wide as "a hustler" and she
had been known to do a large washing and baking in the morning and
drive the hay rake in the field in the afternoon on occasions when her
husband was short of help. It was a pity her voice was so loud and
rasping, but then not everyone is sensitive to voices.

"I guess you'll find everything about ready for your supper," said Mrs.
Hildreth when Doctor Hugh had introduced Sarah and Shirley and Winnie,
the three members of the party she had not met previously. "I brought
up a pail of strawberries--they'll be better next week. Mrs. Hammond
said you were to have half the garden, same as they did. The butter
may be a little soft, but Joe will get you a piece of ice in the
morning at the creamery. We weren't sure you'd get here to-day, so I
didn't order it."

With a few more confidences, directed mainly to Winnie, she went back
to her own house--an attractive story and a half bungalow just visible
from the side porch, and the Willis family were free to take possession
of Rainbow Hill.

"Isn't it darling!" Rosemary kept exclaiming. "Aren't the rugs
pretty--and the white curtains! Wait till you see the rooms upstairs."

In spite of Winnie's warning that supper would be ready in fifteen
minutes and Doctor Hugh's declaration that he must go back to Eastshore
as soon as the meal was over, it was impossible to refrain from running
upstairs for a peep at the second story. There was a large and airy
bedroom for the mother, a connecting room which was allotted to
Rosemary and across the hall a smaller room with twin beds which would,
it was instantly decided, "fit" Sarah and Shirley. Next to this was
the guest room which Doctor Hugh would occupy during his visits, and at
the other end of the hall, next to the shining blue and white tiled
bathroom, a square room with two windows and a narrow balcony that
delighted Winnie.

"There's no nicer place to dry your hair," she explained seriously to
Mrs. Willis. "I can sit out there and darn stockings while my hair is
drying."

The trunks and one or two boxes, packed with necessary possessions
mostly of a personal nature, had been sent on ahead in the morning and
were already in the halls. The house was tastefully furnished
throughout and Mrs. Willis assured her son that as soon as she had
rearranged a few trifles and had unpacked her treasures she was sure
she would feel contented and at home.

"I want to go everywhere!" declared Sarah, subsidi