It would be almost impossible to describe all they did or what they said during that forenoon, when they were indulging in such a day of pleasure as they never had had before. As Ben afterwards expressed it, they "saw about everything there was to be seen, an' they scooped in about as much fun as ever anybody did who went to Coney Island."
Owing to Paul's watchfulness, they were back at the hotel at the time Mr. Weston had said they would have dinner, and Dickey asked, wonderingly, as they entered, and Paul looked around for his father,
"Are we goin' to eat here, jest as if we was reg'lar folks?"
"Of course we are," said Paul, decidedly; "we're all going to sit down to the table with father, and have just as good a dinner as we can get."
Dickey had nothing more to say; he was overwhelmed with the idea of acting like "reg'lar folks," and after that nothing could have astonished him.
Mr. Weston had engaged a private dining-room, in order that his guests might feel more at their ease if they were alone than if they went into the public dining-room. The boys and Nelly seated themselves at the table with as much solemnity as if they were participating in some very important ceremony, opening their eyes wide with astonishment as the waiter brought on the different courses, but never neglecting to do full justice to everything that was set before them.
Mr. Weston did all he could to make the dinner seem less formal; but he did not succeed until after the roast chickens were put on the table and the servant left the room. Then, when they were alone, and with three whole chickens before them, their tongues seemed suddenly to have been loosened, and they talked as fast as the most fun-loving host could have asked for, until each one's plate was piled high with chicken and vegetables, when they relapsed again into silent activity.
That visit, and more especially that dinner, was a new experience in their lives, and one which they could never forget. They ate until it seemed impossible they could eat any more, and even then Dickey succeeded in disposing of an extra piece of pie, together with some nuts and raisins. After the meal was ended, and before they started out again to take one more look at all that was strange around them, Mr. Weston said, as he handed Dickey and Mopsey each five dollars, and Nelly ten,