"I suppose I am rather cross," he acknowledged; "but don't you think it is
pretty hard to hurt your knee and have to walk with a crutch, and stay at
home when the other boys go fishing?"

"Yes, indeed. Does it hurt much?" Rosalind asked, with ready sympathy.

"No, not now; it did at first, but the doctor says it will be five or six
months before it is well again."

"Then it isn't for always? That is something good."

Maurice somehow felt uncomfortable. He did not wish the emphasis laid on
the good. It seemed wise to change the subject. "What a lot of hair you
have," he remarked.

"It has been washed, and grandmamma said I might dry it in the sun,"
Rosalind explained, shaking her head so vigorously she was enveloped in a
shining cloud.

"Isn't it a great bother? Kit hates to have hers braided."

"Who is Kit?"

"She is my sister Katherine."

"It must be nice to have a sister. I haven't anybody but father and Cousin
Louis, and of course they are better than any one else. There are
grandmamma and Aunt Genevieve, but I am not very well acquainted with them
yet. I should love to have some children related to me."