In the
afternoon the lady was gone, the old house all open, and their mother
sweeping, dusting, airing in great spirits. So they had a splendid
frolic tumbling on feather beds, beating bits of carpet, opening
closets, and racing from garret to cellar like a pair of distracted
kittens.
Here Ben found them, and was at once overwhelmed with a burst of news
which excited him as much as it did them. Miss Celia owned the house,
was coming to live there, and things were to be made ready as soon as
possible. All thought the prospect a charming one; Mrs. Moss because
life had been dull for her during the year she had taken charge of the
old house; the little girls had heard rumors of various pets who were
coming, and Ben, learning that a boy and a donkey were among them,
resolved that nothing but the arrival of his father should tear him
from this now deeply interesting spot.
"I'm in _such_ a hurry to see the peacocks and hear them scream. She
said they did, and that we'd laugh when old Jack brayed," cried Bab,
hopping about on one foot to work off her impatience.
"Is a _faytun_ a kind of a bird? I heard her say she could keep it in
the coach-house," asked Betty, inquiringly.
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