"I know what that purple paper means," cried Dee from afar. "He's been to Schmidt's and that basket's full of goodies."
So he had, and, Zebedee like, had a proposition for pleasure. I have seldom seen Mr. Tucker that he did not have some scheme on hand for amusement for someone, and the best thing about it was that he usually was ready to partake of the fun himself; and his partaking of it meant there was twice as much fun as there would have been without him.
"There's skating on the lake surely?" he asked.
"Yes! Yes!" in chorus.
"Well, come along, and I'll get permission from your Lord High Executioner to take all of you skating, and we'll have supper on the bank. What do you say to that, Jinny?"
"Splendid! I haven't skated for years, though."
"Have you got your skates?"
"Oh, yes; you see this is all the home I have, so I've got everything I possess here."
"And you girls? All of you have skates that fit and shoes to skate in?"
"Yes! Yes!" And off we went, the gayest crowd imaginable. Of course Miss Peyton let us go. No one had ever refused Mr. Tucker anything in reason, I am sure, nor had he ever asked for anything out of reason.