TBANSB^ORMED AND TRANSFERRED. 11 



admit the sunlight to the chill stone walls ; a new porch 

 guarded the threshold, instead of its tumble-down pre- 

 decessor ; inside, the wainscoting had been repaired, 

 walls neatly papered, and, finally, modern grates filled 

 most of the wide chimney-places, a concession to the 

 scarcity of wood and the abundance of coal. With 

 warm carpets under foot, the household furniture in 

 place, the pretty curtains at the square, small-paned 

 windows, and the general air of coziness and home that 

 filled all the house, like the odor of Mary's ointment, it 

 was indeed a transformation. What eye could have 

 seen through and beyond all the cheerlessness, disorder 

 and dirt of the miserable farm-house that I looked at a 

 month ago, the possibilities of so bright a home ? 

 Whose heart had the cunning to devise, whose hands 

 the deftness to bring about this change ? — whose but 

 the dear housewife's, who beamed amidst it all with a 

 face from which, for the hour, happiness and content 

 had driven the anxiety that had stopped thereon too 

 often during the last year ? Yes, the magic wand that 

 had summoned back the exiled fairies of home was the 

 touch of the New Mistress of the Old Farm. 



"A year of retirement and rest will restore his vigor 

 and save him for the future." 



That was the ultimatum of Doctor Hayes. Promptly 

 the mistress assented. The master yielded to the 

 inevitable only after a long, hard struggle. Do you 

 wonder ? An active life planted in a great city and 

 come to the meridian of manhood, has many and 

 strong roots. They run deeji, they branch widely, they 



