V 



A RAINY DAY 



MORNING 



October 31 (morning). Three days' delay, but 

 Chris has gone, and October wearing goloshes is 

 quietly plodding down the road to the rhythmical 

 patter of steady rain. 



Tim has secured a " general useful " with a round, 

 cheerful countenance and an excellent personal ref- 

 erence from the next town. In fact, Bertie the 

 newcomer, in addition to knowing which end of the 

 shovel belongs in his hand and which in the ground, 

 professes to be able to mend tools and tinker about 

 in a truly encouraging fashion, having in fact 

 brought a well-equipped tool chest with him. Even 

 now on the day of his advent, I can hear him pound- 

 ing away in the little tool house that holds the 

 garden necessities, after the manner of a thrifty 

 man who uses rainy days for tool-mending and such- 

 like work. 



It is very necessary that the "general useful" 

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