pin in it somewhere, and he asked if she was ill. I said, "No, she is
not ill," and then I sighed and looked off down the street as if I would
I were alone. He began to speak very quickly, but stopped and bit his
lip. Then he turned away and hesitated, and finally he came back and
took a thick letter from his pocket and held it out to me. He was
smiling now, and for a minute he really looked nice and sweet and
friendly.

"Say, Alice," he said, in the most coaxing way, "don't YOU get down on
me, too. Do me a good turn--that's a dear. Take this letter home and
deliver it. Will you? And say I'm at the hotel waiting for an answer."

Now, you can see yourself that this was thrilling. The whole family
was watching every mail for a letter from Harry Goward and here he was
offering me one! I didn't show how excited I was; I just took the letter
and turned it over so I couldn't see the address and slipped it into my
pocket, and said, coldly, that I would deliver it with pleasure. Harry
Goward was looking quite cheerful again, but he said, in a worried tone,
that he hoped I wouldn't forget, because it was very, very important.
Then I dismissed him with a haughty bow, the way they do on the stage,
and this time he put his hat on and really went.

Of course after that I wanted to go straight home with the letter, but
I knew it wouldn't do to leave Lorraine bearing her terrible burden
without some one to comfort her. While I was trying to decide what to
do I saw Billy a block away with Sidney Tracy, and I whistled to him
to come, and beckoned with both hands at the same time to show it was
important. I had a beautiful idea. In that very instant I "planned my
course of action," as they say in books. I made up my mind that I would
send the letter home by Billy, and that would give me time to run over
to Maria's and get something to eat and ask Maria to go and comfort
Lorraine. Maria and Lorraine don't like each other very much, but I knew
trouble might bring them closer, for Grandma Evarts says it always does.
Besides, Maria is dreadfully old and knows everything and is the one the
family always sends for when things happen. If they don't send she comes
anyhow and tells everybody what to do. So I pinned the letter in Billy's
pocket, so he couldn't lose it, and I ordered him to go straight home
with it. He said he would. He looked queer and I thought I saw him drop
something near a fence before he came to me, but I was so excited I