“OnlyifBrookeisgoingtobeathermometer，Imustmindandhavefairweatherforhimtoreport。“
“Pleasedon’tbeoffended。Ididn’tmeanttopreachortelltalesorbesilly。IonlythoughtJowasencouragingyouinafeelingwhichyou’dbesorryforby-and-by。Youaresokindtous，wefeelasifyouwereourbrotherandsayjustwhatwethink。
Forgiveme，Imeantitkindly。“AndMegofferedherhandwithagesturebothaffectionateandtimid。
Ashamedofhismomentarypique，Lauriesqueezedthekindlittlehand，andsaidfrankly，“I’mtheonetobeforgiven。I’mcrossandhavebeenoutofsortsallday。Iliketohaveyoutellmemyfaultsandbesisterly，sodon’tmindifIamgrumpysometimes。Ithankyouallthesame。“
Bentonshowingthathewasnotoffended，hemadehimselfasagreeableaspossible，woundcottonforMeg，recitedpoetrytopleaseJo，shookdownconesforBeth，andhelpedAmywithherferns，provinghimselfafitpersontobelongtothe`BusyBeeSociety’。Inthemidstofananimateddiscussiononthedomestichabitsofturtlesoneofthoseamiablecreatureshavingstrolledupfromtheriver，thefaintsoundofabellwarnedthemthatHannahhadputthetea`todraw’，andtheywouldjusthavetimetogethometosupper。