She could hear the low rumble of the minister's voice for some time; then it ceased.

She heard the chairs pushed back; then the minister's wife's voice in the gracious crescendo of parting; then the closing of the front door.
Shortly afterward she heard a door open, and another voice, which she recognized as Mrs.Maxwell's.

The voice talked on and on; once in a while she heard her mother's in brief reply.

It grew dark; presently she heard heavy shuffling steps on the stairs; something knocked violently against the wall; the side door, which was near her room, was opened.

Lois got up and peered out of the window; her mother and Mrs.Maxwell went slowly and painfully down the driveway, carrying a bureau between them..