m, Dave turned his head, and, in answer to their smiling greetings,
deliberately made a frightful face at them!

"Isn't he the rudest!" gasped Eva, as the procession--Miss Higginson
bringing up the rear--disappeared behind the doors of the guest room;
while Kate and Stevie were, for once in their lives, too amazed to be
able to express their feelings.

After what seemed a long time to the children, Mehitabel rejoined them.
"I am in a pucker," she said, sinking into a chair. Her curls were
disarranged, and her spectacles were pushed up on her forehead; she
looked worried. "And there isn't a creature to turn to for advice;
that Italian in the kitchen doesn't speak a blessed word of English,
and Guiseppi's not much better. He keeps saying, 'Si signorina,' and
wagging his head like a Chinese mandarin, until he fairly makes me
dizzy, and I know all the time he doesn't understand half I'm saying."

Miss Higginson paused to take breath, then, feeling the positive
necessity of unburdening herself further, continued her tale of woe:
"Here's your Uncle Joseph obliged to go right on to Paris within the
hour, and here's Dave to remain here till his pa returns, which mayn't
be for weeks. And he requires constant care, mansage (she meant
massage) treatment and everything--and just as domineering and
imperdent; Stevie's bad enough, but Dave goes ahead of him. And, to
make matters worse, here comes a letter from your pa saying he and your
ma have met with old friends at Naples, and not to expect 'em home
until we see them. Anyway, I'd made up my mind not to shorten their
holiday, 'less it was a matter of life and death.

"Now, what I want to know is this: who is going to wait on that sick
boy from morning to night? And that's what he'll have to have for he
can't stir off his couch, can't even sit up, and wanting something
every five minutes. I'm sure I can't keep the house, and see to the
servants, and take care of you children, and besides wait on that
exacting young one. 'Tain't in human nature to do it--anyway, 'tain't
in me. And Dave's temper's at the bottom of the whole thing; he won't
have Guiseppi or any other Italian I could get, and he's just worn out
the patience of his French vally till he got disgusted and wouldn't put
up with it any longer for love nor money. His father's got to go, and
who is to take care of that boy?"

Mehitabel's voice actually quivered. The children had never seen her
so moved; the dif