"She is not so awfully old," said Laura thoughtfully.

"But she is awful!" sniffed Jess.

"She acts like a spoiled child," Nellie said. "If she cannot have her own
way in everything she gets mad and becomes disagreeable."

This was pretty strong language from the doctor's daughter. At the moment
Bobby Hargrew appeared, whistling, and with her hands in her coat pockets.
She was evidently practicing her manly stride. But she did not grin when
she saw the juniors approaching. Instead, in a most dolorous voice she sang
out, quoting the witches' chant:

"'Double, double; toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.'

"Everything's stewing, girls, and it is bound to be some brew. Do you know
the latest?"

"Couldn't guess," said Jess Morse. "But it is something bad, I warrant."

"Everything's going wrong, girls!" wailed Nellie.

"I just saw Mr. Mann and Lil. Couldn't help overhearing what she was giving
him. What do you suppose she wants to do?"

"Play the lead instead of Laura," snapped Jess.

"That would not be so strange," Dora Lockwood observed. "Would it,