Page 63 - Lulu and Bob in Verbo City
P. 63
“You mean by the stove? Nothing up there but Uncle’s sarcasm,
I’m afraid.”
“No, Bob.” Lulu dragged the chair to the sink. “He says he blew a
fuse and that we’re second to none. Those are figurative expressions,
and that’s how we took them. But look at them literally: the first one
means the electricity has gone out somewhere. The lights are on in
here, right? But ‘second to none’ is the real key to the mystery. The
clock is stopped, possibly indicating loss of power. And midnight is
zero hours; one second before that is 23:59:59. Get up there quick!”
Bob scampered simianly up to the countertop of the sink from the
chair seat. “Bingo!” He came down with two sloppily-wrapped
squarish parcels. “This is labeled for you,” he said, handing his sister
one of them.
They tore off the flimsy coverings.
“Books!” cried Lulu.
“What else?” groaned Bob. “But we figured it out!”
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