d.

Elfreda peered curiously at the writing. "True love laughs at Fate," she
read. "That's odd! Who in the world wrote that?"

"It was Tom." Grace drew a long breath. "Seeing his writing gave me a
queer thrill for a minute. It was just as though out of the silence he
had suddenly spoken. Then I remembered. When the painting was unwrapped
we stood looking at it. Tom had a blue pencil in one hand. He had been
checking off a list of our belongings. I said that the painting was
beautiful but sinister, and that I hoped that no such terrible figure of
Fate would ever overtake us. Tom laughed and said he would put a spell
on the picture. So he took the blue pencil and scribbled that sentence
on the back of it. Then he hung it on the wall. I never recalled the
incident until this moment. I'm glad you suggested reversing 'Fate,'
Elfreda. I'd rather have it so. The very sight of his handwriting is a
comfort."

"It's an omen," Elfreda declared solemnly, her plump face alive with
superstition. "Yes, sir; it's an omen. I can see that it's a fore-runner
of good luck."

CHAPTER XVIII

A GLEAM OF HOPE

Inspirited by Elfreda's emphatic prediction of good fortune, Grace left
Haven Home in a livelier frame of mind than she had exhibited when
entering the house. As they strolled down the walk she was further
cheered by the sight of a single, half-opened rose, flaunting its
crimson but lonely glory from a late-blooming bush. Elfreda, who was
bent on lightening Grace's mood, soberly assured her that it was merely
another lucky sign. Carefully plucking the fragrant token of good
fortune, Grace breathed a prayer that this might indeed be true.

Tackling her role of comforter with a will, Elfreda enlivened the walk
home with numerous accounts of signs and wonders which had visited
friends and acquaintances of hers as heralds of great good fortune. "Of
course, I'm only telling you what I've heard," she said humorously. "I
can't say that I've ever had any direct manifestations that good luck
was signaling to me. Once I went to a bazaar and paid a dollar for the
privilege of drawing a number from a hat. I had a hunch that I'd win
something. I also had my eye on a hand-painted chocolate pot, but my
lucky number drew a toy velocipede instead. Still I was lucky to draw
anything. Then another time I found a horseshoe in the road. I hung it
over the front door and next day it fell down on Pa's head when he was
coming into the house. Th