I 'm starved at Cotton's.' 'Mercy on me! is the child going to have a fever ?' cried the old lady, who did not observe the tell tale nuts at her feet.
"'So dull, so strict! O take me home!' moaned Sally, tossing her arms and gurgling, like a naughty little gypsy.
"That last bit of acting upset the whole concern, for as she tossed her arms she showed the big red cushion on her breast.

Near-sighted as she was, that ridiculous object could not escape Miss Cotton, neither did the orange that rolled out from the pillow, nor the boots appearing at the foot of the bed.
"With sudden energy the old lady plucked off the cover, and there lay Sally with her hair dressed, la Topsy, her absurd breast-pin and her dusty boots, among papers of candy, bits of pie and cake, oranges and apples, and a candle upside down burning a hole in the sheet.
"At the sound of Miss Cotton's horrified exclamation Sally woke up, and began laughing so merrily that none of us could resist following her example, and the rooms rang with merriment far many minutes.

I really don't know when we should have stopped if Sally had not got choked with the nut she had in her mouth, and so frightened us nearly out of our wits." "What became of the things, and how were you punished ?" asked Fan, in the middle of her laughter.
"The remains of the feast went to the pig, and we were kept on bread and water for three days." "Did that cure you ?" "Oh, dear, no! we had half a dozen other frolics that very summer; and although I cannot help laughing at the remembrance of this, you must not think, child, that I approve of such conduct, or excuse it.

No, no, my dear, far from it." "I call that a tip-top story! Drive on, grandma, and tell one about boys," broke in a new voice, and there was Tom astride of a chair listening and laughing with all his might, for his book had come to an end, and he had joined the party unobserved.
"Wait for your turn, Tommy.

Now, Polly, dear, what will you have ?" said grandma, looking, so lively and happy, that it was very evident "reminiscing" did her good.
"Let mine come last, and tell one for Tom next," said Polly, looking round, and beckoning him nearer.
He came and sat himself cross-legged on the floor, before the lower drawer of the cabinet, which grandma opened for him, saying, with a benign stroke of the curly head, "There, dear, that 's where I keep the little memorials of my brother Jack.