"I can play on the jews-harp," said Tom.
"O, just let me play on my 'monicon," squeaked little Ben.
"Well," said Charley, "that's capital; and you whistle, George, and then they'll know what tune it is. And let me take your trumpet, and I know I can come in, in time."
"I think it will be splendid," said Jamie.
And according to the ideas of some, it was probably splendid. The family assembled in the barn soon after dinner, for it had taken all the morning for the preparations. One bench held the whole audience—Aunt Mary, Uncle George, Grandma, and Patty, the maid.
The eleven performers were unseen, but not unheard behind the curtain. Then the six boys appeared in front, each with a red scarf round his waist, to signify that they were a band in uniform. As Charley had suggested, by the efforts of George, who was a good whistler, the listeners were enabled to distinguish the tune of "Rally round the Flag," though their efforts to decide what it was were made somewhat difficult by the drum, which came in invariably upon the wrong beat of the measure, by the clatter of the clappers, which threatened to drown everything else, and by the plaintive wail of the harmonicon, upon which Ben had as yet learned to produce but two sounds, one by blowing out and the other by blowing in.
The applause at the close of the piece was so pleasing that Charley was just proposing that they should repeat it, when the cheering ceased, Uncle George saying that it would really be unfair to take advantage of their willingness to accommodate when they had paid an admission fee sufficient to entitle them to hear each piece once.
The next article on the programme was a poem, beginning, "The boy stood on the burning deck," recited by Master Jamie, the curtain, meanwhile, being held up by Master Ben, gorgeous in his cap and feather.
Directly after this followed a duet from Alice and Sue—"Two merry hearts are we," which was very prettily sung. Next, Tom appeared before the curtain, a great bustle going on behind it at the same time, and recited a humorous poem, which concluded with a moral, stating that "Vinegar never catches flies."
Then there was a prolonged pause of preparation for the central attraction—the charade. Then those who did not appear in the first scene came out and took their places in the audience, and the curtain rose. Behold a ricketty old chaise-top, to which a rocking-horse was harnessed! In the chaise sat Charley, with a sermon of Uncle George's in his hands, a tall hat on his head, and grandma's spectacles across his nose. Behind the chaise stood George, with a bell in his hand, which he rang ten times, the first nine times slowly and the tenth quickly.