Atlantic, finding himself deserted by his comrades, gave a yell of
baffled rage, and scrambled up the steps after them. But his tears
dried instantly at the sight of the room into which they were
ushered; as large as any of the halls in which Aunt Cora spent her
days, and how much more beautiful! They roved about, staring at the
aquarium, and gazing at the rocking-horse, the piano, the drum, the
hanging gardens, with speechless astonishment. Lisa shambled at
their heels, looking at nothing very long; and when Rhoda (one of the
neophytes), full of sympathy at the appearance of the wild, forlorn,
unkempt trio, sat herself down on a sofa and gathered them about a
wonderful picture-book, Mistress Mary's keen eyes saw that Lisa's
gaze wandered in a few minutes. Presently she crept over the floor
towards a table, and, taking a string from it, began to blow it to
and fro as it hung from her fingers. Rhoda's glance followed Mary's;
but it was only a fleeting one, for the four eyes of the twins were
riveted on hers with devouring eagerness, while they waited for her
explanation of the pictures. At the end of half an hour, in which
the children had said little or nothing, they had contrived to reveal
so many sorrowful and startling details of their mental, moral, and
physical endowment, that Mistress Mary put on her hat.
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