and her father saw with grief that he was losing something of the hold through which he had gained her obedience without asserting his authority.
Near the school she attended lived a very eccentric widow who seemed to have sworn eternal enmity to all children. She would not allow them to set foot on her premises, running out with a broom to drive them off, like a brood of chickens, if she saw them coming in the direction of her domain. This course frequently incited them to little acts of depredation which otherwise they would not have thought of. They lost no opportunity to annoy her, pelting her door with stones which were hurled back at the shortest notice; and the contest generally ended by her going after a policeman, but as she always told them of her intention, they were sure to be missing when he arrived.
Rosalind and her companions never joined this rude set, but they would sit on the steps leading to her house, and if she failed to make her appearance soon began to sing, which brought her out with a vengeance, her gray hairs flying, as she never wore a cap, and her dress not by any means a la mode, so she presented a very unique appearance. Withal, the multiform wrinkles into which she contracted her face when uttering her threats completed the picture,—threats they knew to be perfectly harmless, for she was never known to harm a single living creature, not even to defend the privacy.of her grounds. The stones thrown were never intended to hit those aimed at. To the adventurous nature of children this was great sport, but very exceptionable in
