d mistress, and they, in turn,
appreciated her good qualities and allowed her many privileges, letting
her run her end of the house largely to suit herself. Long before this
she had come to regard herself as one of the family.

She had dandled and crooned over the boys as babies, and, as they had
grown up, she had become almost as fond of them as the parents
themselves. They always knew where to get a doughnut or a ginger cake
when they came in famished, and, though at times they sorely tried her
patience, she was always ready to defend them against any one else.

And the one reason more than any other why she detested their Uncle
Aaron was because he was "allus pickin' on dem po' chillen." That the
"pickin'" was only too often justified did not weigh at all in Aunt
Martha's partial judgment.

"Here dey cum, now," she said, as she heard footsteps in the hall. "Get
out of my way now, honey, and let me serve de supper. Goodness knows,
it's time."

"I tell you what it is, Mansfield," Aaron Rushton was saying, "you've
simply spoiled those boys of yours. You've let the reins lie loose on
their backs, and they're going straight to perdition. And Agnes is just
as bad as you are, if not worse. What they need is a good hickory switch
and plenty of muscle behind it. If they were my boys, I'd let them know
what's what. I'd put things in order in jig time. I'd show them whether
they could run things as they liked. They'd learn mighty quick who was
boss. I'd----"

"Yes, yes, Aaron, I know," said his brother soothingly. "I feel just as
bad about this as you do, and I'll see that Teddy pays well for this
mischief."

"Mischief!" mimicked Aaron angrily. "That's just the trouble with you
folks. You excuse everything because it's simply 'mischief.' Why don't
you call it crime?"

"Now, Aaron, that's too much," cried Mrs. Rushton, bristling in defence
of her offspring. "It was an awful thing to do, of course, but Teddy
didn't realize----" then, seeing the retort trembling on Aaron's lips,
she went on hastily: "But go right up to your room now, and get a bath
and change your clothes. Mansfield will get you some things of his to
put on, and I'll have supper waiting for you when you come down."

And Aaron, still rumbling like a volcano, was led to the upper regions,
where the splashing of water shortly after told of a bath more grateful
than the involuntary one he had taken an hour before.

Mrs. Rushton, with tears in her eyes, turn