"And I'll have the same," laughed Mrs. Dustin, and again Joe winked at
the proprietor.
But the children had grown strangely quiet, especially the boys. And
slim Mollie once more grew frightened as she watched the proprietor
setting out glass after glass of foaming beer.
Mrs. Dustin was busy talking to the children and didn't seem to see the
foaming glasses until Joe called,
"Come on, everybody--line up."
Then the lovely mother face was raised and at the look that came into
the blue eyes every child there grew sick and miserable.
"Ah, gee--whad he give her that for?" muttered Sammy Berwick.
But Mrs. Dustin, after looking once into Peter's tortured eyes, stood
up and laughed.
"Well, children," she confessed, "I've never tasted beer in my life,
but it's your party and I invited myself so it would be rude to refuse."
And with that she picked up her glass.
"Well," laughed Joe, "this is my first drink too. But I'm not going to
be an old fogey. What's good enough for my boys is good enough for me."
Every child there held its breath for they knew that Joe spoke the
truth. As for the proprietor, that puzzled man thought that the little
shoemaker was trying to be funny and he laughed his first laugh that
evening.
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