"I'm not goin' to school any more. I don't like that place. I want to stay at home."
"Are you ill, Dear?" asked Ann, coming forward.
"No, I'm not sick; but I can't go to school."
Horace's brow darkened.
"That's hardly the way to speak to my sister, Fledra," he chided gently.
Ann glanced at him in appeal. Fledra was standing before them, and her eyes dropped under his words.
"If I asked you to let me stay home," she said in a low tone, "you'd both say I couldn't; so I just had to say that I won't go."
Fledra knew no other way to stand guard over the houseful of loved ones. If Lon were to come while she was gone, he might take her brother. If she told Horace that thieves had entered his home, and if she named them, that would draw fatal consequences down on Floyd. She could only hold her peace and let matters take their course. At any rate, she did not intend to go to school. Now she cast a quick glance at Ann; but kept her eyes studiously from Horace. Noting Miss Shellington's entreating face, Fledra flung out her hands.
"I didn't want to be mean," she said quickly; "but I want you to let me stay home today. Can I? Please, can I?"
"There! I knew that you'd apologize to my sister," Horace said, smiling.