"NOT through dinner yet?" exclaimed the Dixons at the door. "May we sit down and wait? It's a beautiful evening, and we've come to get you to take a long drive with us."
"Fine," said Bob. "Come out to the dining-room and talk till we're through."
"And then I'll help Bettina clear off the table," said Charlotte. "Well, people, it looks like a good dinner, and Sherlock Holmes deduces, moreover, that you had roast lamb yesterday for your Sunday dinner."
"You might also deduce that we had baked potatoes, from which these creamed ones are made," laughed Bettina. "Nothing else to guess at, except that part of a cabbage made cold slaw yesterday and escalloped cabbage today. And my dessert, while simple, has no secret past," she added as she removed the first course. "A plain and simple custard, that's all."
"Suits me," said Bob, heartily, "especially when it's cold like this."
"By the way, Bettina," said Charlotte, "did you ever get rid of those black ants you were telling me about?"
"Yes, I've never seen one since."
"Well, you know how worried I was about the little red ones that bothered me. Aunt Isabel, in a letter, gave me a remedy that has worked like magic."
"Aunt Isabel has her uses, after all," teased Frank.