ht that was out of the question. All this time
Aunt Lois stood by silent, with her soft gray eyes fixed on the culprit,
until Prim felt she must scream and run away.

The elder turned to a chest of drawers and took out an apron of homespun
blue-and-white check, a straight, bag-like garment with plain armholes
and a cord run in at the neck. A bit of tape was quite a luxury, as it
had to be imported, while one could twist cords, fine or coarse, at
home.

"Your Aunt Wetherill's housekeeper is in the next room. She has come
hither to give notice. Next week will be the time to go in town."

"Oh, Aunt Lois! Aunt Lois!" Primrose buried her face in the elder's
gown. A curious yearning passed over the placid countenance, followed by
a stronger one of repression, and she unclasped the clinging hands.

"It is a misfortune, as I have ever said, and there will be just
shifting hither and yon, until thou art eighteen, a long way off. It
makes thee neither fish nor fowl, for what is gained in one six months
is upset in the next. But thy mother would have it so."

Primrose made no further protest, but swallowed over a great lump in her
throat and winked hard. What she longed to do was to jump up and down
and declare she would not go, in a tone that would reach the town
itself. Even well-trained children had unregenerate impulses, but
self-control was one of the early rules impressed upon childhood, the
season and soil in which virtues were supposed to take root and flourish
most abundantly.

There were two doors opening from this kitchen to a small hall, from
thence to the ordinary living room, and a smaller one adjoining, used
for a sort of parlor, as we should call it now, a kind of state room
where the Friends often held meetings. It was very plain indeed. There
were straight white curtains at the windows, without a bit of fringe or
netting. Women used to make these adornments as a kind of fancy work,
but the rigid rules of the Friends discountenanced all such employments,
even if it was to improve odd moments. There was no carpet on the floor,
which was scrubbed to spotlessness; chairs of oaken frame, bent, and
polished by the busy housewife until they shone, with seats of broad
splint or rushes painted yellow. A large set of drawers with several
shelves on top stood between the windows, and a wooden settle was ranged
along the wall. A table with a great Bible and two or three religious
books, and a high mantel with two enorm