"I'll go down and see about that, I will," she said with an air of
great importance.

"What?" said the old man, looking tenderly and fondly at Periwinkle.

"I'll see about that, I will," said the barefoot cherub, as she pulled
on her sunbonnet and set out for the schoolhouse, pushing resolutely
forward on her sturdy little legs.

"I vum!" said the old man, as he saw her disappear round the fence
corner.

The quaint little thing had not yet been in the house a week. She was
sent on to the grandparents after her mother's death, and, as the child
of the daughter who had left them years ago never to return, she had
found immediate entrance into the hearts of the old folks. The
reprobate Henrietta, who wasted her time drawing pictures, and who was
generally in a state of siege at home and at school, had found in
little Periwinkle, as they called her, a fountain of affection. And now
that Henrietta was in trouble, the little Illinois Periwinkle had gone
off in her self-reliant fashion to see about it.

When she reached the schoolhouse she found Rob Riley, whom she had come
to know as Henrietta's friend, standing listening.

"I've come down to see about that, I have," said Periwinkle, nodding
her head toward the schoolhouse. Then she listened a while to the angry
voice of Miss Tucker, and the surly, sobbing, and defiant replies of
Henrietta, who was saying, "Stand back, or I'll hit you!"

"Open that door this minute, Wob Wiley! I'm a goin' to see about that."

Rob hesitated. The latch was clearly out of Periwinkle's reach. Rob had
a faint hope that the little thing might divert the wrathful teacher
from her prey. He raised the latch and set the door slightly ajar.

"Now push," he said to Periwinkle.

She pushed the door open a little way and entered the schoolroom
without being seen by the angry mistress, who was facing the other way,
having driven Henrietta into a corner. Here stood the defiant girl at
bay, waving a ruler, which she had snatched from the irate teacher, and
warning the latter to let her alone. Periwinkle walked up to the
teacher, pulled her dress, and said:

"I've come down to see about that, I have."

"Who are you?" said the frightened Miss Tucker, to whom it seemed that
the little chub had dropped down out of the sky, or come to life off
Henrietta's slate.

"I'm Periwinkle, and you mustn't touch my Henrietta. I've come down to
see about it, I have."

Miss Tucker, in a sudden reaction, sa