“Children out of town?” inquired Dr. Strong suggestively.
“Of course not. Oh, I see. You want us all. Servants, too?”
“The cook certainly. She should be very important to our council of war. Perhaps we might leave the rest till later.”
They gathered in the spacious study; and Grandma Sharpless glanced round approvingly.
“It’s like family prayers,” she commented.
“Concerted effort is a sort of prayer, if it’s honest,” said Dr. Strong gravely. “I’ve never had much of an opinion of the man who gets up in meeting to beg the Lord for sound health for himself and family and then goes home and sleeps with all his windows closed.”
“There are no closed windows in this house,” said Grandma Sharpless emphatically. “I see to that, having been brought up on fresh air myself.”
“You show it,” returned the doctor pleasantly.
“And I’ve noticed that this house breathes deep at night, through plenty of open windows. So I can save my own breath on that topic. Just now I want to talk milk.”
“All our milk comes from my farm,” said the head of the family. “Cows are my hobby. You ought to see the place, Strong; it’s only ten miles out.”