"Too bright," sighed Tabitha, somewhat sarcastically, Gloriana thought.
"He is bright!" championed the younger girl warmly. "This morning I happened to overhear him teasing the girls at play under the kitchen window, and he declared that it was a mistake for Inez and Irene to be twins; that it should have been Susie and Inez, and then their names would have been Suez and Inez."
Tabitha smiled in spite of herself, then said heatedly, "But he is so mean about it! To-day while you were at the bakery and he thought I had gone for the mail, I heard a commotion in the yard, and what do you suppose I found him doing?"
Gloriana shook her head.
"He had the girls and Rosslyn lined up by the woodpile and was making them carry in his wood. Even little Janie was loaded down with two immense sticks, so heavy she could hardly toddle with them."
"What did you do?"
"Made them drop their loads right where they were, and he had to carry it all in by himself."
"Without even Toady's help?"
"All by himself!" repeated Tabitha emphatically.
"I am afraid—we are not apt—to——"