and put me, in a fresh night-dress, into
my bed. I do not recall that we talked
to each other, but in every caress of
her hands as she worked I felt the un-
spoken assurances of a love such as I
had not dreamed of.

Father had gone running back to the
school to see if he could be of any as-
sistance to his neighbours, and had
taken Toot with him, but they were
back presently to say that beyond a few
sharp injuries and broken bones, no
harm had been done to the children. It
was considered miraculous that no one
had been killed or seriously injured,
and I noticed that father's voice trem-
bled as he told of it, and that mother
could not answer, and that Toot sobbed
like a big silly boy.

Then as we talked together, behold,
a second storm was upon us -- a sharp
black blast of wind and rain, not ter-
rifying, like the other, but with an
"I've-come-to-spend-the-day" sort of
aspect.

But no one seemed to mind very
much. I was carried down to the sit-