r marm keep her china? I want to put this with it,"
said Mrs. Nichols to Anna, who, uncertain what reply to make, looked
at Carrie to answer for her.

"I reckon mother don't want that old stuff stuck into her
china-closet," said Carrie, elevating her nose to a height wholly
satisfactory to John Jr., who unbuttoned one of his waistband buttons
to give himself room to laugh.

"Mortal sakes alive! I wonder if she don't," returned Mrs. Nichols,
beginning to get an inkling of Carrie's character, and the estimation
in which her valuables were held.

"Here's a nice little cupboard over the fireplace; I'd put them
here," said 'Lena.

"Yes," chimed in John Jr., imitating both his grandmother and cousin;
"yes, granny, put 'em there; the niggers are _awful critters_ to
steal, and like enough you'd 'lose 'em if they sot in with marm's!"

This argument prevailed. The dishes were put away in the cupboard,
'Lena thinking that with all his badness John Jr., was of some use
after all. At last, tired of looking on, Anna suggested to 'Lena,
who did not seem to be helping matters forward much, that the should
go and be dressed up as had been first proposed. Readily divining
her sister's intention, Carrie ran with it to her mother, who sent
back word that "'Lena must mind her own affairs, and let Anna's
dresses alone!"

This undeserved thrust made 'Lena cry, while Anna declared "her
mother never said any such thing," which Carrie understood as an
insinuation that she had told a falsehood. Accordingly a quarrel of
words ensued between the two sisters, which was finally quelled by
John Jr., who called to Carrie "to come down, as she'd got a letter
from _Durward Bellmont_."

Durward! How that name made 'Lena's heart leap! Was it _her_
Durward--the boy in the cars? She almost hoped not, for somehow the
idea of his writing to Carrie was not a pleasant one. At last
summoning courage, she asked Anna who he was, and was told that he
lived in Louisville with his stepfather, Mr. Graham, and that Carrie
about two months before had met him in Frankfort at Colonel
Douglass's, where she was in the habit of visiting. "Colonel
Douglass," continued Anna, "has got a right nice little girl whose
name is Nellie. Then there's Mabel Ross, a sort of cousin, who lives
with them part of the time. She's an orphan and a great heiress.
You mustn't tell anybody for the world, but I overheard ma say that
she wanted John to marry Mabel, she's so ri