m.

"She will, too," she said. "Her dear little sister--the only one she's
got." And Kittie went on to say what a terrible thing it would have been
if she had died in the promise of her young life, till Mabel said she
almost felt sure herself that George had saved her. But George
hesitated. He said it wasn't "a square deal," whatever that means, but
Kittie said no one need tell any lies. She had gone into the hole and
George had pulled her out. She thought they needn't explain how deep it
was, and George admitted thoughtfully that "no truly loving family
should hunger for statistics at such a moment." Finally he said: "By
Jove! I'll do it. All's fair in love and war." Then he asked Mabel if
she thought she could "lend intelligent support to the star performers,"
and she said she could. So George picked Kittie up in his arms, and
Mabel cried--she was so excited it was easy, and she wanted to do it all
the time--and the sad little procession "homeward wended its weary way,"
as the poet says.

Mabel told me Kittie did her part like a real actress. She shut her eyes
and her head hung over George's arm, and her long, wet braid dripped as
it trailed behind them. George laughed to himself every few minutes till
they got near the club-house. Then he looked very sober, and Mabel
Blossom knew her cue had come, the way it does to actresses, and she let
out a wail that almost made Kittie sit up. It was 'most too much of a
one, and Mr. Morgan advised her to "tone it down a little," because, he
said, if she didn't they'd probably have Kittie buried before she could
explain. But of course Mabel had not been prepared and had not had any
practice. She muffled her sobs after that, and they sounded lots better.
People began to rush from the club-house, and get blankets and whiskey,
and telephone for doctors and for Kittie's family, and things got so
exciting that nobody paid any attention to Mabel. All she had to do was
to mop her eyes occasionally and keep a sharp lookout for Josephine; for
of course, being an ardent student of life, like Maudie and me, she did
not want to miss what came next.

Pretty soon a horse galloped up, all foaming at the mouth, and he was
pulled back on his haunches, and Josephine and Mr. James jumped out of
the buggy and rushed in, and there was more excitement. When George saw
them coming he turned pale, Mabel said, and hurried off to change his
clothes. One woman looked after him and said, "As modest as he i