Page:Anna Chapin--Half a dozen boys.djvu/194

172 “Nobody; so keep cool and let Miss Bess go on,” said Teddy patronizingly.

“Bert has my idea. How many of you will help to carry it out?” and Bess looked around  at the eager young faces, beaming with good-will to their absent friend.

“I! I!” shouted the chorus of five; and then Rob asked,—

“What kind of a club are you going to have?”

“How do you like this plan? Suppose you come up every Saturday evening early, say by  seven, and stay two hours. At nine I shall send you off home, and to bed, for I don’t  approve of late hours for children.”

“Children! Oh, cracky!” groaned Ted, in parenthesis.

“Yes, children,” repeated Bess, with a malicious pleasure in the word. “What else are you, I should like to know? But so much for times and seasons. And now for the way we are to spend our time. Beginning with myself, and working down by ages, I am going to let you each select some good subject for an evening, and then we will all bring in what informa-