felt of her frizzes to see if
they were in order after a breeze had struck her in the sharp, eager
face. "Yes, I be."

"Well," said the boy, delightedly, "I can tell you just what to do,
you know."

"What, I'd like to know?" Madame Griggs said, in a snapping tone.

"Move away from Banbridge," said the boy.

"What for, I'd like to know?"

"Why, then, don't you see," explained Eddy Carroll, "you would get
away from the folks that you owe, and other folks that you didn't owe
would trust you for things. You'd get along fine. That's the way we
always do."

"Well, I never!" said Madame Griggs. Then she turned on him with
sudden fury. "So that's what your folks are goin' to do, be they?"
said she. "Go off and leave me without payin' my bill! That's the
dodge, is it?"

Eddy was immediately on the alert. He was young and innocent, but he
had a certain sharpness. He was quite well aware that a knowledge on
the part of the creditors of his family's flittings was not
desirable. "I 'ain't heard them say a word about moving away from
Banbridge," declared he. "What you getting so mad about, Missis?"

"I guess I've got some reason to be mad, if that's your folks' game.
The way I've worked, slavin' all them hot days and nights on your
sister's wedding fix. I guess--"

"We ain't going to move away from Banbridge as long as we live, for
all I know," said Eddy, looking at the bundle of feminine nerves
beside him with a mixture of terror and scorn. "You don't need to
holler so, Missis."

"I don't care how loud I holler, I can tell you that."

"We ain't going to move; and if we did, I don't see why you couldn't.
I was just telling you what you could do, if you owed folks and
didn't have any money to pay 'em, and you turn on a feller that way.
I'm going to tell my sister and mother, and they won't have you make
any more dresses for 'em." With that Eddy Carroll made a dart into
Anderson's grocery store, which he had reached by that time. The
dressmaker remained standing on the sidewalk, staring after him. She
looked breathless; red spots were on her thin cheeks.

Eddy went straight through the store to the office. The door stood
open, and the little place was empty except for the cat, which cast a
lazy glance at him from under a half-closed lid, stretched,
displaying his claws, and began to purr loudly. Eddy went over to the
cat and took him up in his arms and carried him out into the main
store, where William Price stood behi