in the woodshed; or yielding to a sudden desire to give the
rascal a bath whenever Lucy announced that she and Bart were going to
spend the morning down by the water.

As the weeks flew by and Lucy had shown no willingness to assume her
share of any of the responsibilities of the house,--any that interfered
with her personal enjoyment,--Jane became more and more restless and
unhappy. The older village people had shown her sister every attention,
she said to herself,--more than was her due, considering her
youth,--and yet Lucy had never crossed any one of their thresholds. She
again pleaded with the girl to remember her social duties and to pay
some regard to the neighbors who had called upon her and who had shown
her so much kindness; to which the happy-hearted sister had laughed
back in reply:

"What for, you dear sister? These old fossils don't want to see me, and
I'm sure I don't want to see them. Some of them give me the shivers,
they are so prim."

It was with glad surprise, therefore, that Jane heard Lucy say in
Martha's hearing one bright afternoon:

"Now, I'm going to begin, sister, and you won't have to scold me any
more. Everyone of these old tabbies I will take in a row: Mrs.
Cavendish first, and then the Cromartins, and the balance of the bunch
when I can reach them. I am going to Rose Cottage to see Mrs. Cavendish
this very afternoon."

The selection of Mrs. Cavendish as first on her list only increased
Jane's wonder. Rose Cottage lay some two miles from Warehold, near the
upper end of the beach, and few of their other friends lived near it.
Then again, Jane knew that Lucy had not liked the doctor's calling her
into the house the night of her arrival, and had heretofore made one
excuse after another when urged to call on his mother. Her delight,
therefore, over Lucy's sudden sense of duty was all the more keen.

"I'll go with you, darling," she answered, slipping her arm about
Lucy's waist, "and we'll take Meg for a walk."

So they started, Lucy in her prettiest frock and hat and Jane with her
big red cloak over her arm to protect the young girl from the breeze
from the sea, which in the early autumn was often cool, especially if
they should sit out on Mrs. Cavendish's piazza.

The doctor's mother met them on the porch. She had seen them enter the
garden gate, and had left her seat by the window, and was standing on
the top step to welcome them. Rex, as usual, in the doctor's absence,
did the hon