He became a very religious man , which was a good thing , but he was dreadfully gloomy and thought everything pleasant sinful . He would n't even eat any more than was actually necessary to keep him alive . Uncle Roger says that if he had been a Roman Catholic he would have become a monk , but , as he was a Presbyterian , all he could do was to turn into a crank . '' `` Yes , but your Uncle Roger was never clapped on the shoulder and called brother by the devil , '' said Peter . `` If he had , he might n't have been so precious jolly afterwards himself . '' `` I do wish to goodness , '' said Felicity in exasperation , `` that you 'd stop talking of the -- the -- of such subjects in the dark . I 'm so scared now that I keep thinking father 's steps behind us are SOMETHING 'S . Just think , my own father ! '' The Story Girl slipped her arm through Felicity 's . `` Never mind , '' she said soothingly . `` I 'll tell you another story -- such a beautiful story that you 'll forget all about the devil . '' She told us one of Hans Andersen 's most exquisite tales ; and the magic of her voice charmed away all our fear , so that when we reached the bracken hollow , a lake of shadow surrounded by the silver shore of moonlit fields , we all went through it without a thought of His Satanic Majesty at all . And beyond us , on the hill , the homelight was glowing from the farmhouse window like a beacon of old loves . CHAPTER XXXII . THE OPENING OF THE BLUE CHEST November wakened from her dream of May in a bad temper . The day after the picnic a cold autumn rain set in , and we got up to find our world a drenched , wind-writhen place , with sodden fields and dour skies . The rain was weeping on the roof as if it were shedding the tears of old sorrows ; the willow by the gate tossed its gaunt branches wildly , as if it were some passionate , spectral thing , wringing its fleshless hands in agony ; the orchard was haggard and uncomely ; nothing seemed the same except the staunch , trusty , old spruces . It was Friday , but we were not to begin going to school again until Monday , so we spent the day in the granary , sorting apples and hearing tales . In the evening the rain ceased , the wind came around to the northwest , freezing suddenly , and a chilly yellow sunset beyond the dark hills seemed to herald a brighter morrow . Felicity and the Story Girl and I walked down to the post-office for the mail , along a road where fallen leaves went eddying fitfully up and down before us in weird , uncanny dances of their own .
The evening was full XXXXX eerie sounds -- the creaking of fir boughs , the whistle of the wind in the tree-tops , the vibrations of strips of dried bark on the rail fences .
If along before beyond like of on than that through