d a good deal of thought as to who should inherit her property
when she was done with it. For those she held in the highest esteem were
elderly like herself, and the young people were flighty and extravagant
and despised the good old ways of prudence and thrift.

They were having early tea at Mrs. Leverett's. Aunt Priscilla's mother
had been half-sister to Mrs. Leverett's mother. In the old days of large
families nearly everyone came to be related. It was always very cozy in
Sudbury Street, and Foster Leverett was in the ship chandlery trade.
Aunt Priscilla _did_ love a good cup of tea. Whether the quality was
finer, or there was some peculiar art in brewing it, she could never
quite decide; or whether the social cream of gentle Elizabeth Leverett,
and the spice of Betty, added to the taste and heightened the flavor
beyond her solitary cup.

Early October had already brought chilling airs when evening set in. A
century or so ago autumn had the sharpness of coming winter in the early
morning and after sundown. There was a cheerful wood fire on the
hearth, and its blaze lighted the room sufficiently, as the red light of
the sunset poured through a large double window.

The house had a wide hall through the center that was really the
keeping-room. The chimney stood about halfway down, a great stone affair
built out in the room, tiled about with Scriptural scenes, with two
tiers of shelves above, whereon were ranged the family heirlooms--so
high, indeed, that a stool had to be used to stand on when they were
dusted. Just below this began a winding staircase with carved spindles
and a mahogany rail and newel, considered quite an extravagance in that
day.

This lower end was the living part. In one of the corners was built the
buffet, while a door opposite led into the wide kitchen. Across the back
was a porch where shutters were hung in the winter to keep out the cold.

The great dining table was pushed up against the wall. The round tea
table was set out and the three ladies were having their tea, quite a
common custom when there was a visitor, as the men folk were late coming
in and a little uncertain.

On one side the hall opened in two large, well-appointed rooms. On the
other were the kitchen and "mother's room," where, when the children
were little, there had been a cradle and a trundle bed. But one son and
two daughters were married; one son was in his father's warehouse, and
was now about twenty; the next baby