"Sara! Sara! make him stop! I"--

She was stopped herself by a sudden crash, and all three stood in blank
affright and astonishment as the oval, gilt-framed mirror, which hung
between the front windows, fell to the floor in the midst of them, and
shivered into a dozen pieces. It had been one of the proud possessions
of their own mother when she came to the house as a bride, and was the
principal ornament of their humble living-room, as all swiftly
remembered; and besides, there was that gloomy superstition which had
been instilled into them since infancy,--a broken mirror meant death and
disaster.

Even Sara was not proof against this. In fact, there are scarcely any of
us, no matter how good and wise we may be, who do not have some such pet
remnant of barbarism clinging to our souls; and Sara now stood, pale and
aghast as the others, looking at that fateful, shattered glass! The
baby, thus rudely awakened, set up a lively scream, which broke the
spell of awed silence that seemed to have held them all until now.
Molly, with a flounce of resignation, cried out,--

"Well, it's more trouble, of course, but we're getting used to it fast!"

Sara said, rather sharply,--

"Go get the baby, Molly, and be quiet, if you can; and, Morton, help me
gather up the bits." While Morton, who was already down on the floor,
remarked in his slow, thoughtful way,--

"I don't see what we've done, Sara, to have things keep happening so