The door opened to admit a pretty little girl with flaxen curls, just now sadly awry; and the eye of Mrs. Armstrong saw instantly that Kate had certainly been indulging in a good cry, something she was seldom guilty of doing, being possessed of a sunny disposition very like her mother's, though perhaps she had also a dash of her father's peppery nature.
At sight of the family Kate was unable to restrain her feelings any longer, for again the tears began to flow down her rosy cheeks.
"Why, Kate, my child, what has happened? Why are you here, when your duty is at the Hodgkins?" asked Mrs. Armstrong, hastening to throw a reassuring arm around the shoulders of the slight figure that was shaking with emotion.
The girl looked up, the tears shining in her blue eyes. There was also a flash of temper to be seen there, and evidently Kate had been recently aroused to a point where she could stand things no longer.
"I am done with the Hodgkins," she cried, stamping her little foot on the clay floor; "I will never go back there again! I hate them, every one! Oh! it was so mean, so cowardly to say that!"
Mrs. Armstrong turned pale, and her husband said something under his breath, as they exchanged uneasy glances.
"Tell us, what did they dare say to you?" demanded Sandy, gritting his teeth.
"They mocked me, and said my father was a barn-burner!" sobbed the girl, bitterly.