searching through bureau drawers for something. Georgina could tell what
she was doing from the sounds which reached her. These drawers always
stuck, and had to be jerked violently until the mirror rattled.

"Oh, don't bother about it, Maria. I just made an excuse of wanting to
see it, because I knew you always kept it in here, and I wanted to get
you off by yourself for a minute's talk with you alone. Since I've been
in town I've heard so much about Justin and the way he is doing that I
wanted to ask somebody who knew and who could tell me the straight of it.
What's this about his leaving the service and going junketing off to the
interior of China on some mission of his own? Jane tells me he got a
year's leave of absence from the Navy just to study up some outlandish
disease that attacks the sailors in foreign ports. She says why should he
take a whole year out of the best part of his life to poke around the
huts of dirty heathen to find out the kind of microbe that's eating 'em?
He'd ought to think of Barbara and what's eating her heart out. I've
taken a great fancy to that girl, and I'd like to give Justin a piece of
my mind. It probably wouldn't do a bit of good though. He always was
peculiar."

Georgina could hear only a few words of the answer because Tippy had her
head in the closet now, reaching for the box on the top shelf. She
stopped her search as soon as Cousin Mehitable said that, and the two of
them went over to the fire and talked in low tones for a few minutes,
leaning against the mantel. Georgina heard a word now and then. Several
times it was her own name. Finally, in a louder tone Cousin Mehitable
said:

"Well, I wanted to know, and I was sure you could tell me if anyone
could."