into a beautiful knight with barberries in his helmet,
and knelt at her feet, and they were very happy for ever after."

"Oh, how short!" complained the rest. "Eyebright's was a great deal
longer."

"Yes, but she read hers in a book, you know. I made mine up, all
myself."

"I'll tell you a 'tory now," broke in little Rosy. "It's a nice
'tory,--a real nice one. Once there was a little girl, and she wanted
some pie. She wanted some weal wich pie. And her mother whipped her
because she wanted the weal wich pie. Then she kied. And her mother
whipped her. Then she kied again. And her mother whipped her again.
And the wich pie made her sick. And she died. She couldn't det well,
'cause the dottor he didn't come. He couldn't come. There wasn't any
dottor. He was eated up by tigers. Isn't that a nice 'tory?"

The girls laughed so hard over Rosy's story that, much abashed, she
hid her face in Kitty's lap, and wouldn't raise it for a long time.
Eyebright tried to comfort her.

"It's a real nice story," she said. "The nicest of all. I'm so glad
you came, Rosy, else you wouldn't have told it to us."

"Did you hear me tell how the dottor was eated up by tigers?" asked
Rosy, peeping with one eye from out of the protection of Kitty's
apron.

"Yes, indeed. That was splendid."

"I made that up!" said Rosy, triumphantly revealing her whole face,
joyful again, and bright as a full moon.

"Who'll be next?" asked Eyebright.

"I will," said Laura. "Listen now, for it's going to be perfectly
awful, I can tell you. It's about robbers."

As she spoke these words, Laura lowered her voice, into a sort of
half-groan, half-whisper.

"There was once a girl who lived all alone by herself, with just one
Newfoundland dog for company. He wasn't a big Newfoundland,--he was
pretty small. One night, when it was all dark and she was just going
to sleep, she heard a rustle underneath her bed."

The children had drawn closer together since Laura began, and at this
point Romaine gave a loud shriek.

"What was that?" she asked.

All held their breaths. The loft was getting a little dusky now, and
sure enough, an unmistakable rustle was heard among the hay in a
distant corner!

"This loft would be a very bad place for a robber," said Eyebright, in
a voice which trembled considerably, though she tried to keep it
steady. "A robber wouldn't have much chance with all our men down
below. James, you know, girls, and Samuel and John."

"Yes,--an