ts and all that--tommyrot! I'm glad I'm
not--a--I'm glad I'm the--the other branch. I guess the golden rule is
better than any family honor and that it doesn't matter at _all_ what
all the people who are dead and gone've done--it's what the people who
are _living_ are doing--that counts!"

Breathless from her outburst and frightened by its daring, Nancy burst
into tears and rushed from the room.

In the aftermath of calm that followed the storm, Nancy woefully faced
the consequences of what she had done. How silly it would all sound to
Anne when she heard it! Anne would tell her, of course, what _she_
would have done--but then, Anne had always been able to control every
word and every action.

Nancy, staring about at the four walls of her room in very much the
same way she had done that first day of her coming to Happy House,
realized that they were not so ugly, after all. Their height gave a
sense of coolness and space; the branches of an old cherry tree brushed
her windows; from below came all sorts of sweet smells out of
Jonathan's garden; the incessant twittering of birds and the humming of
insects made the summer air teem with busy, happy life. It was
pleasant, she sighed--much pleasanter than a flat in Harlem in July!

"Well, I won't pack until I get my dishonorable discharge, and I can't
get away until Webb's stage goes, anyway! I'll take Miss Milly once
more to the orchard."

Miss Milly went to the orchard so often now that it had become a part
of almost every day's routine, and it was no longer necessary that
B'lindy and Jonathan should make up the party, though they went more
often than not. This day Aunt Milly declared everything particularly
nice, but she thought it was because she and Nancy were alone--she
could not know that Nancy had been doing her best to make it an
afternoon Aunt Milly would never forget--"because it's probably the
last!"

They lingered in the orchard until almost supper-time. Then Nancy
sought the kitchen. She liked to drop in on B'lindy, help her in some
small way in the preparation of the evening meal, and chat at the same
time. She was astounded, now, to find Aunt Sabrina, with a very red
face, bending over the kitchen stove.

B'lindy, sitting very straight in the chair by the window, gave the
explanation--resentfully.

"'Pears to be hash ain't good enough for supper. Had it all fixed for
the cookin' and I guess it's fair 'nough for anyone to eat and I can't
a