His countenance twitched, he
smiled, he looked upon the floor. For a moment I thought he was going to
laugh.
"This amuses you," I remarked.
"Yes," he replied, his face having recovered its ordinary composure, "it
is a little funny. Mother Anastasia seems to be a good deal of a
manager."
"Yes," I said reflectively, "that is true. It is quite plain that,
perceiving an opportunity of a private conference with me, she took
advantage of the circumstances. We could have had an ordinary chat just
as well in one place as another, but it was easy to see that she did not
wish the boy who was unhitching the horse to hear even the first words
of our conversation. As you say, she is a good manager, and I had my
suspicions of that before you mentioned it." As I said this I could not
help smiling, as I thought how surprised he would be if he knew in what
direction my suspicions pointed. "Do you know," I continued, "if it is
necessary that the head of a sisterhood should be a life member of it?"
"I have never heard," he answered, "but I have been informed that the
organization of the House of Martha is a very independent one, and does
not attempt to conform itself to that of any other sisterhood. The women
who founded it had ideas of their own, and what rules and laws they made
I do not know.
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