"Elfrieda!" There was no answer. "Elfrieda! " Mrs. Sigbert"s voice was deep, yet shrill. There was silence as she stood intently, an elderly woman, with a huge nose that was not quite exactly in the center of her large, plain face, and snapping black eyes. Some one in the front of the house began strumming the piano again, monotonously and rebelliously. Mrs. Sigbert resumed her work, re-arranging the table, smoothing the cloth, that was already wrinkleless, and changing the plates about. Presently she called: "Charlotte! Charlotte!"