The Twins danced with the rest, and they were having such a good time that they might have forgotten to go home at all if all of a sudden, Larry hadn’t shaken Eileen’s arm and said, “Look there!”
“Where?” Eileen said. “There!” said Larry. “The rough man with the brown horse.”
The moment Eileen saw the man with the brown horse she took Larry’s hand and they both ran as fast as they could back to their Father.
“We saw the Tinker!” they cried the moment they saw Mr McQueen.
“Then we’d as well be starting home,” said Mr McQueen. “I’d rather not be meeting the gentleman on the road after dark.” He got Colleen and put her into the cart once more. Then he and the Twins had something to eat. They bought a ginger cake shaped like a rabbit, and another like
a man from one of the hawkers, and they bought some sugar-sticks, too, and these, with what they had brought from home, made their supper.
Then Mr McQueen brought out his notched stick. “We’ve sold the pig,” he said, with his finger on the first notch, “and the butter and eggs was the second notch.” Then he went over all the other notches. “And besides all else I’ve bought Herself a shawl,” he said to the Twins.
The Twins wanted to get home because the Secret was getting so big inside of them, they knew they couldn’t possibly hold it in much longer, and they didn’t want to let it out until they were at home and could tell their Father and Mother both at the same time. So they said good-bye to Diddy, and Eileen took off the ribbons and kept them to remember her by. Then they hurried away.
It was after dark when at last they drove into the yard. Mrs McQueen came running to the door to greet them and hear all about the Fair.