The squire wonders at the builder, because he lives in such a modest
way compared with his means, and says, "If I were he, I'd be ashamed
of that cottage which was all well enough when he was a young
journeyman."

The builder wonders what the squire does with all that great house,
and why, when half a dozen rooms are empty there, he doesn't allow
himself the pleasure of company, and of sheltering strangers and
getting the blessing they bring.

The squire's wife peeps through her fine curtains, and says, "I wonder
that pretty and intelligent woman hasn't more taste. She might live
like a lady if she pleased, and dress as I do; but she pokes on just
as she began, and dresses no better than the minister's wife, and has
a rabble of poor, forlorn creatures whom I wouldn't let into my house,
nor into my wood-shed, running after her for food and clothing, and
nobody knows what."

So you see, "my house" is literally "my house," and "our house" is
God's house.




A MOUNTAIN PRAYER MEETING


"Will you go to meeting with me this afternoon, Mabel? Come; this is
your last day here; do go once before you leave the White Mountains."
"What do you do in 'meeting'?" asked the gay, beautiful, "High Church"