once?" said her aunt.

"Have a good time?" asked her father.

"Yes, it was a fine sale, a real old-fashioned one."

But Aunt Maria was impatient for her supper. "Hurry," she said, "and get
washed to eat. I have everything out and it'll get cold, then it ain't
good. Did Phares like the sale? What did he have to say?"

"Um, guess he liked it," said the girl with a shrug of her shoulders.
"It's hard to tell what he likes--he's such a queer person. He said he's
going to baptize the second Sunday of June and asked me if I want to
come with the others."

"He did!" Aunt Maria could not keep the eagerness out of her voice.
"Well, let's sit down and eat."

After a short grace she turned to the girl. "Now then," she said as she
helped herself generously to sausage and potatoes and handed the dishes
across the table to Phoebe, "tell us about it."

"There isn't much to tell. I just told him that I can't renounce the
pleasures of the world before I had a chance to take hold of them. I'm
not ready yet to dress plain."

"Why aren't you ready?" asked the woman.

"Ach, don't ask me," Phoebe replied, speaking lightly in an effort to
conceal her real feeling. "I just didn't come to that state yet. I want
some more fun and pleasure before I think only of serious things."

"You're just like a big baby," her aunt said impatiently. "You can hurt
a good man like Phares Eby and come home and laugh about it."

"Now, Maria," interposed the father, "let her laugh; she'll meet with
crying soon enough, I guess."

But the woman could not be easily silenced. "Some day, Phoebe, you'll
wish you'd been nicer to Phares."

"Why, I am nice to him."

"Well, anyhow, I think it's soon time you give up the world and its
vanities," said Aunt Maria.

The girl's teasing mood fled. "I think," she said slowly, "that the
plain dress should not be worn by any one who does not realize all that
the dress stands for. If I ever turn plain I'll do so because I feel it
is the right thing to do, but just now vanity and the love of pretty
clothes are still in my heart."

After the meal was over the women washed the dishes while Jacob went out
to attend to the evening milking. Later, when the poultry houses and
stables were locked he returned to the kitchen and read the weekly
paper. After a while he turned to Phoebe.

"Will you sing for me this evening?" he asked.

"Yes," came the ready response.

"Then make the door shut," Aunt Maria directed as they