“Oh, sister, sister,” murmured Miss Zillah.
And just then the eyes of Azalea and Annie Laurie met. There was a flash between them and then something exploded—exploded in helpless laughter. Miss Zillah, unable to believe her senses, called faintly, “Adnah! Adnah!” And Adnah, on the point of making another sortie into the yard for the prying Hi, answered her appeal, and came to the parlor. There she saw the two girls in convulsions of laughter, and Zillah stiff and incredulous on the piano stool. Miss Adnah surveyed the scene for a moment in wrath.
“Come, Zillah,” she commanded, and dragged her sister from the room.
The girls heard the kitchen door slam behind the two, and rocked again with painful mirth.
“Oh, oh,” half-sobbed Annie Laurie at length, “how ridiculous we’ve been!”
“Dreadful,” agreed Azalea. “I’m just as ashamed of myself as I can be. Can’t I go and apologize to your aunts?”
“Not on any account,” said Annie Laurie firmly. “They’ll never understand. Never! You couldn’t expect them to.”
“Will you come back with me, Annie Laurie? We’re bound to like each other now after we’ve laughed together like that.”
Annie Laurie gave a final gurgle.
“I know,” she said. “Let’s go out and tell Hi.”