I nearly fell down in my haste to obey. The soup was made. Mother Barberin served it on the plates. Then, leaving the big chimney corner, he came and sat down and commenced to eat, stopping only from time to time to glance at me. I felt so uncomfortable that I could not eat. I looked at him also, but out of the corner of my eye, then I turned my head quickly when I caught his eye.
“Doesn’t he eat more than that usually?” he asked suddenly.
“Oh, yes, he’s got a good appetite.”
“That’s a pity. He doesn’t seem to want his supper now, though.”
Mother Barberin did not seem to want to talk. She went to and fro, waiting on her husband.
“Ain’t you hungry?”
“No.”
“Well then, go to bed and go to sleep at once. If you don’t I’ll be angry.”
My mother gave me a look which told me to obey without answering. But there was no occasion for this warning. I had not thought of saying a word.
As in a great many poor homes, our kitchen was also the bedroom. Near the fireplace were all the things for the meals—the table, the pots and pans, and the sideboard; at the other end was the bedroom. In a corner stood Mother Barberin’s big bed, in the opposite corner, in a little alcove, was my bed under a red figured curtain.