He does provoke me so , '' muttered Jack , very red and shamefaced as his mother picked up the book and laid it silently on the table before him . He did not know what to do with himself , and was thankful for the stamps still left him , finding great relief in making faces as he plucked them one by one from his mortified countenance . Jill looked on , half glad , half sorry that her savage showed such signs of unconverted ferocity , and Mrs. Minot went on writing letters , wearing the grave look her sons found harder to bear than another person 's scolding . No one spoke for a moment , and the silence was becoming awkward when Gus appeared in a rubber suit , bringing a book to Jack from Laura and a note to Jill from Lotty . `` Look here , you just trundle me into my den , please , I 'm going to have a nap , it 's so dull to-day I do n't feel like doing much , '' said Jack , when Gus had done his errands , trying to look as if he knew nothing about the fracas . Jack folded his arms and departed like a warrior borne from the battle-field , to be chaffed unmercifully for a `` pepper-pot , '' while Gus made him comfortable in his own room . `` I heard once of a boy who threw a fork at his brother and put his eye out . But he did n't mean to , and the brother forgave him , and he never did so any more , '' observed Jill , in a pensive tone , wishing to show that she felt all the dangers of impatience , but was sorry for the culprit . `` Did the boy ever forgive himself ? '' asked Mrs. Minot . `` No , 'm ; I suppose not . But Jack did n't hit Frank , and feels real sorry , I know . '' `` He might have , and hurt him very much . Our actions are in our own hands , but the consequences of them are not . Remember that , my dear , and think twice before you do anything . '' `` Yes , 'm , I will ; '' and Jill composed herself to consider what missionaries usually did when the natives hurled tomahawks and boomerangs at one another , and defied the rulers of the land . Mrs. Minot wrote one page of a new letter , then stopped , pushed her papers about , thought a little , and finally got up , saying , as if she found it impossible to resist the yearning of her heart for the naughty boy , -- `` I am going to see if Jack is covered up , he is so helpless , and liable to take cold . Do n't stir till I come back . '' `` No , 'm , I wo n't . '' Away went the tender parent to find her son studying Caesar for dear life , and all the more amiable for the little gust which had blown away the temporary irritability .
The brothers were often called `` Thunder and Lightning , '' because Frank lowered and growled and was a good while clearing up , while XXXXX 's temper came and went like a flash , and the air was all the clearer for the escape of dangerous electricity .
Caesar Frank Gus Jack Jill Lotty Minot errands fracas pepper-pot