I got an old truck for the coal too .sx " Gill must have had some of Harry's affection for the old Wortley Road , for she sat back quietly as the car rushed them along .sx Warreners' Copse was unaltered except for the loss of some of its chestnuts , and Pine Tree Stretch still stood bravely with its twisted stems saffron in the evening sun .sx The woods through which he had cut as a boy were gapped where the oaks had gone , and there were gaps in the avenue of the home mile .sx The hay was still cocked on the meadows of West Farm and the hedges were gay with honeysuckle .sx In the park the elms made harmonious clumps above the paler green of the new grass .sx " Anybody at the Hall ?sx " Harry asked .sx " Not since the old squire died , " Gill told him .sx " They say the new squire hasn't got the money to keep it up .sx You knew Field and most of the keepers had gone ?sx " " Mother told me that .sx " He sat back again as the car passed the school and the Mound .sx As the sound of hammer on anvil came from Dew's shop a quick tightness rose in his throat , and he leaned down with elbows on knees , making pretence of filling his pipe .sx The car slowed and he knew they were passing Sarah Grinter's shop , and when he looked up it was to see his mother and Eva standing by the door of the little room .sx His mother held him and held him till he thought she would never let him go .sx " That's all right , Mother .sx " He patted her shoulder .sx " Here's Gill .sx You haven't spoken to her yet .sx And how are you , Eva ?sx It's wonderful to see you again .sx " Eva looked motherly and even matronly .sx Everything about her was as quietly competent and gently ordered as it had been years before , and though she had none of the quick beauty of Gill , her face was pleasant and her eyes were still the loveliest in the family .sx Before she could do more than just speak , their father came bustling out , and Harry smiled affectionately at the sight of the army breeches and puttees , with the black waistcoat and collar and tie above .sx " No difference in you , Father .sx Just a bit greyer perhaps .sx " His father shook his head with that dignity he always assumed with a collar and tie .sx " I'm not so young as I was , son .sx But you - you're lookin what-you-call smart .sx Where'd you get all them ribbons ?sx " " These ?sx " began Harry diffidently .sx But Jim , who had taken in one trunk , came fussing back .sx " Never mind them jolly ribbons , Father .sx Give me a hand with this here box .sx I hain't had a bite o' tea yet .sx " " Stay and have some with us , " suggested Harry .sx Jim shook his head impatiently .sx " Too much jolly work to do , Harry .sx I may draw along after supper , though .sx " Jim was deliciously funny ; all rush and tear when there was a job of work to do ; full of restless , futile vitality and confidence in a benevolent future .sx Physically too he was the very spit of his father as Harry could first recall him .sx But Jim was forgotten as Harry ducked his head in the partition-way through to the front room , and when he had taken off his Sam Browne and was sitting in his father's fiddle-back , he could do nothing but beam round happily .sx There were all the old smells ; the polished grate and spotless bricks , and the same old sewing-machine on the ledge of which his cap had laid twenty years before .sx And there was cold rabbit followed by cheese-cakes for tea .sx The family tea had been over an hour and more ago , but Francis drew up his chair again .sx " Pour me out a cup , Mother , will you ?sx Master dry sort o' weather , " he explained to Harry , and :sx " How's it feel to be home again , son ?sx " " Not so bad , " said Harry .sx " Yet it's strange in a way .sx Melancholy too when you come to think things out .sx I mean , the older generation seems to have gone and there'll be a whole lot of new faces to get used to .sx " " Let me see , " said Gill .sx " Who is there died since Harry was home ?sx " She counted them off on her fingers .sx " Josh Till , Eli Shaw , Mr. Balfour , Mr. Pardon , the squire , Bob Grinter .sx .. Who else , Mother ?sx " " Mr. Leigh , dear .sx And remind me to show Harry the cutting about the funeral .sx " " Dodger Lake , " added Eva .sx " And Walter Grinter .sx You forgot him , Mother .sx " A quick frown crossed and was gone .sx " What's Sarah doing about the shop , Mother ?sx " Bob's wife has got a sister coming to help her soon , " said his mother , " but at present Sarah is lending a hand .sx " A timid , cautious look went with her hesitation .sx " You see , dear , Sarah thought of coming to live here if you were really serious about us giving notice to go at Michaelmas .sx " He nodded non-committally .sx " Edna married yet ?sx " Eva spoke there .sx " We never seem to hear much about her , do we , Mother ?sx She's still in the same job at Watford though .sx " Francis shook his head portentously .sx " Ah , son !sx All them old 'uns what you used to know are gone .sx Rare good old sort they was too .sx The old dispensation , they was .sx This is the new dispensation .sx " The word lingered on his palate .sx " The new dispensation ; that's what we're livin in now .sx " " Yes , " said Harry .sx " You're not far wrong .sx And what about the cottages ?sx They're vacant all right ?sx " " They bin vacant ever since the sale .sx " He cocked his head on one side .sx " What was you thinkin of doin with them , son ?sx " Harry dodged the question .sx " Who actually did the buying ?sx You , Father ?sx " Eva , who had heard the story of her father and the auction a dozen times already , cut in quickly .sx " Are you really thinking of going to live over there , Harry ?sx " " Don't be ridiculous !sx " said Gill .sx " They're not much larger than where we are now ; are they , Mother ?sx " There was a funny little sigh of regret about