rano with their changing and cackling
falsetto.

"Say not so, Florence! Oh, say not so! Say not so!"

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

They went satirically down the street, their chumminess with one another
bountifully increased by their common derision of the outsider on the
porch; and even at a distance they still contrived to make themselves
intolerable; looking back over their shoulders, at intervals, with
say-not-so expressions on their faces. Even when these faces were far
enough away to be but yellowish oval planes, their say-not-so
expressions were still bitingly eloquent.

Now a northern breeze chilled the air, as the hateful three became
indistinguishable in the haze of autumn dusk, whereupon Florence stopped
swinging her foot, left the railing, and went morosely into the house.
And here it was her fortune to make two discoveries vital to her present
career; the first arising out of a conversation between her father and
mother in the library, where a gossipy fire of soft coal encouraged this
proper Sunday afternoon entertainment for man and wife.

"Sit down and rest, Florence," said her mother. "I'm afraid you play too
hard when Patty and the boys are here. Do sit down quietly and rest
yourself a little while." And as Florence obeyed, Mrs. Atwater turned to
her husband, resuming: "Well, that's what _I_ said. I told Aunt Carrie I
thought the same way about it that _you_ did. Of course nobody _ever_
knows what Julia's going to do next, and nobody needs to be surprised at
anything she does do. Ever since she came home from school, about
four-fifths of all the young men in town have been wild about her--and
so's every old bachelor, for the matter of that!"

"Yes," Mr. Atwater added. "And every old widower, too."

His wife warmly accepted the amendment. "And every old widower, too,"
she said, nodding. "Rather! And of course Julia's just done exactly as
she pleased about everything, and naturally she's going to do as she
pleases about _this_."

"Well, of course it's her own affair, Mollie," Mr. Atwater said mildly.
"She couldn't be expected to consult the whole Atwater family connection
before she----"

"Oh, no," she agreed. "I don't say she could. Still, it _is_ rather
upsetting, coming so suddenly like this, when not one of the family has
ever seen him--never even heard his very name before."

[Illustration: _"'Well, men ... I don't want to see any loafin' around
here, men. I expect I'll have a pretty good n