"Are--are you a _baby_?" demanded Aunty Jane.
"What," asked Aunty Jane, cautiously drawing closer, "is your name?"
"I'm going straight after Mrs. Mapes," declared Aunty Jane, retreating backwards in order to keep a watchful eye on the queer object under the table. "I might have known that those enterprising youngsters would be up to _something_, if I gave my whole mind to pickles."
Excited Aunty Jane collected not only Mrs. Mapes, but Mrs. Tucker and Mrs. Bennett, before she returned to the Cottage. And then, the three mothers and Aunty Jane sat on the floor beside Rosa Marie and asked questions; useless questions, because Rosa Marie licked the table-leg bashfully but yielded no other reply.
This lasted for nearly half an hour. And then, school being out and the four Cottagers discovering their front door wide open, Jean, Bettie, Marjory and Mabel, all sorts of emotions tugging at their hearts, rushed breathlessly in. On beholding their mothers and Aunty Jane, they, too, turned suddenly bashful and leaned, speechless, against the Cottage wall.
"Whose child is that?" demanded all four of the grown-ups, in concert.
"Mabel's," responded the other three, with disheartening promptness.
"What!" gasped the parents and Aunty Jane.
"I borrowed her," explained Mabel, "so she's _mostly_ mine."
"She's spending the day here, I suppose," said Mrs. Mapes.
"Ye-es," faltered Mabel. Marjory giggled, and Mabel turned crimson.
"I hope," said Mrs. Bennett, severely, "that you're not thinking of keeping her all night."
"I--I--we--" faltered Mabel, "we--we sort of did."
"Well!" exclaimed Mrs. Bennett, not knowing how very late she was, "I guess we've come just in time. Mabel, put that child's things on and take her home at once."
"No," stammered Mabel, "that baby's home. Not--not the house. Just her mother. She--she--Oh, she'll be back, _some_ day."
"Mabel Bennett!" demanded Mrs. Bennett, suspecting something of the truth, "how long have you had that child here?"
"Not--Oh, not so _very_ long," evaded Mabel.
"Mabel," demanded her mother, "tell me, instantly, exactly how long?"
For the next few moments the mothers and Aunty Jane were too astounded for further speech. The girls, too, had nothing to say. All four of the Cottagers kept their eyes on the floor, for they knew precisely what their elders were thinking.