"And be shocked at what we don't know, and what we do do, and what we haven't seen and learned. I dare him just to say 'abroad' to me!" cried Kate, with a flash in her eye.
A chorus of groans went up from the indignant assemblage.
"Aunt Anne," put in Frank, a bit puzzled, "says he's the savior of the fam'ly. What's a—"
"The savior of the family! The savior!" mocked Sissy, genuflecting sarcastically. "The savior of the family will have you sent to a convent, Split, 'where young ladies are taught to behave properly.' The savior'll get a nursemaid for you, Frank, and you'll have to go about always holding her hand and wearing socks in the English style that'll show your bare, naked legs and—"
"I won't! I won't!" Tears of terror stood in Frank's eyes.
"The savior'll put a stop, Fom, to your—Kate Madigan, are you changing your dress?" Sissy's voice fell suddenly, and she put the question in a calm, magisterial tone that sent every eye in the room on a query toward the eldest Madigan.
Kate turned at bay. She had slipped off her waist, and the red was flushing her long throat and small, spirited face. "Well, miss, suppose I am?" she demanded hotly.
"She always changes her dress for dinner, you know," came in a sarcastic sneer from Split. "She wants to show our dear cousin how swell we are. We all wear low-necked rigs, and father has his swallowtail, and—"
"Shall I bring you the curling-iron, Kathy?" mocked Sissy.
"Don't you want a rose for your hair, Kathleen?"