By this time everybody in the room was staring at the extraordinary tableau , and Ernest , coming through the hall , gave a whistle of astonishment that brought the two in the corner back to a sense of their surroundings . `` I have n't suddenly gone crazy , Ernest , old fellow , '' smiled Max . `` Ladies and gentlemen all , this little school-ma ` am was introduced to you as Miss Price , but that was a mistake . Let me introduce her again as Miss Bertha Seeley , my long-lost and newly-found sister . '' Well they had an amazing time then , of course . They laughed and questioned and explained until the dinner was in imminent danger of getting stone-cold on the dining-room table . Luckily , Alma and Frances remembered it just in the nick of time , and they all got out , somehow , and into their places . It was a splendid dinner , but I believe that Maxwell and Bertha Seeley did n't know what they were eating , any more than if it had been sawdust . However , the rest of the guests made up for that , and did full justice to the girls ' cookery . In the afternoon they all went to church , and at least two hearts were truly and devoutly thankful that day . When the dusk came , Ernest and Maxwell had to catch the last train for town , and the other guests went home , with the exception of Bertha , who was to stay all night . Just as soon as her resignation could be effected , she was to join her brother . `` Meanwhile , I 'll see about getting a house to put you in , '' said Max . `` No more boarding out for me , Ernest . You may consider me as a family man henceforth . '' Frances and Alma talked it all over before they went to sleep that night . `` Just think , '' said Frances , `` if we had n't asked her here today she might never have found her brother ! It 's all Mother 's doing , bless her ! Things do happen like a storybook sometimes , do n't they , Al ? A Correspondence and A Climax At sunset Sidney hurried to her room to take off the soiled and faded cotton dress she had worn while milking .
She had milked eight cows and pumped water for the milk-cans afterward XXXXX the fag-end of a hot summer day .
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