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- 
202 
