"How's yer aunt and her Ruth ?" "They're--they're well, thank you." "Do eat!" "No," said Susan.

"I'll wait for Uncle." "Never mind your manners.

I know you're starved." Then seeing that the girl would not eat, she said, "Well, I'll go fetch him." But Susan stopped her.

"Please please don't," she entreated.
Sallie stared to oppose; then, arrested by the intense, appealing expression in those violet-gray eyes, so beautifully shaded by dark lashes and brows, she kept silent, bustled aimlessly about, boiling with suddenly aroused curiosity.

It was nearly half an hour by the big square wooden clock on the chimney-piece when Susan heard the steps of her two uncles.