"Yes," he said. "I'll go along and take care of you, lest you
get drawn into something else you don't like."

"But, dear uncle Orrin, there is another difficulty — it is to
be a large party, and I have not a dress exactly fit."

"What have you got?" said he, with a comic kind of fierceness.

"I have silks, but they are none of them proper for this
occasion — they are ever so little old-fashioned."

"What do you want?"

"Nothing, Sir," said Fleda; "for I don't want to go."

"You mend a pair of stockings to put on," said he, nodding at
her, "and I'll see to the rest."

"Apparently you place great importance in stockings," said
Fleda, laughing, "for you always mention them first. But,
please don't get anything for me, uncle Orrin — please don't!
I have plenty for common occasions, and I don't care to go to
Mrs. Thorn's."

"I don't care either," said the doctor, working himself into
his great coat. "By the by, do you want to invoke the aid of
St. Crispin?"

He went off, and Fleda did not know whether to cry or to laugh