Elizabeth laughed.
"No, Buff. I don't think that Mr. Martin has the look of a robber exactly. Perhaps he's only lazy. But I'm quite sure Mrs. Martin's efforts don't keep the house. Of all the dirty little creatures! And so full of religion! I've no use for people's religion if it doesn't make them keep a clean house. 'We're all Homeward Bound,' she said to me. 'So we are, Mrs. Martin,' said I, 'but you might give your fireside a brush-up in passing!'"
"Now, now, Elizabeth," said her father, "you didn't say that!"
"Well, perhaps I didn't say it exactly, but I certainly thought it," said Elizabeth.
At this moment Buff, who had been gobbling his bread-and-butter with unseemly haste and keeping an anxious eye on a plate of cakes, saw Thomas take the very cake he had set his heart on, and he broke into a howl of rage. "He's taken my cake!" he shouted.
"Buff, I'm ashamed of you," said his sister. "Remember, Thomas is your guest."
"He's not a guest," said Buff, watching Thomas stuff the cake into his mouth as if he feared that it might even now be wrested from him, "he's a pig."
"One may be both," said Elizabeth. "Never mind him, Thomas. Have another cake."
"Thanks," said Thomas, carefully choosing the largest remaining one.
"If Thomas eats so much," said Billy pleasantly, "he'll have to be put in a show. Mamma says so."