"Certaintly. So do I know it," said Mrs. Slawson. "I don't say I mayn't be mistaken, but I have the highest opinion o' Lor--Mr. Ronald. I think you could trust'm do the square thing, no matter what, an' if he was kinder harsh doin' it, it's only because he expects a body to be perfect like he is himself." In the next room Sabina was shouting at the top of her lungs--"Come back to ear-ring, my voornean, my voornean!" "Ain't it a caution what lungs that child has--considerin'?" Martha reflected. "Just hear her holler! She'd wake the dead. I wonder if she's tryin' to beat that auta whoopin' it up outside. Have you ever noticed them autas nowadays? Some of them has such croupy coughs, before I know it I'm huntin' for a flannen an' a embrercation. 'Xcuse me a minit while I go answer the bell." A second later she returned. A step in advance of her was Mr. Ronald. "I am lucky to find you at home, Martha," were the first words Claire heard him say. Martha, by dint of a little unobservable maneuvering, managed to superimpose her substantial shadow upon Claire's frail one. "Yes, sir. When I get a day to lay off in, you couldn't move me outer the house with a derrick," she announced. "Miss Lang's here, too. Bein' so dim, an' comin' in outer the sunlight, perhaps you don't make out to see her." "She ain't had time yet to pull herself together," Mrs. Slawson inwardly noted. "But, Lord! I couldn't stand in front of her forever, an' even if a girl _is_ dead in love with a man (more power to her!), that's no reason she should go to the other extreme to hide it, an' pertend she's a cold storage, warranted to freeze'm stiff, like the artificial ice they're makin' these days, in the good old summertime." The first cold greetings over, Claire started to retreat in the direction of the door. "Excuse me, please--I promised Francie--She's expecting me--she's waiting--" "Pshaw now, let her wait!" said Martha. "Don't let me detain Miss Lang if she wishes to go," interposed Mr. Ronald. "My business is really with you, Martha." "Thank you, sir. But I'd like Miss Lang to stay by, all the same--that is, if you don't objeck." "As a witness? You think I need watching, eh?" "I think it does a body good to watch you, sir!" "I didn't know before, you were a flatterer, Martha. But I see you're a lineal descendant of the Blarney Stone." Claire felt herself utterly ignored. She tried again to slip away, but Martha's strong hand detained her, bore her down into the place she had just vacated. "How is Francie?" inquired Mr. Ronald, taking the chair Mrs. Slawson placed for him. "_Fine_--thank you, sir. The doctors says they never see a child get well so fast. She's grown so fat an' big, there ain't a thing belongs to her will fit her any longer, they're all shorter, an' she has to go whacks with Cora on her clo'es." "Perhaps she'd enjoy a little run out into the country this afternoon in my car. The other children, too? And--possibly--Miss Lang."