is gossiping, Aunt Hitty?" she asked in a
timid, awe-struck tone.

"Talking about folks," explained Miss Hitty. "Tellin' things about
'em they wouldn't tell themselves."

It occurred to Araminta that much of the conversation at the
crossroads might appropriately be classed under that head, but, of
course, Aunt Hitty knew what she was talking about. She remembered
the last quilting Aunt Hitty had given, when the Ladies' Aid Society
had been invited, en masse, to finish off the quilt Araminta's
rebellious fingers had just completed. One of the ladies had been
obliged to leave earlier than the rest, and----

"I don't believe," thought Araminta, "that Mrs. Gardner would have
told how her son ran away from home, nor that she didn't dust her bed
slats except at house-cleaning time, nor that they ate things other
people would give to the pigs."

"I expect there'll be a lot of questions asked about Evelina,"
observed Miss Mehitable, breaking in rudely upon Araminta's train of
thought, "as soon 's folks finds out she's come back to live here,
and that she has to wear a veil all the time, even when she doesn't
wear her hat. What I'm telling you for is to show you what happens
to women that haven't sense enough to keep away from men. If Evelina
'd kept away from Doctor Dexter, she wouldn't have got burnt."

"Did Doctor Dexter burn her?" asked Araminta, breathlessly. "I
thought it was God."

At the psychological moment, Doctor Dexter drove by, bowing to Miss
Mehitable as he passed. Araminta had observed that this particular
event always flustered her aunt.

"Maybe, it was God and maybe it was Doctor Dexter," answered Miss
Mehitable, quickly. "That's something there don't nobody know except
Evelina and Doctor Dexter, and it's not for me to ask either one of
'em, though I don't doubt some of the sewin' society 'll make an
errand to Evelina's to find out. I've got to keep 'em off 'n her, if
I can, and that's a big job for one woman to tackle.

"Anyhow, she got burnt and got burnt awful, and it was at his house
that it happened. It was shameless, the way Evelina carried on.
Why, if you'll believe me, she'd actually go to his house when there
wa'n't no need of it--nobody sick, nor no medicine to be bought, nor
anything. Some said they was goin' to be married."

The scorn which Miss Mehitable managed to throw into the word
"married" indicated that the state was the crowning ignominy of the
race. The girl's cheek f