Mrs. Rovering entirely approved of her husband's honorable resolve, and that night saw that the blinds were closely drawn, and the trundle-bed pulled out promptly at nine o'clock.
The Eds, in spite of their circusy anticipations, wore rather long faces as they prepared to retire, and both Mr. and Mrs. Rovering, in their parental kindness of heart, felt glad as they reflected that the uproar of the procession would probably be made at so late an hour as not to awaken their obedient darlings.
The fond father, indeed, even went so far as to add to the already tempting next summer's programme the promise of purchasing five cents' worth of pea-nuts before the show began.
Under this soothing treatment the two Eds presently dropped off to sleep in the most obliging fashion possible, and their elders were congratulating one another on the dark spot their window would make in the general illumination, when there came a knock on the door, and callers for Mrs. Rovering were announced.
The horrified lady gave one glance at the card, which read "Hon. Fielding Rollup," and another at the trundle-bed, and then she and Mr. Rovering bent down and shoved the latter out of sight, with the Eds still sleeping peacefully within it.
The next instant the visitors were ushered in, consisting of the whole Rollup family, father, mother, and five children, and as the latter at once made for the window, it speedily transpired what they had all come for—to see the parade!
Mr. Rovering grew quite pale as this conviction was forced upon him, for the Rollups were large purchasers of Rovering & Co.'s fire-works every July, so it would never do to offend them. And yet how could Mr. Rovering be so disloyal to his own party as to have his window not only thrown wide open, but full of enthusiastic spectators of the other party's procession?
In the midst of these dismal reflections there was another knock at the door, and the Boxes "just dropped in," as they expressed it.
Fortunately there were only three of them; but Master Freddie Box proved to be a whole family in himself, for while the rest of the party—eleven in all, including Mr. and Mrs. Rovering—kept edging nearer and nearer to the window, he occupied himself in exploring every nook and corner of the room in search of fire-crackers. He peered into the vases on the mantel-piece, crawled under the sofas, looked behind the fire-screen, and tilted everything movable in the apartment.
Meanwhile the hands of the clock had crept around to nearly ten, the street below swarmed with surging crowds, and every time a shout arose the seven Rollups and the two Boxes all tried to put their heads out of the window at once, while Mr. and Mrs. Rovering were obliged to content themselves with a fine view of the latest style in back hair.