She was her father 's housekeeper , and they had jolly times together . But as she walked home , she could not help thinking about Uncle Richard . He would certainly have cold New Year cheer , enough to chill the whole coming year . She felt sorry for him , picturing him returning from Navarre , cold and hungry , to find a fireless house and an uncooked dinner in the pantry . Suddenly an idea popped into Prissy 's head . Dared she ? Oh , she never could ! But he would never know -- there would be plenty of time -- she would ! Prissy hurried home , put her matches away , took a regretful peep at her unopened book , then locked the door and started up the road to Uncle Richard 's house half a mile away . She meant to go and cook Uncle Richard 's dinner for him , get it all beautifully ready , then slip away before he came home . He would never suspect her of it . Prissy would not have him suspect for the world ; she thought he would be more likely to throw a dinner of her cooking out of doors than to eat it . Eight years before this , when Prissy had been nine years old , Richard and Irving Baker had quarrelled over the division of a piece of property . The fault had been mainly on Richard 's side , and that very fact made him all the more unrelenting and stubborn . He had never spoken to his brother since , and he declared he never would . Prissy and her father felt very badly over it , but Uncle Richard did not seem to feel badly at all . To all appearance he had completely forgotten that there were such people in the world as his brother Irving and his niece Prissy . Prissy had no trouble in breaking into Uncle Richard 's house , for the woodshed door was unfastened . She tripped into the hostile kitchen with rosy cheeks and mischief sparkling in her eyes . This was an adventure -- this was fun !
She would tell her father all XXXXX it when he came home at night and what a laugh they would have !
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