ad. I shall feel
as if they were friends, even if a head never looks out of the attic
window."

When she was taking in the evening's milk for the cook (there was
really no odd job she was not called upon to do), she saw something
occur which made the situation more interesting than ever. The
handsome, rosy man who was the father of the Large Family walked across
the square in the most matter-of-fact manner, and ran up the steps of
the next-door house. He ran up them as if he felt quite at home and
expected to run up and down them many a time in the future. He stayed
inside quite a long time, and several times came out and gave
directions to the workmen, as if he had a right to do so. It was quite
certain that he was in some intimate way connected with the newcomers
and was acting for them.

"If the new people have children," Sara speculated, "the Large Family
children will be sure to come and play with them, and they MIGHT come
up into the attic just for fun."

At night, after her work was done, Becky came in to see her fellow
prisoner and bring her news.

"It's a' Nindian gentleman that's comin' to live next door, miss," she
said. "I don't know whether he's a black gentleman or not, but he's a
Nindian one. He's very rich, an' he's ill, an' the gentleman of the
Large Family is his lawyer. He's had a lot of trouble, an' it's made
him ill an' low in his mind. He worships idols, miss. He's an 'eathen
an' bows down to wood an' stone. I seen a' idol bein' carried in for
him to worship. Somebody had oughter send him a trac'. You can get a
trac' for a penny."

Sara laughed a little.

"I don't believe he worships that idol," she said; "some people like to
keep them to look at because they are interesting. My papa had a
beautiful one, and he did not worship it."

But Becky was rather inclined to prefer to believe that the new
neighbor was "an 'eathen." It sounded so much more romantic than that
he should merely be the ordinary kind of gentleman who went to church
with a prayer book. She sat and talked long that night of what he
would be like, of what his wife would be like if he had one, and of
what his children would be like if they had children. Sara saw that
privately she could not help hoping very much that they would all be
black, and would wear turbans, and, above all, that--like their
parent--they would all be "'eathens."

"I never lived next door to no 'eathens, miss," she said; "I should
like to s