Page:Carroll Rankin--Dandelion Cottage.djvu/334

 306  "Well," said Mr. Black, rising to go around the table to place an affectionate arm across Mrs. Crane's plump shoulders, "it was the dinner, but not its badness—or even its very goodness."

"I guess you'd better tell 'em all about it, Peter," suggested Mrs. Crane, whose eyes were shining happily. "It's only fair they should know about it—bless their little hearts."

"Well, you see," said Mr. Black, who, as the girls had quickly discovered, was once more their own delightfully jolly friend, "once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a black-eyed girl named Sarah, and a two-years-younger boy, that looked a good deal like her, named Peter, and they were brother and sister. They were all the brothers and sisters that each had for their parents died when this boy and girl were very young. Peter and Sarah used to dream a beautiful dream of living together always, and of going down, hand in hand to a