They heard her feet crunching softly in
the gravel that bordered the pond, but not a head turned that
way; for all the sign of life they gave, the three might have
been mere effigies of women. They heard a faint scream when she
caught sight of them sitting there, and their faces settled into
more stolid indifference, adding a hint of antagonism even to the
soft eyes of Lucy, the tender, childless one.
"Vadnie, here are some new neighbors I want you to get acquainted
with." Phoebe's eyes besought the girl to be calm. "They're all
old friends of mine. Come here and let me introduce you--and
don't look so horrified, honey!"
Those incorrigibles, her cousins, would have whooped with joy at
her unmistakable terror when she held out a trembling hand and
gasped faintly: "H-how do you--do?"
"This Hagar," Phoebe announced cheerfully; and the old squaw
caught the girl's hand and gripped it tightly for a moment in
malicious enjoyment of her too evident fear and repulsion.
"This Viney.
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