"Hoh-hoh!" laughed Joel, snapping his fingers in derision, "you haven't
finished one yet, and beside, who can read your chicken tracks?"
"I have, too," declared Van, very red in the face, ignoring the reflection
on his writing and plunging over to Jasper. "Haven't I, Jasper, written a
letter for the post office? Say, haven't I?"--gripping him by the
jacket-sleeve.
"Yes, you have," said Jasper. "He handed it in this afternoon," he added,
nodding to the group.
"There, you see." Van rushed triumphantly up in front of Joel. "You see,
Joel Pepper, so you've just got to take that back."
"Well, only one," said Joel, "and there can't any one read it, so that's no
good."
"And I wrote some letters," cried Phronsie, running away from the little
circle to thrust her face in between the two boys. "I did, all by myself.
One, two, ten, I guess."
Little Dick at that stopped sniveling, and slipped off from his mother's
lap. "I did, too, write some, ten, three, 'leven, just as many as you did."
The tears trailed off from his red cheeks as he bobbed his head
emphatically.
So no one heard quick steps along the hall, and the door being thrown wide
by the butler, saying, "They're all in the library." In came Miss Mary
Taylor and Mr. Hamilton Dyce.
"We thought we'd drop in," said the gentleman, with a quick glance at Miss
Mary, as if to say, "You see, they didn't need us after all, to help cheer
up.
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