“Sakesalive！“shechuckled。“You’reawfullyhighandmighty，seemstome。Andchangeablesincemornin’。Youwaswillin’enoughtotalkabouthimthen。Now，Gracie，youmustn’ttakeaspiteagainstpoorMr。ElleryjustbecauseI’vegottokeephouseforhim。’Tain’thisfault；hedon’tevenknowityet。“
“Idon’tcare。Iknowhe’llbeaconceitedlittlesnippetandI
shallhatethesightofhim。There！there！Auntie，youmustn’tmindme。ItoldyouIwasaselfishpig。Butdon’tyouaskmetoLIKEthispreciousministerofyours，becauseIshan’tdoit。HehasnobusinesstocomeandseparatemefromthebestfriendI’vegot。I’dtellhimsoifhewashere——Whatwasthat？“
Bothwomenlookedateachotherwithstartledfaces。Theylistenedintently。
“Why，wa’n’tthatfunny！“whisperedKeziah。“IthoughtIheard——“