The benches were moved back and the tables set up. Willing hands took off cloths from baked goods and lids from casseroles that had been in preparation since yesterday, and undid parcels of cookies and fruit and roast nuts.

Thinking along practical lines, Righteous had crocheted a blanket as a wedding gift, and Hannah in triumph presented the quilt she and Harriet had sat up until two in the morning to finish.

The Kindred gave them a Bible bound in gold and white, and a certificate pledging their stock of wood next year would be sawn and split by someone other than Eb himself  — "To give him something better to do with his time and his new wife!", it said.