here in winter! I'm perfectly willing to freeze out there, for the
sake of having a dining-room. Did I ever tell you what Carol said
about that kitchen-dining-room-living-room combination at Exminster?
Well, she asked us a riddle, 'When is a dining-room not a dining-room?'
And she answered it herself, 'When it's a little pig-pen.' And I felt
so badly about it, but it did look like a pig-pen, with stove here, and
cupboard there, and table yonder, and--oh, no, father, please let me
freeze!"

"I confess I do not see the connection between a roomful of furniture
and a pig-pen, but Carol's wit is often too subtle for me."

"Oh, that's a lovely place over there, father!" exclaimed Prudence,
looking from the living-room windows toward the south. "Isn't it
beautiful?"

"Yes. The Avery family lives there. The parents are very old and
feeble, and the daughters are all--elderly--and all school-teachers.
There are four of them, and the youngest is forty-six. It is certainly
a beautiful place. See the orchard out behind, and the vineyard. They
are very wealthy, and they are not fond of children outside of school
hours, I am told, so we must keep an eye on Connie.--Dear me, it is two
o'clock already, and I must go at once. Mrs. Adams will be here in a
few minutes, and you will not be lonely."

But when Mrs. Adams arrived at the parsonage, she knocked repeatedly,
and in vain, upon the front door. After that she went to the side
door, with no better result. Finally, she gathered her robes about her
and went into the back yard. She peered into the woodshed, and saw no
one. She went into the barn-lot, and found it empty. In despair, she