Thorny spoke impatiently , and knit his brows over the pressed flowers he was neatly gumming into his herbal . `` I wonder if he has any thing on his mind ? He acts as if he was hiding a trouble he did n't dare to tell . Have you talked with him about it ? '' asked Miss Celia , looking as if she was hiding a trouble she did not like to tell . `` Oh , yes , I poke him up now and then , but he gets peppery , so I let him alone . May be he is longing for his old circus again . Should n't blame him much if he was ; it is n't very lively here , and he 's used to excitement , you know . '' `` I hope it is n't that . Do you think he would slip away without telling us , and go back to the old life again ? Do n't believe he would . Ben is n't a bit of a sneak ; that 's why I like him . '' `` Have you ever found him sly or untrue in any way ? '' asked Miss Celia , lowering her voice . `` No ; he 's as fair and square a fellow as I ever saw . Little bit low , now and then , but he does n't mean it , and wants to be a gentleman , only he never lived with one before , and it 's all new to him . I 'll get him polished up after a while . '' `` Oh , Thorny , there are three peacocks on the place , and you are the finest ! '' laughed Miss Celia , as her brother spoke in his most condescending way with a lift of the eyebrows very droll to see . `` And two donkeys , and Ben 's the biggest , not to know when he is well off and happy ! ''
retorted the `` gentleman , '' slapping a dried specimen on the page as if he were pounding discontented XXXXX .
Ben Celia bit donkeys eyebrows fellow gentleman life mind way