Sister made her visit to Lettie Bronson and came back to Miss Pringle's fairly radiant. She had learned to put up her hair in a more attractive fashion and had bought a new summer dress under Lettie's tutelage which she said made her other clothes look "countrified" in comparison.
"Lettie Bronson is so hospitable and nice, Hiram," Sister said. "I let her introduce me as 'Cecilia Cheltenham.' It sounds stylish, and I could see it impressed Lettie's friends. Do you think it is wrong, Hiram? Maybe 'Cecilia' is my name."
"Just as good as any other, I guess, Sister," Hiram said kindly. "But don't for pity's sake name your brother some name that he won't like."
"Oh! 'Marvin'?"
"He can stand that better than 'Claude' or 'Percy.' Do give the kid a chance."
Hiram had come to consider the lost boy as a little fellow, too, although Sister had no particular warrant for that belief.
Sister's visit came to a close. She knew Mother Atterson and Lem Camp missed her sorely. She had now been at Miss Pringle's all of two months.
Everybody about the place thought a deal of Sister. Delia Pringle declared she was the nicest girl she had ever known. Orrin could not do too much for her and treated her with a brotherly affection that Hiram thought might breed some confidences on his part. But Orrin never touched upon his personal affairs save on one occasion, and then lightly enough.
"Didn't you have any brothers and sisters in all your life, Orrin?" Sister asked, pointblank, in Hiram's hearing.
"I had a sister," Orrin replied shortly.