had 'Liza sick for the rest of
her life than that she should 'a' been dosed up on some stuff we had to
keep hidden away lest somebody see it. If he was ashamed of the medicine,
or it was anything we'd hadn't ought to had, he shouldn't 'a' given it to
us. I never said nothin' to nobody 'bout it, but I poured the whole
bottleful down the sink, and told Doctor Marsh that he needn't come again.
He pretended he couldn't see why, but I guess he understood, an' I hope
the lesson did him good," concluded Mary with righteous zeal.

"So that was the reason Doctor Marsh stopped comin'!" Jane exclaimed. "I
always wondered. You never told me that before."

"No," said Mary with dignity, "I never did."

"But, Mary,"--Jane broke into a laugh.

"You needn't laugh, Jane. It was a very serious matter."

"If you'd only explained it, Mary, I could have told you----"

"That is precisely why I didn't explain it, Jane," Mary answered. "I knew
you would interfere, an' I felt it was somethin' that laid between me an'
my conscience. No matter what you'd 'a' said, I should 'a' felt the same
way about it. Matters of right an' wrong are the affairs of me an' my
Maker. Nobody else on earth can settle 'em."

There were instances when it was useless to argue with Mary, and Jane saw
that this was one of them.

Had she so willed she could not only have cleared up the mystery about
Doctor Marsh's medicine, but she could have furnished her sister with the
key to Martin's caprices, and thereby saved the metaphysician not only
much worry but also much physical labor.

Mary and Eliza, however, lived in such a miniature world that Jane knew if
Martin's secret were divulged it would become the unending topic of
conversation from that moment on. Moreover, so intense would be his
sisters' excitement concerning the affair, and so keen their interest and
curiosity that they might blunder into destroying the delicate fabric of
the romance altogether. Hence Jane kept her own council, speculating with
amusement as to how long it would be before his two solicitous but
blinded relatives should stumble upon the truth.

In the meantime the neighboring between the two families, so bravely
begun, was not continued. Mary and Eliza Howe had not the courage or the
initiative to attempt a second clandestine tea-party, much as they would
have enjoyed it; and Jane saw no use in urging Lucy to the house. If
Martin decreed to further the affair, he was quite capable of d