er a scolding.

CHAPTER XII.

Lucy Carne knocked at Granny Barnes' door, and waited. She had a little
nosegay of flowers in her hand and a plate of fresh fish. Almost every day
she brought granny something, even if it was only a simple flower, and
granny loved her little 'surprises.'

Lucy waited a moment, hearing a voice inside, then she knocked again, and
louder.

"I do believe Mona's reading to her again, and they've forgotten their
tea!"

Getting no answer even now, Lucy opened the door a little way and popped
her head in. "May I come in? I don't know what world you two are living
in to-day, but I knocked twice and I couldn't reach you."

Mona carefully placed the marker in her book and closed it, but
reluctantly. Miss Lester, her Sunday School teacher, had given her the
marker. It was a strip of ribbon with fringed ends, and with her name
painted on it, and a spray of white jessamine. Every girl who had joined
the library had had one. Some were blue, some red, some white, and the
rest orange colour. Mona's was red. She was glad, for she liked red, and
the delicate white flower looked lovely on it, she thought. Miss Lester
had painted them herself, and the girls prized them beyond anything.

Mona's eyes lingered on hers as she closed the book. It was rather hard
to have to leave her heroine just at that point, and set about getting
tea. She did wish Lucy had not come for another ten minutes.

Granny looked up with a little rueful smile. "I felt it was tea-time,"
she said, "but I thought Mona would like to finish out the chapter, and
then before we knew what we were doing we had begun another. It's a
pretty tale. I wish you had been hearing it too, Lucy. It's called
'Queechy.' A funny sort of a name, to my mind."

"'Queechy'!--why, I read that years ago, and I've read it again since I've
been married. I borrowed it from mother when I was so ill that time.
Mother had it given to her as a prize by her Bible-class teacher.
She thinks the world of it. So do I. I love it."

"I'm longing to get to the end," said Mona, turning over the pages
lingeringly. "There's only three chapters more."

"Oh, well, that's enough for another reading or two," said Granny.
"They are long chapters. It would be a pity to hurry over them just for
the sake of reaching the end. We'll have a nice time to-morrow, dearie.
I shall be sorry when it's all done."

But Mona was impatient. "To-morrow! Nobody k