"When is this party?" said Dr. Lavendar. "I declare, I've been so
worried about Sam's Sam, I've forgotten."

"It's next week; Thursday. Yes; she can send that boy to his death,
maybe; but we must have parties to cheer her up."

"Oh, come now," Dr. Lavendar remonstrated; "I don't believe a glimpse
of the world will kill him. And nobody can blame Mrs. Richie for his
foolishness. I suppose we are all going?"

"Everybody," Martha King said scornfully; "even Samuel Wright. He told
his wife that he wouldn't have any nonsense about Sam, and she'd got
to go. I think it's positively cruel; because of course everybody
knows that the boy was in love with this housekeeper that doesn't know
how to make soap!" Martha shook her bowl sharply, and the toppling
green pyramid crumbled. Dr. Lavendar looked at her over his
spectacles; instantly her face reddened, and she tossed her head. "Of
course, you understand that I haven't the slightest personal feeling
about it. That's one thing about me, Dr. Lavendar, I may not be
perfect, but nobody despises anything like--that, more than I do. I
merely regret William's judgment."

"Regret William's judgment! Why, think of the judgment he displayed in
choosing a wife," said Dr. Lavendar. But when he climbed into his old
buggy he had the grace to be ashamed of himself; he admitted as much
to Danny. "For she's a sensible woman, Daniel, and, at bottom, kind."
Danny yawned, and Dr. Lavendar added, "Poor Willy!"

Mrs. Richie's first hint of Dr. King's proposed festivity came a week