"
Sylvia did not think to tell her mother about the gift of the pink dress
to Estralla. She did not feel quite happy that she had not explained the
broken pitcher to her mother; but she had promised Estralla that she
would not tell, and Sylvia knew that a promise was a very serious thing,
something not to be easily forgotten.
She did not see Estralla again that day, and Jennie brought the hot
water as usual the next morning.
Grace and Mammy Esther called for Sylvia on Monday morning, and Sylvia
at once told her friend that she had been named from the song. This
seemed very wonderful to Grace, and she listened to Sylvia's explanation
of "excelling" instead of "spelling," and said she didn't think it was
of any consequence.
But when Sylvia told her what Captain Carleton had said about the forts,
Grace shook her head and looked very serious.
"Don't tell Elinor Mayhew, Sylvia. Because really South Carolina does
own the forts. My father said so. He said that South Carolina was a
Sovereign State," she concluded.
"What's that? What's a 'sovereign'?" questioned Sylvia.
Grace shook her head. It had sounded like a very fine thing when her
father had spoken it, so she had repeated it with great pride.
"We can ask Miss Rosalie," she suggested.
Mammy Esther left the girls at the gate of Miss Patten's garden. As they
went up the path Flora Hayes came to meet them.
"I was waiting for you," she said. "I want to ask you both to come out
to our plantation next Saturday and spend Sunday.
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