ere. An' as ter the springs; she never so much as looked at 'em
when she was here before, but she spent a lot er time tellin' me how she
couldn't sleep on my corded beds. She said she had ter sleep on springs
an' I was baout tired a hearin' tell of our short comin's; an' I told her
if springs was necessary to her well-bein', she'd no doubt be best off ter
hum where she'd been braggin' she had plenty of 'em."

"I didn't blame ye fer gittin' riled," said Jabez, "but I s'pose we'll hev
ter welcome her, even if we're driven ter speed her departur;" and they
both laughed good-naturedly, and mentally decided to make the best of the
self-invited guest.

"Wal, she ain't here yit," said Mrs. Brimblecom, "and the fust two weeks
she spends with Mis' Hodgkins, an' p'raps by the time she arrives here,
I'll be cooled daown 'nough ter be kind er perlite, though I shan't say,
'I'm glad ter see ye Sabriny,' fer that'd be a lie."

"_I_ shall say, 'I hope I see ye well, Sabriny,' fer massy knows I
wouldn't want her ter be sick fer ye ter wait on," remarked Jabez, with a
twinkle in his eye.

"Wal," he continued, "I must git this piece er plaoughin' done. I can't
set daown an' luxooriate an' wait 'til we see Sabriny acomin'."

With a loud "G'lang there," he aroused his placid horses, and across the
fields they sped, and Mrs. Brimblecom, with the letter in her hand,
hastened back to the house where, after placing the large envelope under
the cushion of her rocking chair, she busied herself with household tasks.

Later, when she felt that she had earned a few leisure moments, she drew
the letter from its hiding-place and sat down to study it.

"'F I hadn't hid ye under the cushion, like as not when I wanted ter read
ye, ye'd be lost," she remarked.

A few moments she read in silence, then her disgust moved her to speak.

"Sabriny feels better in a 'higher altitude,'--well, why doesn't she git
one, whatever 'tis, an' git inter it an' stay there, 'stead a pesterin' me
with her visits." Mrs. Brimblecom perused a few more lines, when again she
spoke.

"She seems ter 'have little energy,'--wal, I don't want ter be mean, but I
can't help a hopin' that she won't gain any. Sabriny without energy would
be er sight that'd cheer me. Her tremenjous vim nearly wore me aout last
season. Ef she'd jest manage ter leave her energy ter hum, I do'no's I'd
mind her comin'."

While good Mrs. Brimblecom was studying the letter, Mrs. Hodgkins had
sallie