“Humph!” remarked Aunt Sarah.
As Dot went down the stairway, Tess came dancing along from the bathroom, with a fresh ribbon in her hair and her face and hands still damp. “Oh, Aunt Sarah!” she cried, “here is your bag of peppermints for to-morrow,” and she held up her own purchase. “Shall I put them in your room on the bureau?”
“Humph!” exclaimed the old lady, stopping and eyeing Tess curiously. “So you’ve got them?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” said Tess, and hopped down stairs by the old lady’s side very happily.
There was a neat little box resting on the table beside Aunt Sarah’s plate. Agnes said: “There’s your Sunday peppermints, Aunt Sarah. I got them at the Unique candy store, and I guess they’re nice ones.”
Aunt Sarah merely glared at her, and remained speechless. That was nothing strange; the old lady sometimes acted as though she did not hear you speak to her at all.
Mrs. McCall came in from the kitchen and Ruth appeared from up stairs. Uncle Rufus arrived with the steaming soup tureen. As Ruth sat down, she said to Aunt Sarah:
“You’ll find your peppermints on the hall stand, Aunt Sarah. I forgot to bring them up to your room.”
That was too much. The old lady blazed up like a freshly kindled fire.
“For the good Land o’ Goshen! I got peppermints enough now to last me four meetings. I believe getting your Uncle Peter’s money the way you have, has made all you gals silly!”