“He was—now don’t you tell any one, Vic, unless we decide that we had better. Now mind you don’t!” “No, I won’t. Hurry, for I hear Sophy calling.” “He was stealing apples from a barrel outside of a provision store in Fordham.” “Peter!” “Yes, he was! I caught him at it. He said he hadn’t any money to buy anything to eat, and he was awfully hungry, so I gave him some. And then he helped me,—in that fight, you know,—and he came home with me.” Peter could not yet endure to mention the name of Sirius. “He seemed like such a nice fellow,” he continued, “and I thought it would be a shame to give him a bad name by saying he’d been stealing. I knew Honor would never have him here if I did, so I just kept quiet about that, and didn’t even tell you, but I thought I had better to-day. I don’t believe for a minute, though, that he had anything to do with the robbery. I can’t think it, can you?” “I don’t know what to think,” said Victoria, again remembering Sophy’s so-called dream. At that moment a loud crash sounded from within. “Dear me,” cried Victoria, running into the house; “I do believe Sophy has broken something!” She found her small sister gazing in dismay at the floor, which was strewn with broken glass. “I never meant to!” she wailed, when she saw Victoria. “Indeed, Vic, I never meant to! I was only going to help you carry the tumblers to the china closet, and they all began to slip, and slide, and tumble off the tray. Is that the reason they’re called tumblers, Vic? Because they always tumble off? I never touched a tumbler when it didn’t tumble. Tell me, Vic, is it? Oh, I’m awful sorry, but I was only helping!” “I suppose you were, but, oh dear!” said Victoria, hurrying away for the dust-pan and brush with which to sweep up the broken glass. “This is a day of misfortunes! What the burglars have left you have broken.” “Oh, not everything, Vic! How can you say so? There’s all the china, dishes, and plates, and cups and saucers, and everything. I haven’t broken those.” “No, and please don’t try to,” said her sister, struggling to remain calm and not to scold Sophy. A dozen good tumblers in atoms, and how could they spare the money to buy more? “I never tried to!” cried Sophy, bursting into tears and burying her face in a dish-towel. “Oh, how can you say so? I never tried to break ’em!” But for the first time in her life, Victoria turned a deaf ear to Sophy’s lamentations, and the child fled upstairs to Honor for consolation. She found her eldest sister in her own room. She was standing in the middle of the floor and she was directly confronted by B. Lafferty, who, with her hands on her hips, was haranguing her young mistress with all the eloquence at her command. Sophy forgot her own grievance in wonder as to what Blanch could be talking about, and sidling up to Honor, she dried her tears and listened, her big brown eyes fastened upon the crimson countenance of the housemaid.