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A JOURNEY AND ITS ENDING. 149

CHAPTER X.

A JOURNEY AND ITS ENDING.
“The way was long, the wind was cold.”

Soon after auntie’s visit, summer really be-

_ gan to come. It was very pleasant while it

 

lasted ; but this year it was a very short sum-
mer, and the winter that came after was a very
severe one, and made many people ill. It did
not make Carrots ill, nor Floss, nor any of the
Desart children, for they were all strong; but
it was very bad for their mother. As the win-
ter went on, she seemed to get weaker and
weaker; there were very few days on which
she could go out, and if the spring had not
been an early and very mild one, I hardly
think her strength would have lasted.

But with the finer weather she seemed to
get better again. The children were, of course,

ANE