Through These Fires (Musaicum Romance Classics). Grace Livingston Hill

as to be able to smile, at least faintly. After all, why should she be so angry? Just because Elaine was determined to secure an unscrupulous lawyer to try to hunt out a flaw in her dear mother's dealings? Well, why should she be so upset? They certainly couldn't find any evidence. But a lawyer like Bett Thomas could make evidence even if there wasn't any; he could get low-down people to swear to things that counted for evidence. She had heard of some of his dealings. Oh, what should she do? She couldn't have her dear dead mother's honorable name blackened by being dragged through a court trial. And yet—well, there was a God! Her mother believed that. And deep in her heart she did, too, although she had never paid much heed to Him, except that she had always tried to order her life in a good and right way as her mother had taught her. God, oh God, why did You let all this come to me? Didn't You want me to succeed, and graduate, and get that job, and take care of myself in a good, respectable way? So why did I have to go through this fire?

      Lexie arrived at the store just before it closed for the evening. She hurried in and began to look around. What could she get without ration stamps? Of course Elaine had said her ration books were in her trunk and would be there in the morning. Of course there were cereals, but Elaine never had liked them, and would her pestiferous children scorn them, too? If she had the opportunity she would like to teach them to like them, but that really wasn't her present duty. She had hard problems to settle at once, and her immediate necessity was to get something they would all eat happily, and it wasn't going to be easy, either. Of course there were eggs, and she purchased a supply of those. They kept milk at the store, and she got a couple of bottles. No butter or meat because they were both rationed. No sugar either. How would Elaine stand that? Well, she would have to settle that difficulty with the government, although she would probably act as if it were all her sister's fault. Well, cookies and cakes! They would supply sweetness for the children. There were apples and pears and a few bananas, but there was no telling what the spoiled youngsters would condescend to eat.

      She bought a few potatoes, some spinach and celery. There were oranges, too. At the end, Lexie struggled home with a towering paper bundle in her arms, and a heavy paper bag with a handle in one hand, all full to overflowing. It was surprising how much she had been able to get with the little money she had. On her way home she was thinking how profoundly thankful she was that the nurse and the driver had not had to take her money. She wondered how much more Elaine had hidden in her purse. Well, there was no use thinking about that. They must have a talk that evening, or perhaps it would have to wait until morning if Elaine was not disposed to talk to-night.

      When she got back to the little white house she found she was very tired, and would have liked nothing better than just to sit down and cry. But that wouldn't get anybody anywhere. There had to be some supper made right away. It was after half past six. And she heard Elaine calling her fretfully.

      She hurried upstairs and found Elaine sitting up angrily in bed, arguing with a trio of naughty children.

      "I know you are hungry," she was saying angrily, as if the children were to blame for being hungry, "but your aunt didn't have any supper ready for us, and what can we do?"

      "She's bad! I hate her!" roared Gerald, glaring at her from the foot of the bed.

      "You certainly have been gone long enough to buy out the store," Elaine snarled at her sister. "I hope you got us a good, hearty meal."

      "I'm afraid not," said Lexie. "The store was just about to close, and I had very little money, but I got all I could without ration books."

      "Fiddlesticks. Couldn't they trust you for the coupons? Didn't you tell them we would give them the coupons to-morrow?"

      "They are not allowed to sell things without the coupons."

      "That's absurd when they've known you for years. They know you wouldn't cheat them."

      "Well, they can't do that for anybody. Now, I'll go down and get something for the children to eat, and then you can tell me what you would like."

      "Well, I can tell you now. I want a cup of decent coffee and a good, tender, juicy beefsteak."

      "But, my dear, we can't get beefsteak or coffee without coupons, or any more butter!"

      The little boy began to howl.

      "I want some butter!" he protested. "I want some bread and a lot of butter!"

      "There isn't any to-night, Gerald. But maybe I can find some jam down in the cellar. Won't that do?" asked Lexie brightly.

      "No, it won't," he roared. "I won't eat your old jam! I want butter! A lot of it! You're a bad old aunt, you are, and I don't like you."

      In despair Lexie went downstairs and concocted the nicest supper she could out of the supply she had bought.

      The children came down presently, one at a time. Angelica first. Lexie, hurrying to get everything on the table, heard the child calling, "Hi, Elaine! There's hard-boiled egg-wheels on the spinach, and the potatoes have their overcoats on."

      And then she heard a howl from Gerald: "I don't like old spinach! I won't eat it, even if it has got old egg-wheels on it. I hate spinach. I want beefsteak!"

      Lexie took a deep breath. This was going to be an endurance test, it seemed. Oh why, why, why?

      "Run up and call the other children, Angel," she said with a forced smile. "I'm just going to take the omelet up, and it needs to be eaten while it's piping hot."

      The little girl gave one eager, hungry look at her aunt's bright face and hurried upstairs, calling the news about the omelet as she went.

      But she came down again soon with a haughty imitation of her mother's tone.

      "Elaine says it's no use for you to try to stuff spinach down us. We won't eat it. We never do! And she thinks that's pretty poor fare for the first meal when your relatives come home. She says we don't eat spinach nor omelet, and you can't make us!"

      "Oh," said Lexie cheerfully, "that's too bad, isn't it, when we can't get anything else but what I've got here. But of course you don't have to eat it unless you like. I'm not going to try to stuff it down you. I only thought maybe you were hungry, and since these were the only things I could get for us to-night, you might be glad to have them. But if you don't want them, that's all right with me. As soon as I get the dishes washed and everything put away I'll try and fix a place for you to sleep. If you get to sleep soon I don't suppose you'll mind being hungry for to-night."

      Angelica looked at her aunt aghast as she set the puffy brown omelet on the table, put the open dish of bright green spinach with its wheels of yellow and white egg beside it, and then sat down as if she were going to eat it all by herself. Deliberately she helped herself to some of each dish on the table and began to eat with slow, small bites, smiling at the little girl pleasantly. Suddenly Angelica set up a howl: "Come down here quick, Gerry! She's eating it all up! She's got a nice dinner all ready and she's eating it up herself! Hurry up and bring Bluebell down with you. Hurry, or it will all be gone!"

      Lexie smiled to herself as she realized that she had conquered for once. Perhaps that was the way to manage them. Let them think you didn't care whether they ate or not. So she went steadily on eating slow mouthfuls while Angelica fairly danced up and down in a fury.

      "Gerald! Ger-a-l-d! Come quick! She's eating it all up from us, and I'm h-o-n-g-r-y!"

      "Oh," said Lexie pleasantly. "Would you like to have some dinner? Suppose you sit down here beside me. What would you like to have?"

      "I want some of that puffy om-let!" announced Angelica, slamming herself into the chair indicated. "And I want some of that nice green stuff with yellow wheels on it."

      Lexie put a small amount of spinach on the child's plate, with a slice of lovely hard-boiled egg on the top, and beside it a helping of beautifully browned omelet. The little girl lost no time in sampling the food.

      "It's good!" she screamed. Gerald, who suddenly had appeared in the doorway with Bluebell by the hand, looked on jealously.

      Lexie paid no attention to him until he came closer to the table.

      "I want some!"