Elsie looked at papa, and papa looked at Elsie. Dr. Carr's eyes
twinkled just a little, but otherwise he was perfectly grave. Elsie
began to speak, then to laugh, then to cry, and the explanation, when
it came, was given in a mingled burst of all three.

"O papa, it was horrid! That is, Mrs. Worrett was just as kind as
could be, but so fat; and oh, such a pig! I never imagined such a
pig! And the calico on that horrid sofa was so slippery that I
rolled off five times, and once I hurt myself real badly. And we
had a feather-bed; and I was so homesick that I cried all the
evening."

"That must have been gratifying to Mrs. Worrett," put in Dr. Carr.

"Oh! she didn't know it, papa. She was asleep, and snoring so that
nobody could hear. And the flies!--such flies, Katy!--and the
mosquitoes, and our window wouldn't open till I put in a nail. I
am so glad to get home! I never want to go into the country again,
never, never! Oh, if Alexander hadn't come!--why, Clover, what are
you laughing for? And Dorry,--I think it's very unkind," and Elsie
ran to Katy, hid her face, and began to cry.

"Never mind, darling, they didn't mean to be unkind. Papa, her hands
are quite hot; you must give her something." Katy's voice shook a
little; but she would not hurt Elsie's feeling by showing that she
was amused. Papa gave Elsie "something" before she went to bed,--
a very mild dose I fancy; for doctors' little girls, as a general
rule, do not take medicine, and next day she was much better. As
the adventures of the Conic Section visit leaked out bit by bit, the
family laughed till it seemed as if they would never stop. Phil was