hing or not,"
growled Leon. "You'd have thought from the way she acted, that we'd
been trying to steal her ducks. She said if she missed any she'd know
where to find them."

"Well as I live!" cried mother. "Why I wouldn't have believed that of
Amanda Deam. You told her you thought they were wild, of course."

"I didn't have a chance to tell her anything. The minute the ducks
struck the water they started right back down stream, and there was a
big snake, and we had an awful time. We got wet trying to head them
back, and then we didn't find all of them."

"They are like little eels. You should have helped Amanda."

"Well, you called so cross we thought you would come after us, so we
had to run."

"One never knows," sighed mother. "I thought you were loitering. Of
course if I had known you were having trouble with the ducks! I think
you had better go back and help them."

"Didn't I do enough to take them home? Can't Sammy Deam catch ducks as
fast as I can?"

"I suppose so," said mother. "And I must get your bathing out of the
way of supper. You use the tub while I do Little Sister's hair."

I almost hated Sunday, because of what had to be done to my hair on
Saturday, to get ready for it. All week it hung in two long braids
that were brushed and arranged each morning. But on Saturday it had to
be combed with a fine comb, oiled and rolled around strips of tin until
Sunday morning. Mother did everything thoroughly. She raked that fine
comb over our scalps until she almost raised the blood. She hadn't
time to fool with tangles, and we had so much hair she didn't know what
to do with all of it, anyway. When she was busy talking she reached
around too far and combed across our foreheads or raked the tip of an
ear.

But on Sunday morning we forgot all that, when we walked down the aisle
with shining curls hanging below our waists. Mother was using the fine
comb, when she looked up, and there stood Mrs. Freshett. We could see
at a glance that she was out of breath.

"Have I beat them?" she cried.

"Whom are you trying to beat?" asked mother as she told May to set a
chair for Mrs. Freshett and bring her a drink.

"The grave-kiver men," she said. "I wanted to get to you first."

"Well, you have," said mother. "Rest a while and then tell me."

But Mrs. Freshett was so excited she couldn't rest.

"I thought they were coming straight on down," she said, "but they must
have turned off at the cr