Eleanor H. Porter

“ Indeed, there was no doubt that Sister Sue was busy that winter in Gilmoreville. She told Mrs. Preston sometimes that she was very, very busy peeling those potatoes; that she would n't mind her backaches and headaches if she were only doing something really worth while. But to be so utterly weary and then have nothing to show for it but a pan of peeled potatoes—! And then she would make up a wry little face and shrug her shoulders and, with a merry twinkle in her eyes, glance over to Mrs. Preston, who would always remark: "I'm a-thinkin' more folks is needin' potatoes ter-day than turkey." ”

“ Come, Father, come!" she cried. "Please come, quick!" And so urgent was her voice this time that it penetrated even the befogged brain of the mumbling old man, and he rose as if impelled by some hidden force. ”

“ He wanted always to be with somebody. If left alone in his own room, it would n't be long before he would be seeking Sister Sue or May or Gordon, or even Delia in the kitchen. Only in his flower garden was he content to be by himself. And it was there, whenever possible, that his daughter would lead him at sight of Martin Kent coming down the street or up the walk. Fortunately, however, night found the old man very tired and he was always ready to go to bed early. ”

“ We're going to try so hard and—"
"Nonsense!" interrupted Sister Sue, rousing herself briskly. "Don't talk that way any more, May. When I dropped that ring on the table I dropped myself quite out of Martin Kent's life—except, of course, as 'Sister Sue,'" she amended with a slight lift of the eyebrows. "Now, come. We know what is to be done. The only thing left is to decide how and when to do it. You will be married, of course. The sooner, the better, I think, under the circumstances, which will suit Martin Kent, I am sure. ”

“ Besides, there was a chance, once in a while, that he might occasionally catch a peep at Sister Sue! he declared. So almost every day he came to sit on the vine-shaded veranda with May. Not that he always sat there. Quite frequently he suggested a walk. He said it was cooler up on the hill in the pine grove back of the house, and they could work up there better. That there was not the same chance up there of "catching a peep" at Sister Sue evidently did not occur to him. ”