her's telegram you were coming. Why,
Dearie!" For Arethusa was crying openly on Miss Letitia's comfortable
shoulder.

"Arethusa isn't well," remarked Miss Eliza, coming up behind them with
most of the dropped belongings; "she must go to bed just as soon as she
gets inside the house."

Arethusa lifted her head. "I don't want to go to bed, Aunt 'Liza. I'm
not a bit sick."

"Well, do stop carrying on like such a ninny, then!"

But underneath all the sharpness of word and tone of this speech, her
niece could somehow read that Miss Eliza was glad to have her back
also.

And as for Miss Asenath....

She fairly trembled as she lay on the couch and waited for Arethusa to
come to her. She wore the rose-colored birthday gift, but it was not
the rose of the shawl that had reflected that faint pink flush to each
frail cheek. And it was with all the rush of the old Arethusa across
the floor that the girl greeted her dearest of the aunts, and her
strong young arms clasped the tiny old lady close to her warm heart in
the old loving way. But this Arethusa's eyes were dewy and her voice
held a hint of tears; and they were tears which wise Miss Asenath knew
almost immediately came not from the mere gladness at being home, after
she bade Arethusa stand off so that she might look at her. Miss
Asenath, however, said nothing to anybody about her knowledge.

It was good to be at home again, Arethusa felt; good to snuggle down in
that old place of hers on the couch and hold Miss Asenath's hand just
as she used to; good to watch Miss Letitia's placidity throned in her
straight-backed chair and to see her fingers flying as usual and the
heap of work in her lap; good even to listen to Miss Eliza's scolding
tongue; and good to see Mandy when she waddled in from the kitchen to
see "Arethusie" and to state with positiveness that the city did not
agree with her at all. But with all of this glow of feeling over
getting Home, there was really something wrong, something lacking about
it; something Arethusa dimly sensed, but could not exactly define.
After awhile Miss Eliza gave her the clue to it, when she imparted the
news that Timothy had gone over to Hawesville to a dance.

"Timothy's getting mighty giddy," she added, with great disapproval in
voice and manner. "He just gads from one dance to another, all over the
county, and he's taken to calling on the town girls. That little visit
he made to you in the city had a very bad effect on him,