before the hot dish, Betty got as near the cream as she could, and Tony
drew a chair close to Kitty, and very soon their spirits began to rise
to their highest, and their tiredness vanished. The tea was refreshing,
the ham and home-made bread and everything on the table were perfectly
delicious, and they ate, and ate, and talked and laughed until Kitty
wondered how it was that Mrs. Henderson did not come in and ask them to
be quiet. They had all, at the same moment, reached that mood when
everything one says, or thinks, or does, sounds or seems amusing; and
they laughed and laughed without being able to check themselves, until
at last Kitty found herself with her head in the tea-tray, while Dan
hung limply over the back of his chair, and Betty and Tony laid their
heads on the table and held their aching sides.

"Oh dear!" cried Kitty, straightening herself and trying to compose her
face. "They say it is unlucky to laugh so much. I wonder if it is
true. It does seem hard, doesn't it?"

The thought sobered them a little, and they gave themselves up to their
tea.

"I never know," said Betty thoughtfully, after a somewhat long silence,
"whether it is better to begin with ham and end with cream and jam, or
to begin with cream and then have the ham, but it seems to me that it is
just the same whichever I do--I _can't_ eat much of both. I have tried
and tried."

"I call that a real affliction," said Dan soberly. "Of course there is
just a chance that you may grow out of it in time, but it is hard
lines."