farm. She, Rebecca, had enjoyed all the
privileges thus far. Life at the brick house had not been by any means
a path of roses, but there had been comfort and the companionship of
other children, as well as chances for study and reading. Riverboro had
not been the world itself, but it had been a glimpse of it through a
tiny peephole that was infinitely better than nothing. Rebecca shed
more than one quiet tear before she could trust herself to offer up as
a sacrifice that which she so much desired for herself. Then one
morning as her visit neared its end she plunged into the subject boldly
and said, "Hannah, after this term I'm going to stay at home and let
you go away. Aunt Miranda has always wanted you, and it's only fair you
should have your turn."

Hannah was darning stockings, and she threaded her needle and snipped
off the yarn before she answered, "No, thank you, Becky. Mother
couldn't do without me, and I hate going to school. I can read and
write and cipher as well as anybody now, and that's enough for me. I'd
die rather than teach school for a living. The winter'll go fast, for
Will Melville is going to lend me his mother's sewing machine, and I'm
going to make white petticoats out of the piece of muslin aunt Jane
sent, and have 'em just solid with tucks. Then there's going to be a
singing-school and a social circle in Temperance after New Year's, and
I shall have a real good time now I'm grown up. I'm not one to be
lonesome, Becky," Hannah ended with a blush; "I love this place."

Rebecca saw that she was speaking the truth, but she did not understand
the blush till a year or two later.

XVIII

REBECCA REPRESENTS THE FAMILY

There was another milestone; it was more than that, it was an "event;"
an event that made a deep impression in several quarters and left a
wake of smaller events in its train. This was the coming to Riverboro
of the Reverend Amos Burch and wife, returned missionaries from Syria.

The Aid Society had called its meeting for a certain Wednesday in March
of the year in which Rebecca ended her Riverboro school days and began
her studies at Wareham. It was a raw, blustering day, snow on the
ground and a look in the sky of more to follow. Both Miranda and Jane
had taken cold and decided that they could not leave the house in such
weather, and this deflection from the path of duty worried Miranda,
since she was an officer of the society. After making the breakfast
table sufficiently un