Anna Chapin Ray (1865-1945) was a prolific American author. Her works include: Half a Dozen Boys (1890), Half a Dozen Girls (1891), Phebe: Her Profession (1900), The Dominant Strain (1903), On the Firing Line (with Hamilton Brock Fuller) (1905), Hearts and Creeds (1906) and The Brentons (1912). “The five McAlisters were gathered in the diningroom, one rainy night in late August. In view of the respective dimensions of the family circle and the family income, servants were few in the McAlister household, and division of labor was the order of the day. Old Susan had cleared away the table and brought in the lamp; then she retired to the kitchen, leaving the young people to themselves. ”