the snow has come ! May we go and shovel off the steps ? '' `` Yes , my lads , and mind you do it well ; for some day you may have to earn your breakfast , '' answered Dick , as three fine boys came prancing in , full of delight at the first snow-fall . `` These fellows have a passion for shovelling which they inherit from their father , '' he added , with a twinkle of the eye that told Mrs. Kate what we had been talking about . It was sweet to see with what tender pride she took the hand he stretched out to her , and holding it in both her own , said , with her eyes upon her boys , -- `` I hope they will inherit not only their father 's respect for honest work , but the genius that can see and paint truth and beauty in the humble things of this world . '' XI . CLAMS . A GHOST STORY . `` I have n't a room in the house , ma'am , but if you do n't mind going down to the cottage , and coming up here to your meals , I can accommodate you , and would be glad to , '' said Mrs. Grant , in answer to my demand for board . `` Where is the cottage ? '' and I looked about me , feeling ready to accept anything in the way of shelter , after the long , hot journey from broiling Boston , to breezy York Harbor . `` Right down there , just a step , you see . It 's all in order , and next week it will be full , for many folks prefer it because of the quiet . '' At the end of a precipitous path , which offered every facility for accidents of all sorts , from a sprained ankle to a broken neck , stood the cottage , a little white building with a pretty woodbine over the porch , gay flowers in the garden , and the blue Atlantic rolling up at the foot of the cliff . `` A regular ` Cottage by the Sea . ' It will suit me exactly if I can have that front upper room . I do n't mind being alone , so have my trunk taken down , please , and I 'll get ready for tea , '' said I , congratulating myself on my good luck . Alas , how little I knew what a night of terror I was to pass in that picturesque abode ! An hour later , refreshed by my tea and invigorated by the delicious coolness , I plunged recklessly into the gayeties of the season , and accepted two invitations for the evening , -- one to a stroll on Sunset Hill , the other to a clam-bake on the beach . The stroll came first , and while my friend paused at one of the fishily-fragrant houses by the way , to interview her washerwoman , I went on to the hill-top , where a nautical old gentleman with a spy-glass , welcomed me with the amiable remark , -- `` Pretty likely place for a prospeck . ''
Entering into a conversation with this ancient mariner , I asked if he XXXXX any legend or stories concerning the old houses all about us .
's accept accepted holding knew refreshed see stretched stroll took