of a will of
her own; an' Mis' Meeker, she was pooty stout, an' she took things easy,
jest as they kem, an' let the children--an' 'Melia specially--do pooty
much as they'd a mind to. Wal, one day I happened in to see Cephas about
a pair o' steers I was thinkin' o' buyin'. Cephas was out; but Mis'
Meeker said he'd be right in, she reckoned, an' asked me to take a cheer
an' wait. So I sot down, an' while I was waitin', in come 'Melia, an'
says she, 'Say, Aunt Cilly (Mis' Meeker's name was Priscilla)--Say, Aunt
Cilly, can I go down an' play with Eddie? He wants me to come, reel bad.
Can I, Aunt Cilly?' 'Not to-day, dearie,' says Mis' Meeker; 'you was
down to play with Eddie yesterday, an' I reckon that'll do for one
while!' she says. I looked at little 'Melia, an' her eyes was snappin'
like coals. She didn't say nothin', but she jest took an' shoved her
elbow right through the plate-glass winder. Ho! ho! Cephas had had his
house made over, an' he was real proud of his plate-glass winders. I d'
'no' how much they'd cost him, but 'twas a pooty good sum. An' she
shoved her elbow right through it and smashed it into shivers. I jumped
up, kind o' startled by the crash. But ol' Mis' Meeker, she jes' looked
up, as if she was a _leetle_ bit surprised, but nothin' wuth
mentionin'. 'Why, honey!' says she, in her slow, drawlin' kind o' way,
'I didn't know ye wanted to go _that_ bad! Put on yer bunnit, an' go an'
play with Eddie _this minute_!' says she. Ho! ho! ho! Them was her very
words. An' 'Melia, she tossed her bunnit on (one o' them straw Shakers
it was, an' that's what made me think o' the story), and jes' shook the
glass out'n her sleeve,--_I_ d' 'no' why the child warn't cut to pieces,
but she didn't seem t' have got no hurt,--and made a face at her aunt,
an' off she went. That's the way them children was brought up."

"Poor things!" cried Hilda. "What became of them, Farmer Hartley?"

"'Melia, she run off an' married a circus feller," replied the farmer,
"an' the boys, I don't rightly know _what_ become of 'em. They went out
West, I b'lieve; an' after 'Melia married, Cephas went out to jine 'em,
an' I ain't heerd nothin' of 'em for years."

By this time they were rattling through the main street of the little
village, and presently stopped before an unpretending little shop, in
the window of which were displayed some rather forlorn-looking hats and
bonnets.

"Here y'are, Huldy!" said the farmer, pointing to the shop with