chunk: Rebecca proves to be a good student, especially in English, and goes on to attend high school in Wareham. In the last section of the book Rebecca has become a young lady with the same high spirit and a talent for writing. She applies for a teaching place in Augusta, but her mother falls ill and Rebecca must return to care for her and the farm. While Rebecca is away from Riverboro, Miranda dies and leaves the Sawyer house and land to Rebecca. A railway company will buy Sunnybrook Farm for construction purposes and this gives the Randall family a sufficient living. Thanks to Miranda's will, Rebecca now has enough money to become an independent woman and help her siblings. The novel ends with her exclaiming, "God bless Aunt Miranda! God bless the brick house that was! God bless the brick house that is to be!"