"Mrs. Brown thinks
she's got the flower o' the flock in gettin' Henry Ward Beecher. She
says he's so big he'll be no care a _tall_, except to fill his pitcher
once in a while."
"It's Mrs. Craig as has--" said Mrs. Lathrop.
"Yes, I sh'd say so," assented Susan.
And then they spoke no more.
* * * * *
The minister, on the receipt of his parishioners' ultimatum, tarried
not upon the order of his going, but went almost at once. Indeed he
and his wife packed with such alacrity that at ten o'clock upon the
following day (which was Saturday) they were both gone, and the
thirteen children, the bird, and the cow had all been distributed
according to the Sewing Society's programme.
The day was intensely hot, and in spite of the deep interest which
both felt in the wide-spread situation, neither Susan nor Mrs. Lathrop
heard any news from the thirteen seats of war until late in the
afternoon. At that hour Mrs. Macy called on Miss Clegg, and after the
call the latter walked "as far as the square" with her friend. Mrs.
Lathrop saw them go out together from her kitchen window, and when
Susan failed to return, she possessed her soul with all the unlimited
resignation which was her strong point.
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