en the door opened and Sally entered. She glanced about expectantly.

"I thought I heard thee talking to some one," she remarked. "Isn't
thee ever going to get through with those pots and pans, Peggy? Let me
help thee. We want thee to come in with us."

"Now you all jest go right erlong," spoke Sukey, who had followed
Sally into the room. "Yer ma, she come up and she say, 'Tell Miss
Peggy dat she am wanted in de sittin'-room right now.' Jest go right
erlong, chile. Sukey'll finish up heah."

"All right, Sukey." Peggy relinquished the task to the black, and
started for the door, saying in a tone that Clifford might hear: "I
will be out presently to see how thee gets along."

"Ef I doan git erlong any fas'er dan you all dese dishes gwine ter be
heah twel Chrismus," grumbled the darkey. "An' some-body's muss'd my
floah."

Peggy gave a startled glance at the sand, where telltale traces of her
cousin's presence were plainly in evidence. From the entry door to the
kitchen were tracks of snow, and on the sand in the kitchen there were
wet spots where the snow had melted. Clearly they must be obliterated.

"I'll fix the floor, Sukey," she said, beginning to brush up the wet
sand. "Sally, bring some dry sand from the box, please, and we will
have this fixed in a jiffy. Thee must not expect thy floor to keep
just so, Sukey, when there is so much company."

Presently, the floor resanded and the entry way swept, the two girls
started for the sitting-room. Peggy was thoughtful and Sally too, for
the nonce, was silent.

"Clifford will be all right where he is for a short time," mused
Peggy. "If he has to stay there for any length of time, though, 'twill
be most uncomfortable. I wonder if it would not be best to consult
with mother? Perchance she could think of some way out of the
difficulty."

She brightened at the thought, and just then Sally opened the door of
the sitting-room. Mr. Owen was in his great easy chair with his wife,
and Mrs. Johnson sitting near, interested listeners to some narrative.
The young people had withdrawn to the far side of the apartment and
formed a little group by themselves, of which Betty was the center.
She was giving an animated account of a recent assembly, and the
youths were so absorbed in the recital that they did not hear the two
girls approach. A smile came to Peggy's lips.

"Why, Betty is in truth a belle, Sally," she whispered. "How pretty
she hath grown! That gown doth indeed becom