h the question. All the while she rode with her face directly
forward.
"No," he said; "father hasn't written."
She flushed a little. "I expect I ought to've written sometime, or one
of the boys--"
"Oh no; that was all right."
"You can't think how busy we've all been this year, Bibbs. I often
planned to write--and then, just as I was going to, something would turn
up. And I'm sure it's been just the same way with Jim and Roscoe. Of
course we knew mamma was writing often and--"
"Of course!" he said, readily. "There's a chunk of coal fallen on your
glove, Edith. Better flick it off before it smears. My word! I'd almost
forgotten how sooty it is here."
"We've been having very bright weather this month--for us." She blew the
flake of soot into the air, seeming relieved.
He looked up at the dingy sky, wherein hung the disconsolate sun like
a cold tin pan nailed up in a smoke-house by some lunatic, for a
decoration. "Yes," said Bibbs. "It's very gay." A few moments later, as
they passed a corner, "Aren't we going home?" he asked.
"Why, yes! Did you want to go somewhere else first?"
"No. Your new driver's taking us out of the way, isn't he?"
"No. This is right. We're going straight home."
"But we've passed the corner. We always turned--"
"Good gracious!" she cried. "Didn't you know we'd moved? Didn't you know
we were in the New House?"
"Why, no!" said Bibbs. "Are you?"
"We've been there a month! Good gracious! Didn't you know--" She broke
off, flushing again, and then went on hastily: "Of course, mamma's never
been so busy in her life; we ALL haven't had time to do anything but
keep on the hop. Mamma couldn't even come to the station to-day. Papa's
got some of his business friends and people from around the
OLD-house neighborhood coming to-night for a big dinner and
'house-warming'--dreadful kind of people--but mamma's got it all on her
hands. She's never sat down a MINUTE; and if she did, papa would have
her up again before--"
"Of course," said Bibbs. "Do you like the new place, Edith?"
"I don't like some of the things father WOULD have in it, but it's the
finest house in town, and that ought to be good enough for me! Papa
bought one thing I like--a view of the Bay of Naples in oil that's
perfectly beautiful; it's the first thing you see as you come in the
front hall, and it's eleven feet long. But he would have that old
fruit picture we had in the Murphy Street house hung up in the new
din
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