I must stand in the doorway, to obstruct the view of the officers, who are all engaged in the next room just now.

I move readily to my post, but I cannot resist my curiosity.

I must look over my shoulder a last time, to see what it is Breine Malke wants to smuggle out.
I can scarcely stifle my laughter.

Of all our earthly goods, our neighbor has chosen for salvation a dented bandbox containing a moth-eaten bonnet from my mother's happier days! And I laugh not only from amusement but also from lightness of heart.

For I have succeeded in reducing our catastrophe to its simplest terms, and I find that it is only a trifle, and no matter of life and death.
I could not help it.