Excited Aunty Jane collected not only Mrs. Mapes, but Mrs. Tucker and Mrs. Bennett, before she returned to the Cottage. And then, the three mothers and Aunty Jane sat on the floor beside Rosa Marie and asked questions; useless questions, because Rosa Marie licked the table-leg bashfully but yielded no other reply.
This lasted for nearly half an hour. And then, school being out and the four Cottagers discovering their front door wide open, Jean, Bettie, Marjory and Mabel, all sorts of emotions tugging at their hearts, rushed breathlessly in. On beholding their mothers and Aunty Jane, they, too, turned suddenly bashful and leaned, speechless, against the Cottage wall.
"Whose child is that?" demanded all four of the grown-ups, in concert.
"Mine," replied Mabel.
"Mabel's," responded the other three, with disheartening promptness.
"What!" gasped the parents and Aunty Jane.
"I borrowed her," explained Mabel, "so she's mostly mine."
"She's spending the day here, I suppose," said Mrs. Mapes.
"Ye-es," faltered Mabel. Marjory giggled, and Mabel turned crimson.