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god i am very full of trouble comfort me the good man s words tore open my soul and yet healed it many a compassionate eye rested on me and when the service was ended many a cordial hand grasped mine or was laid on my shoulder the good insisted ou my dining with him and i afterwards accompanied him to a village six miles off where he was engaged to preach in the afternoon on our way he questioned me concerning my course of life and was surprised and pleased to learn what it was for several weeks i continued in attendance on him while he made his examination progress through the ten sections sometimes holding his coat for him while he preached in a stable that was hot from the number of people who to hear him i sold many and he advised those who bought them to study them continually one morning after his thus them he exclaimed to me hark i they are reading their in the what he meant to ex s history press was his that they were thus employed at a time of day when they might have been attending to their affairs from the time i left my beloved valley accompanied by blessings and good wishes my real battle of life began i visited places that as yet sat in darkness was persecuted but not forsaken cast down but not destroyed when they drove me one city i passed on to another even to my natural taste change of scene the excitement of difficulty and danger intercourse with various and on the highest subjects that can engage the mind have always been attractive to me and as for blows and opposition do i not bear them all for christ there is indeed a bitter spirited priest who at my success me from place to place either personally or by his and much my work but he is my only great stumbling block ceased and for a few minutes there was a deep silence mother then said the you are weary my son will you not go to bed i never retire to rest if i can help it said without praying with and for those who lodge me have either of you any objection i have none said giving him his hand oh nor i said mother laying aside the scraps of blue and crimson with which she was dressing the first read a short passage from tlie new testament then kneeling down in which example he was followed by his two companions he up a short plain and hearty prayer i have been taking up your time terribly with my long story said he oh that s no matter said been working the chief of the time and you have made the evening fly swiftly i have more work to do if i had the mind to do it but somehow your story and prayer have made mc sick of these toys and i think e en turn in s i shall sit up till i have dressed the last said mother smiling is a good fellow i am sure of it i saw it in his face from the first but neither his story nor his prayer have made a bit of in me i m as good a catholic this minute as ever i was then she his little chamber with a hanging over the clean straw bed with its gay you ll be selling your books in the town tomorrow said she yes and you your images yes there are good people i hope of au sorts the world is wide enough for us both good night had already gone to bed so his mother finished her work in the kitchen alone just as she was biting off her last thread she heard an uncertain sort of tap at the outer door she opened it and there her stood a man of very countenance is there a person here named said he the no that s not our name said mother shutting the door upon him but have you no guest or of that name persisted he putting his foot in we don t take and i never heard the name before said she well there s a fellow of that name somewhere that i can t find said the other he s no very safe customer there are a good many customers about to night said mother and we re very cautious who we let in so as i m to be early you ll excuse my up at once and she closed the door in his face though i ve never k ard the name of before thought she i can guess is a likely person to own it i iv t saint s panting as was his kind hosts were yet earlier mother did not forget in the interest of brushing her blue cloth jacket and arranging her clean striped handkerchief the care of seeing to his which in the clear morning light she was well able to draw out having certain after the approved fashion of old lady and laid them on the wound she covered it neatly with a minute of lawn and pronounced him to be now in safe walking condition is your name said she it is said with surprise but how did you find it out the oh said she with a look we good have ways and means of knowing things that you poor would never guess i suppose my old foe has been leaving his card of inquiry said amused though provoked is that it the very said mother he knocked at the door last night just as you were in bed and warned me against you as a dangerous sort of gentleman he has an ill look if i were you i would not have much to say to him much to	2
say i don t want to have anything to say to him cried i only wish he would have nothing to say to me rely on it he thinks he is doing god service said she by hunting you down ah my good mother i and suppose he does think so can a creed be the true one well get up now and come to our said she for it may very likely saint s day morning stand you as well as ourselves in stead of a dinner we a busy day before us being left to himself down and was about to pray when he was startled by hearing in the adjoining chamber engaged in the same act though to a very object he was unable to help hearing the following i bless you perpetually glorious st anne i and by the joy which you felt in tending the most pure babe mary your daughter i you to entreat of the same our lady her most protection that i be not deceived by the cunning of the infernal enemy nor betrayed into any criminal act however small i propose to do all in my power to promote your glory and do the utmost that i can that you may be and loved to receive me into the number