"Shall I, too; shall I, too?" interrupted the girl.

"Mäzli," said the mother, "let Lippo finish; otherwise I can't understand
what you want."

"Mama, the teacher has read us a paper, on which was written that in Sils
on the mountain--"

"Shall I, too? Shall I, too?" Mäzli, his sister, interrupted again.

"Be quiet, Mäzli, till Lippo has finished," the mother commanded.

"He has said the same thing twice already and he is so slow. There has
been a fire in Sils on the mountain and we are to send things to the
people. Shall I do it, too, Mama, shall I, too?" Mäzli had told it all
in a single breath.

"You didn't say it right," Lippo retorted angrily. "You didn't start
from the beginning. One must not start in the middle, the teacher told
us that. Now I'll tell you, Mama. The teacher has read us a paper--"

"We know that already, Lippo," the mother remarked. "What was in the
paper?"

"In the paper was written that a big fire in Sils on the mountain has
destroyed two houses and everything in them. Then the teacher said that
all the pupils of the class--"

"Shall I too, shall I, too?" Mäzli urged.