"Coming, papa," and a girl a little younger than Patty ran down stairs just as Mrs. Miller came out of the parlor door.
"I'm sorry you won't go with us, Anna," said Mr. Mason to her.
"I'm sorry too," said Mrs. Miller, "but as I'm my own cook I must stay at home, or you'd starve when you got back."
"I tell you what, Anna, you put yourself up at auction, and I'll bid you in at any price, and then I'll be sure of good cooking for the rest of my life."
Mrs. Miller laughed and shook her head wisely. "Well, you see, Tom, I might die. If I couldn't run away I might take that gleam of liberty."
"Oh, what a fanatic you are!" he laughed.
"Oh, there's Mr. Holman coming in!" said Patty. "I'll run to meet him, for he don't like our steep path."
"Is that your old clergyman?" said Mr. Mason.
"Our minister," said Mrs. Miller. "He likes the old name, and he is a minister, truly. He has probably come for John to go to see somebody who is sick and poor."
"That's a pretty fair partnership, I reckon," said Mr. Mason. "But John is always caring for the lame and the lazy."