the box seat for the first time, her legs dangling in

the air, too short to reach the footboard. She could
smell the big bouquet of lilacs, see the pink-flounced

parasol, feel the stiffness of the starched buff calico
and the hated prick of the black and yellow porcupine

quills. The drive was taken almost in silence,
but it was a sweet, comforting silence both to

uncle Jerry and the girl.
Then came the sight of Abijah Flagg shelling

beans in the barn, and then the Perkins attic windows
with a white cloth fluttering from them. She

could spell Emma Jane's loving thought and welcome
in that little waving flag; a word and a message

sent to her just at the first moment when
Riverboro chimneys rose into view; something to

warm her heart till they could meet.
The brick house came next, looking just as of

yore; though it seemed to Rebecca as if death
should have cast some mysterious spell over it.

There were the rolling meadows, the stately elms,
all yellow and brown now; the glowing maples,

the garden-beds bright with asters, and the hollyhocks,
rising tall against the parlor windows; only

in place of the cheerful pinks and reds of the
nodding stalks, with their gay rosettes of bloom,

was a crape scarf holding the blinds together, and
another on the sitting-room side, and another on

the brass knocker of the brown-painted door.
"Stop, uncle Jerry! Don't turn in at the side;

hand me my satchel, please; drop me in the road
and let me run up the path by myself. Then drive

away quickly."
At the noise and rumble of the approaching

stage the house door opened from within, just as
Rebecca closed the gate behind her. Aunt Jane

came down the stone steps, a changed woman,
frail and broken and white. Rebecca held out her

arms and the old aunt crept into them feebly, as
she did on that day when she opened the grave of

her buried love and showed the dead face, just for
an instant, to a child. Warmth and strength and

life flowed into the aged frame from the young one.
"Rebecca," she said, raising her head, "before

you go in to look at her, do you feel any bitterness
over anything she ever said to you?"

Rebecca's eyes blazed reproach, almost anger, as
she said chokingly: "Oh, aunt Jane! Could you

believe it of me? I am going in with a heart brimful
of gratitude!"

"She was a good woman, Rebecca; she had a
quick temper and a sharp tongue, but she wanted

to do right, and she did it as near as she could.
She never said so, but I'm sure she was sorry for

every hard word she spoke to you; she didn't take
'em back in life, but she acted so 't you'd know her

feeling when she was gone."
"I told her before I left that she'd been the making

of me, just as mother says," sobbed Rebecca
"She wasn't that," said Jane. "God made you

in the first place, and you've done considerable yourself
to help Him along; but she gave you the wherewithal

to work with, and that ain't to be despised;
specially when anybody gives up her own luxuries

and pleasures to do it. Now let me tell you something,
Rebecca. Your aunt Mirandy 's willed all this

to you,--the brick house and buildings and furniture,
and the land all round the house, as far 's you

can see."
Rebecca threw off her hat and put her hand to

her heart, as she always did in moments of intense
excitement. After a moment's silence she said:

"Let me go in alone; I want to talk to her; I want
to thank her; I feel as if I could make her hear and

feel and understand!"
Jane went back into the kitchen to the inexorable

tasks that death has no power, even for a day, to
blot from existence. He can stalk through dwelling

after dwelling, leaving despair and desolation behind
him, but the table must be laid, the dishes washed,

the beds made, by somebody.
Ten minutes later Rebecca came out from the

Great Presence looking white and spent, but chastened
and glorified. She sat in the quiet doorway,

shaded from the little Riverboro world by the
overhanging elms. A wide sense of thankfulness and

peace possessed her, as she looked at the autumn
landscape, listened to the rumble of a wagon on the

bridge, and heard the call of the river as it dashed
to the sea. She put up her hand softly and touched

first the shining brass knocker and then the red
bricks, glowing in the October sun.

It was home; her roof, her garden, her green
acres, her dear trees; it was shelter for the little

family at Sunnybrook; her mother would have once
more the companionship of her sister and the friends

of her girlhood; the children would have teachers
and playmates.

And she? Her own future was close-folded still;
folded and hidden in beautiful mists; but she leaned

her head against the sun-warmed door, and closing
her eyes, whispered, just as if she had been a

child saying her prayers: "God bless aunt Miranda;
God bless the brick house that was; God bless the

brick house that is to be!"
End

• mysterious [mi´stiəriəs] a.神秘的；难以理解的 (初中英语单词)
• parlor [´pɑ:lə] n.客厅；起居室 (初中英语单词)
• cheerful [´tʃiəful] a.快乐的；高兴的 (初中英语单词)
• instant [´instənt] a.立即的 n.紧迫；瞬间 (初中英语单词)
• warmth [wɔ:mθ] n.温暖；热情；激动 (初中英语单词)
• temper [´tempə] n.韧度 v.锻炼；调和 (初中英语单词)
• considerable [kən´sidərəbəl] a.重要的；值得重视 (初中英语单词)
• existence [ig´zistəns] n.存在；生存；生活 (初中英语单词)
• dwelling [´dweliŋ] n.住所；寓所 (初中英语单词)
• despair [di´speə] vi.&n.绝望 (初中英语单词)
• softly [´sɔftli] ad.软化地；柔和地 (初中英语单词)
• hidden [´hid(ə)n] hide 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• loving [´lʌviŋ] a.爱的，有爱情的 (高中英语单词)
• stately [´steitli] a.庄严的，雄伟的 (高中英语单词)
• rumble [´rʌmbəl] v.(使)隆隆响 n.隆隆声 (高中英语单词)
• reproach [ri´prəutʃ] vt.&n.责备；指责；耻辱 (高中英语单词)
• companionship [kəm´pæniənʃip] n.伴侣关系；友谊 (高中英语单词)
• saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
• bouquet [bu:´kei] n.花束；恭维话 (英语四级单词)
• feebly [´fi:bli] ad.虚弱地；贫乏地 (英语四级单词)
• desolation [desə´leiʃ(ə)n] n.荒凉 (英语四级单词)
• holding [´həuldiŋ] n.保持，固定，存储 (英语六级单词)