Significant
of what? And why had she wished to impress upon him the fact of her
overwhelming amusement? He found no answer, but she had succeeded in
disturbing him, and he wished that he had not encountered her.
At home, uncles, aunts, and cousins from out of town were wandering
about the house, several mournfully admiring the "Bay of Naples,"
and others occupied with the Moor and the plumbing, while they waited
for trains. Edith and her mother had retired to some upper fastness,
but Bibbs interviewed Jackson and had the various groups of relatives
summoned to the dining-room for food. One great-uncle, old Gideon
Sheridan from Boonville, could not be found, and Bibbs went in search
of him. He ransacked the house, discovering the missing antique at
last by accident. Passing his father's closed door on tiptoe, Bibbs
heard a murmurous sound, and paused to listen. The sound proved to be
a quavering and rickety voice, monotonously bleating:
"The Lo-ord givuth and the Lo-ord takuth away! We got to remember
that; we got to remember that! I'm a-gittin' along, James; I'm a-
gittin' along, and I've seen a-many of 'em go--two daughters and a son
the Lord give me, and He has taken all away.
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