"O Lord, we praise Thee for all Thy tender mercies, and all Thy loving kindness.
Amen!" Of course father always asked the blessing to begin with, and mostly it was the same one, and that was all at meal time, but this was a little extra that mother couldn't even wait until night to tell the Almighty, she was so pleased with Him.

Maybe I haven't told everything about her, after all.

Father must have thought that was lovely of her; he surely felt as happy as she did, to see Shelley better, for he hugged and kissed her over and over, finishing at her neck like he always did, and then I be hanged, if he didn't hug and kiss every last one of us--tight, even the boys.

Shelley he held long and close, and patted her a little when he let her go.

It made me wonder if the rest of us didn't get ours, so he'd have a chance at her without her noticing it.
One thing was perfectly clear.