We did not look forward to our visit with any particular delight , for there was nobody at Cousin Mattie 's except grown-ups who had been grown up so long that it was rather hard for them to remember they had ever been children . But , as Felicity told us , it was necessary to visit Cousin Mattie at least once a year , or else she would be `` huffed , '' so we concluded we might as well go and have it over . `` Anyhow , we 'll get a splendiferous dinner , '' said Dan . `` Cousin Mattie 's a great cook and there 's nothing stingy about her . '' `` You are always thinking of your stomach , '' said Felicity pleasantly . `` Well , you know I could n't get along very well without it , darling , '' responded Dan who , since New Year 's , had adopted a new method of dealing with Felicity -- whether by way of keeping his resolution or because he had discovered that it annoyed Felicity far more than angry retorts , deponent sayeth not . He invariably met her criticisms with a good-natured grin and a flippant remark with some tender epithet tagged on to it . Poor Felicity used to get hopelessly furious over it . Uncle Alec was dubious about our going that day . He looked abroad on the general dourness of gray earth and gray air and gray sky , and said a storm was brewing . But Cousin Mattie had been sent word that we were coming , and she did not like to be disappointed , so he let us go , warning us to stay with Cousin Mattie all night if the storm came on while we were there . We enjoyed our walk -- even Felix enjoyed it , although he had been appointed to write up the visit for Our Magazine and was rather weighed down by the responsibility of it . What mattered it though the world were gray and wintry ? We walked the golden road and carried spring time in our hearts , and we beguiled our way with laughter and jest , and the tales the Story Girl told us -- myths and legends of elder time . The walking was good , for there had lately been a thaw and everything was frozen . We went over fields , crossed by spidery trails of gray fences , where the withered grasses stuck forlornly up through the snow ; we lingered for a time in a group of hill pines , great , majestic tree-creatures , friends of evening stars ; and finally struck into the belt of fir and maple which intervened between Carlisle and Baywater . It was in this locality that Peg Bowen lived , and our way lay near her house though not directly in sight of it . We hoped we would not meet her , for since the affair of the bewitchment of Paddy we did not know quite what to think of Peg ; the boldest of us held his breath as we passed her haunts , and drew it again with a sigh of relief when they were safely left behind . The woods were full of the brooding stillness that often precedes a storm , and the wind crept along their white , cone-sprinkled floors with a low , wailing cry . Around us were solitudes of snow , arcades picked out in pearl and silver , long avenues of untrodden marble whence sprang the cathedral columns of the firs .
We were all sorry when we were through the XXXXX and found ourselves looking down into the snug , commonplace , farmstead-dotted settlement of Baywater .
air cook haunts locality responsibility road sky snow walking woods