ain. "And whatever she's
done, she's scared to death about it," it throbbed on. "Why did she come
stealing in the back door that way?"

Worried and perplexed, but still loyal to her promise to say nothing to
the others about Veronica, Sahwah went on sorting and carrying up the
ironed clothes.

Upstairs Migwan was helping Nyoda get dressed for her journey. Nyoda
was still in her George Washington suit, which she had concealed under a
long cloak on the way home, and Migwan's hands trembled so with
excitement she could hardly take out the endless pins that they had put
in with so much fun and laughter a few hours before.

"How did Sherry, happen to be on the ocean?" Nyoda asked wonderingly.
"He was in France the last time I heard from him. Why would he be coming
to America now?"

Migwan could not answer the question, she could only press her beloved
Guardian's hand tight in hers by way of sympathy and then fly back at
the pins, which all seemed to be allied against them, for they buried
their heads out of sight and thrust their points where Migwan's shaking
fingers caught and tore themselves upon them. The suit was off at last
and Migwan tucked Nyoda into bed for an hour of rest while she pressed
her dark blue silk traveling dress and sewed fresh collars and cuffs
into her jacket.

In the next room Veronica was swiftly packing the suitcase. The whole
house was filled with confusion and haste. The old portraits on the
walls looked down in astonishment at this unwonted turning of night into
day, at the lights burning all over the house, from attic to basement,
and at the girls running up and downstairs, bumping into each other in
their haste and getting more flurried all the time. A smell of coffee
pervaded the whole place, and this was soon superseded by the odor of
burning toast. In the midst of the confusion the telephone rang and
everybody thought someone else was answering it, with the result that
nobody answered it and it rang a second time, long and insistently.
Sahwah rushed up from the basement; Veronica sped swiftly down from
upstairs, followed in a moment by Migwan; Hinpoha hastily snatched the
coffee pot off the fire and ran in from the kitchen; Gladys hastened
from the pantry; the two boys jumped in from the porch, and at the same
moment Nyoda called over the banister and asked if someone would answer
the telephone.

Sahwah got there first and snatched down the receiver with a trembling
hand while the re