eat that permeated
and seemed to thaw his stiffened limbs.

Next, he went quietly into the bedroom to attend to the fire there.
Hosmer and Fanny were still sleeping. He approached a decorated basket
that hung against the wall; a receptacle for old newspapers and odds
and ends. He drew something from his rather capacious coat pocket,
and, satisfying himself that Hosmer slept, thrust it in the bottom of
the basket, well covered by the nondescript accumulation that was
there.

The house was very warm and cheerful when they arose, and after
breakfasting Hosmer felt unusually reluctant to quit his fire-side and
face the inclement day; for an unaccustomed fatigue hung upon his
limbs and his body was sore, as from the effect of bruises. But he
went, nevertheless, well encased in protective rubber; and as he
turned away from the house, Fanny hastened to the hanging basket, and
fumbling nervously in its depths, found what the complaisant Sampson
had left for her.

The cold rain had gradually changed into a fine mist, that in
descending, spread an icy coat upon every object that it touched. When
Hosmer returned at noon, he did not leave the house again.

During the afternoon Therese knocked at Fanny's door. She was
enveloped in a long hooded cloak, her face glowing from contact with
the sharp moist air, and myriad crystal drops clinging to her fluffy
blonde hair that looked very golden under the dark hood that covered
it. She wanted to learn how Fanny accepted this unpleasant change of
atmospheric conditions, intending to bear her company for the
remainder of the day if she found her depressed, as was often the
case.

"Why, I didn't know you were home," she said, a little startled, to
Hosmer who opened the door to her. "I came over to show Mrs. Hosmer
something pretty that I don't suppose she ever saw before." It was a
branch from a rose-tree, bearing two open blossoms and a multitude of
buds, creamy pink, all encased in an icy transparency that gleamed
like diamonds. "Isn't it exquisite?" she said, holding the spray up
for Fanny's admiration. But she saw at a glance that the spirit of
Disorder had descended and settled upon the Hosmer household.

The usually neat room was in a sad state of confusion. Some of the
pictures had been taken from the walls, and were leaning here and
there against chairs and tables. The mantel ornaments had been removed
and deposited at random and in groups about the room. On the hearth
was a