`` Well , everything is ready , I think . I suppose we 'd better proceed . Where shall we stand ? You had better group us as you think best . '' Whereupon I proceeded to arrange them in due order under the maple . Mrs. Carroll sat in a chair , while her husband stood behind her . Gertie stood on the steps with a basket of flowers in her hand , and Lilian was at one side . The two little boys , Teddy and Jack , climbed up into the maple , and little Dora , the dimpled six-year-old , stood gravely in the foreground with an enormous grey cat hugged in her chubby arms . It was a pretty group in a pretty setting , and I thrilled with professional pride as I stepped back for a final , knowing squint at it all . Then I went to my camera , slipped in the plate , gave them due warning and took off the cap . I took two plates to make sure and then the thing was over , but as I had another plate left I thought I might as well take a view of the house by itself , so I carried my camera to a new place and had just got everything ready to lift the cap when Mr. Carroll came down and said : `` If you girls want to see something pretty , come to the back field with me . That will wait till you come back , wo n't it , Amy ? '' So we all betook ourselves to the back field , a short distance away , where Mr. Carroll proudly displayed two of the prettiest little Jersey cows I had ever seen . We returned to the house by way of the back lane and , as we came in sight of the main road , my brother Cecil drove up and said that if I were ready , I had better go home with him and save myself a hot , dusty walk . The Carrolls all went down to the fence to speak to Cecil , but I dashed hurriedly down through the orchard , leaped over the fence into the lawn and ran to the somewhat remote corner where I had left my camera . I was in a desperate hurry , for I knew Cecil 's horse did not like to be kept waiting , so I never even glanced at the house , but snatched off the cap , counted two and replaced it . Then I took out my plate , put it in the holder and gathered up my traps . I suppose I was about five minutes at it all and I had my back to the house the whole time , and when I laid all my things ready and emerged from my retreat , there was nobody to be seen about the place . As I hurried up through the lawn , I noticed Ned Brooke walking at a smart pace down the lane , but the fact did not make any particular impression on me at the time , and was not recalled until afterwards . Cecil was waiting for me , so I got in the buggy and we drove off .
On arriving home I shut myself up in my dark room and proceeded XXXXX develop the first two negatives of the Carroll housestead .
As If about for into through till to until with