no rackin' down me hair, so it would. No, Master
Hal, if riches we can't have, cleanness we can. An' that's aye more
pleasin' to God."

The plain, strong furniture which had been in the house had been placed
to best advantage; and in the parents' rooms above, as well as the one
family living room below, were gathered all that had been brought from
dear Fairacres.

A load of wood and another of coal, which Cleena supposed had been sent
by Friend Adam and paid for with her money, gave a comfortable look to
the woodshed, and in the storeroom was a bag of flour, a side of bacon,
a fair supply of vegetables, and a barrel of apples. These the village
grocer's lad had brought in his delivery wagon, and it was useless to
ask him by whose order. Since they were needed, however, it was well to
take them in and to consider them as belonging with the wood and coal.

Finally, the Saturday afternoon arrived on which Hallam and Amy were to
go to the Clove, to pass First Day with Adam Burn and their parents,
returning before nightfall with the latter, to begin their reunited
family life.

Dressed in their freshest clothes, upon Balaam and Pepita, groomed by
the willing hands of Fayette, they journeyed gayly down the slope over
the familiar road, eager for their visit and the warm welcome awaiting
them.

"Do you know, Amy, it's queer that we've never been about alone much,
even on these country roads, till now? Losing our home seems to have
broken down ever so many restrictions."

"Well, don't you like it? Doesn't it make you feel freer and healthier?"

"Maybe. I'm not enthusiastic over our poverty. I'd be glad enough to go
back to Fairacres."

"So would I, if we could live there honestly. I wouldn't go, not for one
day, if I could help it, to live in debt as we did."

"Aren't we living in debt just the same now, and much more
uncomfortably?"

"I suppose so; though it's different. This time it isn't going to last,
and we haven't shut our eyes to it."

"Why isn't it going to last? How can we stop it? I see nothing ahead
except starvation."

"Hallam Kaye, the very first thing you ought to learn is to be cheerful.
You don't want to be a dead weight on anybody, do you? Well, you will be
if you can't look ahead at all to anything bright. You and I are going
to work and mend the family fortunes. Then we're going back to Fairacres
and do all the good we can with the money we've earned."

"If I were sound--"

"And sensible,