awful of me."

The beautiful eyes looked at her despairingly.

"Oh, Arabella! Don't you care about me? Think how lonesome I'll be
without you---- What's that?"

She was interrupted by a scrambling, tearing noise in the region of the
old apple-tree. For an instant a strange object outside darkened the
window, there was a shriek, a splintering crash, and down from the
apple boughs, breaking a window-pane in its head-long descent, and
landing upon the veranda floor with a terrible bang, came the
black-haired twin of the Sawyer orphans!

Miss Arabella sat up with a cry of alarm. Polly gave a long squall,
and shouted out that times were very slow indeed, and Elsie sprang up,
and, unlocking the door, ran to the rescue.

The black-haired twin was scratched and torn and disheveled, and was
howling lustily, but the young lady who picked her up showed her small
sympathy. "Lorena Sawyer," she demanded solemnly, "where did you drop
from?"

"I was sittin' up in the apple-tree," roared the fallen one, "an' the
mean ole thing busted, an' I--I--tu-m-bled!"

"You were up at the window, listening to what Arabella and I were
saying! You know you were!"

The child nodded. "O' course," she answered innocently. "An' say,
Elsie"--she began to wipe away her tears--"if Arabella's fellah doesn't
come back, will you give me an' Lenny a bit o' the silk for our dolls'
dresses?"

Elsie caught her by the arm and shook her.

"Hush!" she cried, glancing toward the open window in dismay.
"Arabella'll hear you, and if you tell--if you breathe a word of it,
she'll get sick and die; do you understand?"

"But will y' give us some of the blue silk?" asked the black-haired
twin, with orphan-like persistence.

"Elsie!" It was Miss Arabella's voice. "Elsie, come here quick!"

With a parting warning to the culprit, the girl ran back to the bedroom
in deep concern. Surely this shock would be too much for the invalid,
and now she certainly would die.

"Arabella!" she cried in amazement, as she reached the bedroom door,
"what are you doing?"

For the sick woman was sitting on the edge of the bed, dressing herself
in trembling haste. She turned upon the alarmed girl, the fire of
resolution in her eyes.

"I'm going to get up," she answered firmly. "I ain't going to die.
That child heard every word I said."

"But, Arabella," began the bewildered nurse, "I----" She stopped,
unable to divine the connection between Lorry's eavesdrop