).
The shiverin' earth begun to git a little warmer, kinder shook
herself and partly throwed off the white fur robe she'd wore all
huddled round herself so long, and as the sun looked down closter and
more smilin' it throwed it clear off and begun to put on its new green
spring suit. Them same smiles, only more warm and persuadin' like,
coaxed the sweet sap up into the bare maple tops in Josiah's sugar
bush and the surroundin' world, till them same sunny smiles wuz packed
away in depths of sugar loaves and golden syrup in our store room.
Wild-flowers peeped out in sheltered places; pussy willows bent down
and bowed low as they see their pretty faces in the onchained brook;
birds sung amongst the pale green shadders of openin' leaves; the west
wind jined in the happy chorus. And lo! on lookin' out of our winder
before we knowed it, as it were, we see Spring had come!

And with the spring come my expected visitor, Faithful Smith. She is
my own cousin on my own side, called by some a old maid. But she
hain't so very old, and she's real good-lookin'--better than when she
wuz a girl, I think, for life has been cuttin' pure and sweet meanin's
into her face, some as they carve beauty into a cameo. She's kinder
pale and her sweet soul seems to look right out at you from her soft
gray eyes, and the lay of her hull face is such that you would think,
if the fire of happiness could be built up under it (in her soul), it
would light up into loveliness.

She wuz disappinted some years ago (or I d'no what you would call it)
when she sent the man away herself. But she had a Bo when she wuz a
girl by the name of Richard West. Dick West wuz the fullest of fun you
ever see, though generous and good hearted; but he boasted on not
believin' anything, and Faithful's father, bein' a church member of
the closest kind, and she brung up as you may say, right inside the
tabernacle, with her Pa's phylakracy hangin' on the very horns of the
altar, you may know what opposition Richard got from her Pa and her
own conscience. Her conscience, as so many good girl's consciences
are, wuz a perfect tyrant, and drove her round--that, and her Pa. He
wanted to be a good man, but wuz bigoted and couldn't see no higher
than the top of the steeple, and didn't want to. And take these facts,
with her deep true love for Richard, you may know she got tossted
about more'n considerable.

Richard would make fun right in meetin'--make fun of their religious
observa