"You're not going to. The lady who lives here is going to take care of you."
"Miss Evelina? She got burned because she was bad and she has to wear a veil all the time."
"How was she bad?" asked Ralph.
"I don't just know," whispered Araminta, cautiously. "Aunt Hitty didn't know, or else she wouldn't tell me, but she was bad. She went to a man's house. She——"
Then Araminta remembered that it was Doctor Dexter's house to which
Miss Evelina had gone. In shame and terror, she hid her face again.
"I don't believe anybody ever got burned just for being bad," Ralph was saying, "but your face is hot and I'm going to cool it for you."
He brought a bowl of cold water, and with his handkerchief bathed Araminta's flushed face and her hot hands. "Doesn't that feel good?" he asked, when the traces of tears had been practically removed.
"Yes," sighed Araminta, gratefully, "but I've always washed my own face before. I saw a cat once," she continued. "He was washing his children's faces."
"Must have been a lady cat," observed Ralph, with a smile.
"The little cats," pursued Araminta, "looked to be very soft. I think they liked it."