I am willing to dine in
the kitchen."
This room was below the dining-room. All consented to this. Each
one went down, taking a napkin.
The cook laid the kitchen table, put on it her best table-cloth, and
the family sat down. Amanda went to the dumb-waiter for the
dinner, but she could not move it down.
The family were all in dismay. There was the dinner, half-way
between the kitchen and dining-room, and there were they all
hungry to eat it!
"What is there for dinner?" asked Mr. Peterkin.
"Roast turkey," said Mrs. Peterkin.
Mr. Peterkin lifted his eyes to the ceiling.
"Squash, tomato, potato, and sweet potato," Mrs. Peterkin
continued.
"Sweet potato!" exclaimed both the little boys.
"I am very glad now that I did not have cranberry," said Mrs.
Peterkin, anxious to find a bright point.
"Let us sit down and think about it," said Mr. Peterkin.
"I have an idea," said Agamemnon, after a while.
"Let us hear it," said Mr. Peterkin. "Let each one speak his mind."
"The turkey," said Agamemnon, "must be just above the kitchen
door. If I had a ladder and an axe, I could cut away the plastering
and reach it."
"That is a great idea," said Mrs. Peterkin.
"If you think you could do it," said Mr. Peterkin.
"Would it not be better to have a carpenter?" asked Elizabeth
Eliza.
"A carpenter might have a ladder and an axe, and I think we have
neither," said Mrs.
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