CHAPTER XVIII.
THE LETTER.
A forgotten duty called to mind--Letter writing--A mysterious allusion--The private room--No backing out--Making a beginning--Getting stuck--Idling away time--Prying into letters--A commotion among the swallows--Teaching the young ones how to fly--A good lesson lost--Mary and her book--Her talk about the pictures--A pretty picture--A wasted hour--Making another attempt--His success--Effects of being in earnest--A copy of Oscar's letter--Emily's inquisitiveness--A rebuke--The message she wanted to send--The meadow lot--Mulching for trees--Going to the old wood lot--Cutting birch twigs-Forgetting to be lazy--The load--A ride to the Cross-Roads--Mailing the letter--Paying the postage in advance..