Then followed a short interval of Cornelia Perham, a
nice, good-natured girl, whose father was a fruit-merchant. I am afraid
Katy's liking for prunes and white grapes played a part in this
intimacy. It was splendid fun to go with Cornelia to her father's big
shop, and have whole boxes of raisins and drums of figs opened for their
amusement, and be allowed to ride up and down in the elevator as much as
they liked. But of all Katy's queer acquaintances, Mrs. Spenser, to whom
Aunt Izzie had alluded, was the queerest.
Mrs. Spenser was a mysterious lady whom nobody ever saw. Her husband was
a handsome, rather bad-looking man, who had come from parts unknown, and
rented a small house in Burnet. He didn't seem to have any particular
business, and was away from home a great deal. His wife was said to be
an invalid, and people, when they spoke of him, shook their heads and
wondered how the poor woman got on all alone in the house, while her
husband was absent.
Of course Katy was too young to understand these whispers, or the
reasons why people were not disposed to think well of Mr. Spenser. The
romance of the closed door and the lady whom nobody saw, interested her
very much.
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