as they fell back into the Branch.

It was a terrifically hot day.

The September sun blazed away so fiercely that the whole landscape
drooped under it. Even Arethusa, whose enthusiasm no amount of ordinary
heat had the power to lessen, felt wilted.

But despite the heat, work on her outfit for the Visit did not slacken.
Miss Letitia and Miss Eliza were sewing away for dear life. Even
Arethusa herself had been pressed into service. Miss Eliza believed in
being ready for your occasions; rather ready with a long waiting, than
not be ready. She would have the simple wardrobe finished and all
carefully packed days before it was time to leave so there would be no
flurry at the last moment; Miss Eliza hated flurry.

But Arethusa did not sew with ease. What little she knew of that art
had been acquired with painful effort. And with the heat and her
uncontrollable excitement when she considered what this work was for,
the sewing had stuck to her hands so badly this morning, and the thread
had knotted with such diabolic persistency, that Miss Asenath had taken
it all away from her and suggested that she run outside for awhile. She
was, however, to remain within easy calling distance of the house, so
she had come down here to the willow tree at the Branch.

It was just a little over a month now until Arethusa was actually to
go. She had counted the days on the calendar until October twenty-fifth
and then multiplied them by twenty-four. And every night, with puckered
brow and moistened pencil and great care so that no smallest mistake
should be made in so important a subtraction, she subtracted
twenty-four more from those hours still remaining. The number of
figures on the slip of yellow paper stuck in the mirror of her bureau
had increased as the size of the remainder decreased with each passing
day. This method of showing the flight of time appealed to her very
strongly. It made it seem as if so much more had been covered every day
when she subtracted twenty-four from the larger number of hours, than
if she simply took one away from the number of days.

She lay back on the big stone and clasped her hands under her head,
smiling up into the willow branches as if she saw something there which
pleased her exceedingly. And so did any contemplation of the limitless
possibilities for happiness before her in the Visit bring just such a
smile to curve her lips. A few sweat-bees buzzed half-heartedly about
her head, but Arethusa di