Lettie came up with him from Plympton and remained over night at Miss Pringle's, with Sister. She seemed unfeignedly glad to see Sister again, and the two girls raced about together all day, watching the toiling threshing crew, and riding the empty wagons back to the field. "One seemed," Orrin said to Hiram Strong, "as big a kid as the other." In the evening, however, after the boys had eaten supper and washed at the bunkhouse, they strolled over to Miss Pringle's, and the girls met them with their most grown-up manner. Indeed, Lettie flirted with Orrin in a way that actually amazed Hiram. He was glad that Sister was not addicted to such manners. And yet, of course, Lettie meant no harm and Orrin Post seemed to understand. Hiram wondered if he had been used to the kind of society in which Lettie had learned to behave in this way. Of course, Orrin was quite "grown-up." Lettie looked upon him as fair game, without doubt. She would not have considered for a moment treating Hiram in this way. Sister did not attempt to copy the more sophisticated Lettie. Yet she seemed to approve fully of the daughter of the owner of Sunnyside Farm. "Lettie is so much nicer than I used to think her," Sister said gently to Hiram. "She is so kind." "Yes?" "She wants me to go back to Plympton with her and stay a while before I go home." "Yes?" questioned Hiram again. "Would you?" "I--don't--know," said Hiram slowly. He remembered the sort of young people he had met at the Bronson house the night of the party. He had never been able to make up his mind whether he had been invited on that occasion out of sheer kindness, or not. Hiram's perceptions were keen. Would Sister be comfortable in their society? Would they, young and gay and careless and more or less intimate friends from childhood, make her feel a little as though she were outside of all their fun and friendships? Sister was sweet and lively, true and likable, but could she, after all, adjust herself to surroundings which were very different from those she had been accustomed to? "I'd like you to advise me, Hiram," said Sister softly. "What does Delia say?" exclaimed Hiram suddenly. "She says go if I want to, and if I don't like it to come back here any time. She says I can hire a flivver there to bring me back for a couple of dollars--if I am in a hurry." "There!" exclaimed Hiram with relief. "I always did think Delia Pringle was a mighty sensible person. I agree with her, Sister." "After all," thought Hiram, "Sister is likable and attractive, and, moreover, pretty well able to look out for herself. And then, Lettie is kind and sweet-natured and thoughtful, and why should I take it for granted that her friends are not the same sort?" Orrin only laughed about Lettie when the boys went back to Sunnyside at ten o'clock. "You needn't be jealous, Strong," he said. "She is only practising on me. She thinks you are not ripe for such nonsense yet."