to be buryin' Rufus, but nobody knowed just
why. I thought about it comin' home a-jouncin' along over them walnuts.
(My, but they was hard!) The truth seems to be as there 's some folks
born to be superior 'n' to know as they're superior, 'n' other folks
born to admire 'em, 'n' neither set sees jus' why."

"I--" said Mrs. Lathrop.

"Well, as long as you say so I may as well admit as I was thinkin' that
very thing myself," said Susan; "but far be it from me to have said such
a thing myself _of_ myself, Mrs. Lathrop--but as long as _you_ say it I
can't but remark as no one in their senses could deny its bein' true o'
me."

"I--" said Mrs. Lathrop.

"Oh, that's your misfortune," said Miss Clegg, graciously; "there ain't
no need of apologizin' to a old friend like me. 'N' anyway, Mrs.
Lathrop, I guess nobody could n't tell _me_ nothin' about your
inferiorities--not after livin' next to you all the years as I have; but
you know me, 'n' you know as nothin' ever changes my feelin's towards a
friend--not even towards such a friend as you, Mrs. Lathrop."

Mrs. Lathrop was silent.

* * * * *

Other books by Anne Warner

THE REJUVENATION OF AUNT MARY

Always amusing and ends in a burst of sunshine.--_Philadelphia
Ledger_.

Impossible to read without laughing. A sparkling, hilarious
tale.--_Chicago Record-Herald_.

The love story is as wholesome and satisfactory as the fun. In its
class this book must be accorded the first place.--_Baltimore Sun_.

The humor is simply delicious.--_Albany Times-Union_.

Every one that remembers Susan Clegg will wish also to make the
acquaintance of Aunt Mary. Her "imperious will and impervious
eardrums" furnish matter for uproarious merriment.... A book to
drive away the blues and make one well content with the worst
weather.--_Pittsburg Gazette_.

Cheerful, crisp, and bright. The comedy is sweetened by a
satisfying love tale.--_Boston Herald_.

SUSAN CLEGG AND HER FRIEND MRS. LATHROP

It is seldom a book so full of delightful humor comes before the
reader. Anne Warner takes her place in the circle of American woman
humorists, who have achieved distinction so rapidly within recent
years.--_Brooklyn Eagle_.

Nothing better in the new homely philosophy style of fiction has
been written.--_San Francisco