of your servants make me my life and imitate those virtues by which you were so pleasing to the divine eyes come most compassionate mother i to the with your most delightful daughter to my aid and defence when i shall be presented at the divine to be judged for all the years and days of my life deliver me from that horrible sentence and from the eternal pains of hell that i have so many times deserved amen so thought within himself she is placing herself yet one step farther off from the mercy seat the with the with yet another applying to the mother of the mother of the son of the father when she might go straight to the merciful father himself of whom said in that day ye shall ask me nothing whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name he will give it you and he prayed all the more fervently though not audibly for the kind people who were him on entering the kitchen he found every one busy who had bestowed an extra hour s care o n her beautiful hair had already woven her ivy wreath and was placing that and her white lily with her brothers in a saint s day light basket the little boys were their mouths by drinking their too hot in their hurry to set forth and mother in her care to provide for every one s breakfast was not losing sight of her own the of the party was pack ing her somewhat freight of images ram it in any way said his mother rather impatiently as he tried to force down an obstinate little wooden leg that would itself that would be very treatment of the toe of a saint said surely mother even the pope s toe would deserve more consideration than that i mother had been too long used to hear such speeches as this from to be much at it she only gave him a little and said you are more loth to damage your own you than to a saint but come i it is time you should lock us out since you persist in keeping the house to day nobody would run the away with it i fancy if you would be and come with us ah do father cried the two clinging to his skirts we should enjoy ourselves twice as much pleaded you would have the pleasure of seeing as one of the holy maidens with her white lily pursued mother off with you all i cried pushing them him what fun would it be to me do you think to be among a crowd of gaping people to stare at a of red faced priests in red white and purple followed by herds of over their ah well if you are going to talk like that father the sooner we are off the better said you might as well have had a holiday with the rest of us i am going to have a holiday returned i am going to read my new book when i have packed all off saint s morning jerked her chin shook her head reproachfully at him and went forth and remember my good friend said pressing his hand that has power to come in to his when the doors are shut may he come to you when we are all gone and enable you to understand what you read then you will have no reason to regret having sheltered the poor shall we not see you again said returning his friendly grasp not unless god s providence my own purposes well his blessing be with you and with you and yours i i shall not forget your kindness farewell i the little boys had run on to their sister who was already considerably in advance mother shouldered her and after them followed by looked after them for a few moments and then locked himself in he cleared away the breakfast made all tidy and then taking up his book with the air of a man about to en the joy himself at leisure was going to open it when suddenly pausing he knelt down clasped his hands and uttered mentally a few words of hearty prayer it was one of those impulses which in we look back upon and distinctly recognise as proceeding from the holy spirit then he took up his book and mother as they went more frankly than as df their acquaintance had been so recent yet more carelessly than as though they were so soon to part though they stepped out briskly the managed	2
to keep ahead but presently her youngest brother looked round and ran back to familiarly taking his hand and saying my father told us you strange man that you had been a hunter will you tell me some stories about hunting willingly said who soon nailed his new little ally by the ears next fell off to him and they on one on each side of the his tales of perils and s ay only filling up the pa by eager questions and entreaties for more they gradually gained on and at length were close behind her and though she still kept aloof there could be no doubt that she heard every word that was said why there s the town i cried at last i never knew the road to it seem so short that s owing to you master giving s sleeve a pluck i suppose said abruptly you are not going to set up your wares right my grandmother oh no i her post will be close to the church mine among the lanes and by ways lurking in the corners of the streets said that s not over polite sister observed and in his sweet s voice he began to chant in in ut well i meant no harm said rather ashamed i only hoped he would not spoil s market g the that would be ungrateful after her kind ness to me said the town is wide enough for us both here then we had better part said stopping short where two roads met that way will suit you as well as any other quite said farewell my good friends may god s grace descend on you and abide with you the same with you said mother and they parted the town was all life and commotion bells were from church flags flying and floating from windows and streets were converted into leafy with sweet faces glancing and sweet voices echoing through them shop shutters were universally put up and substantial were pouring forth in holiday attire to mix with the fresh looking in from the country mingled with these were crowds of less fresh looking who had arrived and had passed the intervening hours none but themselves could tell where or how saint s day morning now and then a gay constrained the dense masses to themselves yet