jack’s sister. 
101 
all her complaints of want of time, she 
never lacked time to go out visiting. Her 
husband declared that she spent more hours 
in her neighbours’ houses than she did in 
her own; and some of the neighbours 
thought so too. Meantime her dinner 
spoiled over the fire and her bread burned 
in the oven. Hothing was comfortable in 
the place, inside or out. Was it any won¬ 
der that her husband had an occasional 
drunken spree, or that Jack never stayed at 
home when he could stay anywhere else, 
or that Sarah Anne (who was the best of the 
set) was growing up almost as shiftless, 
though not quite so ignorant, as her mother? 
Sidney and Richard made their way round 
to the back-door, and knocked several times 
without success. At last, as they were de¬ 
bating what to do, Sarah Anne opened it. 
She had the baby in her arms, and looked 
slatternly and weary enough. 
“Mother has stepped out for a minute,” 
said she; “and father is down at the mill, if 
you want to see him.” 
“We came to see Jack,” said Sidney, 
rather bashfully,—for he had a boyish dread 
of strange girls of all sorts. “We heard he 
