Page:Zodiac stories by Blanche Mary Channing.pdf/103

86 sort of house hard to keep up with a pair of nine-year-old boys in it. And the minister was rather afraid of Eppie, whose displeasure he always preferred not to arouse. But tell her soon he must, and the sooner the better, perhaps; so, trying to seem at his ease, he said in a constrained voice, "The laddies are to live with us, Eppie."

A silence full of expression followed on the announcement. The minister fidgetted; silences on his housekeeper's part were the sign of coming storm. He hastened to speak again.

"Their father having died three years ago, and his parents and near kith and kin all being gone, there is no one else but myself. I am appointed their legal guardian until they come of age."

Eppie had been making tucks in her apron, with redder cheeks than usual, but as yet she had not spoken a word. Now she heaved a sigh.