"And I never shed a tear, not one, till you came," said she. "I'm so glad you came just when I began to get better."
Mabel did not dare to tell her that she had only been home-sick.
"If I tell her that, she will lie in bed to convince me that she is really ill," she thought.
Girls' voices were heard screaming volubly.
"What's that?" asked Mabel, thinking that some accident had occurred.
"Oh nothing. They call out for each other from their different rooms. I thought it was a parrot house when I came, but I'm getting accustomed to it. They've been so decent, you can't think, Mabel. I never knew girls could be so comforting."
"Poor Jean," said Mabel.
"You'll stay, won't you," said Jean.
"Of course I shall. Just imagine, papa wanted to come and take you home. It would have been so stale for you after you got there, with those little presents people gave you and all that kind of thing, if you had gone right back home again, wouldn't it?"
"Imagine Aunt Katharine alone," said Jean solemnly.