ey drove away from the door, with
Victor snugly tucked in between them, while Allie, with the boys and
Ben, stood on the piazza, to wave them a good-by. The children lingered
there until the wagon was out of sight; then they turned back into the
house, feeling very important over the prospect of two days of
housekeeping on their own account.

But, after all their anticipations, the morning did not prove to be
quite as enjoyable as they had hoped it would be. Marjorie had been
invited to spend the day with them; but, unfortunately, Marjorie was in
one of her perverse fits, and so successfully devoted herself to the
task of being disagreeable that Allie was at her wits' end how to manage
her; Howard openly quarrelled with her, and even Charlie, the courteous,
marched out of the room and slammed the door behind him, while he sang,
with tantalizing distinctness,--

"'Oh, jimineddy! And oh, goody gracious!
How I did love her! But she was contumacious.'"

This last insult was too much for Marjorie to bear, for, in her secret
heart, she greatly admired Charlie, and longed to have him for her ally
and champion, instead of being forced to watch his unswerving devotion
to his cousin. As the door closed behind him, she flew after him, to
deliver herself of one parting shot,--

"Charlie MacGregor, I de-test you! You're no gentleman, even if you do
think you are; and I only hope you'll get what you deserve for being so
rude to me, when I'm company."

Then the door banged again with even greater violence than before, and
Marjorie burst out crying, as she put on her hat and departed, without a
word to Allie.

Her irate guest once gone, Allie moved up and down the rooms, putting
them in order with much the same dazed feeling as that which comes in
the sudden hush that sometimes follows a violent thunder-shower. The
more she pondered on the events of the morning, she could not see that
either she herself or the two boys were in any way to blame for
Marjorie's explosion, and as she forlornly sat down to the lunch table,
she felt as if she were in part realizing the truth of Janey's
prediction. However, she was too much accustomed to Marjorie's sudden
fits of temper, and too well acquainted with her really kind heart, to
dwell long upon the matter; so before the meal was ended she was gayly
laughing with the boys, and planning for the next day's frolic.

"Come out and have a ride, Allie," urged Charlie, as they left the
t