"Father says he is not busy now, so I have asked him to come in and help us, for fear anything might happen. Here is father. Now, Norah, go and bring me your rag-bag, with your doll"s pieces. I have a lot to show you."Fred went and found a candle. He lighted it, stood it on the table, and spread out all the things they had got.
"Now, children," said his father, "I think I had better do the burning, if Fred will show me what he wants. Then you won"t get into mischief.""All right, father," said Fred. "Are you all ready? Then let us begin."His father then held a lot of things, one by one, as Fred gave them to him, in the flame of the candle. As they caught fire he put them out quickly.
First there were pieces of muslin, cotton-wool, silk, and cloth from Norah"s rag-bag. Then a piece of paper, some feathers, a piece of wool, and a piece of leather. Then a thin stick of wood, some hay and straw, and a strip of whalebone. As they burned, Fred laid them aside in two heaps on the table. Just then Fred"s mother looked in.
"What are you children doing?" she cried. "I can smell something burning. I hope you are not playing with the fire." She had not seen father there.
