In this complacent state of mind she was passing near Belinda Barry's cottage on the way home when she observed a strange object on the roof of the shed. The thing, whatever it was, moved, seeming to grow and shrink again before her eyes. Luella owned some spectacles, but they were worn only in private and reposed in these days in the kitchen drawer, from which they occasionally emerged stealthily when some exigency arose like the reading of a label on a spice box.
It was out of her way to go nearer to the cottage, but that mysterious manifestation on the roof of the shed was too great a temptation for flesh and blood to resist.
She changed her route and approached. In a minute the object, recognizing her, rose to its full height and faced her cautious advance.
"For the land's sake!" exclaimed Miss Benslow in a minute more. She stood still.
"Blanche Aurora Martin, what under the canopy are you doin' up there? Don't you know you'll defame them shingles?"
Blanche Aurora looked down on the newcomer, who was dressed in her very best. About her neck hung chains enough to excite the envy of the aborigines. On her head she wore a hat with an ostrich feather which stood up bravely, although its appearance suggested that a sea-bath had been one of its many trying experiences.
"I'll bet Belinda ain't to home," went on Miss Benslow accusingly, and the culprit stood at ease, her arms akimbo.
"I should think you was old enough by this time not to go caperin' around on roofs. What you up there for?"
"Lookin' for my gum," replied Blanche Aurora.
"You needed a spyglass for that, did you?"