“‘Well, sleep on it, and if you feel the same in the morning you shall stay with Mother and Nanny may go.’
“I wakened at daylight to find Mother standing beside my bed.
“‘Are you awake, Sarah?’ she asked. ‘They are all up but you.’
“I sat up in bed dazed. I could hear the girls rushing around in their room. From the kitchen came the rattle of dishes and out in the barn the boys were whistling. Suddenly I remembered. It was the Fourth of July!
“‘I haven’t changed my mind, Mother,’ I said yawning sleepily.
“Mother bent down and kissed me before going to tell Nanny. At first Nanny would not hear of it and left off getting breakfast to come and tell me so. I pretended to be too sleepy to talk, so Nanny, urged by Mother, finally went away to get ready, and Mother went down to finish getting the breakfast.
“But I wasn’t a bit sleepy a little later when I jumped out of bed to watch them start.
“Father and Aggie sat on the front seat of the surrey, and Belle, Nanny, and Charlie on the back seat, while Joe, Stanley, and Truman rode horseback. They all looked very fine and grand to me dressed in their best clothes, and I choked back a sob as they drove down the road and out of sight.