"The poor wee things!" she was saying to herself, "they canna help it! they 're fair silly wi' sleep; an' it's little they would know if they were keepit awake by pinchin' an' shakin.'"
But the minister took another view, and when the Manse dinner was ready, the boys were not allowed to come to table, nor to partake of the very nice pudding Eppie had made specially for them. And this seemed to Eppie a terrible punishment. She was angry with her master, and, as was sometimes the case, told him so in her own fashion; slamming the door when she went through; putting the dishes down upon the board violently, and sniffing disdainfully. The minister did not know what was wrong, and waited for enlightenment.
But when the enlightenment came, it was in a way he had not expected.
The twins sat together on the big bed that evening and Roy spoke:
