“Hi, Miss Judy!”
“Hi, yourself!” and Judith stopped her car in front of the hotel.
“Boys, that’s Miss Ann Peyton!” cried Major Fitch. “Miss Ann or I’ll eat my hat!”
“She’s already eaten her wig. No wonder we didn’t know her! And she’s left off her hoops!” cried the Judge. 241
The old men removed their feet from railing, dropped their chairs to all fours, sprang up and, standing in a row, made a low bow to the occupants of the little blue car. Then they trooped off the porch and gathered in a circle around the ladies.
“The last I heard of you, Miss Ann, was that you were lost,” said Judge Middleton.
“Not a bit of it,” declared Judith. “She is found.”
“Yes—and I think I’ve found myself, too,” said Miss Ann softly. “I am visiting my dear young cousin, Judith Buck.”
“At my urgent invitation,” explained Judith.
“I am staying on at her invitation, but I followed my usual habit and went uninvited,” said the old lady firmly.