ll right hand held up as if in
the clasp of another hand.

* * * * *

Calista would have chosen to clean the whole house or do a harvest-time
baking rather than write one letter, so she asked most of the guests
verbally and put off the others as long as she could. Conrad had taken
Hannah to Bernville to have a new silk dress fitted and buy colored
sugar for the wedding-cakes when she began the invitations. By three
o'clock they were finished, and she counted them and laid them beside
the inkstand. Then she washed her hands, spread a sheet on the floor,
and got out a pile of soft white stuff, all puffs and lace and
ruffles--the work of weeks.

She sewed happily, looking out now and then at the trees, which tossed
like green waves under the roaring August rain. Sometimes a gust drove a
shower down the chimney and made the logs hiss. The room was warm and
still; in the interval of work it seemed to have paused and be
sleeping. The tiger-cat, with his paws folded under him, lay beside the
hearth, and Mary on her little bench nursed her doll peacefully. Calista
began to sing a German hymn; the words were awful, but their very
solemnity made her happier by contrast:

"Wer weiss wie nahe mir mein Ende!
Hin geht die Zeit, her kommt der Tod.

"Look here, Mary," she said. "Isn't this pretty?" The child came, and
Calista held up the soft stuff around her; it made the little face look
beautifully pink and white. She touched it lightly, smiling, then she
wandered over to the window with her doll and looked out into the rain.

"Es kann vor Nacht leicht anders werden,
Als es am fruehen Morgen war,"

Calista sang.

Five minutes later she asked, good-naturedly, "What are you looking at?"
Mary did not answer. "Didn't you hear what I said? What's going on out
there?" Calista repeated.

"You said I shouldn't say it," the child whispered.

"Say what?"

"When I see the lady."

"Where do you see her?"

"Coming out of the orchard."

Certain old stories returning to Calista's mind made her look at Mary
for a minute as though the child had manifested strange powers. She went
to the window and her thimble clicked on the sill as she leaned forward;
then she touched her cheek. "Do you feel good?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

She looked out again. "I want you to know for sure that no one is
there," she said, earnestly. "Now tell me: do you see a lady?"

"Yes, ma'am. She is coming