can't—ah—make any afternoon calls to-day, and I was going to a pink tea
""Wow! A pink tea, boys!" yelled one of the boys. "Wouldn't that rattle your back teeth?"
"Never mind, Tubby. The cook will give you a cup of coffee instead," said Tom.
"I should think you'd feel blue instead of pink," added Spud Jackson.
"Sew up the coat with a shoestring, and let it go at that," suggested Max.
"If you want to paste that collar fast again I've got a bottle of glue," said Songbird.
"Now—ah—don't you poke fun at me!" stormed William Philander. "Haven't I suffered enough already?"
"Why, we're not poking fun; we're weeping," said Tom, and pretended to wipe his eyes with his handkerchief.
"I am so sorry I could eat real doughnuts," said Dick.
"Maybe you want to send a substitute to that pink tea," came from Stanley. "You might call on Professor Sharp."
"Or Pinkey, the watchman," said Max. "He'll do it for a quarter, maybe."
"I—ah—don't want any substitute," growled William Philander. "I—ah—think you are—ah