human
I'll take the old ones down, aunt; I can run up and down the steps more easily than you, said Wythie, taking the step-ladder from her aunt, and testing its iron brace as she set it before the first window. Mrs. Winslow began to stick pins into the obdurate new material, marking the amount to be turned down by keeping the card she had notched against it with her left thumb, holding the while a second brass grasshopper between her teeth, ready for use. Wythie unhooked the old pins from the rings and let the faded curtains droop, eagerly planning the while, and wondering if she could get her courage to the begging-point.
gpt
I don't think, said gentle Wythie to herself,
human
I do _not_ think that we can be forbidden to covet our neighbor's goods when they are so very old and faded.
gpt
You have been very helpful, Oswyth. I was wise to insist on having you; Roberta would never have been so patient and thorough.
human
I am glad if I have been useful,
gpt
It seems a pity not to use those old curtains for something, said Aunt Azraella, whose mind was on the order of Mrs. John Gilpin's.
human
But they are too faded for any purpose, and too big to make it worth while sending them to New York to be dyed.
gpt
I wonder if you would mind--Aunt Azraella, might I have them?
human
You, Oswyth! What on earth could you do with them? You can't mean to get your mother to dye them for curtains for your house? You don't need curtains,
gpt
I don't want them for curtains, Aunt Azraella; I want them for winter coats, said Wythie, more boldly, now that the first plunge was made.
human
Rob and I are too shabby to go out when there's a moon--not to mention sun. And Mardy could dye this material, and it would be warm and pretty. If you don't need them, aunt, they would really do us a lot of good--we would make the coats, you know.
gpt
There are thirty-six yards here, fifty-four inches wide; do you think you need so much? And it seems a pity to divide it,
human
Oh, no; I've no idea what it would take, but not that--still, they would have to be lined, and Mardy could dye half another color, and line with the same, stammered Wythie.
gpt
I didn't think you'd care, but if you do I'm sorry I spoke--I did not mean to ask for anything you wanted.
human
I did not say I wanted them, Oswyth, she said.
gpt
Thank goodness, your uncle, my husband, left me enough, besides all I had from my father; he was a thrifty man, and a good business-man, your Uncle Horace. I don't need old curtains, I hope. You may take a pair home--if you can carry them--and ask your mother if they can be used as you think, and how many she needs--you may have all you want of them. I'm glad to see you practical and managing; you've got the Winslow faculty, and aren't a Grey, as I'm afraid Roberta is. I'll get you paper and twine. Go across the orchard, Oswyth; don't let folks see you taking my curtains home. Can you carry them?
human
I'll carry them, aunt; never fear, and I'll not let a soul but ourselves know where we got our splendid winter coats,