noon
`` I will be good , dear Mother , '' said King , with such an angelic expression on his face that Mrs. Maynard felt sure he was in a specially roguish mood ; and though she thought her children were the dearest in the world , yet she knew they had a propensity for getting into mischief just when she wanted them to act most decorously . But she said no more , for very often special admonitions resulted in special misbehavior . They were spinning along a lovely country road , which ran across that portion of New Jersey , and the children found much to interest them in the scenes they passed . Mr. Maynard liked to travel rather slowly , and as it neared noon they stopped at a hotel for luncheon . Here they stayed for some time , and the children were delighted to find that there were several other children living at the hotel , and they soon became acquainted . One girl , about Marjorie 's age , named Ethel Sinclair , seemed an especially nice child , and Mrs. Maynard was glad to have Marjorie play with her . She was sitting on the veranda embroidering , and this interested Marjorie , for all the girls she knew of her own age liked to run and play better than to sit and sew .