The furniture was of the rudest plainest kind much of it
evidently home-made. Uncle Henry was not unhandy with tools.
She learned, later, that he and the boys had practically built
the house by themselves. They were finishing it inside, as they
had time. In some of the rooms the inside window and door frames
were not yet in place.
There was an appetizing smell from the pots upon the stove, and
the long table was set for dinner. They would not let Nan change
from her traveling dress before sitting down to the table. Tom
and Rafe came in and all three men washed at the long, wooden
sink.
Rafe was of slighter build than his brother, and a year or more
younger. He was not so shy as Tom, either; and his eyes sparkled
with mischief. Nan found that she could not act "grown up" with
her Cousin Rafe.
The principal dish for dinner was venison stew, served with
vegetables and salt-rising bread. There was cake, too, very
heavy and indigestible, and speckled with huckleberries that had
been dried the fall previous. Aunt Kate was no fancy cook; but
appetite is the best sauce, after all, and Nan had her share of
that condiment.
During the meal there was not much conversation save about the
wonderful fortune that had fallen to Nan's mother and the voyage
she and her husband were taking to Scotland to secure it.
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