othing surprising that you should. Did you ever see anybody go
off more sudden than Miss Hetty? Such a good woman she was, too. It must
ha' gi'n you an awful turn." She poured the doughnuts into the jar and,
folding the checked cloth, went on, "But I look at it this way. 'Twas a
quick end, and a peaceful end without no pain. And if you'd seen as many
old people drag along for years, as I have, stranglin' and chokin' and
half-dead, why, you'd feel to be thankful Miss Hetty was spared that.
And you too!"

"Marise," said Eugenia, coming to the pantry door, "your neighbors
wanted me, of course, to bring you all their sympathetic condolence. Mr.
Welles asked me to tell you that he would send all the flowers in his
garden to the church for the service tomorrow. And Mr. Marsh was very
anxious to see you today, to arrange about the use of his car in meeting
the people who may come on the train tomorrow, to attend the funeral. He
said he would run over here any time today, if you would send Agnes to
tell him when you would see him. He said he wouldn't leave the house all
day, to be ready to come at any time you would let him."

Mrs. Powers was filled with satisfaction at such conduct. "Now that's
what I call real neighborly," she said. "And both on 'em new to our ways
too. That Mr. Welles is a real nice old man, anyhow. . . . There! I call
him 'old' and I bet he's younger than I be. He acts so kind o' settled
down to stay. But Mr. Marsh don't act so. That's the kind man I like to
see, up-and-coming, so you never know what he's a-goin' to do next."

Eugenia waited through this, for some answer, and still waited
persistently, her eyes on Marise's face.

Marise aroused herself. She must make some comment, of course. "Please
thank them both very much," she said finally, and turned away to set the
jar on a shelf.

"Well, you goin'?" said Mrs. Powers, behind her, evidently to Eugenia.
"Well, good-bye, see you at the funeral tomorrow, I s'pose."

Marise looked around and caught a silent, graceful salutation of
farewell from Eugenia, who disappeared down the hall, the front door
closing gently behind her.

Mrs. Powers began again abruptly, "Folks is sayin' that Frank Warner
must ha' been drinking, but I don't believe it. He wa'n't no drinker.
And where'd he git it, if he was? It was heedless, that's what it was.
He always was a heedless critter from a little boy up. He was the one
that skated right ahead into the hole and most dr