ig fuchsia and the Martha Washington geranium had
blossomed for Christmas-tide. Mrs. Dow herself did not look greatly
changed to me. Her hair, thin ever since I could remember it, was
now quite white, but her spare, wiry little person had all its old
activity, and her eyes gleamed with the old friendliness behind her
silver-bowed glasses. Her gray house-dress seemed just like those
she used to wear when I ran in after school to take her angel-food
cake down to the church supper.

The house sat on a hill, and from behind the geraniums I could see
pretty much all of Riverbend, tucked down in the soft snow, and the
air above was full of big, loose flakes, falling from a gray sky
which betokened settled weather. Indoors the hard-coal burner made a
tropical temperature, and glowed a warm orange from its isinglass
sides. We sat and visited, the two of us, with a great sense of
comfort and completeness. I had reached Riverbend only that morning,
and Mrs. Dow, who had been haunted by thoughts of shipwreck and
suffering upon wintry seas, kept urging me to draw nearer to the
fire and suggesting incidental refreshment. We had chattered all
through the winter morning and most of the afternoon, taking up one
after another of the Riverbend girls and boys, and agreeing that we
had reason to be well satisfied with most of them. Finally, after a
long pause in which I had listened to the contented ticking of the
clock and the crackle of the coal, I put the question I had until
then held back:

"And now, Mrs. Dow, tell me about the one we loved best of all.
Since I got your letter I've thought of her every day. Tell me all
about Scott and Nelly."

The tears flashed behind her glasses, and she smoothed the little
pink bag on her knee.

"Well, dear, I'm afraid Scott proved to be a hard man, like his
father. But we must remember that Nelly always had Mrs. Spinny. I
never saw anything like the love there was between those two. After
Nelly lost her own father and mother, she looked to Mrs. Spinny for
everything. When Scott was too unreasonable, his mother could 'most
always prevail upon him. She never lifted a hand to fight her own
battles with Scott's father, but she was never afraid to speak up
for Nelly. And then Nelly took great comfort of her little girl.
Such a lovely child!"

"Had she been very ill before the little baby came?"

"No, Margaret; I'm afraid 't was all because they had the wrong
doctor. I feel confident that either