e kitchen just now? I have
told you not to run out there all the time. Lena does not like you to
get in her way, you know."

"But Granny is there," Keith protested.

"Yes, of course, and you must be nice to her, but...."

As his mother did not go on, Keith asked: "Why does Granny always stay
in the kitchen?"

"Because she wants to," his mother answered.

"But why does she want to?"

"It is her way--a sort of pride she has. And I have long ago given up
trying to persuade her."

Her tone indicated clearly that further discussion of the subject was
not desirable.

X

Keith was playing in his own corner that very evening, trying to keep as
quiet as possible while his father had an unusually late dinner. His
mother had gone out into the kitchen a few moments earlier. Thence she
returned suddenly with a half empty bottle in her hand and a look of
extreme annoyance on her face.

"Carl," she said, "look what I just found in a corner of the cupboard."

"Humph," the father grunted with a sideglance at the bottle. "Ours is
locked up, is it not?"

"Yes, but that is neither here nor there. She would rather die, she
says, than touch a drop of ours."

"Where does she get it?"

"I can't make it out. Somebody must bring it in, of course. I fear it
is Mrs. Karlgren, and I am simply going to tell her to keep away
hereafter. The idea of her coming here practically begging, and then
doing such a thing, after all I have done for her!"

"But you are not sure," the father objected earnestly, and Keith paid
special notice to his objection because he had already learned, or
divined, that his father could not bear the sight of the poor woman
in question.

"No, it is impossible to be sure," the mother admitted. Then she added
after a pause: "What puzzles me more than anything else is where she
gets the money."

Though no name was mentioned, Keith knew perfectly well that they were
speaking of Granny. And he recalled having laughed at her in the kitchen
earlier in the evening before the father came home. Her eyes had a funny
look and seemed a little inflamed. Her still thick braids were loosened
and about to come entirely undone. She was talking more than usual and
in a tone that suggested defiance.

As he recalled all this, Keith forgot to listen to his parents, who went
on discussing so intently that he was able to leave his corner and reach
the door to the kitchen unnoticed. An irresistible desire to see Granny
at o