“How do you know?” cried Polly at him.
“Well, hop-toads don’t, anyway,” declared Percy obstinately.
“Well, my hop-toads do,” said Polly. “I shall make every one of them comb their hair, and clean their clothes, and prink up to go to that party, so there, Percy Whitney!”
“And this is Polly Pepper’s story,” said Jasper. “Do keep still, Percy, or out you go from Mother Pepper’s room.”
“Oh! she can have them do it if she wants to,” said Percy, shrinking back in alarm, with one eye on Jasper and another on Ben, and trying to keep himself as small as possible.
“And they couldn’t hardly wait for the moon to come up, they were all so anxious to go,” Polly ran on. “You see, none of them had ever been to a party before in all their lives.”
“I just hate parties!” exploded Joel, having experienced several trials in that line since coming to live at Mr. King’s; “and they were very silly to want to go.”
“Now, what do you think Lucy Ann had thought out while Betserilda was away?” asked Polly suddenly.
No one of the children could possibly guess, so Polly dashed on. “Well, she had it come in a flash into her head; and off she ran and did it, and got back all out of breath, running up one pair of steps to her garden, just as Betserilda came up the other pair.