"I like this place,
And willingly could waste my time in it."
The engagement of Miss Betty Bishop and Dr. Hollingsworth was announced.
As Miss Betty said, there was no use in trying to keep it a secret with
Mrs. Parton spreading her suspicions abroad.
"If you had confided in me and asked me not to tell, I shouldn't have
breathed it," that lady protested.
"Oh, yes, you would," Miss Betty said, laughing. "You know you tell
everything; but, after all, there's no harm done, and no reason why it
should not be known. I don't blame people for being surprised, either. I
am surprised myself, and I see the absurdity, but--"
"There is no absurdity about it. I am delighted. Dr. Hollingsworth is
charming. I'd be willing to marry him myself if it wasn't for the
colonel, and you are going to be as happy as happy can be." Mrs. Parton
laughed her pleasant laugh, clearly overjoyed at what seemed to her the
good fortune of her friend.
Rosalind first heard the news from Belle. "Why," she said, "if he marries
Cousin Betty, the president will be related to me."
"Let's frame Dr. Hollingsworth's picture and give it to her," Maurice
suggested.
This was hailed as a brilliant idea, and that afternoon the five might
have been seen in the picture store in search of a frame for the stolen
photograph. It was an excellent likeness of the president, and an equally
good one of black Bob, who, happening to pass at the critical moment, had
been included unintentionally.
The proprietor of the store, getting an inkling of the joke, hunted up a
small frame which, with the help of a mat, answered very well. Then the
Arden Foresters proceeded to Miss Betty's, where they delivered the
package into Sophy's hands and scampered away, their courage not being
equal to an encounter with her mistress.
At the bank gate they separated, Belle going in with Katherine to practise
a duet they were learning, and Jack hurrying home with the fear of his
Latin lesson before his eyes. Maurice walked on with Rosalind.
"Come in for a while," she said.
The air was crisp, but the sunshine was bright, and the bench under the
bare branches of the white birch seemed more inviting than indoors. As
they took their seat there, Rosalind said gayly, "Father will be here this
week. We are not sure what day."
"And then you will have to go," Maurice added discontentedly.
"Yes, and I am partly sorry and partly glad. I am so glad I came to
Friendship, Maurice. Just think how many friends I have made!"
"How long ago it seems--that day when you spoke to me through the hedge.
You must have thought I was a dreadful muff," said Maurice.