The face was very lovely -- also strangely like my own , although I am not beautiful . It was the face of the young girl I had met at the gate ! The Light on the Big Dipper `` Do n't let Nellie run out of doors , Mary Margaret , and be careful of the fire , Mary Margaret . I expect we 'll be back pretty soon after dark , so do n't be lonesome , Mary Margaret . '' Mary Margaret laughed and switched her long , thick braid of black hair from one shoulder to the other . `` No fear of my being lonesome , Mother Campbell . I 'll be just as careful as can be and there are so many things to be done that I 'll be as busy and happy as a bee all day long . Nellie and I will have just the nicest kind of a time . I wo n't get lonesome , but if I should feel just tempted to , I 'll think , Father is on his way home . He will soon be here . ' And that would drive the lonesomeness away before it dared to show its face . Do n't you worry , Mother Campbell . '' Mother Campbell smiled . She knew she could trust Mary Margaret -- careful , steady , prudent little Mary Margaret . Little ! Ah , that was just the trouble . Careful and steady and prudent as Mary Margaret might be , she was only twelve years old , after all , and there would not be another soul besides her and Nellie on the Little Dipper that whole day . Mrs. Campbell felt that she hardly dared to go away under such circumstances . And yet she must dare it . Oscar Bryan had sailed over from the mainland the evening before with word that her sister Nan -- her only sister , who lived in Cartonville -- was ill and about to undergo a serious operation .
She must go XXXXX see her , and Uncle Martin was waiting with his boat to take her over to the mainland to catch the morning train for Cartonville .
after although as at before besides from on to under