Page:The Semi-detached House.djvu/152

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144
THE SEMI-DETACHED HOUSE.

houras de commande. However, this is being hypercritical. The Dulham children were not to be paraded to a tea execution in procession. Mr. Greydon had asked for the use of the Pleasance lawn and garden, which was willingly accorded by its inhabitants, who delighted in the sights and sounds of childish merriment. They had no anti-hurrah feelings, Aunt Sarah came out strong on these occasions; she told little stories to the children, which made them laugh; she brought ~ a provision of toys and sweetmeats, which were hidden in the most ingenious places, in thick shrubs, in wheel barrows full of leaves, in Charlie's cot, and one great prize was discovered in Aunt Sarah's netting case. Mrs. Hopkinson, who felt she would not be out of place on this occasion, was invaluable; she had known most of the children from the day of their birth, and had an individual knowledge of their ailments and their tempers, and their frocks and bonnets, and their little brothers and sisters, that made them familiar with her, and she could not walk across the