CHAPTER IX 

LETTIE COMES OF AGE 

Lettie was twenty-one on the day after Christmas. She woke me in the morning with cries of dismay. There was a great fall of snow, multiplying the cold morning light, startling the slow-footed twilight. The lake was black like the open eyes of a corpse; the woods were black like the beard on the face of a corpse. A rabbit bobbed out, and floundered in much consternation; little birds settled into the depth, and rose in a dusty whirr, much terrified at the universal treachery of the earth. The snow was eighteen inches deep, and drifted in places. 

"They will never come!" lamented Lettie, for it was the day of her party. 

"At any rate—Leslie will," said I. 

"One!" she exclaimed. 

"That one is all, isn't it?" said I. "And for sure George will come, though I've not seen him this fortnight. He's not been in one night, they say, for a fortnight." 

"Why not?" 

"I cannot say." 

Lettie went away to ask Rebecca for the fiftieth time if she thought they would come. At any rate the extra woman-help came. 

It was not more than ten o'clock when Leslie arrived, ruddy, with shining eyes, laughing like a boy. There was much stamping in the porch, and knocking of leggings with his stick, and crying of Lettie from the kitchen to know who had come, and loud, cheery answers from the porch bidding her come and see. She came, and greeted him with effusion. 

"Ha, my little woman!" he said kissing her. "I declare you are a woman. Look at yourself in the glass now——" She did so—"What do you see?" he asked laughing. 
Had Lettie asked Rebecca something a lot?
What time was this that she asked?
What was the time when Leslie showed up?
What was her complexion like?
How were her eyes?
What was she laughing like?
Who was called from the kitchen?
How did Leslie greet them?
Was Leslie told to look in the mirror?
How old was Lettie?
On what day was her birthday?
What color was the lake called?
How else was it described?
What animal floundered?
Where did the birds settle?
The woods were compared to what on a face?
On the face of what?
Who hadn't been seen in two weeks?
What did the birds rise in?
What kind?
Yes
Lettie went away to ask Rebecca for the fiftieth time if she thought they would come. 
Fiftieth
Lettie went away to ask Rebecca for the fiftieth time if she thought they would come.
Not more than ten o'clock
It was not more than ten o'clock when Leslie arrived, r
Ruddy
It was not more than ten o'clock when Leslie arrived, ruddy, with shining eyes, laughing like a boy.
Shining
Leslie arrived, ruddy, with shining eyes,
A boy
It was not more than ten o'clock when Leslie arrived, ruddy, with shining eyes, laughing like a boy.
Lettie
There was much stamping in the porch, and knocking of leggings with his stick, and crying of Lettie from the kitchen
With effusion.
She came, and greeted him with effusion.
Yes
"Ha, my little woman!" he said kissing her. "I declare you are a woman. Look at yourself in the glass now——" She did so—"What do you see?" he asked laughing.
Twenty-one
Lettie was twenty-one 
Day after Christmas
Lettie was twenty-one on the day after Christmas
Black
 The lake was black
Like the open eyes of a corpse
The lake was black like the open eyes of a corpse;
A rabbit
A rabbit bobbed out, and floundered
Into the depth
little birds settled into the depth,
A beard
 the woods were black like the beard on the face 
A corpse.
the woods were black like the beard on the face of a corpse.
George
"And for sure George will come, though I've not seen him this fortnight.
A whirr
 little birds settled into the depth, and rose in a dusty whirr,
Dusty
little birds settled into the depth, and rose in a dusty whirr