"No," clamored the boys, who had heard Tabitha's many talents lauded by their cousins until their curiosity had well-nigh reached the bursting point. "Speak right away. It's no fun watching the old moon come up! Besides, it's high enough now to make things as plain as day."
"Suppose you recite something first, then," suggested Gloriana, noting the wistfulness in the big, black eyes of her new sister.
"Not on your tin-type!" Billiard emphatically declared. "It's ladies first, you know! We want Tabitha to spiel."
"Well, then, what shall it be?" sighed that young lady resignedly.
"Something with ginger in it," was Toady's prompt reply. "Not a sissy-girl piece."
"About a battle or a prize-fight," suggested Billiard with amusing impartiality.
"Barbara Fritchie," put in eager Irene.
"No, don't," cried Susie. "We've heard that so often. Speak Sheridan's Ride."
"Or Driving Home the Cows," suggested Mercedes. "I think that is so pretty, and it is a war piece, too."
"But it is too sad," promptly vetoed Susie. "We want something—noisy."