I always thought that this was the snuggest time of the day--when the
family all sat around the fire--Mrs. Morris sewing, the boys reading or
studying, and Mr. Morris with his head buried in a newspaper, and Billy
and I on the floor at their feet.
This evening I was feeling very drowsy, and had almost dropped asleep,
when Ned gave me a push with his foot. He was a great tease, and he
delighted in getting me to make a simpleton of myself. I tried to keep
my eyes on the fire, but I could not, and just had to turn and look at
him.
He was holding his book up between himself and his mother, and was
opening his mouth as wide as he could and throwing back his head,
pretending to howl.
For the life of me I could not help giving a loud howl. Mrs. Morris
looked up and said, "Bad Joe, keep still."
The boys were all laughing behind their books, for they knew what Ned
was doing. Presently he started off again, and I was just beginning
another howl that might have made Mrs. Morris send me out of the room,
when the door opened, and a young girl called Bessie Drury came in.
She had a cap on and a shawl thrown over her shoulders, and she had just
run across the street from her father's house.
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