"I should think so," said Pickering; "it tells all the story."
"And they will come, you may be sure," said Jasper, holding off the notice
again, this time for everybody's inspection, "and that's the main thing."
"And now we can all begin to write them," said Alexia, in great
satisfaction, seizing her pen, which she had dropped. "Do put it in the
middle of the table, Jasper, where we can all see."
"Wait till I write a good one," said Jasper, beginning on a fresh sheet of
paper. "I was hurrying so to get it all down; you can hardly read it." So
he wrote it out in his best hand, then propped the notice up against the
book-rack. "Now begin," he said.
"Let's race," cried Alexia, already scrawling the first words at a great
rate.
"Oh, dear me! we shan't do it decently then," said Polly, in alarm. "I
mean, I shan't, if we race."
"Nor I, either," said Jasper.
"Well, I'm not going to race, anyway," declared Pickering, making slow,
lazy strokes with his pen; "it's quite bad enough to have to write these
odious things, without breaking one's neck over them."
"Well, don't let's talk," said Alexia, seeing that she couldn't have any
part in the conversation since all her mind had to go into her task. "Oh,
dear me! I left out the dot to my 'i,' and misery! there's a blot! It was
all because I was listening to you, Pickering Dodge.
Pages:
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291