"That must mean just half-past nine o'clock. Just the hour of the 'earthquake shock,'" said Aunt Mary.
But before the words were out came a crash and a bang; over went the chaise, and it was buried in an instant under a load of hay pitched upon it by the little boys, from the midst of which Charlie's head presently rose, in a rather fouled condition, and an expression of bewilderment on his countenance. This was the point at which the curtain should have fallen, and fall it did, though quite unconsciously on Ben's part, since he was so lost in admiration of the scene that he forgot his duty of holding it up, instead of remembering his duty of letting it fall.
"I guess that means 'shay,'" said grandma, wisely.
Another tremendous bustle behind the curtain. Then it rose again. Alice, in a dress of her grandmother's, with spectacles and knitting, sat by a little work-table; Sue, with a basket of mending, was on the other side; Emma sat on a stool reading aloud, and the little twins were playing with their blocks on the floor.
"Hush!" said Alice, laying down her knitting; and the others listened, too. "I think I hear a noise. Daughter, wont you look and see what it is?"
So Sue pretended to go to a window and look out. "I don't see anything," said she, and sat down again.
Emma began to read.
"Stop a minute," said Alice again. "I'm sure I heard a noise."
"And so do I," said Sue, starting up.
"It makes me think of the old times of the war, when I was a girl," said Alice.