"There's nothing so good, the children know,
As grandmamma's stories of long ago.
Empty-handed she could not tell
All the dear old stories half so well."
Constance sat at the end of the row, and looking at the others she said:
"When she was a girl like you and me,
'Twas then she learned to knit, you see.
So like her now we must begin
Carefully putting the stitches in."
Then together they recited:
"Our shining needles we gayly ply,
Getting ready for by and by.
Aren't you glad to know there'll be
Five old ladies as nice as we?"
At the last line they rose, each dropped a profound courtesy and marched from the stage. The enthusiastic audience recalled them half a dozen times, till Mr. Hazeltine was obliged to announce that the entertainment was over.
No one had enjoyed it more than a person who sat in an easy-chair, where without any effort she could see all that went on.
Here the children gathered when it was over, exclaiming, "Why, Miss Brown, we did not know you were coming! How did you get here, and how did you like it?"
It was of no use to try to answer so many questions, so she only laughed and said she had enjoyed herself immensely.
Then they must rush off to see how much money had been taken in.