
The room took its name, evidently, from the red damask hangings and upholstering of the furniture. The walls were paneled in white and gold and there was a grand piano at one end.
“We’ll have to take turn about playing,” said Ruth. “Grace and I each play a little.”
“Oh, Jimmie can play,” replied Martin. “Is there anything Jimmie can’t do?”
“Jimmie, you’re a brick,” said Alfred.
Back of the red drawing room was another smaller room which, the major said, had always been called a morning parlor, but it had been a favorite room of the family when he was a young man, and had been used as a gathering place in the evening as well as after breakfast.
“This is the prettiest room of all, I think,” observed Mollie.