Page:Leah Reed--Brenda's summer at Rockley.djvu/165

Rh “But now really I am in earnest. You must have noticed how many old men and old women we see, and  quantities of children. But I have n’t seen a really young-looking man or woman either yet.”

“Just wait until noon. When the whistle sounds, you ’ll see them pouring out of the factories. You know that there are a great many factories in Marblehead. Then, of course, it’s such an old place that a great many people like to go away to seek their fortunes in Lynn, or some of the cities.”

“I’m sure I’d live somewhere else, if I had to spend all the year in Marblehead,” said Brenda, and then, when  the others laughed at her, she looked offended until they  pointed out the bull that she had made.

“Don’t you think it’s a fascinating place?” asked Julia.

“No, I honestly don’t. That is, I prefer places where the houses are bright and cheerful-looking, freshly painted,  you know. Why, these houses look as if they had n’t had a coat of paint in a hundred years!”

“She’s pining for Queen Anne cottages, all red and green and yallery,” said Nora apologetically to Amy.

“Well, on a gray day, Marblehead does look rather dingier than usual,” said Amy.

“Oh, I know what Marblehead’s like in all kinds of weather!” said Brenda. “I can’t count the times I ’ve been here on my way to the boat. I never thought that it was beautiful, and I don’t think I ’ll change my  mind so very much, even at the end of this pilgrimage.