Doctor Hugh snapped on the porch lamp, carefully turning the shade to shield Rosemary's eyes from the sudden light. He was fully¹ dressed and had evidently been dozing² in the swing.  
"Hush—don't wake Mother!" he said warningly. "What frightened you, dear?"
 
Rosemary's face was quite white and her wide, startled eyes gave eloquent³ testimony⁴ that she had been alarmed.
 
"Something wet touched me—wet and cold," she whispered. "And there was something else moving around, too. I ran as fast as I could."
 
"Some of the farm animals out for a stroll," said Doctor Hugh with a quiet assurance that his sister found most comforting. "What do you say to going to bed now, dear, and investigating in the morning?"
 
"Oh, yes," agreed Rosemary. "Is it nearly morning, Hugh?"
 
The doctor consulted his watch.
 
"It is just eleven o'clock," he said quietly. "Try not to make a noise as you go upstairs for I hope Mother is asleep. I'll turn the lamp so that it will light you as far as the landing."
 
So she had been out there only two hours, thought Rosemary as she tumbled into her own bed. Two hours!
 
"It seemed like two years!" she murmured, drifting off into a peaceful sleep almost instantly.
 
She woke in the morning to find the others downstairs, breakfast over and all traces of her couch under the maple⁶ tree removed.
 
"I know Hugh did that," she said to herself gratefully as she dressed. Her first act had been to run to the window to see if the quilt was spread out on the grass. "He'll never give me away, either. And I know, too, he would have stayed out on the porch all night, if I hadn't come in, just so he would be on hand to help me when I needed him. Hugh is so dear to me!"
 
She said something of this to him late that afternoon, following him out to the barn when he went to get the car, preparatory to making the trip back to Eastshore. Sarah and Shirley had remained in ignorance of the brief experiment and Winnie had proved extremely tactful, asking no questions at all. Rosemary had learned, from the conversation of Warren and Richard, that a cow had strayed from the pasture and a blind old sheep had cropped the grass all night. It had been the wet nose of the cow that touched her hand and she had clumsily dodged⁸ the sheep.
 
"You're so good, Hugh," said Rosemary, pretending to polish the foredoor handle. "But I won't want to sleep outdoors ever again—did you know I wouldn't?"
 
Doctor Hugh smiled a little.
 
"We'll all go camping some day and you'll 'love' sleeping outdoors, as you say," he declared. "My dear little sister, I would be the last person to try to discourage you in that effort. But Mother knew and Winnie knew and I knew that, for a number of reasons, it isn't practical for you to try to sleep outdoors here; neither practical nor necessary. It wasn't a matter of sleeping outdoors, Rosemary—it was just the same old question, 'Why can't I have my own way?' Now wasn't it?"
 
Rosemary blushed, but her eyes met his honestly.
 
"Yes, I guess it was," she admitted. "But I'm sorry I was so obstinate—truly I am, Hugh."
 
Doctor Hugh leaned forward from behind the wheel and kissed her.
 
"You'll make the Willis will an aid and not a hindrance⁹ yet," he declared. "All I want to do, dear, is to save you from learning these lessons the most painful way. Hop⁵ in and I'll drive you around to the house," he added cheerfully.
 
The next morning was naturally a most busy one at Rainbow Hill. Monday morning is apt to be a busy time anywhere, but Mrs. Hildreth, who would sooner have dreamed of starting the day without breakfast than starting the week without washing, saw to it that not one idle moment was unaccounted for as far as her jurisdiction¹⁰ extended. She rose at four, instead of the customary five, and Warren and Richard, alternating, helped her with filling and emptying the tubs and lifting the heavy boiler¹¹. Mrs. Hildreth scorned the modern washing machine and did her clothes in the old-fashioned laborious¹² way.
 
Winnie had a woman to help her wash—a Mrs. Pritchard who cheerfully walked two miles each way—but the temptation to bleach¹³ the household linens¹⁴ on the lawn in the hot sunshine appealed powerfully to the housewifely instincts of Winnie, and Mrs. Willis declared that she washed everything she came to, regardless of its state of cleanliness. Certainly one would have thought that her normal wash of light summer dresses for three girls and two women would have contented¹⁵ Winnie, but the combination of soft water, soap, floods of sunshine and the washing machine left by Mrs. Hammond proved well nigh irresistible¹⁶ to Winnie. She may have been said to fairly revel¹⁷ in wash.
 
"Let's go wading¹⁸, Rosemary," coaxed¹⁹ Shirley this Monday morning, soon after breakfast.
 
"I can't—not now," said Rosemary. "I want to help Mother first and then I must practise. Ask Sarah."
 
"Sarah's cross," complained Shirley. "She brought the cat in from the barn and put her to sleep in the clothes basket and Winnie tipped her out."
 
"Yes, that would make Sarah cross," agreed Rosemary. "Where is she now?"
 
"I don't know," said Shirley and her tone indicated that she didn't particularly care. "Come on and let's go wading, Rosemary."
 
"Rosemary is going to make the beds for Mother," interposed Mrs. Willis. "Winnie is so busy this morning she hasn't time. Don't you want to pick up the papers on the porch, Shirley and put the cushions straight in the swing and bring in some fresh flowers for the glass jar? Then, when you have it all in order, I'll come out there and sit and make a new dress for your doll."
 
"Oh, yes, that will be nice!" beamed Shirley, trotting²⁰ off busily.
 
In all that hive of industry, represented by the farm, Sarah was the one idle figure. She sat on the fence commanding a view of the pig pen—not the pleasantest prospect²¹ Rainbow Hill afforded, it must be confessed—and dangled²² her feet moodily²³. She was still resentful at the summary ejection of the barn cat from the clothes basket and, in addition, had been worsted in an argument with Warren whose turn it was to cultivate the corn. Sarah had wished to ride on the cultivator, preferably in the driver's seat or, failing that, on the horse's back. Warren had endeavored to dissuade²⁴ her as tactfully as possible but finding that tact⁷ made small impression on Sarah, had been obli............