15

Aunt Ada waved me from the front door
around to the rear - they couldn't open the front
door, - and the house looked wobbly - Grandma
emerged from the little shed in the rear where
all three had been living, and Alice came in
soon from a foraging trip.- I guess they were
glad to have a man around - we made tea
and cornbread on a broken brick fireplace in the
yard - and ate in the house in the kitchen, and
interrupted once by a little shake that showed
us how nervous we were.-- The house they
can tell you of- chimney crumbled away at bottom
pulling down dining room hearth - tipping
foundation and weak state generally. I camped
in a lean-to which I built against the shed -
that night, and in the morning after foraging
I went down to Beckett's - Mother Beckett
had been very low, and it had taken heroic
efforts on the part of Arthur to get her started to
Portland in charge of Mrs. Marcus - so he could
not look after Grandma until about the time
I arrived on the scene. I wanted to test the
truth of the statement made to the girls that
all should stay together until it would be possible