“Oh, but it was splendid!”
“And so you went to the brook,” said Aunt Rachel, beginning to see daylight.
“Yes’m; on the way up from the station, you know.”
“Did Michael go with you?”
“No; he sat and held the horses, and hollered for us to come back.”
“Why didn’t you go when he called you?”
“Why, we did; at least, we went in a minute. But, Aunt Rachel, we never had seen a real live brook before, not since we were little bits of kiddy-wids,—and we just couldn’t bear to leave it.”
“We waded in it!” said Dolly, almost solemnly, as if she had referred to the highest possible earthly bliss.
The Dana ladies were nonplussed. True, the affection showered on them had tempered their severity, yet now justice began to reassert itself, and surely it would not be just or fair to have these semi-barbaric children installed at Dana Dene.
“Did your aunt in Chicago let you act like this?” asked Aunt Abbie, by way of trying to grasp the situation.