g back the tears for her poor sore face smarted at the touch
of salt. "And I bleached all the brown off, Hugh; only it is so
sore."

"My dear child!" he said in amazement. Then added, "What did you put
on your face, dear?"

"Well, you see, I wanted it to be real white," said Sarah, sure that
he would understand, "so I used a cucumber and buttermilk and a
lemon and I scrubbed it afterward with pumice stone."

They stared at her a moment in silence.

"It's a wonder you have any face left," declared Winnie. "I missed
the buttermilk from the refrigerator."

Doctor Hugh said little then, but he took Sarah into the office and
put something healing on the red little face. Then he explained that
Aunt Trudy had only been teasing her, and that tan was pleasing to
most people because it showed that the owner of the face liked to be
outdoors. He allowed Sarah to go with him on his rounds that morning
and so saved her the ordeal of going to school to meet the
inevitable questions about her face. And, after the girls were in
bed that night, he "spoke his mind" as Winnie said, to her and Aunt
Trudy.

"I'd rather have her tanned as black as a piece of leather," he
concluded, "than to be fussing with 'creams' and bleaching lotions.
For goodness sake, don't bother her about her looks for at least ten
years. She'll begin soon enough."

So Sarah gardened to her heart's content without a hat, and in time
the seeds planted made a creditable showing. The doctor spent
several evenings figuring and at last decided they might afford to
have the house painted. He chose a deep cream color, after many
family consultations, combined with a soft brown and when it was
finished every one was pleased and sure that the little mother, for
whom it was really done, would be equally delighted.

It did seem a waste of sunshine to be obliged to be cooped up in
school during such enchanting weather, but it was impossible to
convince the trustees of this. The three Willis girls had to be
content with spending every hour out of school in the open air. Jack
Welles was also gardening and though he gloomily spoke of the
weeding to come, he taught the girls many things about planting and
showed them how to care for the shrubbery that Doctor Hugh had sent
out from the nearest nursery and had small time to care for himself.

"Mother does love roses so," said Rosemary once, "and Hugh is
determined to surprise her with a lot of new bushes."

"Is that why yo