THE BRIDGE ACROSS THE YEARS
John was expected on the five o'clock stage. Mrs. John had been there three days now, and John's father and mother were almost packed up—so Mrs. John said. The auction would be to–morrow at nine o'clock, and with John there to see that things "hustled"— which last was really unnecessary to mention, for John's very presence meant "hustle"—with John there, then, the whole thing ought to be over by one o'clock, and they off in season to 'catch the afternoon express.
And what a time it had been—those three days!
Mrs. John, resting in the big chair on the front porch, thought of those days with complacency—that they were over. Grandpa and Grandma Burton, hovering over old treasures in the attic, thought of them with terrified dismay—that they had ever begun.
I am
