astonishment; "why, what's wrong with them?"

Just what the great objection was Aunt Phoebe was not prepared to say,
but she remarked that such nonsense had never been thought of in her
day. "And, of course," she added, hiding behind her usual argument,
"while we are in mourning my grandniece will not go out to any
gatherings."

"Why, I wouldn't think of keeping Gladys home for that reason," said
Mrs. Evans, seeing the subterfuge. "She went to a Camp Fire meeting the
day after her grandfather's funeral. It's not like going to a social
function, you know."

Aunt Phoebe shook her head, but her policy of seclusion for Hinpoha was
getting shaky. Mrs. Homer Evans was a power in the community, and what
she did set the fashion in a good many directions. Aunt Phoebe was very
anxious to keep her as a permanent acquaintance, and if Mrs. Evans gave
her sanction to this Camp Fire business, she wondered if she had not
better swallow her prejudice--outwardly at least, for she declared
inwardly that she had never heard of such foolishness in all her born
days. When Mrs. Evans went home Aunt Phoebe had actually promised that
after three months Hinpoha might attend the meetings as before. Those
three months of mourning, however, were sacred to her, and on no account
would she have consented to allow a single ray of cheer to enter the
house during that period.




CHAPTER III.