"My _step_-uncle, Miss Peggy. He’s better a’ready, and quarrelling with his victuals. Doctor thinks he’ll be out o’ bed by the first o’ the week. It might have been such a good fun’rel, too," added Sally, with evident disapproval of the ill-timed recovery. "All the Lester County folks was down, and my aunt’s sister from West Virginia. Stands to reason she can’t pick up and run again very soon. Like enough when he’s laid away at last there won’t be a baker’s dozen, outside the neighbors. I’ll finish them dishes, Miss Priscilla. This is a disappointing world sure enough." Peggy went to bed at eight o’clock and knew nothing more till fifteen minutes of breakfast time. Her head was clear, and the knowledge that Sally was in the kitchen made her light of heart, though her pallor told that she was still in arrears, as far as sleep was concerned. As she dressed with speed, the discovery Priscilla had announced the evening before came back to her, but she was no longer disposed to attach much importance to it. "Some little mistake, of course, or else Elaine did feel better all at once. I’m sure she wouldn’t have tried to fib out of helping me when I wanted her." Peggy was herself again, and nothing could have persuaded her to accept Sally’s dictum that it was a disappointing world. *CHAPTER XV* *A PATHETIC STORY* "I’ve got three tickets. We students always have two, you know, and a girl who didn’t want to invite anybody gave me her extra one. Amy doesn’t care for concerts, and Ruth is going somewhere with Graham. So I thought--" Priscilla paused impressively. She was about to do an magnanimous thing, and she meant to get full credit. "I thought perhaps you’d like to have me invite Elaine. Didn’t you say she was fond of music?" Peggy beamed. "She adores it. And it’s lovely of you to ask her. Those conservatory concerts are always splendid." "They get the best talent that’s to be had," said Priscilla. "They go on the principle that hearing good music is part of our education." Priscilla was studying the violin in addition to her work in the high-school, and though possessed of no extraordinary talent, was at least learning a better appreciation of the work of the great artists to whom she listened at frequent intervals. The two girls were on their way home from school. As they reached the Marshall’s cottage, Peggy turned in as a matter of course, and Priscilla followed, feeling highly virtuous. She was not a girl who did things by halves, and her manner as she tendered her invitation was unusually sweet and winning. "Peggy and I are going to the Conservatory concert Friday afternoon, and we want to take you with us. Powell will play, and it’ll be a treat."