"Not at all; she'll be delighted to see you," answered his young hostess, with a grateful glance at her brother as he disappeared through the open door.
"There!" said Ned triumphantly, as the children settled themselves inside the parlor. "We'll stay câched in here, out of the way; and maybe there'll be some fun before long, if Cousin Euphemia and the doctor get after Wang. He's been to our church all the time lately, ever since our choir started up; and Cousin Euphemia doesn't like it. I just heard her telling Wang to go out to them as soon as he could get ready."
Ned's suspicions were well founded. A few moments later Wang Kum came shuffling around the corner of the house, with his hat cocked defiantly on the back of his head, and his hands buried in the pockets of his loose blue toga.
"How do you do, Wang Kum?" asked the doctor, benevolently eyeing the stray lamb before him.
"Heap well," returned Wang Kum calmly, as he kept his eyes fixed on the ground, to avoid Mrs. Pennypoker's warning glance.
"I was afraid you were ill," observed the doctor, with an approving smile for his own crafty manner of approaching the subject.
"Uh?" inquired Wang Kum.
"I thought perhaps you might be sick," repeated the doctor. "I hadn't seen you at church lately."
Wang shook his head contemptuously.
"Wang no get sick," he remarked.