CHAPTER XXXVI 



OUR FRIENDS 



AFTER our guests had departed, to college or 

 school or home, the house was left almost 

 deserted. We did not shut it up, however. 

 Fires were bright on all hearths, and lamps 

 were kept burning. We did not mean to lose 

 the cheeriness of the house, though much of 

 the family had departed. For a wonder, the 

 days did not seem lonesome. After the first 

 break was over, we did not find time to think of 

 our solitude, and as the weeks passed we won- 

 dered what new wings had caused them to fly 

 so swiftly. Each day had its interests of work 

 or study or social function. Stormy days and 

 unbroken evenings were given to reading. We 

 consumed many books, both old and new, and 

 we were not forgotten by our friends. The dull 

 days of winter did not drag ; indeed, they were 

 accepted with real pleasure. Our lives had 

 hitherto been too much filled with the hurry 

 and bustle inseparable from the fashionable ex- 

 istence-struggle of a large city to permit us to 

 settle down with quiet nerves to the real happi- 

 ness of home. So much of enjoyment accom- 



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