I shall want the mahogany,
too."

"Well, we didn't know," explained Mrs. Dix, with dignity. "We got
those pieces instead of the money we'd ought to have had from the
estate. There was a big crowd at the auction, I remember; but nobody
really wanted to pay anything for the old furniture. A good deal of
it had come out of folks' attics in the first place."

"I shall be glad to pay three hundred dollars for the mahogany bed
and bureau," said Lydia. "And for the little white set--"

"I don't care to part with my furniture," said Fanny Dodge, her
pretty round chin uplifted.

She was taller than Lydia, and appeared to be looking over her head
with an intent stare at the freshly papered wall beyond.

"For pity sake!" exclaimed her mother sharply. "Why, Fanny, you could
buy a brand new set, an' goodness knows what-all with the money.
What's the matter with you?"

"I know just how Fanny feels about having her room changed," put in
Ellen Dix, with a spirited glance at the common enemy. "There are
things that money can't buy, but some people don't seem to think so."

Lydia's blue eyes had clouded swiftly.

"If you'll come into the library," she said, "we'll have some
lemonade. It's so very warm I'm sure we are all thirsty."

She did not speak of the furniture again, and after a little the
visitors rose to go. Mrs. Dodge lingered behind the others to
whisper:

"I'm sure I don't know what got into my Fanny. Only the other day she
was wishing she might have her room done over, with new furniture and
all. I'll try and coax her."

But Lydia shook her head.

"Please don't," she said. "I want that furniture very much; but--I
know there are things money can't buy."

"Mebbe you wouldn't want it, if you was t' see it," was Mrs. Dodge's
honest opinion. "It's all turned yellow, an' the pink flowers are
mostly rubbed off. I remember it was real pretty when we first got
it. It used to belong to Mrs. Bolton's little girl. I don't know as
anybody's told you, but they had a little girl. My! what an awful
thing for a child to grow up to! I've often thought of it. But mebbe
she didn't live to grow up. None of us ever heard."

"Mother!" called Fanny, from the front seat of the carryall. "We're
waiting for you."

"In a minute, Fanny," said Mrs. Dodge.... "Of course you can have
that table I spoke of, Miss Orr, and anything else I can find in the
attic, or around. An' I was thinking if you was to come down to the
Ladies' Aid on Fri