But Mrs. Starkweather had not told the whole of her sorrowful story.
"We had a company of friends invited for dinner to-day," she said, "and
our cook was ill--or said she was--and had to go. One of the maids went
with her. The man who looks after the furnace disappeared on Friday, and
the stableman has been drinking. We can't very well leave the place
without some one who is responsible in charge of it--and so here we are.
Merry Christmas!"