that the chairman should carry them and present them to whoever
should be found in charge at the house. Then, with Ralph and Joe
Foster leading the procession, they started toward the city. Reaching
Laburnum Avenue, they marched down that street in twos until they came
to the Burnham residence. There was a short consultation there, and
then they all passed in through the gate to the lawn, and Ralph and
Joe went up the broad stone steps to the door. A kind-faced woman
met them there, and Ralph said: "We've come, if you please, the
breaker boys have come to--to--" The woman smiled sweetly, and said:
"Yes, we've been expecting you; wait a moment and I will see what
arrangements have been made for you."

Joe Foster nudged Ralph with his elbow, and whispered:--

"The res'lutions, Ralph, the res'lutions; now's the time; give 'em to
her."

But Ralph did not hear him. His mind was elsewhere. As his eyes
grew accustomed to the dim light in the hall, and he saw the
winding staircase with its richly carved posts, the beauty of the
stained-glass windows, the graceful hangings, the broad doors, the
pictures, and the flowers, there came upon him a sense of strange
familiarity with the scene. It seemed to him as though sometime,
somewhere, he had seen it, known it all before. The feeling was so
sudden and so strong that it made him faint and dizzy.

The kind-featured woman saw the pallor on his face and the tremor on
his lips, and led him to a chair. She ascribed his weakness to sorrow
and excitement, and the dread of looking on a dead face.