The noise of her tumultuous entrance was evidently startling in the quiet house, for upon the bang of the door there followed the crash of a decanter, dropped upon the floor of the dining-room at the end of the hall; and, after a rumble of indistinct profanity, Roscoe came forth, holding a dripping napkin in his hand.

“What’s your excitement?” he demanded.  “What do you find to go into hysterics over?  Another death in the family?”

“Oh, it’s funny!” she gasped.  “Those old frost-bitten people!  I guess they’re getting their come-uppance!” Lying prone, she elevated her feet in the air, clapped her heels together repeatedly, in an ecstasy.

“Come through, come through!” said her husband, crossly.  “What you been up to?”

“Me?” she cried, dropping her feet and swinging around to face him.  “Nothing.  It’s them!  Those Vertreeses!” She wiped her eyes.  “They’ve had to sell their piano!”

“Well, what of it?”

“That Mrs. Kittersby told me all about ’em a week ago,” said Sibyl.  “They’ve been hard up for a long time, and she says as long ago as last winter she knew that girl got a pair of walking-shoes re-soled and patched, because she got it done the same place Mrs. Kittersby’s cook had hers!  And the night of the house-warming I kind of got suspicious, myself.  She didn’t have one single piece of any kind of real jewelry, and you could see her dress was an old one done over.  Men can’t tell those things, and you all made a big fuss over her, but I thought she looked a sight, myself!  Of course, Edith was crazy to have her, and—­”

“Well, well?” he urged, impatiently.

“Well, I’m telling you!  Mrs. Kittersby says they haven’t got a thing!  Just absolutely nothing—­and they don’t know anywhere to turn!  The family’s all died out but them, and all the relatives they got are very distant, and live East and scarcely know ’em.  She says the whole town’s been wondering what would become of ’em.  The girl had plenty chances to marry up to a year or so ago, but she was so indifferent she scared the men off, and the ones that had wanted to went and married other girls.  Gracious! they were lucky!  Marry her?  The man that found himself tied up to that girl—­”

“Terrible funny, terrible funny!” said Roscoe, with sarcasm.  “It’s so funny I broke a cut-glass decanter and spilled a quart of—­”

“Wait!” she begged.  “You’ll see.  I was sitting by the window a little while ago, and I saw a big wagon drive up across the street and some men go into the house.  It was too dark to make out much, and for a minute I got the idea they were moving out—­the house has been foreclosed on, Mrs. Kittersby says.  It seemed funny, too, because I knew that girl was out riding with Bibbs.  Well, I thought I’d see, so I slipped over—­and it was their piano!  They’d sold it and were trying to sneak it