Eleanor H. Porter

“ And I rather think I know. You are away ahead of Dodge; you are away ahead of—" He paused, then went on with somewhat pompous impressiveness: "Miss Gilmore, I can honestly say that never have I had any one who plays my accompaniments as you do. You never drag, never pull. You are always superbly right there—with me."
He sat back with the gesture of one who has settled a matter once for all.
"Thank you, Mr. Donald Kendall." Sister Sue was still quietly smiling. "That is high praise, I know. Yet still I must say I cannot play your accompaniments for you." ”

“ And Delia, whose especial detestation was to answer the doorbell, particularly in the morning, turned and clattered down the back stairway.
More slowly Sister Sue turned toward the front part of the house. There was still a faint questioning in her eyes when she entered the living-room, where Donald Kendall was waiting alone.
"Good-morning, Mr. Kendall," holding out her hand.
"Good-morning." Donald Kendall advanced hurriedly. He had the air of a man who had come with a bit of news too good to keep. "It's early, I know, but I had to come right away. ”

“ And you talk of giving him a pink tea!"
"Gordon's all right. He's just trying to be a man among men. I know; I've had boys of my own."
"But he's always been a gentleman before," faltered the girl: "even though he has smoked cigarettes in spite of anything I would say. But never before has he been coarse and rough and uncouth in his ways."
"H-mm. Does he dance?"
"He used to down there in Boston—during school, of course. And they were beginning to have little dances among themselves when—when we came away."
"H-mm. Care for girls?"
Sister Sue flushed. ”

“ Mrs. Preston had said, "Delia is a dabster at fixing up molasses for candy-pulling and popcorn balls," and so it proved.
Gordon had been true to his word and his "crowd" was all there. Three girls, Kitty Sanborn and Bessie Merrill and Grace Walker, came first. Sister Sue welcomed them at the door and told them to run upstairs and put their wraps in her room. Then came George White with his sister Ruth. He told Sister Sue his brother Tom had not been home since the day before, but he thought he intended to come. Joe Anderson came alone, but said his sisters were on their way with their beaus. ”

“ All he wants to do is to hang around those horrid places and smoke with the boys, and some of them are not nice boys. They smoke and drink and gamble and swear, and—Gordon is getting awful in his manner and in his language, so rough and coarse. ”

“ No, she did n't care much for the novelist. Yes, Donald Kendall was a fine player. Yes, she danced with Cy Bellows, once. No, she did n't call him handsome. Yes and no; no and yes. That was all.
When May went into the house after a time and left the two together, and when Sister Sue gave an abstracted "no" to his last question asking her if she had ever seen worse weather than that of the day before, Martin Kent promptly remonstrated:
"Sue! For Heaven's sake, what's the matter with you to-night?" he asked. "No, no; yes, yes. That's all anybody can get out of you. ”

“ In the kitchen Frank Woods and some of the girls had made a panful of popcorn balls and these were outdoors cooling with the candy. Then the boys helped Delia wash the dishes and the girls wiped them.
THE GIRLS TOLD HER THEY ENJOYED THE DANCE, AND CANDY, AND EVERYTHING
Meanwhile, in the big parlor, Sister Sue had arranged the tables and chairs and had brought in some cake and lemonade, and was ready for the young people, who now were beginning to come in with plates heaped with the candy and popcorn balls of their own make. ”

“ Are you going to waste it all in teaching scales and five-finger exercises to a dozen urchins who'll never know the difference between a Beethoven symphony and 'Johnny, Get Your Gun'? Have n't you any ambition? Don't you ever want to do something worth while in the world? ”

“ The music was now changing into a lively little two-step and soon four couples were forgetting their embarrassment in the witchery of the dance.
Sister Sue turned to Tom White while she was playing and asked him please to bring Grace Walker to the piano so they could talk and arrange for some songs right after giving the dancers a few more turns at the two-step. ”

“ Then stretch out some more the same way an' cut that off. You'll have to be mighty quick or it'll git hard an' won't stretch.
"An' you, Frank, if you've got your hands washed you may pop the corn; put it in this big pan, an' we'll have some popcorn balls. I'll show you how to make 'em when you git the pan filled up. Keep the pan up there over the stove so the corn won't git cold."
Thus Delia put them to work, sending some out on the back piazza where, with shrieks and laughs and "Oh, my hands are all sticky!" and "It's hot, take it quick!" ”

“ It gives me something to talk of besides my aches an' pains an' troubles."
"As if you ever let anybody know you had any!" scoffed Sister Sue.
"Pooh!" With a wave of her hand the old lady tossed this aside. "Well, child, what is it to-day? Did Susie Smith strike C instead of G, or is Miss May crying over a story the editor would n't take?"
"Neither. Oh, yes, both." Sister Sue corrected herself with a faint smile. "We always have those with us, like the poor. But, Mrs. Preston, it's really serious this time. I'm worried, and I haven't the faintest idea what to do."
"What is it?"
"Gordon." ”

“ I have heard that Joe Anderson won the hundred-dollar prize for the best set of housing plans for the employees of the Kendall shops and that he had been promoted to a very responsible position in the company's office. ”

“ But Sister Sue interrupted.
"You don't have to say another word—not another word!" the girl said, jumping to her feet, laughing and dancing up and down on her toes. "I know it all now. And he shall have his pink tea—you wait and see."
"Molasses candy and popcorn make a fine treat, and they ain't a mite costly," called out Mrs. ”