`` Tell Debby to trot out the baked pears . '' `` I 'm your man for lemon-pie , ma'am . '' `` Do have fritters ; Rose will like 'em . '' `` She 'd rather have tarts , I know . '' When Rose came down , fifteen minutes later , with every curl smoothed and her most beruffled apron on , she found the boys loafing about the long hall , and paused on the half-way landing to take an observation , for till now she had not really examined her new-found cousins . There was a strong family resemblance among them , though some of the yellow heads were darker than others , some of the cheeks brown instead of rosy , and the ages varied all the way from sixteen-year-old Archie to Jamie , who was ten years younger . None of them were especially comely but the Prince , yet all were hearty , happy-looking lads , and Rose decided that boys were not as dreadful as she had expected to find them . They were all so characteristically employed that she could not help smiling as she looked . Archie and Charlie , evidently great cronies , were pacing up and down , shoulder to shoulder , whistling `` Bonnie Dundee '' ; Mac was reading in a corner , with his book close to his near-sighted eyes ; Dandy was arranging his hair before the oval glass in the hat-stand ; Geordie and Will investigating the internal economy of the moon-faced clock ; and Jamie lay kicking up his heels on the mat at the foot of the stairs , bent on demanding his sweeties the instant Rose appeared . She guessed his intention , and forestalled his demand by dropping a handful of sugar-plums down upon him . At his cry of rapture the other lads looked up and smiled involuntarily , for the little kinswoman standing there above was a winsome sight with her shy , soft eyes , bright hair , and laughing face . The black frock reminded them of her loss , and filled the boyish hearts with a kindly desire to be good to `` our cousin , '' who had no longer any home but this . `` There she is , as fine as you please , '' cried Steve , kissing his hand to her . `` Come on , Missy ; tea is ready , '' added the Prince encouragingly . `` I shall take her in . '' And Archie offered his arm with great dignity , an honour that made Rose turn as red as a cherry and long to run upstairs again . It was a merry supper , and the two elder boys added much to the fun by tormenting the rest with dark hints of some interesting event which was about to occur . Something uncommonly fine , they declared it was , but enveloped in the deepest mystery for the present . `` Did I ever see it ? '' asked Jamie .
`` Not to remember it ; but Mac and Steve have , and liked it immensely , '' answered XXXXX , thereby causing the two mentioned to neglect Debby 's delectable fritters for several minutes , while they cudgelled their brains .
Archie Charlie Debby Geordie Jamie Missy Steve lemon-pie sugar-plums tarts