Since I 'm convinced it was n't I 'll hand every penny over . Though , mind you , you could n't make me do it by law . It 's my honesty , ma'am , it 's my honesty . '' Since Jacob Patterson was so well satisfied with the fibre of his honesty , neither Mrs. Duncan nor Ernest was disposed to quarrel with it . Mr. White readily agreed to sell the old Duncan place back to them , and by spring they were settled again in their beloved little home . Danny and Frank were with them , of course . `` We ca n't be too good to them , Mother , '' said Ernest . `` We really owe all our happiness to them . '' `` Yes , but , Ernest , if you had not consented to take the homeless little lads in their time of need this would n't have come about . '' `` I 've been well rewarded , Mother , '' said Ernest quietly , `` but , even if nothing of the sort had happened , I would be glad that I did the best I could for Frank and Danny . I 'm ashamed to think that I was unwilling to do it at first . If it had n't been for what you said , I would n't have . So it is your unselfishness we have to thank for it all , Mother dear . '' The Revolt of Mary Isabel `` For a woman of forty , Mary Isabel , you have the least sense of any person I have ever known , '' said Louisa Irving . Louisa had said something similar in spirit to Mary Isabel almost every day of her life . Mary Isabel had never resented it , even when it hurt her bitterly . Everybody in Latimer knew that Louisa Irving ruled her meek little sister with a rod of iron and wondered why Mary Isabel never rebelled . It simply never occurred to Mary Isabel to do so ; all her life she had given in to Louisa and the thought of refusing obedience to her sister 's Mede-and-Persian decrees never crossed her mind . Mary Isabel had only one secret from Louisa and she lived in daily dread that Louisa would discover it . It was a very harmless little secret , but Mary Isabel felt rightly sure that Louisa would not tolerate it for a moment .
They were sitting together in the dim living room XXXXX their quaint old cottage down by the shore .
Since So by for if in of over that with