in the community walk over you if that will make you happy," declared
Leslie, patting her face.

"No, we won't!" put in Allison; "we'll keep 'em away from her, but we
won't let 'em know how we despise 'em. Won't that do, Cloudy? And as
for all those other things you are afraid about, why couldn't you just
wait till we come to them? We're anything but angels, I admit, but
we're going to try to do what you want us to if it busts the eye-teeth
out of us, because we want you. And you always have been such a good
scout. As for the church dope and all that, why, it's like that guy in
the Bible you used to tell us about when we were children--or was she
a lady? It's a case of 'Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my
God,' or words to that effect. If we don't agree on our own account,
we'll do it because you want it. Isn't that about the idea? Wouldn't
that fill the bill?"

"You dear children!" said Julia Cloud, her eyes full of smiles and
tears now as she gathered them both into a loving embrace. "I don't
know how anybody could promise more than that. I wasn't afraid of you;
it was myself. You know I'm not at all wise, and it's pretty late in
life for me to begin to bring up children."

"Well, you're all right, anyhow, Cloudy; and you're the only person in
the world we'll let bring us up; so it's up to you to do it the best
you can, or it won't get done. Come on now; we've got lunch ready.
There's cold chicken and bread and milk and pie and cake, and I've
got the teakettle boiling like a house afire, so if you want any tea
or anything you can have it."

So they had a merry meal, and Julia Cloud ate and laughed with them,
and thought she never had been so happy since she was a little girl.
Then, mindful of her prying neighbor and her imminent sister, she
insisted on putting the house in order to the last bed and dish before
she was ready for the afternoon.

"And now we're going to call on Aunt Ellen!" announced Allison as
Julia Cloud hung up the clean dish-towels steaming from their scalding
bath, and washed her hands at the sink.

"Why, she's coming here!" said his aunt, whirling around with a
troubled look. "And, as she's left word she was coming, I suppose
we'll have to wait for her. It's too bad, for she won't be here till
three, and it's only a quarter of two. I'm sorry, because you wanted
to go out in the car, didn't you?"

"We're going!" said Allison, again with a commanding twinkle in his
eye. "We can't