"Tain't no boat there," urged Dumps; "tain't no water even, an' I
don't b'lieve we'd be drownded; an' tain't no bears roun' this place
like them that eat up the bad little Chil'en in the Bible; and tain't
no Injuns in this country, an' tain't no snakes nor lizards till
summer-time, an' all the cows is out in the pasture; an' tain't no
ghos'es in the daytime, an' I don't b'lieve there's nothin' ter happen
to us; an' ef there wuz, I reckon God kin take care of us, can't he?"

"He won't do it, though, ef we don't mind our mother," replied Diddie.

"Mammy ain't none of our mother, and tain't none of her business not
to be lettin' us play on the lumber, neither. Please come, Diddie,
we'll have such a fun, an' nothin' can't hurt us. If you'll come,
we'll let you keep the hotel, an' me an' Tot 'll be the boarders."

The idea of keeping the hotel was too much for Diddie's scruples, and
she readily agreed to the plan. Dilsey was then despatched to the
nursery to bring the dolls, and Chris ran off to the wood-pile to get
the wheelbarrow, which was to be the omnibus for carrying passengers
to and from the hotel.

These details being satisfactorily arranged, the next thing was to
slip off from Cherubim and Seraphim, for they followed the little
girls everywhere, and they would be too much trouble on this occasion,
since they couldn't climb up on the pile themselves, and would whine
piteously if the children left them.

The plan finally decided upon was this: Diddie was to coax them to the
kitchen to get some meat, while the other children were to go as fast
as they could down the avenue and wait for her where the road turned,