her laugh .sx " Wouldn't it be comical living where Granny Shaw and Dodger used to !sx Not that it wouldn't be nice having some sort of a garden for the first time in our lives .sx " " You've actually given Sarah notice ?sx " asked Harry .sx " Well , dear - we did say something , as I told you .sx " " That's all right then , " said Harry .sx " I shouldn't be surprised if we moved over there after all .sx " His mother looked startled .sx " But , my dear , however can we ?sx " " Harry's laughing at you , " said Gill .sx " He knows we couldn't manage in two poky little cottages like those .sx " " We've managed here somehow , " said Eva quietly .sx Her eyes were on her knitting and he sensed somehow that she alone knew what was in his mind .sx He smiled as he kept the secret to himself a little longer .sx " No panic , everybody .sx As soon as we're all ready we'll go over there and have a look round .sx " While the washing-up was being done he wandered through to the little room and up to his bedroom .sx Everything seemed to be as he had left it and he might have been away no longer than five weeks .sx On the dressing-table was a solitary photograph and he forgot for a moment who it was , then laughed to himself as he looked at Lorna Verity .sx But he put the photo-graph back , smiling again at those impossibly distant years and the boy who had been himself , and wondering what had become of her and the Merritts .sx He came downstairs again and out to the shed , which was packed to the roof with those things he had bought in the great slump of nineteen fifteen , when he had been in England and convalescing from his first wound .sx It was jolly to catch sight of the legs of chairs and tables beneath their protecting straw .sx The family were all ready when he entered the house again .sx " Aren't you going to put on that lovely belt ?sx " asked Margaret reproachfully .sx He shook his head .sx All the time during tea her eyes had never left him ; now he knew she wished others to share the fierce pride which she felt herself .sx But there was never a soul to see them as they entered the front gate of Eli's old cottage and made their way by the side path to the back .sx Harry suddenly stopped in his tracks .sx " Just a moment , everybody .sx Don't you feel something strange ?sx " They looked puzzled , wondering what he meant .sx He laughed .sx " Wriggle your feet well into the ground .sx Don't you feel it ?sx Don't you realize that the Francis family are standing for the first time in their lives on a piece of ground they own themselves ?sx A piece of ground we can never be turned out of ?sx " That double cottage was very like their own .sx Facing north to Vicarage Road was each front door and a privet hedge .sx Where they stood at the back , each half-cottage had its door , its small window and its lean-to shed .sx Looking to the south was each long garden , and at their ends the ditch into which he and Jim had emptied stones and weeds from their own garden which lay -with Grinter's long patch - alongside Dodger's to the west .sx Beyond the ditch was Dew's meadow , then the massed oaks and beeches of the Wortley Road .sx He was smiling to himself as he entered Eli's old kitchen , but he frowned as he looked round .sx " The ceiling isn't so high as I thought it was .sx " His father nodded .sx " I thowt you was makin a mistake , son .sx " " The trouble is we've spoken to Sarah about the notice , " said Margaret .sx " Still , perhaps she'll reconsider it .sx " " Don't begin worrying , Mother , " said Eva .sx " Harry knows what he's going to do .sx " The moment had come .sx He felt in his fob pocket for a pencil .sx " Anybody got a piece of paper ?sx Never mind - the wall-paper's got to come off in any case .sx " There seemed something uncanny about the ease with which he drew that plan , but none of them knew the months he had thought of it all since the day the letter had come saying the cottages were for sale .sx He had dreamed of what he would make of them .sx He knew where girders would come , where doors would be sealed and windows made , where drains would run and fall .sx Each room stood clear in his mind :sx each picture had its hook , each piece of furniture its place by a wall , and each piece of china its particular shelf .sx But though it seemed complex , the scheme was absurdly simple .sx That old double-cottage was to be a shell round which a new house would be built .sx At each side a wing would be run out , and in the middle a smaller projection , till the whole was a capital E on its back and facing south .sx The old north would be closed and windows would replace its doors .sx In the new front -facing due south - would be the drawing-room and a lounge .sx In the east wing would be the kitchen .sx The well would be covered in and behind the kitchen would be a fine pantry with a hatch to the dining-room-lounge .sx Each wing would have its lavatory and the west wing a bathroom .sx " Dash it all , son !sx " said Francis tolerantly , " you'll never have that .sx Where's the water comin from ?sx " " There'll be a soft-water tank , " Harry told him .sx " The water will be pumped from that - and the well - to a tank in the roof by an engine in a .sx special shed .sx The hot-water system will be controlled from the kitchen .sx " He laughed across at his mother and Eva .sx " Heaps of washing-up water , Mother .sx " His father looked incredulous .sx " Bast !sx that'll cost a master lot o' money .sx " He smiled .sx " Don't you believe it .sx It seems a large house to you , but it'll only be a modest place really .sx " Margaret had been hesitating anxiously .sx " But , my dear , if we move now , how are we going to manage ?sx " " Quite easily , Mother , " said Eva .sx " We can pig it on one side of the house till the first wing's finished , then change over .sx "