Catherine rose abruptly and hurried into the kitchen.
"Buy one, Amelia," she said. "Good morning, Earle."
"Well, he's got cod and haddock and hake." Amelia was stern.
"Haddock," said Catherine. "There's change there in my purse."
When she came back to the porch, Letty was not in sight, nor did she answer Catherine's call. Her red pail lay beside the sand pile.
"Oh, damn!" thought Catherine, as she flung her pen on to the table and started in quest of Letty. "If I don't find her, I'll regret it. Letty! Mother wants you!"
Incredible that those small legs could travel so fast. Catherine peeked into the poultry yard. Last week she had found Letty there, trying to catch an indignant rooster. But Letty seldom repeated.
As she rounded the corner of the house, she saw the child, and her own heart contracted terribly. Letty was lying on her stomach on a broad stone, part of the well curb, her small yellow head out of sight, her heels in the air.
"Who left that cover off! If I call her, I may startle her——"