"Aunt Caroline, is there a skeleton in your closet?"
Miss Herrick did not reply, and her sister came to the rescue.
"What on earth do you mean, Elizabeth? Where did you get hold of that expression?"
"I read it in a book, and I thought it meant a real skeleton, all bones and ugly skull, standing up in the people's closet—the people in the book, I mean. I asked Miss Rice, and she said it was a family secret, something not at all pleasant, and most families had them. It seems a very strange thing to call a secret. But I was wondering if our family had one. Is there a skeleton in our closet?"
"Do be quiet, Elizabeth, and do not discuss family affairs before the servants. It is bad form."
"Oh!" said Elizabeth. "Very well. I will wait until another time; but I should like to know some time. There is something else I want to talk about, and if you don't mind, Aunt Caroline, I should like to now. You see, I don't have much chance to ask you things."
"You certainly make the most of every opportunity," returned her aunt. "What is it now?"
"It is about the Bradys."
"And who are the Bradys?"