Then he kissed her. Betsy didn't believe in letting boys kiss you. She thought it was silly to be letting first this boy and then that one kiss you, when it didn't mean a thing. But it was wonderful when Joe Willard kissed her. And it did mean a thing.

The wastes of snow on the hill were ghostly in the moonlight. The stars were piercingly bright.

It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.

I'm finished with something, but I'm not beginning anything. That's wrong. When you finish something, you ought always to begin something new.

Come in early, so there'll be time to pop corn,' Mrs. Ray said. If she mentioned popping corn, they always came in early. So she usually mentioned it.

You might as well learn right now, you two, that the poorest guide you can have in life is what people will say.

In silence the three of them looked at the sunset and thought about God.