An army of workmen, who had
come up from all parts of the country, were engaged in rebuilding the
town. In the main thoroughfares many of the houses were already
finished, and the shops re-opened. In other parts less progress had
been made, as the traders were naturally most anxious to resume their
business, and most able to pay for speed.
Captain Dave's was one of the first houses completed in Tower Street,
but there were many others far advanced in progress. The front
differed materially from that of the old house, in which each story
had projected beyond the one below it. Inside, however, there was but
little change in its appearance, except that the rooms were somewhat
more lofty, and that there were no heavy beams across the ceilings.
Captain Dave and his family had moved in that morning.
"It does not look quite like the old place," Mrs. Dowsett said, after
the first greetings.
"Not quite," Cyril agreed. "The new furniture, of course, gives it a
different appearance as yet; but one will soon get accustomed to
that, and you will quickly make it home-like again. I see you have
the bits of furniture you saved in their old corners."
"Yes; and it will make a great difference when they get all my
curiosities up in their places again," Captain Dave put in. "We
pulled them down anyhow, and some of them will want glueing up a bit.
And so your fighting is over, Cyril?"
"Yes, it looks like it. The Dutch have evidently had enough of it.
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