Page:Carroll Rankin--Dandelion Cottage.djvu/105

 Rh  —had Dandelion Cottage been suddenly transported to Alaska the lodger would still have had blankets to spare, so generously had her enthusiastic landladies provided—looked very comfortable indeed. At half past seven when the lodger arrived with apologies for being late because the dray-man, who was to move her trunk, had been slow, the cottage, for the first time since the girls had occupied it, was brilliantly lighted.

"We thought," explained Bettie, "that you might feel less frightened in a strange place if you had plenty of light, though we didn't really mean to have so many lamps—we each supposed we were bringing the only one. Anyway, we don't know which one burns best."

"If they should all go out," said Mabel, earnestly, "there are candles and matches on the little shelf above the bed."

When the lodger had been warned about the loose slats and the untrustworthiness of the chairs, the girls said good-night.