"Yes," whispered Carol, "peek through the keyhole, Lark, and see if Mrs. Prentiss is looking under the bed for dust. They say she----"
"You"d better not let Prudence catch you repeating----"
"There"s Mrs. Stone, and Mrs. Davis, and----"
"They say Mrs. Davis only belongs to the Ladies" Aid for the sake of the refreshments, and----"
"Carol! Prudence will punish you."
"Well, I don"t believe it," protested Carol. "I"m just telling you what I"ve heard other people say."
"We aren"t allowed to repeat gossip," urged Lark.
"No, and I think it"s a shame, too, for it"s awfully funny. Minnie Drake told me that Miss Varne joined the Methodist church as soon as she heard the new minister was a widower so she----"
"Carol!"
Carol whirled around sharply, and flushed, and swallowed hard. For Prudence was just behind her.
"I--I--I--" but she could get no further.
Upon occasion, Prudence was quite terrible. "So I heard," she said dryly, but her eyes were hard. "Now run down-stairs and out to the field, or to the barn, and play. And, Carol, be sure and remind me of that speech to-night. I might forget it."
The girls ran quickly out, Carol well in the lead.
"No wedding fee for me," she mumbled bitterly. "Do you suppose there can be seven devils in my tongue, Lark, like there are in the Bible?"
"I don"t remember there being seven devils in the Bible," said Lark.
"Oh, I mean the--the possessed people it tells about in the Bible,--crazy, I suppose it means. Somehow I just can"t help repeating----"
"You don"t want to," said Lark, not without sympathy. "You think it"s such fun, you know."
"Well, anyhow, I"m sure I won"t get any wedding fee to-night. It seems to me Prudence is very--harsh sometimes."
"You can appeal to father, if you like."
"Not on your life," said Carol promptly and emphatically; "he"s worse than Prudence. Like as not he"d give me a good thrashing into the bargain. No,--I"m strong for Prudence when it comes to punishment,--in preference to father, I mean. I can"t seem to be fond of any kind of punishment from anybody."
For a while Carol was much depressed, but by nature she was a buoyant soul and her spirits were presently soaring again.
In the meantime, the Ladies of the Aid Society continued to arrive.
Prudence and Fairy, freshly gowned and smiling-faced, received them with cordiality and many merry words. It was not difficult for them, they had been reared in the hospitable atmosphere of Methodist parsonages, where, if you have but two dishes of oatmeal, the outsider is welcome to one. That is Carol"s description of parsonage life.
But Prudence was concerned to observe that a big easy chair placed well back in a secluded corner, seemed to be giving dissatisfaction. It was Mrs. Adams who sat there first. She squirmed quite a little, and seemed to be gripping the arms of the chair with unnecessary fervor.
Presently she stammered an excuse, and rising, went into the other room. After that, Mrs. Miller tried the corner chair, and soon moved away. Then Mrs. Jack, Mrs. Norey, and Mrs. Beed, in turn, sat there,--and did not stay. Prudence was quite agonized. Had the awful twins filled it with needles for the reception of the poor Ladies? At first opportunity, she hurried into the secluded corner, intent upon trying the chair for herself. She sat down anxiously. Then she gasped, and clutched frantically at the arms of the chair. For she discovered at once to her dismay that the chair was bottomless, and that only by hanging on for her life could she keep from dropping through. She thought hard for a moment,--but thinking did not interfere with her grasp on the chair-arms,--and then she realized that the wisest thing would be to discuss it publicly. Anything would be better than leaving it unexplained, for the Ladies to comment upon privately.
So up rose Prudence, conscientiously pulling after her the thin cushion which had concealed the chair"s shortcoming. "Look, Fairy!" she cried.
"Did you take the bottom out of this chair?--It must have been horribly uncomfortable for those who have sat there!--However did it happen?"
Fairy was frankly amazed, and a little inclined to be amused.
"Ask the twins," she said tersely, "I know nothing about it."
At that moment, the luckless Carol went running through the hall.
Prudence knew it was she, without seeing, because she had a peculiar skipping run that was quite characteristic and unmistakable.
"Carol!" she called.
And Carol paused.
"Carol!" more imperatively.
Then Carol slowly opened the door,--she was a parsonage girl and rose to the occasion. She smiled winsomely,--Carol was nearly always winsome.
"How do you do?" she said brightly. "Isn"t it a lovely day? Did you call me, Prudence?"
"Yes. Do you know where the bottom of that chair has gone?"
"Why, no, Prudence--gracious! That chair!--Why, I didn"t know you were going to bring that chair in here--Why,--oh, I am so sorry! Why in the world didn"t you tell us beforehand?"
Some of the Ladies smiled. Others lifted their brows and shoulders in a mildly suggestive way, that Prudence, after nineteen years in the parsonage, had learned to know and dread.
"And where is the chair-bottom now?" she inquired. "And why did you take it?"
"Why we wanted to make----"
"You and Lark?"
"Well, yes,--but it was really all my fault, you know. We wanted to make a seat up high in the peach tree, and we couldn"t find a board the right shape. So she discovered--I mean, I did--that by pulling out two tiny nails we could get the bottom off the chair, and it was just fine.
It"s a perfectly adorable seat," brightening, but sobering again as she realized the gravity of the occasion. "And we put the cushion in the chair so that it wouldn"t be noticed. We never use that chair, you know, and we didn"t think of your needing it to-day. We put it away back in the cold corner of the sitting--er, living-room where no one ever sits. I"m so sorry about it."
Carol was really quite crushed, but true to her parsonage training, she struggled valiantly and presently brought forth a crumpled and sickly smile.
But Prudence smiled at her kindly. "That wasn"t very naughty, Carol,"
she said frankly. "It"s true that we seldom use that chair. And we ought to have looked." She glanced reproachfully at Fairy. "It is strange that in dusting it, Fairy--but never mind. You may go now, Carol. It is all right."
Then she apologized gently to the Ladies, and the conversation went on, but Prudence was uncomfortably conscious of keen and quizzical eyes turned her way. Evidently they thought she was too lenient.
"Well, it wasn"t very naughty," she thought wretchedly. "How can I pretend it was terribly bad, when I feel in my heart that it wasn"t!"
Before long, the meeting was called to order, and the secretary instructed to read the minutes.
"Oh," fluttered Miss Carr excitedly, "I forgot to bring the book. I haven"t been secretary very long, you know."
"Only six months," interrupted Mrs. Adams tartly.
"How do you expect to keep to-day"s minutes?" demanded the president.