"If I didn't keep him quiet he'd kick up no end of a racket and
disturb Aunt Nellie. It's really very kind of me!"
"There's a large spice of enjoyment mixed with the philanthropy!"
twinkled Mother.
"Well, that's the right spirit. We ought to enjoy our own good deeds!"
laughed Merle.
As Aunt Nellie was really a consideration in regard to noise, the young
people had taken over the harness room as a temporary boudoir during the
holidays. They carried down some basket chairs, tacked a few coloured
pictures from annuals on its bare walls, and made it look quite pretty.
Tom lighted them a blazing fire every day, and tended it during their
absence with the care of a vestal virgin, so they were extremely cosy and
jolly there. The joiner's bench and the glue-pot gave facilities for any
hobbies they wished to carry on; they could make as much noise as they
liked, and walk in and out with dirty boots, unreproved.
To Bevis this visit was elysium. All his experiences of young people had
been confined to school, and he had never before spent such a holiday.
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