"'I guess you're mistaken about that,' he says, speakin' up jest like
lightnin'; 'so long as Stephen Waterman's alive, Rose Wiley can have him, for
one; and that everybody's welcome to know.'

"He spoke right out, loud an' plain, jest as if he was readin' the Declaration
of Independence. I expected the boys would everlastin'ly poke fun at him, but
they never said a word. I guess his eyes flashed, for he come out the screen
door, slammin' it after him, and stalked by me as if he was too worked up to
notice anything or anybody. I did n't foller him, for his long legs git over
the ground too fast for me, but thinks I, 'Mebbe I'll hev some use for my
lemonade-set after all.'"

"I hope to the land you will," responded Mrs. Wiley, "for I'm about sick o'
movin' it round when I sweep under my bed. And I shall be glad if Rose an'
Stephen do make it up, for Wealthy Ann Brooks's gossip is too much for a
Christian woman to stand."




XIV

Housebreaking


Where was the pale Rose, the faded Rose, that crept noiselessly down from her
room, wanting neither to speak nor to be spoken to? Nobody ever knew. She
vanished forever, and in her place a thing of sparkles and dimples flashed up
the stairway and closed the door softly. There was a streak of moon-shine
lying across the bare floor, and a merry ghost, with dressing-gown held