Indeed, after a while, as we ran the gauntlet to the station, annoyance gave way to interest.

We found ourselves looking ahead for distant wayfarers who had not yet tasted the rare joy which rippled like a ship's wake behind us.

We waited for the ecstatic moment when their faces should light with the joke.

Sometimes a mother standing at the door would see us and call to her family to come--and come quickly, if they would not be disappointed! Women, lurking behind Holland's blue gauze blinds, would be seen to break away with a hasty summoning movement.

Children down side streets who had just realised their exceptional fortune would be heard shouting the glad tidings to their friends.