Give the bread a good kneading in an hour 's time and be careful not to bake it too much . '' That was a dismal day . It began to rain soon after Sara left and it just poured . I never saw a soul all day except the milkman , and I was really frantic by night . I never was so glad of anything as when I heard Sara 's step on the verandah . I flew to the front door to let her in -- and there was Walter all dripping wet -- and his arms were about me and I was crying on the shoulder of his mackintosh . I only guessed then what I knew later on . Sara had heard from Mrs. Shirley that Walter was going to Marlboro that day without coming back to Atwater . Sara knew that he must change trains at Junction Falls and she went there to meet him . She did n't know what train he would come on so she went to meet the earliest and had to wait till the last , hanging around the dirty little station at the Falls all day while it poured rain , and she had n't a thing to eat except some fancy biscuits she had bought on the train . But Walter came at last on the 7:50 train and there was Sara to pounce on him . He told me afterwards that no angel could have been so beautiful a vision to him as Sara was , standing there on the wet platform with her tweed skirt held up and a streaming umbrella over her head , telling him he must come back to Atwater because Beatrice wanted him to . But just at the moment of his coming I did n't care how he had come or who had brought him . I just realized that he was there and that was enough . Sara came in behind him . Walter 's wet arms were about me and I was standing there with my thin-slippered feet in a little pool of water that dripped from his umbrella . But Sara never said a word about colds and dampness . She just smiled , went on into the sitting-room , and shut the door . Sara understood . The Unforgotten One It was Christmas Eve , but there was no frost , or snow , or sparkle .
It was a green Christmas , and the night was mild and dim , XXXXX hazy starlight .
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