Had it been some weighty document of state she could not have been more particular, and fully two hours were spent before the labor was completed.
"Took me a long while, didn't it?" she asked on coming into the yard once more. "I believe I've told Abner the whole story, and we'll soon know if the baby's parents are yet alive."
"Shall I carry it to the post-office?"
"Mercy! no. It is in Treat's store, and I couldn't think of letting you take that long walk again to-day."
"It won't hurt me a bit."
"You must stay here quietly with me, and to-morrow perhaps you shall go. There is plenty of time, and who knows if Abner is home now; he's a master hand at gadding about, which accounts for his being so poor. I've always told him that 'a rolling stone gathers no moss,' but he laughs it off by saying he doesn't want to be moss-grown."
Chapter X.
SICKNESS.
Now that the important letter had been written, Aunt Nancy was in no hurry to mail it.
She acted very much as if believing the children would be lost to her immediately after Abner learned the news, and it was simply a case of "deferring the evil day."