one bruises, torn garments and other calamities incident to boyhood
were always carried to their mother, while, as Laura often said, Hugh
made himself a regular oak-tree for Ivy to twine around.

No further remarks were made on the subject, however, and the two girls
started side by side on their way to a shady spot near home, to spend a
few hours of the hot afternoon.

The wind caught them rather sharply at a street corner and Ivy's
endeavors to balance her crutches while holding her hat in place
renewed her irritation.

"If some people had troubles like this, they would have room to
preach," she cried.

"I'm sure I never thought of preaching," returned Laura stiffly. "But
there's no use always harping on one's own trials and thinking nobody
else has any!"

"Meaning me, of course! Anyway, I don't care to play this afternoon.
I think I'll go home," said Ivy, turning away with crimsoning cheeks.

Laura gave a backward glance at the haughty little maid hurrying along
as fast as she could, while the wind sent the mop of curls flying
around her head in all directions.

For a few moments she stared blankly down the street, half expecting
Ivy to turn around, but she failed to do so, and Laura, with a
heightened sense of injury, went on her way intending to take the first
side-street home.

But the longer the distance grew between herself and Ivy, the unhappier
she became, the more she repented her harsh words. It was really no
wonder that Ivy had thought them unfeeling at a time, especially, when
she was already upset by her encounter with Lafe. Perhaps, too, this
was one of Ivy's bad days when the least contradiction irritated her.

In this strain ran Laura's thoughts and the longer she pondered, the
slower she walked until at last she came to a standstill.

It was right at the top of a hilly street which commanded a fine view.
In the distance were the blue shadows of mountains; the river swept
along between green-verdured hills; a steamboat with lowered stacks was
passing beneath the bridge that hung like a black line connecting the
east and west sides of the town. Overhead shone the midday sun in a
sky of cloudless blue, but nature spread her canvas all in vain for
Laura. Another time she would have paused to drink in the beauty of
the scene, to follow with admiring eyes the movements of the boat
which, brave in a new coat of paint, swept along in a wake of billowing
foam, but to-day she stood unheeding.