ntended her to be plump
and sweet and rosy, and altogether comfortable, but she had flown in
the face of nature, like a cross hen, and had her own way with
herself.

It was scarcely conceivable that Mrs. Jim Jones could be all the time
in the state of wrath against everything in general which her sharp
tongue and her angry voice evinced, but she gave that impression. Her
little blond face looked like that of a doll which has been covered
with angry pin-scratches by an ill-tempered child. Whenever she spoke
these scratches deepened.

Mrs. Jim Jones could not bring herself to speak of anything without a
show of temper, whether she really felt it or not. She fairly lashed
out at Sylvia when the latter inquired if it was true that Albion
Bennet had left her house and returned to the hotel.

"Yes, it is true, and thank the Lord for His unspeakable mercy to the
children of men. I couldn't have stood that man much longer, and
that's the gospel truth. He ate like a pig, so there wasn't a mite of
profit in it. And he was as fussy as any old maid I ever saw. If I
have to choose between an old maid and an old batch for a boarder,
give me the old maid every time. She don't begin to eat so much, and
she takes care of her room. Albion Bennet about ruined my spare
chamber. He et peanuts every Sunday, and they're all ground into the
carpet. Yes, I'm mighty glad to get rid of him. Let alone everything
else, the way he pestered my Susy was enough to make me sick of my
bargain. There that poor child got so she tagged me all over the
house for fear Albion Bennet would make love to her. I guess Susy
ain't going to take up with a man like Albion Bennet. He's too old
for her anyhow, and I don't believe he makes much out of his drug
store. I rather guess Susy looks higher than that. Yes, he's gone,
and it's 'good riddance, bad rubbish.'"

"If you feel so about it I'm glad he's gone back to Lucinda," said
Sylvia. "She didn't have many steady boarders, and it did sort of
look against her, poor thing, with all the mean talk there's been."

"I guess there wasn't quite so much smoke without a little fire,"
said Mrs. Jim Jones, and her small face looked fairly evil.

Then Sylvia was aroused. "Now, Mrs. Jones, you know better," said
she. "You know as well as you want to that Lucinda Hart was no more
guilty than you and I were. We both went to school with her."

Mrs. Jim Jones backed down a little. There was something about Sylvia
Whitman whe