Lippo on his arrival home from school had posted himself there to see that his mother's orders were strictly kept.
He also had missed her desperately, but he had nevertheless remembered her injunctions and was quite certain that the others might forget and act contrary to her orders.

Placing himself on the first step, he would hold any of his brothers or sisters with both hands when they came towards him as they dashed upstairs.

When he cried out loudly, "We mustn't do it, we mustn't do it," they ran away again, quite frightened, for his horrified shrieks might have penetrated into the sick-room.
Kathy was the only one who appreciated Lippo's worth.

She had received orders to remind the children of the strict command, and she knew quite well from previous experiences that she could never have succeeded as effectively as he.

Maezli, meanwhile, was sitting at Apollonie's table, gayly eating a snow-white milk-pudding which Apollonie knew so well how to prepare.