These three remainders thus I fix,
And they read plainly S, I, X.”
Such were some of the ways in which the young folks in Mrs. Page’s family amused themselves, when kept indoors by stress of weather.
CHAPTER X.
ALL FOOLS’ DAY.
Ronald and Otis occupied the same chamber. It was in the second story of the house, and had two windows, one looking to the north-east and the other to the south-east. At this season of the year, Ronald was obliged to rise soon after day-break, to attend to his work. He was very apt to feel sleepy in the morning, and Marcus, who was an early riser, usually called him when it was time to get up. Otis, being a boarder, did not rise so early, but commonly slept until the sun poured its light into the chamber through the north-east window, and sometimes long after. He was, in fact, rather fond of his bed.
On the morning of the first day of April, Ronald played quite a serious trick upon his room-mate, by way of celebrating “All Fools’ day.” The windows of their chamber happened to be provided with old-fashioned tight shutters, which, however, were not now used, curtains having been substituted for them. On the morning in question, Ronald arose very slyly, at early day-break, and commenced disarranging and secreting the several articles of Otis’s every-day apparel. One of his suspenders he hid under the bed-clothes, and the other he tied into knots; he turned the legs of his pantaloons and the sleeves of his jacket inside out; deposited one stocking in his jacket pocket, and crowded the other into the toe of his shoe; hid the other shoe on the upper shelf of the closet, after emptying into it the contents of his trousers pockets; and, in short, put things into such a plight, that he supposed it would take Otis at least an hour to dress himself. He then closed the shutters, and left the room, carefully shutting the door, lest the movements of the rest of the family should disturb the sleeper.
Otis did not make his appearance at the breakfast table, when the bell rang, but as this had occasionally happened before, it did not excite any surprise. The table was left standing for him, after breakfast, and the several members of the family went about their business. Ronald, somewhat to his disappointment, was despatched to school nearly an hour before the usual time, that he might do an errand in a distant part of the town, on his way. Before he started, he crept up to the door of his chamber, and, listening, heard the loud breathing of Otis, as if still asleep. As he passed out through the dining-room, he noticed a clean plate and knife at Otis’s place, and impelled by the spirit of mischief which had taken possession of him, he snatched them from the table, and put dirty ones in their place. A moment after, Jessie came in, and began to clear off the table, when Miss Lee, who was in the kitchen, seeing Ronald about to leave, said:
“Before you go, Ronald, I wish you would run up stairs and call Otis—he hasn’t been to breakfast yet.”
“Yes, ma’am, he’s been to breakfast and gone,” said Jessie, deceived by the appearance of the table.
“Then he was very quick about it, for I haven’t seen him this morning,” said Miss Lee.