“But I don’t mind very much,” said Marjorie, who persisted in looking on the bright side of everything, “for it will give me a chance to enjoy this beautiful room better.  But, Grandma, I can’t quite make out whether I was disobedient or not.  You never told me not to slide down the roof, did you?”

“No, Marjorie; but your common-sense ought to have told you that.  I should have forbidden it if I had thought there was the slightest danger of your doing such a thing.  You really ought to have known better.”

Grandma’s tone was severe, for though she was sorry for the child she felt that Marjorie had done wrong, and ought to be reproved.

Marjorie’s brow wrinkled in her efforts to think out the matter.

“Grandma,” she said, “then must I obey every rule that you would make if you thought of it, and how shall I know what they are?”

Grandma smiled.  “As I tell you Midget, you must use your common-sense and reason in such matters.  If you make mistakes the experience will help you to learn; but I am sure a child twelve years old ought to know better than to slide down a steep barn roof.  But I suppose Molly put you up to it, and so it wasn’t your fault exactly.”

“Molly did suggest it, Grandma, but that doesn’t make her the one to blame, for I didn’t have to do as she said, did I?”

“No, Midge; and Molly has behaved very nicely about it.  She came over here, and confessed that she had been the ringleader in the mischief, and said she was sorry for it.  So you were both to blame, but I think it has taught you a lesson, and I don’t believe you’ll ever cut up that particular trick again.  But you certainly needn’t be punished for it, for I think the consequences of having to stay in bed for nearly a week will be punishment enough.  So now we’re through with that part of the subject, and I’m going to do all I can to make your imprisonment as easy for you as possible.”

It was in the early morning that this conversation had taken place, and Grandma had brought a basin of fresh, cool water and bathed the little girl’s face and hands, and had brushed out her curls and tied them up with a pretty pink bow.

Then Jane came with a dainty tray, containing just the things Marjorie liked best for breakfast, and adorned with a spray of fresh roses.  Grandma drew a table to the bedside and piled pillows behind Marjorie’s back until she was quite comfortable.

“I feel like a queen, Grandma,” she said; “if this is what you call punishment I don’t mind it a bit.”

“That’s all very well for one day, but wait until you have been here four or five days.  You’ll get tired of playing queen by that time.”

“Well, it’s fun now, anyway,” said Marjorie, as she ate strawberries and cream with great relish.

After breakfast Jane tidied up the room, and Marjorie, arrayed in a little pink kimono, prepared to spend the day in bed.  Grandma brought her books to read and writing materials to write letters home, and Marjorie assured her that she could occupy herself pleasantly.