arm next and close to him.

"No, you're not--just a boy," answered Rose Mary, as she set his
supper on the table before him. She had poured his coffee, stirred in
the cream and sugar and then laid the spoon decorous and straight in
the saucer beside the cup. For an instant Everett sat very still and
looked at her, then she picked up the cup and tipped it against her
lips, sipped judiciously and set it down with a satisfied air. For
just a second her eyes had gleamed down at him over the edge of the
cup and a tiny laugh gurgled in her throat as she swallowed her sip of
his beverage.

"That was mine, anyway--he can have his chicken wings," said Everett
with a laugh as he began operations on the food before him.

"It wasn't a very nice party," answered Rose Mary as she went on with
her work on the pile of china. "Stonie acted awfully. He piled up his
plate with pieces of chicken, and when Aunt Viney reproved him he
said he was saving it for you. And Aunt Viney said she was sure you
were sick, and then Uncle Tucker wanted to go look for you and I had
to tell him before them all that you had sent me word. Then Aunt
Amandy said she was afraid you were not a Prohibitionist, and Aunt
Viney said she would have to talk to you in the morning. Then they all
told Mr. Newsome all about you, and I don't think he liked it much
because he likes to tell us things about himself. We are so fond of
him, and we always want to hear him talk about where he has been and
what he has done. I tried to stop them and make him talk, but I
couldn't. It's strange how liking a person gets them on your mind so
that even if you don't talk about them you think about them all the
time, isn't it? But I oughtn't to blame them, for I was so afraid they