“Oh, mother, he ain’t going to build another barn?”

“That’s what he says.”

A boy stood before the kitchen glass combing his hair. He combed slowly and painstakingly, arranging his brown hair in a smooth hillock over his forehead. He did not seem to pay any attention to the conversation.

“Sammy, did you know father was going to build a new barn?” asked the girl.

The boy combed assiduously.

“Sammy!”

He turned, and showed a face like his father’s under his smooth crest of hair. “Yes, I s’pose I did,” he said, reluctantly.

“How long have you known it?” asked his mother.

“‘Bout three months, I guess.”

“Why didn’t you tell of it?”