MERRIAMS AND FIELDS

favorite prank — dressing up and ringing the doorbell. To my   great disappointment she recognized me at once. We therefore decided to try again, this time disguising Edward with a mous- tache made from horsehair carefully plucked out of a mattress,     an old hat and coat of my father's, and a pair of rubber boots   many sizes too large for him. His job was to stand there, looking like a dwarf. As the doorbell was beyond his reach, I rang it for  him and then retreated round the corner to observe. The maid recognized him, which was again very disappointing. But she did murmer, "That's a little better than before."
   While we were planning a third attempt, Mr. Field came to      call and rang the bell. The maid opened the door, took one look   at him and shouted "Oh my God ! !" and ran off to the kitchen       in hysterics, leaving poor Mr. Field on the front porch a bit  puzzled. My mother realized what had happened and explained, "She's just a new maid, Ned — and she thought you were one of the children dressed up."

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