closer then a would appear in ribbons and and containing a establishment here and there foreigners might be seen attracted by curiosity while everywhere mingling with the rest were clean shaven priests and dirty and of all orders together in a strange that s the young lady who said we sang like angels whispered to his sister her gown looked round and saw a party of english travellers issuing on foot from an inn it consisted of a gentleman of about five and forty whose countenance sense and kindness with a blooming girl on each arm and followed by an english footman in plain rich livery they are those are with some eagerness as the party mingled with the crowd nonsense child said ladies are never called ihe what then said said at a venture and at the same moment they reached the door of the acquaintance where she and the children were to change their dresses and where mother obtained the loan of a stool and a light table for her counter carried them for her to the spot she selected which was close to the church wall in an angle formed by a and here with her eyes shaded as yet from the sun by the church itself and her wares carefully arranged before her mother sat down extremely cheerful and comfortable to gaze on the shifting scene till her busy time came oh the little boys having speedily equipped themselves in their and set off to join their brother without troubling the little cracked looking glass with a single inspection of themselves indeed could not spare it but it for a considerable time being very difficult to please with her appearance this morning at length the last fold was settled the last saint s day morning look taken and with her tall white lily in her hand she forth from the carved old porch with a mixture of and self that was very greatly admired by an irish artist who happened to be just then passing sketch book in hand on the look out for the picturesque in fact with her white robes white lily and girlish blushing face thrown into strong relief by the dark background of the doorway she did just then look to a casual observer a lovely apparition sent to be a moment s ornament and yet those who who were familiar with might have plainly see that she did not in reality appear to so much advantage in her white muslin gown as in her accustomed cotton jacket and red because nothing is so trying to a person who is to good society as a white gown which generally occasions their feeling and looking awkward and over dressed in it secondly because it did not fit particularly well the but was rather about the bust and longer in the skirt than she was used to the unfortunate consequence of which was that before the day was out she put her foot through it now she makes her way through the crowd to join the chorus of now she drops her modest eyes before the keen fierce glance of a commanding looking priest who is his way in the same direction he is a man of about forty the upper part of his face is decidedly handsome the brow intellectual the eye piercing the nose finely the full red lip ah now we come to the worse part of his face there is something defiant in his countenance and yet he is a fine figure of a man fit for a knight or a	2
deal of old fashioned and carving about it but the furniture was modern the curtains were of pale green with under curtains of muslin the carpet was green and the warm summer were softened by blinds this glow worm light gave a hue of additional to the in the countenance and hands of a lady no longer young who on a couch facing the window she was wan and wasted with an air of and depression in her face and mien she was draped in soft white muslin and a delicately fine handkerchief lay in one of her faded hands while the other held a newspaper a faint perfume of pervaded the atmosphere though there were fresh roses and lilies on the bid the man come forward said the lady in a weak voice or he will not hear one word that i say well my good man what have you to sell books madam replied books i repeated with falling countenance books i repeated mrs with more n well turn them out and let us see what you have any good new novels oh no m they are all religious i have plenty of that class already said she coldly no do not them i will not the trouble you or stay perhaps you may have something suitable for she deserves a little present poor girl for she runs about a good deal for me in the course of the day have you anything calculated for the lower orders oh yes madam and for the higher orders too and he opened a small bible and held it towards her oh said she her head i can t read one word of such small print as that the letters dance before my eyes here is a better type said opening another edition with but intention at a given place be good enough to compare the two together and he held the books towards her indicating the same passage in both with his finger j nd regarding her earnestly she read words a faint colour tinted her face and turning her head aside she began vo shed tears come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and i will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me i am in j he meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls for my yoke is easy and my is light i i have seen that dear book long before said she long long ago when i was less in need of it j know what it is here give it me and opening her purse she took out money and gave it him here is too much said give the smaller copy to but that is cheaper i must give you change madam give one of your precious books to the next person you fall in with who needs one and cannot afford to buy one whence come you good man and they fell into conversation which not only the time to the poor lady but led to what seemed like the pouring in of oil and wine to her poor heart meanwhile with stolid countenance and eyes fixed on the opposite house shifted from one foot to the other and present in her hands seemed it by its