What did
it matter if there were not enough plates to go around,
and Tommy had to eat his supper out of the saucepan; and
even if there were no cups for the boys, was not the pail
with the dipper in it just behind them on the old
high-chair.
When the plates had all been cleaned the second time,
and the turkey began to look as if something had happened
to it, Mary brought in the surprise of the evening--it
was the jelly Mrs. Evans had sent them when she let Mary
come home early in the afternoon, a present from Algernon,
she said, and the whipped cream that Camilla had given
Jimmy when he ran over to tell her and Mrs. Francis that
Pearlie had really come. Then everyone saw the advantage
of having their plates licked clean, and not having more
turkey than they knew what to do with. Danny was
inarticulate with happiness.
"Lift me down, Pearlie," he murmured sleepily as he poked
down the last spoonful, "and do not jiggle me."
When Patsey and Bugsey and Tommy and Danny had gone to
bed, and Mary and Mrs. Watson were washing the dishes
(Pearlie was not allowed to help, being the guest of
honour), John Watson sat silently smoking his pipe,
listening with delight while Pearl related her experiences
of the last three months.
She was telling about the night that she had watched for
the doctor. Not a word did she tell about, her friend,
the doctor's agitation, nor what had caused it on that
occasion, and she was very much relieved to find that
her listeners did not seem to have heard about the
circumstances of Ab Cowan's death.
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