How do you expect we shall
all feel to-morrow morning I should like to know? and besides you will
take the awfulest cold that ever was heard of, if you sit there by the
open window, in this night air." To please my aunt I closed the window,
and Charley and I retired, and if we talked longer our conversation was
carried on in a whisper, so fearful were we of again disturbing Aunt
Lucinda. I doubt very much if there was that night a happier family in
Elmwood than the one which rested beneath the roof of our little brown
cottage.
CHAPTER XVII.
Happy days pass swiftly. The meeting of the friends at Elmwood was
indeed a joyful reunion and each one seemed anxious to do their utmost
to contribute to the enjoyment of the other. My mother suspended all
regular employment (for the time being) and gave her undivided attention
to the entertainment of Aunt Lucinda, and she fully appreciated the kind
attentions of my mother and little sister Flora; for, notwithstanding
her seemingly cold and crusty exterior, she had really a kindly heart,
and real affection from others ever met with a hearty response: although
one to whom she it was not well-known would have set her down as a hard,
unfeeling disposition; and I am inclined to think my Aunt Lucinda not
the only one who is regarded by the generality of people as cold and
unfriendly, for the simple reason that they do not take the trouble
of looking beyond their often rough exterior, and discover the kindly
feelings which remain hidden till called forth by the voice of sympathy
and friendship.
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