“But you are not going to say good-bye to it…and you are going to come here a great deal again. I know we are going to be good friends,” said Suzanne. “David and I want neighbors…want them terribly. And we’re not really moved in yet…we’re going to sleep in the hay-loft tonight…but our furniture is all in there higgledy-piggledy. The only thing in place is that old iron lantern over the front door. I had to hang that up and put a candle in it. It’s our beacon star…we’ll light it every night. Isn’t it lovely? We picked it up one time we were over in France…in an old chateau some king had built for his beloved. David went for his paper and I mortgaged my future for years and went with him. I’ve never regretted it. It’s funny…but all the things I do regret were prudent things…or what seemed so at the time. David and I have just been prowling about this evening. We arrived two hours ago in a terrible old rattling, banging, squeaking car…a second-hand which we bought last week. It took all our spare cash to buy the house but we don’t grudge it. The minute we saw that house I knew we must have it. It is a house of delightful personality, don’t you think?”

“I’ve always loved it,” said Pat softly.

“Oh, I knew it had been loved the moment I saw it. I think you can always tell when a house has been loved. But it’s been asleep for so long. And lonely. It always hurts me to see a house lonely. I felt that I must bring it back to life and chum with it. I know it feels happy because we are going to fix it up.”

Pat felt the cockles of her heart warming. Houses meant to this girl what they meant to herself…creatures, not things.

“We found this pile of apple boughs here and couldn’t resist the temptation to light it. There is no wood makes such a lovely fire as applewood. And we’re so happy tonight. We’ve just been hungry for a home…with trees and flowers and a cat or two to do our purring for us. We haven’t had a home since we were children…not even when David was married. He and his wife lived in a little apartment for the short time the poor darling did live. We’re short on relations so we’ll have to depend on neighbors. It doesn’t take much to make us laugh and although we’re quite clever we’re not so clever that anybody need be scared of us. We can’t be very wild…David here was shell-shocked somewhere in France when he was twenty and has to live quietly…but we do mean to be good friends with life.”