r--"

"Go into the house and up to your own room," said Carroll.

The boy turned as squarely about-face as a soldier at the word of
command, and marched before his father into the house. The four
women, the two at the window, the two on the lawn, watched them go
without a word. Ina, the elder of the two girls, put her handkerchief
to her eyes and began to cry softly. Charlotte put her arm around her
and drew her towards the door.

"Don't, Ina," she whispered, "don't, darling."

"Papa will whip him very hard," sobbed Ina. "It seems to me I cannot
bear it, he is such a little boy."

"Papa ought to whip him," said Charlotte, quite firmly, although she
herself was winking back the tears.

"He will whip him so hard," sobbed Ina. "I quite gave up when papa
found the candy. Stealing is what he never will forgive him for, you
know."

"Yes, I know. Don't let poor Amy see you cry, Ina."

"Wait a minute before we go in. You remember that the time papa
whipped me, the only time he ever did, when--"

"Yes, I remember. You never did again, honey."

"Yes, it cured me, but I fear it will not cure Eddy. A boy is
different."

"Stop crying, Ina dear, before we go in."

"Yes--I--will. Are my eyes very red?"

"No; Amy will not notice it if you keep your eyes turned away."

But Mrs. Carroll turned sharply upon Ina the moment she saw her. The
two elder ladies had left the parlor and retreated to a small
apartment on the right of the hall, called the den, and fitted up
with some Eastern hangings and a divan. Upon this divan Anna Carroll
had thrown herself, and lay quite still upon her back, her slender
length extended, staring out of the window directly opposite at the
spread of a great oak just lately putting forth its leaves. Mrs.
Carroll was standing beside her, and she looked at the two girls
entering with a hard expression in her usually soft eyes.

"Why have you been crying?" she asked, directly, of Ina. Her hair was
in disorder, as if she had thrust her fingers through it. It was
pushed far off from her temples, making her look much older. Red
spots blazed on her cheeks, her mouth widened in a curious, tense
smile. "Why have you been crying?" she demanded again when Ina did
not reply at once to her question.

"Because papa is going to whip Eddy," Ina said then, with directness,
"and I know he will whip him very hard, because he has been stealing."

"Well, what is that to cry about?" asked Mrs. Carroll, ruffling wit