"But I wouldn't go into it to visit with anybody that didn't come to see me," said Mildred, with a determined effort to keep down her rising anger.
"Well, I guess they're about as likely to want to see me as any o' the rest; and if they don't they'd ought to. So there!"
"But you have your work to attend to."
"The work can wait. And the rest o' you's got plenty to do too."
The only remedy was to keep Viny busy in the kitchen while some of the family watched the doors into the streets and admitted visitors.
Even this stratagem sometimes failed and they could only console themselves that the visitors understood the situation.
"Ain't you goin' to call on the Keiths?" asked Gotobed Lightcap at the dinner table one day about the middle of the week.
"Who? me?" queried his mother; then pushing away her empty plate, and resting her elbow on the table, her chin in her hand, while she looked reflectively off into vacancy. "Well, I s'pose a body'd ought to be neighborly, and I'm as willin' to do my part as the next one; but there's always a sight of work to do at home; and then I feel kinder backward 'bout callin' on 'em; they live so fine, you know; Viny Apple says they use real silver spoons and eat off real chaney every day; an' that's more'n we can do when we have company."
"Well, old woman, I guess the victuals don't taste no better for bein' eat off them things," responded her husband, cheerfully, passing his empty cup.
"Maybe. And they don't have no tea nor coffee for dinner, Viny says. I think it's real stingy."