ce," replied Uncle Nathan; "and if you
are really in earnest we will see what can be done about it next week,
if this fine weather continues, for the old house does need brushing up
a little, no mistake." And this was the way matters usually ended. To
confess the truth, Uncle Nathan was inclined to be rather careless in
matters requiring extra exertion and confusion; but when my aunt once
took a decided stand, the matter was soon accomplished, for much as my
Uncle enjoyed teasing her, he entertained a high regard for her opinion,
and was often willing to trust matters to her judgment as being superior
to his own. As they were all busy in various ways, Grandma motioned me
to take a seat by her side, and read to her, saying in an undertone,
she had had no good reading while I was away, for Nathan reads too fast,
and the Widow Green speaks through her nose, "and you don't know how
much I have missed your clear voice and plain pronunciation." "What
shall I read Grandma," said I, as I turned the leaves of the large
Bible. "Oh, first read my favourite psalm which you know is the
thirty-seventh, and then read from St. John's Gospel." For an hour she
seemed filled with quiet enjoyment while I read, till, becoming tired,
she said "that will do for this time, Walter, for you must be tired
after your journey." The few days which remained of the week after our
return were busy ones; school was to open on the following Monday and
there were many matters requiring attention. The painting of the house
was begun in due time, and Uncle Nathan thought "Lucinda was going a
little too far" when she first proposed adorning the house which,
instead of a dingy red, was now a pure white, with green blinds, but she
soon (as she said) talked him over to her side, and the first time
Deacon Martin's wife passed the homestead after the improvements were
completed, she remarked to a friend, that she almost felt it her duty,
to call and ask Uncle Nathan if he were not evincing too much love of
display, by expending so much money on mere outward adornings. Somehow
or other it came to Aunt Lucinda's ears that the good Deacon's wife
thought they had better give their money to the cause of, "Foreign
Missions" than spend it in so needless a manner. My uncle's family did
give liberally when called upon, in this way, and, more than this, they
were not inclined to make remarks upon the short-comings of others; but,
upon this occasion my aunt replied with much