I am posatively faint."
I was alarmed, for she did look queer, with her face all
white around the Rouge. So I reached for the Flask.
"I'll give you a swig of this," I said. "It will pull you
around in no time."
But she held me off feircely.
"Never!" she said. "Never again. I shall emty the wine
cellar. There will be nothing to drink in this house from now
on. I do not know what we are coming to."
She walked into the bathroom, and I heard her emptying the
Flask down the drain pipe. It was a very handsome Flask, silver
with gold stripes, and all at once I knew the young man would
want it back. So I said:
"Mother, please leave the Flask here anyhow."
"Certainly not."
"It's not mine, mother."
"Whose is it?"
"It--a friend of mine loned it to me."
"Who?"
"I can't tell you."
"You can't _tell_ me! Barbara, I am utterly bewildered. I
sent you away a simple child, and you return to me--what?"
Well, we had about an hour's fight over it, and we ended in
a compromise. I gave up the Flask, and promised not to smoke and
so forth, and I was to have some new dresses and a silk Sweater,
and to be allowed to stay up until ten o'clock, and to have a
desk in my room for my work.
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