Dolly ran over to her sister repentantly. “Betty, I meant nothing. I could not understand his tarrying, that was all. It is because he is going that you have looked so sober lately.�
“Yes,� said Elizabeth, burying her face in her blue apron. Dolly stared. She never cried herself, and never had she seen her sister cry, save when their father died. Something of the solemn feeling she had then had now silenced her, and she stood smoothing Elizabeth’s hand until the girl looked up.
“There, Dolly, get to work,� she said, “and be glad you are not old enough to understand.�
Dolly went pouting to her work—at fourteen she didn’t like being thought young! Presently something diverted her thoughts. It was a hollow rod, eight feet long and an inch in diameter, with a queer mouth and ear-piece at each end—an old-time courting-stick that had belonged to her grandmother. Dolly held it across to Elizabeth, her face dimpling with mischief.
“Try it, Betty!� she pleaded. “I want to see if it sounds as well as ever.�
Elizabeth held it to her ear, while Dolly’s saucy lips touched the other end. “Betty,� she whispered, “are you not glad that you and John don’t have to use this stick?� Elizabeth dropped it impatiently.
“You heard,� Dolly said innocently. “That was what I desired to know. But you might have said something to me!�
When Elizabeth’s color came and went, as now, there was no girl like her in the village. Indeed, at all times she was prettiest, thought loyal Dolly, studying her next day, as they all walked to meeting—Elizabeth in a sprigged muslin and a bonnet with rose-colored ribbons. How beautiful she looked as she went to the singers’ seats! John Thurlow sat there, too.
By turning a little in the pew, Dolly could see the singers’ seats, and half the congregation as well. So of course she saw Eunice Winter come in, and with her a strange young man, who soon perceived the pretty face under the rose-colored ribbons, and glanced at it frequently.
Sometimes Dolly changed her position and studied the queer old pulpit, with its winding stairs and the roofing overhead. There was a loft in the roof, and squirrels and birds came in there. Suddenly Dolly gave a start, and a look of delight shone in her eyes. After that she heard not even the Parson’s “Finally,� and only came to herself when the people rose to depart. Then she pulled her sister’s dress.