'Oh, never mind that, Ed; no one would care for one but you and me,
and the little ones would spoil all the paints.'

'Yes, resumed Wilmet, from her throne,--'it would be the worry of
one's life to keep the little ones off them; and baby would be
poisoned to a dead certainty. Now the respirator--'

'Now the concertina--'

'Now Punch--'

'Now the dog--'

'Now the rocking-horse--'

'Now the cannon--'

'I'll tell you what,' said Felix, 'I've settled how it is to be.
We'll get John Harper's van, and all go out to the Castle, with a
jolly cold dinner--yes, you, Cherry, and all; Ed and I will carry
you--and dine on the grass, and--'

A chorus of shouts interrupted him, all ecstatic, and rendered more
emphatic by the stamping of feet.

'And Angela will go!' added. Wilmet.

'And Papa,' entreated Cherry.

'And Mamma too, if she will,' said Felix.