“I told you not to stop to talk to any children.”
“You said ‘strange children.’ He wasn’t ‘strange.’”
When Mrs. Owen had heard the whole history of the morning, she said: “Now Peggy, I think you ought to be punished in some way. While you were out Mrs. Horton telephoned to say that she and Miss Rand and Clara had come up to spend part of the Easter vacation. She wants you and Alice to come over and play with Clara this afternoon. I think Alice had better go without you.”
“Oh, mother,” Alice protested, “that would be punishing Clara and me too.”
“I think it would be too awful a punishment,” said Peggy.
“Yes, I suppose it would,” said Mrs. Owen thoughtfully. She was a very just mother, and Peggy always felt her punishments were deserved.
“I can’t let it go and do nothing about it,” said Mrs. Owen. “I tell you what I’ll do. I’ll go over to Mrs. Horton’s with Alice and leave you to keep house, Peggy, until I come back. Old Michael may come with some seed catalogues. If he does you can keep him until I get back. As soon as I do, you can run right down for the yeast-cake, and this time I am sure you will not stop on the way. Then you can go to Clara’s for what is left of the afternoon.”