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150 replied Rebecca; "they 've been working for a year, and you know I told you that Emma Jane and I helped them the Saturday afternoon you were in Portland."

"I did n't take notice, I s'pose, for it 's the first time I ever heard the lamp mentioned. Well, you can go for an hour, and no more. Remember it 's as dark at six as it is at midnight. Would you like to take along some Baldwin apples? What have you got in the pocket of that new dress that makes it sag down so?"

"It 's my nuts and raisins from dinner," replied Rebecca, who never succeeded in keeping the most innocent action a secret from her aunt Miranda; "they 're just what you gave me on my plate."

"Why did n't you eat them?"

"Because I 'd had enough dinner, and I thought if I saved these, it would make the Simpsons' party better," stammered Rebecca, who hated to be scolded and examined before company.

"They were your own, Rebecca," interposed aunt Jane, "and if you chose to save them to give away, it is all right. We ought never to let this day pass without giving our neighbors something to be thankful for, instead of taking all the time to think of our own mercies."

The Burnham sisters nodded approvingly as Rebecca went out, and remarked that they had never seen a child grow and improve so fast in so short a time.