ALL was peaceful until supper time, when Laurie came in carrying a glass dish filled with stones.
"Mis' Marcey," she announced, "look at this. This is my dish for the apple sauce, and see what I find in it! And in more places than this do I find 'em! In beds, under tables, in vases! Glory be! 'Tis few places you can go without finding pebbles left about as if the Little People had left 'em, and me knowing all the time it's nothing but that Robert Marcey."
"You leave those alone," cried Robert. "I didn't have any good place to put 'em in my own room. If I had dishes the right kind in my own room I wouldn't have to put 'em in the apple sauce dish."
"Yes, but what are they?" his father now asked.
"I'll tell you what they are!" cried Sara.
"Look out! You'll break the luck!" Robert muttered.
"It won't break my luck!"
"You'll break the luck," he repeated sullenly, "and if you break my luck, there's The Attic Fairy!" he whispered.
A curious frightened look flashed across Sara's face. She said no more. Suddenly she clapped her hands and cried out: "But I burned 'em! I burned 'em! They're lucky stones. That's what they are. They're all black, and. they have white spots or rings. They're lucky stones!"
"Lucky or unlucky," said Alice, "I can't have stones all over the place."
"You know every child has got to go through this
