both began to rip on the dress so I could help her cut the aprons.
"Douglass didn't say what he came home for in the middle of the
afternoon and Tony was so serious that I hardly knew him. Pink was
speechless from excitement. They all acted that way when they found
out about the queer man who hung around selling patent medicine,
trying to find out where Miss Prissy kept the Talbot emerald necklace
that came from England before the Revolution."

Because Miss Prissy lives alone it is the duty of all of the Raccoons
to patrol her ever so many times in the day, and Judge Luttrell lets
Tony go out the last thing before he goes to bed and give Miss Prissy
that signal we hear every night about half past nine. Miss Prissy says
it makes her comfortable the whole night, and the Colonel gave the
Raccoons their wireless outfit for being such "Knights of the Round
Miss Prissy" instead of the "Table," Pink said; though the Colonel
never mentioned Miss Prissy in the speech of presentation at all, but
called it Table.

I'm not romantic myself, but I could never treat a man with the lack
of heart with which Miss Prissy treats Colonel Stockell. She makes
herself as beautiful as possible and sits on the front porch with him,
and I would call that an honorable cause for marriage, but Roxanne
says that in Byrdsville no tie binds a lady to marry a gentleman until
after it is done. Such treatment does not look to me like what father
calls a "square deal"; but Miss Priscilla may have some way of
squaring it to her conscience, as she is very religious and
charitable.

"I'm glad Douglass doesn't have to know that we traded dresses,
Phyllis," said Roxanne, as we both snipped away on the long seams,
after he had gone with Tony and Pink. Why it is so much more fun to
rip things than to sew them, is a question I put to you, leather
Louise.

"Just last night," Roxanne continued, "he made me sit out here on the
porch with him and he told me it might be all summer that he will have
to use his wages to get the things for the experiments. Mr. Rogers has
acted queerly and he is afraid to try anything out at these furnaces,
so we have to save up enough for him to go up to Kentucky to some
little furnaces there and make the experiment. It will cost a lot for
the trip and the things, but I think we can do it. This simple life
agrees with us all. Just look how fat Lovey is getting with hardly
anything but buttermilk and corn-bread. It makes me happy to l