"Do you think you could take care of Louis a little while this forenoon?"
"Of course I can. Are you going visitin'?"
"Yes; I intend to see if something can't be done to prevent those wretched boys from carrying on in this manner."
"But, Aunt Nancy—"
"Now don't say a word, Jack dear. Things were very much like this last summer when I hired a boy from Portland, and no one can tell what might have happened if he hadn't run away. I know it is wrong to get angry, but I can't help it. Seems to me I am growing more wicked every day; yesterday I just the same as told a lie, and last night I did not control my angry passions."
"But, Aunt Nancy—"
"Don't try to argue with me, or I shall get worse. I am going to see Mr. Dean at once, and you must keep house till I come back."
Louis's guardian realized that words would be worse than useless at such a time, and he wisely refrained from speaking, while Aunt Nancy, as if trying hard to keep her temper within bounds, did the morning work in ominous silence.
When the last duty had been performed, she directed Jack to take the baby out under the old oak, and then disappeared for half an hour or more, at the end of which time she reappeared dressed with scrupulous neatness, but in the quaintest of fashions.
"I sha'n't be away more than an hour; and if any of those boys show themselves, be sure to go into the house with Louis at once."