timidly i have sometimes thought about him and wondered if he supposed we were set against him there was so much hard between the families when we were all young and we would n t speak to him when we were girls a man would be cut by that as much as anything � i would n t speak to him now either and s voice and her linen thread snapped together everybody said they treated our folks you needn t expect me to go after such and mary and mary hardly knew what gave her such i don t want to vex you i m sure she said simply if he did n t answer or did n t treat us well any way i should think aa you do but i to ask him to come and spend day with us and show him a spirit he ain t so well off that he need think we ve got low motives and � taking courage � you know this u be the first since his wife died � if t was his wife we saw mentioned in the paper i must say you are consistent with our for dinner miss grimly together her big needle and her steel without any top i won t lend myself to any such notions and there s an end to it she rose and disappeared angrily into the and began to the pots and as if she had to begin the preparations for at that very moment but miss mary dean whom everybody thought a little and went on sewing as long as the pale daylight lasted she did not know why she was so disappointed about not inviting mary and their unknown cousin she had not thought of him very often but she had always been a little ashamed and sorry about the family quarrel that had made everybody so bitter and when she w a girl her father thought that this cousin s father cheated him of his rights in the old home farm at least three days afterward sister was discovered to be very silent and unreasonable and in spite of previous experiences miss mary was entirely surprised to be told late in the evening just as they were going to bed that a letter had been sent that day to cousin john asking him to come to spend with them on the you d never have been satisfied without it i suppose the good woman said as she went hurrying about the room and gentle mary was filled with fear she knew that it would be a trouble to her sister and an unwelcome one but at last she felt very glad and was grateful as she thanked the head of the family for this generous deed i don t know why my heart was so set on it she announced later with great humility and mary and m from under the i hope he won t stop long she observed quite cheerfully and so peace was restored and miss dean thought about the dinner and talked over her plans while mary listened with pleased content and looked out through the little bedroom window from her pillow to see the white twinkling winter like stars goodness me exclaimed on morning there he comes and he looks as old as i the sisters stood together and watched their guest climbing the long hill and made characteristic comments h does look real said mary but off to look at the chicken which had just been put into the oven he looks as if he were hungry she growled on the way and took a complacent look into the after she had seen that the oven continued to be in a proper state of warmth there was enough for her to do to look after the dinner mary could attend to the company but after all it was good to have company especially some one who seemed to be glad to be with them he had grown to look mary and like her own dear honest hearted father ix these latter years he could not be a bad man and it seemed a great while since they had seen one of their own folks at the table so put her whole heart into making her little dinner just as good as it could be she sat down in the front room once or twice and tried to talk over old times but she was not very successful they were constantly running against unpleasant subjects it seemed as if the mistaken household that had been divided against itself had no traditions of anything but warfare but the guest was glad to come he could talk to his cousin mary about the pleasure s note had given him he did not say that it was not very affectionate but he told the truth about having often wished since he had grown older that they could talk over the old times and have a kinder feeling toward each other and i was so broken up this year he added i miss my wife worse and worse she was some years younger than i and always seemed bo pleasant and � well if one of you girls is left without the other you ii know mary and about it that s all i can say and a sudden pang shot through the listener s heart and mary dean looked so sorry and so kind that she had to listen to a great many things about the wife who had died cousin john moved her sympathy more and more and by the time dinner was ready they were warm friends then there was the dinner and the two elderly women and their guest enjoyed it very much miss had put on the best table cloth and the best dishes she had done all she could to make the little festival a success and presently even she 