Ester Ried

to the fire?" Which question her mother answered by asking, without turning her eyes from the great batch of bread which she was molding: "What mischief ar

and fixed them upon Julia; and she said, as soon as she caug

ss and white apron were covered with great patches of mud; morocco boots and neat white stockings were in the same di

g them, the letter had the meanness to slip out of her hand into the mud! That, you understand, was the frying-pan. Much horrified with this state of things, the two wise young heads were put together, and the brilliant idea conceived of giving the muddy letter a thorough washing in the creek! So to the creek they went; and, while th

point by Ester, who had listened with d

oughly whipped, the c

t punish her now, I

you're an ugly, mean sister to say so. I tumbled down and hurt my arm dreadfully,

had managed to burst forth these angry sentences before her

oom directly; and, when you have put on dry clothes, sit down there, and stay u

e a mistake, and Ester is the one to be sent to her room until she can behave better. I don't pretend to be good myself; but I must say it seems ridicu

sorts of mischief and insolence; that is t

die, you should not encourage Julia in speaking improperly to her sister. I think myself that Es

rse I am the one to blame; I always am. No one in

and Sadie turned away an

I were a

m in the

long with Addie, and looking at them. How could she know that the hateful letter was going to tumble out of her apron pocket? Right there, too, the only place along the road where there was the least bit of mud to be seen! Then she had honestly supposed that a little clean water from the creek, applied with her smooth white handkerchief, would take the stains right out of the envelope, and the sun would dry it, and it would go safely to Uncle Ralph's after all; but, instead of that, the hateful, hateful thing slipped right out of her hand, and went floating down the s

iar voice, under her w

end my sail for

into Alfred's sympathetic ears the

the tragedy. "She grows crosser every day. I guess, if I were

aner than any thing, and I'd tell her so this m

water, and left Julia in solitude, she found her heart very much streng

in the garden with Alfred; she wanted to go to the arbor and read her new book; she wanted to take a walk down by the river; she wanted her dinner exceedingly; but to ask Ester's forgiveness was the one thing that she did not want to do. No, not if she staid there alone for a week; n

faction in her eyes, "because it wouldn't be true. I'm not

able day were quite done and she was sound asleep. Only a few moments before she had received a third visit from her mother; and, turning to her, fresh from a talk with Alfred, she had answered her mother's question as to whether she were not now ready to ask Ester's forgiveness, with quite as

I can be asleep before Ester comes up. I'm glad of that. I wouldn't look at her

had been before, "mother looked awful tired when she came down

Julia, in a shocke

d they've been working pell-mell all day; and Minnie tumbled over the ice-box and got hurt, and mother

below: then he broke forth suddenly: "I say, Jule, hadn't you bet

Julia, "what can I do about it? You know I'm to te

t she ought to be sorry for her own angry words, no matter how much in the wrong another had been

't go to Vesta's, and had to stay up there

eal sorry about mother. Alfred,

u see you can tell Ester you're sorry, just as well as not; because, if you hadn't s

hat sounds as if it was right; and yet, somehow--. Well

elbow a few moments after this; and Julia's voice was very earnest:

ushed cheek, and answered kindly: "Mother will

faintly; "but I'm going

tions speak louder than words. I hope you will show how sorr

he joined him on the piazza to take a last look at the

such a woman as Ester is when I grow up. I wouldn't for the wo