She'll need
acclim'tyzing all to-morrow."
Mavis ran through the house to the kitchen, where Mary and a
courtesying old woman received her. Then she scampered from room to
room, uttering little cries of contentment. Often as she had seen and
admired the house during the last few weeks, it had never seemed so
perfectly delightful as it did to-day: with its low-ceiled cozy little
rooms at the back, its high and imposing rooms in front, its broad
staircase and square landing, it would be quite a little palace when
all had been set to rights.
Coming hurrying back to the hall, she saw her husband in the porch, a
splendid dark figure with the last rays of yellow sunlight behind him.
He paused bare-headed on the threshold, obviously not aware of her
presence, and she was about to speak to him when he startled her by
dropping on his knees and praying aloud.
"O merciful Powers, give me grace and strength to lead a healthy
fearless life in this house."
XIII
The Dales were beginning to prosper now, but their first winter had
been an anxious, difficult time.
Dale had made a common mistake in his calculations, and experience
soon taught him that what is known as good-will, the most delicate and
sensitive of all trade-values, can not by a mere stroke of the pen be
transferred from one person to another.
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