"'No sob, no sigh, forced its way from her heart, throbbing as though it would burst.
"'Suddenly a cry broke the stillness of the place—a single heartbreaking shriek, which seemed to well up from her very soul, as she left the place:
"'"Cut, cut, cut-ah-out!"
"'She would lay another egg to-morrow.'"
"You ridiculous girl!" exclaimed Laura. "Aren't you ever serious at all?"
"My light manner hides a breaking hear-r-r-t," croaked Bobby. "You don't know me, Laura, as I really are!"
"Don't want to," declared Laura Belding, briskly. "It must be awful to be a humorist. All right, Eve. We'll come on Saturday. Chet will see Mr. Purcell about the big car. Lake Luna is frozen only at the edges, and is unsafe. But we will have a good time at Peveril Pond."
Fortunately Mrs. Morse received payment for a story in a magazine that week or Jess would never have had the heart to join the skating party. But the sum realized was sufficient to settle with Mr. Closewick, pay the month's rent of the cottage, and pay a part of each bill at Mr. Heuffler's and Mr. Vandergriff's shops.
These payments left Jess and her mother almost as badly off as they were before. And
