and Dick were all at Aunty's playing bridge and I thought Mabel would stay all night here, so it was about midnight when I got home. It was snowing hard a heavy wet snow when I left and by the time I got home I looked more like a snow drift than anything else. Marj. & Mabel were still up Marj. tired out and Mabel thinking she should go home. I tried to persuade her by telling her it was a brute of a night but she thought her aunty would be anxious so I took her and it was unwillingly that Queen & I turned back into that storm as we had both been thinking all the way home that of all domestic joys, crawling into a warm bed when cold & tired is about the chief one.

It was so dark going over to the Walker's tat we couyld hardly see the road but when I turned to come home the road was lighted up as if it was moonlight under thre cliuds. I couldn't figur eit out as I knew there was no moon and thought it was too late and the light too bright for the radial. When I turned the corner at Winding Hill, I knew what was going on as the whole northern sky was vividly aglow with the r=uddy flames of a fire. My first thoughts were of course of this place but i couoldn't believe that this house could