Page:Leah Reed--Brenda's summer at Rockley.djvu/290

272 a broad grin on his sunburned face. He was speechless at sight of his old friends, but he clasped Brenda around  the knees, so vigorously that if she had tried she could n’t  have moved a step. Behind Manuel rushed Angelina, with a red ribbon tied around her neck. She had evidently waited a minute to add this adornment to her costume.

“Why, Miss Barlow, and Miss Bourne, who would ever have expected to see you? Dear me, mother will be so surprised! There, she’s coming, too! Did you come all the way from the beach to-day? Mother, mother!” turning toward the house, “here’s Miss Barlow and Miss Bourne.”

But Mrs. Rosa had already reached the group, and Julia and Brenda looked at her in astonishment. There was no doubt that Shiloh had agreed with her. She stood more erect, her color was better, and her general appearance was neater than when they had last seen her. She had lost her former hopeless and unambitious expression.

“Awful glad,” she said, in her somewhat uncertain English,—“awful glad to see you. Come right in. Please ’scuse us,” she added, as the girls followed her,—“please  ’scuse us if we ain’t all fixed up. We works in the garden every morning.”

“Why, I’m sure that you look as neat as you need,” said Julia, as they seated themselves in the little room  that was at once parlor and dining-room. Probably if she had looked closely at the floor she might have seen that a  broom could have been used on it with advantage, and if  she had glanced around the kitchen, of which she could