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88

Monday, 21 September

As several of us wanted to get back to work early on Monday William B. had two cars come out the city to take us in. Consequently, though we had planned to get home about early afternoon, we reached our little house about nine. It was a strange looking house. The house to the south of us had been in the process of demolition for a week, but during the time we were away the whole place had been razed, including the walls. For the first time we saw the south wall of our house from the outside. 

But this was not the really exciting thing of the day. During our absence foreign mail had come and on the table in the deception room were three packages from Macmillan. We tore them open and chrtled in glee over the books that came out, for big as life on the paper wrappers appeared - 

THE RABBIT LANTERN - DOROTHY ROWE. 

I could not have been more pleased and excited had it been my own book. To be sure I did contribute the moon-rabbit for the cover, which I had copied from an old K'ang Hsi coat, and little heading decorations of the junk with sails spread, the cat and the elephant, but that was as nothing. Had I done nothing it would have been the same. Here in real life, actually printed and published, was the first of the long line of books we see following like the ghosts of Banquo's sons in varied hues and titles, but all bearing the name and containing stories [[strikethrough]][[illegible]][[/illegible]][[/strikethrough]] written with the distinctive merit of my Dorothy. What could give one more of a thrill Later in the morning, when we had bathed and got ourselves clean, we had the excitement of getting several of the cop[[strikethrough]]p[[strikethrough]]ies ready for presentation. More excitement.

I had much work in the afternoon, but late we left our desks and went outside of Hatamen to get a new side cupboard for the dining room. We looked and looked but found only a few of the style we wanted, one at forty-five dollars and the other at thrity-five. We had gone up to 16 dollars in our bargaining for the $35 one, but