"Well, here we are! And here's Jerry, too. He said he couldn't possibly come—tried to make me believe he was too busy, the rascal. But I labored with him and finally got him here," announced the master triumphantly.
Very hot and very uncomfortable under the general banter Jerry blushed.
"Now where do you wish to put us, Dick?" inquired the boy's mother. "We are under your orders to-night—yours and Bob's."
"I think you will be able to hear in any of these chairs—that is, if we hear at all," Dick responded nervously.
"What do you mean by able to hear at all?" put in his father sharply.
"Why—eh—sometimes conditions vary," was the ambiguous answer. "One does not always hear equally well." It seemed wiser to prepare his father's mind for possible disappointment.
In the meantime Bob was tinkering with the plugs.
"Everybody ready?" he asked.
"All on deck!" came from Mr. Crowninshield whose depression, it was plain to be seen, had momentarily vanished.
"Then here goes!" cried Bob.