"Well," Letty went on, "I wonder what the Hazens'll do. It'd cost an awful sight to repair that house; almost as much as to build a new one. What insurance did you hear they had? Has Patty said?—This skirt is about ready to try on, Alicia. I want to drape it real nice. Can't you stand on the table?"
She spread a folded newspaper on the top of the table.
"There! Now, you won't mar the top. Take your skirt right off and climb up."
Mrs. Upjohn was a heavy woman and she obeyed with some difficulty. Miss Lambkin continued in her pursuit of information while she draped the skirt.
"You haven't answered about the insurance, Alicia. What did Patty say about it? I don't suppose Patty'd know exactly and I wouldn't trust her guess anyway. John Hazen never seemed to, to any extent. Patty's kind o' flighty, isn't she, and cracked on the men, although you wouldn't think it from her highty-tighty manner. She used to think she was going to marry Meriwether Beatty, I remember. Land! He had no more idea of marrying her than I had. And she's been cracked on every man that's more'n spoken to her since. She's got the symptoms of nervous prostration; all the signs of it. I shouldn't be a bit surprised if she went crazy, one o' these days. If Doctor Sanderson is looking for patients for his sanitarium he needn't look any farther. Patty's it. Turn around, Alicia. I don't get a good light on the other side. Why, Patty's—"
Mrs. Upjohn had heard the front door shut. "Sh-h-h!" she cautioned. "Here's Patty now."
They heard Patty come slowly up the stairs and, although there were no sounds of it, she seemed to be weeping.
"Now, I wonder," whispered Miss Lambkin, "what's the matter. Do you s'pose her—"
"Sh, Letty! She'll hear you. I'll get down and go to her."
"Without a skirt, Alicia?"