Come on."
They walked up the grassy wooden walk, stepped on the tiny, vine-
covered porch, and lifted and dropped a rusty old iron knocker.
Almost at once the door opened, to reveal a woman of respectable
appearance, a trifle past middle age. She made Kate think of
dried sage because she had a dried-out look and her complexion,
hair, and eyes were all that colour. She was neat and clean while
the hall into which she invited them was clean and had a wholesome
odour. Kate explained her errand. Mrs. Holt breathed a sigh of
relief.
"Well, thank goodness I was before-handed," she said. "The
teacher stayed here last year and she was satisfied, so I ast the
Trustee to mention me to the new teacher. Nobody was expecting
you until the last of the week, but I says to myself, 'always take
time by the fetlock, Samantha, always be ready'; so last week I
put in scouring my spare room to beat the nation, and it's all
ready so's you can walk right in."
"Thank you," said Kate, rather resenting the assumption that she
was to have no option in the matter. "I have four places on my
list where they want the teacher, so I thought I would look at
each of them and then decide.
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