method Mrs. Hunt was taking to smooth matters over
for herself.

"Another time," Mrs. Hunt turned to the other lady, "do you
remember, Maria, when we all went to Perryman's Beach and waded in
the water? You'd had a cold or something, and were afraid your
mother would find out you'd gone with us. She did find out, I
remember, because you didn't dry your feet well, and your bed was
full of sand the next morning. Dear me, dear me, that was a good
while ago, wasn't it?"

Mrs. Otway was smiling with a far-away look in her eyes. "I
remember," she said.

"You can't put old heads on young shoulders," went on Mrs. Hunt,
"and if our mothers had looked ahead and had seen what sober old
matrons we would become, I guess they wouldn't have worried as much
as they did over our little pranks."

Marian edged up to her good friend who put her arm around her. Mrs.
Otway turned her eyes upon her granddaughter. "Where did you get
that apron, Marian?" asked Mrs. Otway, a change coming over her
face.

"I lent it to her," Mrs. Hunt spoke up. "It was my Annie's and I
wasn't going to have Ralph Otway's daughter disgraced by going
through the streets in a petticoat; I'm too fond of him and of her,
too. I remember once how I made my Annie wear a purple frock she
despised. It was the very week before she died," Mrs. Hunt's voice
dropped, "and you can believe, Maria Otway, that if I had it to do
over again, the purple frock would have gone in the fire before she
should ever have worn it. Poor little darling, the girls made fun of
it because it was so ugly and old-womanish. I could have spared her
feelings and I didn't. I have that purple frock now," she went on.
"I kept it to remind me not to hurt the feelings of one of His
little ones when there was no need to." The tears were running down
Mrs. Hunt's cheeks by now, but she went on: "You can think as you
choose, but I have said my say."

"I don't think you would ever hurt any one's feelings if you could
help it, Salome," said Mrs. Otway, melted by the childless woman's
tears. Then turning to Marian, "Run along now, Marian," she said.

"Shall I take off the apron?"

"No, you needn't."

And that was all there was of it, but the next morning before
breakfast said Mrs. Otway outside Marian's door: "You may put on
your blue gingham for school, Marian."

So did Mrs. Hunt triumph and so did Miss Dorothy laugh in her sleeve
when she saw Marian appear in the clean blue frock. It was after
sc