"an' I ain't goin' to pretend I'm blind when I can see."

Sylvia's serene arc of white forehead was shortened by a distressed
frown, her mild mouth dropped sourly at the corners, and the lips
were compressed. Her white cap was awry, and one of yesterday's curls
hung lankly over her left cheek.

"You look an' act like a crazy creature," said Hannah Berry, eying
her with indignant amazement. She walked across the room to another
rocking-chair, moving with unexpected heaviness. She was in reality
as stout as her sister Sarah Barnard, but she had a long, thin, and
rasped face, which misled people.

"Now," said she, looking around conclusively, "I ain't come over here
to argue about free-will. I want to know what all this is about?"

"All what?" returned Mrs. Barnard, feebly. She was distinctly afraid
of her imperious sister, yet she was conscious of a quiver of
resentment.

"All this fuss about Barney Thayer," said Hannah Berry.

"How did you hear about it?" Mrs. Barnard asked with a glance at
Charlotte, who was sitting erect with her cheeks very red and her
mouth tightly closed.

"Never mind how I heard," replied Hannah. "I did hear, an' that's
enough. Now I want to know if you're really goin' to set down like an
old hen an' give up, an' let this match between Charlotte an' a good,
smart, likely young man like Barnabas Thayer be broken off on account