e boys were hopping in and out
of the wagon, which never went too fast, to pick long mullein-stalks,
for whips to urge on the reluctant horse with, or to gather
huckleberries, with which they were rejoiced to find the fields were
filled, although, as yet, the berries were very green.

They wanted to stay longer on the beach, when they finally reached it;
but Mrs.

Peterkin and Elizabeth Eliza insisted upon turning directly back, as it
was not fair to be late to dinner the very first night.

On the whole the party came back cheerful, yet hungry. They found the
same old men, in the same costume, standing against the porch.

"A little seedy, I should say," said Solomon John.

"Smoking pipes," said Agamemnon; "I believe that is the latest style."

"The smell of their tobacco is not very agreeable," Mrs. Peterkin was
forced to say.

There seemed the same uncertainty on their arrival as to where they were
to be put, and as to their meals.

Elizabeth Eliza tried to get into conversation with the old ladies, who
were wandering in and out of a small sitting-room. But one of them was
very deaf, and the other seemed to be a foreigner. She discovered from
a moderately tidy maid, by the name of Martha, who seemed a sort of
factotum, that there were other ladies in their rooms, too much of
invalids to appear.

"Regular bed-ridden," Martha had described them, which Elizabeth Eliza
did not consider respectful.

Mr. Peterkin appeared coming down the slope of the hill behind the
house, very cheerful. He had made the tour of the farm, and found it in
admirable order.

Elizabeth Eliza felt it time to ask Martha about the next meal, and
ventured to call it supper, as a sort of compromise between dinner and
tea. If dinner were expected she might offend by taking it for granted
that it was to be "tea," and if they were unused to a late dinner they
might be disturbed if they had only provided a "tea."

So she asked what was the usual hour for supper, and was surprised when
Martha replied, "The lady must say," nodding to Mrs. Peterkin. "She can
have it just when she wants, and just what she wants!"

This was an unexpected courtesy.

Elizabeth Eliza asked when the others had their supper.

"Oh, they took it a long time ago," Martha answered. "If the lady will
go out into the kitchen she can tell what she wants."

"Bring us in what you have," said Mr. Peterkin, himself quite hungry.
"If you could cook us a fresh slice of beefs