Two
were boys and two girls.

"Jim, Ken, Kitty and June," said Alec glibly. "For goodness' sake, do
keep still," he admonished the children. "Can't you see we have
company?"

Richard, who evidently felt at home, had gone on into the kitchen with
the pail of water and came out in time to hear Alec's remark.

"We're not company," he said quickly. "We're neighbors."

Shirley, after staring a few seconds at Kitty, began to talk to her as
though she were an old friend. Sarah went over to look at the cow and
Jim and Ken followed her. The baby, June, climbed into Rosemary's lap
and sat quietly there.

"She never goes to strangers," marveled Louisa, leaning over to
straighten out the crumpled little skirts. "Look Alec, she likes her."

Alec was looking and so was Richard. Rosemary made a pretty picture
there in the sunlight, her lovely vivid face turned to Louisa, her arms
about the tousled little figure on her knees.

"It's so nice to have a girl of my own age to talk to," Louisa said
appreciatively. "I never have time to go down to town any more and I
don't see the girls I used to know."

"But in the winter?" suggested Rosemary, "You go to school, winters,
don't you?"

Louisa's lips tightened.

"I didn't last winter and I don't intend to this," she announced with
curious defiance. "There's no one to take care of the children except
Alec and me. We tried taking turns staying home, but neither one of us
could learn much that way so we gave it up."

Richard had come over, so he said, to borrow a file and presently he
declared he must get back to work. June was handed back to Louisa,
Sarah summoned from her lecture on pigs--to which the boys were giving
rapt attention, and Shirley, with difficulty, detached from Kitty and a
dilapidated rope swing.

"You'll come over and see us, won't you?" said Rosemary eagerly.

"No," interposed Alec, standing straight and tall beside his sister.

The monosyllable sounded ungracious but Rosemary, looking at Alec, saw
that he did not mean to be discourteous. He looked a little unhappy, a
little shy, a bit afraid, even. And Louisa's blue eyes were wistful.

"Then we'll come see you," promised Rosemary gravely.

"I'm glad you said that," approved Richard, leading the way down the
road. "Alec never goes anywhere that he doesn't have to and Louisa is
getting to be just like him. First thing those kids know, they'll be
queer."

"Am I queer?" asked Sarah in sudden