"What's the trouble?" inquired Mrs. Arnold, calmly.
"Why, you see, ma'am," replied the housekeeper, "Mary is bent on wearing her new, pink bonnet to school, and I tell her she mustn't do it. Her old one is good enough."
"Let me see the old one," said Mrs. Arnold. She spoke in a very pleasant tone of voice.
A neat, straw bonnet, with plain, unsoiled trimming, was brought forth by the housekeeper, who remarked:
"It's good enough to wear Sundays, for that matter."
"I don't care if it is, I'm not going to wear it today. So don't bother yourself any more about it."
"Oh, yes, Mary, you will," said Mrs. Arnold, very kindly, yet firmly.
"No, I won't!" was the quick, resolute answer. And she gazed, unflinchingly, into the face of her step-mother.
"I'll call your father, my young lady! This is beyond all endurance!" said the housekeeper, starting for the door.
"Hannah!" The mild, even voice of Mrs. Arnold checked the excited housekeeper. "Don't speak of it to her father,—I'm sure she doesn't mean what she says. She'll think better of it in a moment."