eprived of his
fair share of nourishment was bony and far from prepossessing.
Rosemary had no desire to touch him, but Shirley was fascinated and she
and Sarah put him to bed in the box and covered him up with all the
care and devotion they had hitherto showered on dolls. As Richard
observed, when he came to tell them he was starting for the Gay farm,
even a pig could be killed by kindness.

"Mother said she'd get me a bottle for him," babbled Sarah as she
emerged clean and damp from Winnie's polishing and joined Richard on
the step. "Hugh is going to take her to Bennington this morning and
she'll buy it then. And I can bring him up by hand and teach him
tricks. His name is--what is a good name for him, Richard?"

"Napoleon Bonaparte," supplied Richard with mischievous promptness.
"You can call him 'Bony' for short, you know."

The practicality of this suggestion charmed Sarah beyond words, and the
pig was immediately christened. "Bony" he became in that hour and
"Bony" he remained, with the use of his full name on state occasions,
long after he was as plump as any of his more fortunate brothers and
sisters.

"Where do the Gays live?" asked Rosemary, when she and Shirley had
joined the two sponsors and they were all walking over the field that
led to the back road.

"Their land joins Rainbow Hill," returned Richard, "and if I had my
way, we'd be better neighbors. The Gays are hard up and proud and the
Hildreths are busy and like to keep to themselves. I don't know now
whether Louisa and Alec will be glad to see me bringing three strangers
to meet 'em, but my honest opinion is they need someone to say 'Hello'
and be friendly without prying."

Rosemary looked at him speculatively.

"Perhaps Mother had better go to see Mrs. Gay first," she suggested,
with a little touch of her mother's own generalship.

"There isn't any Mrs. Gay," said Richard soberly. "They're
orphans--all six of 'em. And Warren and I have it figured out that
grown people frighten them--Louisa and Alec shut up like clams when
they meet anyone in town. They won't think you and Sarah and Shirley
mean to boss their affairs. Maybe they'll be friends with you."

The three girls drew closer to Richard as they approached a
tumbled-down fence. Six year old Shirley expressed, in a measure,
their feelings when she stopped Richard as he attempted to lift her
over, with the observation that she had never seen an orphan.

"An orphan hasn't any