CHAPTER XXXI . ON THE EDGE OF LIGHT AND DARK We celebrated the November day when Peter was permitted to rejoin us by a picnic in the orchard . Sara Ray was also allowed to come , under protest ; and her joy over being among us once more was almost pathetic . She and Cecily cried in one another 's arms as if they had been parted for years . We had a beautiful day for our picnic . November dreamed that it was May . The air was soft and mellow , with pale , aerial mists in the valleys and over the leafless beeches on the western hill . The sere stubble fields brooded in glamour , and the sky was pearly blue . The leaves were still thick on the apple trees , though they were russet hued , and the after-growth of grass was richly green , unharmed as yet by the nipping frosts of previous nights . The wind made a sweet , drowsy murmur in the boughs , as of bees among apple blossoms . `` It 's just like spring , is n't it ? '' asked Felicity . The Story Girl shook her head . `` No , not quite . It looks like spring , but it is n't spring . It 's as if everything was resting -- getting ready to sleep . In spring they 're getting ready to grow . Ca n't you FEEL the difference ? '' `` I think it 's just like spring , '' insisted Felicity . In the sun-sweet place before the Pulpit Stone we boys had put up a board table .
Aunt Janet allowed us XXXXX cover it with an old tablecloth , the worn places in which the girls artfully concealed with frost-whitened ferns .
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