“Ef I doan git erlong any fas’er dan you all dese dishes gwine ter be heah twel Chrismus,” grumbled the darkey. “An’ some-body’s muss’d my floah.”
Peggy gave a startled glance at the sand, where telltale traces of her cousin’s presence were plainly in evidence. From the entry door to the kitchen were tracks of snow, and on the sand in the kitchen there were wet spots where the snow had melted. Clearly they must be obliterated.
“I’ll fix the floor, Sukey,” she said, beginning to brush up the wet sand. “Sally, bring some dry sand from the box, please, and we will have this fixed in a jiffy. Thee must not expect thy floor to keep just so, Sukey, when there is so much company.”
Presently, the floor resanded and the entry way swept, the two girls started for the sitting-room. Peggy was thoughtful and Sally too, for the nonce, was silent.
“Clifford will be all right where he is for a short time,” mused Peggy. “If he has to stay there for any length of time, though, ’twill be most uncomfortable. I wonder if it would not be best to consult with mother? Perchance she could think of some way out of the difficulty.”
She brightened at the thought, and just then Sally opened the door of the sitting-room. Mr. Owen was in his great easy chair with his wife, and Mrs. Johnson sitting near, interested listeners to some narrative. The young people had withdrawn to the far side of the apartment and formed a little group by themselves, of which Betty was the center. She was giving an animated account of a recent assembly, and the youths were so absorbed in the recital that they did not hear the two girls approach. A smile came to Peggy’s lips.
“Why, Betty is in truth a belle, Sally,” she whispered. “How pretty she hath grown! That gown doth indeed become her as thee said. It may be that we tease her too much, for she is of a certainty entertaining. I have never seen Fairfax so interested.”
Betty caught sight of them before Sally could reply.
“Have ye come at last?” she cried. “I thought thee was never coming, Peggy. It is not treating us right to leave us alone so long. And what does thee think? Sally talks of going home. Has she told thee?”