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“Yes,” said the ”

“Oh, thank you, Mother!” cried Clarisse in triuuess we’ll show her!”

The uess ill!”

MRS SHEPHERD knocked at the back of the Partridge house Mrs Partridge answered “Oh, hello, Helen”

Mrs Shepherdto herself Then when she was seated in the kitchen eating nook she looked up at Mrs Partridge and said, “I didn’t know about Aggie Lou”

The carefully assee’s face fell apart She sat down, too, slowly “I don’t like to talk about it”

“No, of course you don’t, but I’ve been wondering”

“About what?”

“It see I think we’ve told theh”

“I don’t see what you e

“It’s just that Clarisse is jealous of Aggie Lou”

“But that seee Why should she be jealous?”

“You kno children are Soood

nor bad nor worth wanting, and they build it into so and wonderful so all other children are jealous Children have thetheir ends They promote jealousy with the most peculiar weapons, even Death Clarisse doesn’t really ant to be sick She just—well—she just thinks she does She doesn’t really knohat Death is She hasn’t been touched by it Our farandparents and cousins and uncles and aunts are all alive There hasn’t been a death a us in twenty years at least”

Mrs Partridge drew into herself, and turned over Aggie Lou’s life as if it were a doll to be exaie Lou on pretty drea, and noith the illness, well, we thought ouldshould happen