the weight after much of tha i counsel and comfort which a strong christian can impart to a weak one departed leaving a gleam of sunshine behind him such as seldom visited that shady room the next house he tried and the next and the next were empty then he came to an old woman who could not read a and watching a child in a go cart then to an who hailed him with glee when he heard he had books till he found they neither novels nor then to another who took a small type copy with a grim smile because he knew the bible was having left this man found himself at the corner of a street at the end of which he caught a bird s eye view of the procession priests crosses boys in girls crowned with flowers relics the far image of the virgin yes all this theatrical effect and bewildering were in honour of that little block of worm eaten wood what do you think of that john said the in the english traveller already spoken of addressing his man servant over his shoulder i think my lord said john touching his hat that if that there image had fell down from heaven it would most likely have been a pretty deal better made and think papa said one of the girls that it is like a bad copy of the black virgin of all the more likely to be then they would tell you said her father smiling if the agree they would that they were taken from a common original ah then what would become of all the other we have seen said the young lady which have the reputation of being equally but have no likeness in common meanwhile had caught a glimpse of and her lily and thought she looked lovely he turned away with a sigh repeating to himself eyes and see not ears have they and hear not they that make them are like unto them and such are all they that put their trust in them the the next door he knocked at was opened by a poor woman with a face full of anxiety she said i was in hopes you were some one i knew that i might send you for the doctor my poor child is so ill and i dare not leave him i will fetch the doctor said if you will direct me where to find him who is he dr at the corner of the street of the three kings said the woman tell him margaret wants him i	2
ll take care of your bag till you return or stay perhaps you do not want to return this way never mind said i shall run the lighter without it and having obtained a definite direction to the unknown street he laid his bag on the table with a copy on the top of it and hastened on his errand almost every one was now in church dr s house was at some distance from margaret and when at length reached it he saw the doctor just descending his steps with a flower in his button hole and in the city drawing on a pair of new gloves with the of a man who having got through his morning round has a right to enjoy the end of a festival if he can his expression changed a little when him but being a truly good natured man he immediately gave up his pleasure scheme and turned about to visit the sick child quite a city of the dead said he to as they traversed the deserted streets no longer even the hum of many voices in the distance have you had a peep at the show v barely said for me i rarely get a treat of any kind said the doctor some case is sure to occur now and then of an afternoon i walk into the theatre and see a comedy and i should have liked to the music to day as the service is particularly fine but i don t care for the flags incense old men and young maidens besides the good saint with my practice half the i am called in for are nervous and these are the precisely of a class that most to miraculous those not the complaints our lord used to cure said hey who oh christ i no i his were of rather a different sort i there s no knowing even of like those how many might be to natural causes new discoveries are made every day you are a perhaps sir said and what if i am said the doctor quietly i know sir that many of your benevolent profession are so strange it seems to me that your close and intelligent examination of the mysteries of divine wisdom should induce you to stop at second causes instead of proceeding to the first the doctor smiled without replying you are a reading man i presume said he after they had walked some minutes in silence chiefly the reader of one book j said in the city the man to be feared is the man of one book said dr so my master used to say though he had read many observed who was your master inquired the doctor an english clergyman sir the reverend george i was his travelling servant you have seen the world i oh no sir only a few countries and are you in service now yes indeed sir to the best of masters and who is he god the doctor fairly started he eyed sharply raised his eyebrows a little and smiled you are a character i perceive said he i understand you exactly you profess and like to say startling things would to god sir i were not singular i i wish as st paul said that others were both almost and altogether such as i am except except what the except the bonds of natural i don t remember st paul saying that no sir he simply said except these bonds i mean i don t recollect ever to have heard the speech you allude to indeed sir and yet pardon me for repeating to you your own question to me are you not a reading man i believe so said the doctor i have sucked the out of more than one university and yet having penetrated into all mysteries and all knowledge have you never the acts of the to a gentleman of your intelligence sir i should have thought the history character and genius of st paul would have been peculiarly interesting so then cried dr your one book turns out to be the acts of the no sir the bible but here we are at margaret s the door stood the mother was sitting beside her sick child s cradle but with a in the city totally altered countenance every had disappeared and given place to a mild serious composure the child was quietly asleep the mother attentively reading s specimen volume her eye was