Eight Cousins

xpected. She had retired to thisroom as a good place in which to be miserable; for it was dark andstill, full of ancient furniture, sombre curtains, and hung all

had no mother,and had lately lost her father also, which left her no home but thiswith her great-aunts. She had been with them only a week, and,though the dear old ladies had tried t

full of all manner of odd nooks, charmingrooms, and mysterious passages. Windows broke out inunexpected places, little balconies overhung the garden m

at, rich in all the "goodies" that children love;but Rose seemed to care little for t

of evenan older child. But Rose took little interest in pink satin hats andtiny hose, though she sewed dutifully till he

dne Blish was the worst failure of all, for Rosecould not bear the sight of her, and said she was so like a wax dollshe longed to give her a

ttle, and dreamed many of theinnocent bright dreams in which imaginative children find suchcomfort and delight. This suited her better than anything else, butit was

y hopeful of its success. They said nothing to Rose about theirplan for this Saturday afternoon, but let her alone till the t

twitter changed to a lively whistle, then a trill, acoo, a chirp, and ended in a musical mixture of all the notes, as ifthe bird burst out laughing. Rose laughed also, and, forgetting herwoes, jumped up, saying eagerly"It is

chase, and following thechangeful son

ose's facebrightened, and, softly opening the slide, she peered into thekitchen. But the music had stopped, and all she saw was a girl in ablue apron scrubbing the hearth. Rose s

hear it?""Oh, yes! I'll come in." And Rose crept through the slide to thewide

ut of her slender throat came the swallow's twitter, therobin's whistle, the blue-jay's call, the thrush's song, thewood-dove's coo, and many an

ell off her perch, and whenthe little conc

?""The birds," answered the girl, wi

! I can sing, but nothi

ding, as she watched with interest thescattering of dabs of soft soap over the bricks, "May I stay and seeyou work? It is very lonely in

he soap. I'dlove to do it, only aunt wouldn't like it, I

Why, where do you live, then?""I'm going to live here, I hope. Debby wants some one to helpround, and I've come to try for a week.""I ho

, haven't you?" asked Phebe,looking up at her guest and wondering how life could be dull to agirl who wo

-house steps a little mite of ababy, and Miss Rogers took a liking to me, so I've been there eversince. But she is dead now, and I take care of myself.""How interes

et I runoff into the woods; that rests me better than stories

n of beans to look over,and wondered how it

ot, the more MissPower gave me, and I was so miserable that I 'most cried my eyesout. Papa never gave me hard things to do, and he always taughtme so pleasantly I loved to study. Oh, we were so happy and sofond of one another! But now h

tling her beans from one pan to another, and her eyeswere full of pity as they rested on the curly head bent down onRose's knee, for she s

nd blue-checked pinafore; envy changed to compassion; and ifsh

the only girl in the family."Phebe's last words made Rose smile in spite of her tears, and shelooked out from behind her apron with an April face, saying in atone of comic distress"That's one of my troubles! I've got six aunts,

ome of them came to see melast Wednesday, but I was lying down, and when auntie came tocall me I went under the quilt and pretended to be asleep. I shallhave to see them som

d horses, you'll enjoy yourselffirst-rate.""But I don't! I'm afraid of horses, and boats make me ill, and I hateboys!" And poor Rose wrung her hands at the awful pros

ns danced in the pan, but triedto comfo

will take you away whe

sent mepretty things very often. Now I belong to him, and shall have tomind him, till I am eighteen. I may not like him a bit, and I fretabout it all the time.""Well, I wouldn't borrow trouble, but have a

hunder,"

ed perch had caughtglimpses of a gay cart of some

o continue theirconfidences when old Debby appear

ybody come?""Little girls shouldn't ask questions,

over me as if I was going todie," said Rose, preparing to retire the way she came, for the slide,being cu

it was Aunt Myra when

ayagain, or I'll shut you up in the big b'iler," growled Deb