  A few weeks after Mother came home, they were all gathered in the sitting-room after supper. Outside, the rain beat against the window panes and the wind made a mournful sound among the evergreens. Inside, all was bright and cheery. In the coal stove a fire was burning. On the table a big lamp sent a bright light through the room. Baby Betty had been put to bed, but Bobby sat at the table, reading a new book. "It is almost bedtime for you," said Mother. "Can't we have a game of dominoes before I go?" asked Bobby. Mother looked at the clock. "Just one," she said. So they all gathered around the table in the center of the room—Father, Mother, John and Sue and Bobby. Father and Bobby were partners. They got two hundred points first and so won the game. When the game was over, John went down cellar and brought up a pan of apples. Bobby and Sue went to the attic and brought down a basin of walnuts. And as they were eating the walnuts and the apples, they had a merry time. "I am glad we have such a comfortable "I always like our long Winter evenings," said Father. Bobby was cracking nuts. Suddenly he stopped and listened to the rain. "I hope the squirrels in the apple tree have plenty of nuts to-night," said he. At half past eight, Bobby went upstairs to bed. Mother tucked him in and told him a good-night story. It was about Daniel in the Lion's Den that night. When she came down, Father was reading his paper on one side of the table. Across from him, John sat reading a book. Sue was softly playing on the piano. Mother stopped a moment in the doorway to enjoy the scene. "Winter time or Summer time, home is best," she thought. Then she took her place in the easy chair which John had drawn up for her near the lamp, and opened her book to read. Upstairs, Bobby lay awake for some time, listening to the wind and rain. Then he fell asleep and dreamed that he was in the hayfield playing with Rover; and the sound he heard was not the storm but the hum of the mower cutting the clover. THE END |
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