Page:Caroline Lockhart--The full of the Moon.djvu/101

 "Go inside," said Edith to Nan and Mrs. Gallagher, "I'll soon have dinner ready."

"Best yoah hat and take the rockin'-chair," said the long-legged Clytie hospitably to Nan as she lifted a dog by the scruff of its neck from the cushioned seat and threw it casually out the door.

Another dog was slumbering in the ashes of the fireplace, the chimney of which leaned like the tower of Pisa. Two pullets regarded Nan inquiringly from the top of a dismantled sewing-machine, while the floor was littered with the immortal works of Bertha M. Clay and the daubing of mud which had dropped in chunks from between the logs.

Nan was all but surrounded by tow-headed, barefooted Blakelys staring at her with all their pale-blue eyes as she sat down in the designated rocking-chair.

Leaning back to fan herself with her hat, the chair-legs came out of the rockers. The accident occasioned much merriment.

"Ma's goin' to fix that some time when she kin git around to it," Clytie clapped both hands over her mouth and giggled.

With the renewed barking of the dogs and