"And gran' was sick and I thought she'd like some of the trout," continued the girl. "She's got rheumatics and can't work this week, you know."
"But wouldn't it have been better to ask?" queried Mrs. Ellison, kindly. "Didn't you feel kind of as though it was wrong, eating something you had no right to take?"
"I didn't," answered the girl, promptly. "I didn't eat any. I was going to, though, till gran' said what she did—"
"Then you haven't had anything to eat to-day?" asked Mrs. Ellison, feeling a sudden moisture in her own eyes.
"No," said the girl.
"And what makes your dress so wet? Did you fall in?"
"No-o-o," exclaimed the girl. "I swam the pool. And I did it all the way under water. I didn't think I could, and I almost died holding my breath so long. But I did it."
There was a touch of pride in her tone.
"James," said Mrs. Ellison. "Leave her to me. I'll say all that's needed, I don't think she'll do it again."
"Indeed I won't—truly," said Bess Thornton.