The winter passed with busy days crowding each other closely. Lisa fretted more than any one else against enforced economies, but, after all, managed to enjoy herself by taking on new duties and new pleasures. Her kindergarten studies gave her plenty of mental application, and she also became interested in a church guild, talking with a little womanly air about her “girls” and their needs. There was less friction between her and Persis now, for the latter was obliged to concede that Lisa, as a society lady, must have more latitude than a school-girl, and enjoyed nothing more than to see her handsome sister arrayed for a dance or a theatre party. “Lisa, you are a beauty,” she said one evening, as she sat rolled up in a warm wrapper upon the bed.
“This is my last german,” replied Lisa, “for Lent begins this week, and then I shall devote my leisure hours to my girls.”
“Oh, I wish I could peep in on you to-night. I suppose the dear Popinjay escorts you.”
“Yes,” replied Lisa, indifferently, as she threw her pretty cloak over her shoulders.
“Aren’t you just a little bit tired of him?” Persis asked, mischievously.
Lisa threw her a look which spoke volumes, but the only answer she vouchsafed was, “He dances perfectly.”
“‘What did you do all summer? I sang, said the grasshopper,’” quoted Persis. “What’s he going to do when his summer-time is over?”
“Oh, he will dance while he can totter,” replied Lisa, laughing. “He will be a fine old beau. I can see him in my mind’s eye. Very shaky, but very spruce, and still devoting himself to pretty girls.”
Persis clapped her hands. “Then he is not to marry you!”
“Do you suppose I am going to make an idiot of myself?”