on the verse as one whom his mother so will i comfort thee her face lighted up with a smile of when she saw the doctor and she bestowed a look of gratitude on bless you bless you good friend said she to him returning to him his bag of books i thank you heartily for your kindness and lowering her voice for the comfort my dip into your book has given me keep it said putting it back i had the means afforded me of giving it to the first person i should meet who needed it without being able to pay for it you appear to be that person god s grace be on you farewell she gave him a hasty but most eloquent look of thanks and followed dr to the child s cradle the when re entered the street a black dog ran out of a house a few doors off looked right and left and running up to him looked wistfully in his face returned to the house and looked out again to see if he were following that is a call for help as plain as a dumb beast can make it thought and he followed the dog into the house and up the dirty stairs of what seemed a lodging house reaching the he found a man apparently in a on a miserable surrounded by casts painting implements and all the litter of an artist	2
s this is a case for dr thought how lucky he should be at hand and he immediately returned to seek him at margaret s f vi i saint s gas the case is one of pure exhaustion said dr bending over the artist fetch some brandy from whom said from margaret obeyed without a word and the physician poured a little through the exhausted man s lips presently he opened his eyes with an uncertain wistful look here still sighed he i was in hopes all had been over that was a very ungrateful hope of yours rejoined dr cheerfully when we have had so much trouble in keeping body and soul together for you the who are you said the artist feebly i am dr the physician your physician everybody s physician and i don t mean to lose sight of you till i have set you on your legs again my companion must answer for himself i only know that he seems an eccentric benevolent fellow and perhaps you think that is all you know of me and all i need to know just now said the artist feebly pressing his hand god bless you for your tell me my friend how came you in this state to be left alone my friends are far oflf my money is gone the people of the house are kind but i have concealed my want from they knew i was ill but not how ill and they have all run after the show of course i shall rail against these as long as i live they make people fools selfish fools well my good friend i shall send you something as soon as get home but it will be out of the kitchen in the evening i shall look in on you again and make out a little more ol saint s day your case you are an artist i see perhaps when you get about again you may accept a commission for a little picture though i am a very humble meantime farewell this companion of mine will i hope stay with you till the people of the house return they are coming in now said looking over the stair head and the mistress of the house seeing a strange man to her came up looking rather surprised dr who knew her by sight gave her to understand that her wanted looking after and after giving a few simple directions to which she promised to attend he left the house followed by shall we cross each other s paths any more i wonder said the doctor smiling indeed sir i know not it was fortunate for the poor artist that i knew you were at hand do you know anything of him oh no sir i am quite a here i am only a a what the a of the books i carry round my neck oh religious books doubtless sir ha i remember now what you said of your one book you have tried your own then which most do not i am a soul sir as far as it pleases god to bless so humble an instrument still a nevertheless one without or your wares are you must take care you don t get into trouble it will not be the first time sir i neither court danger nor it hum you are a curious fellow the service is over i see the people are pouring out of church next they will be eating and drinking at the coffee houses and beer shops and then they will be off to the miracle play with their heads so full of church you will find yourself my good fellow what we both be doing in another sense the next minute fighting st the stream saint s afternoon give me your good wishes sir that i may not be borne down it well i will i do i there is something about you that pleases me farewell you have not asked me to buy one of your books would to heaven sir you would and read it well i will do both give me a be quick the purchase was rapidly made the bible dropped into the doctor s pocket the price of it transferred to the little purse carried in his bosom and the farewell was once more spoken with on one side and respectful earnestness on the other the next moment found himself involved in the living torrent he stood aside for a minute or two to give it free course before him were some foreigners in a similar position and closely between them and him a whom caught in the act of a gentleman s pocket the replace it said he in a low void e laying his hand strongly on his shoulder the thief started from head to foot restore it pursued still under his breath or i give you into the hands of justice what portion has the thief in the kingdom of heaven the man replaced the handkerchief suddenly released his shoulder from s hand and the next moment was gone the crowd a little moved on presently he felt some one at his bag but the and were too strong to give way after wards he thought he felt a at his pocket but he knew the utmost he could lose was a cotton handkerchief he had now won his way to the low wall and iron railing adjoining the church and finding a convenient ledge on which to rest himself and his books he quietly awaited the of the crowd he observed several persons carrying the little figures sold by mother and that her wares were more in request just now than his were likely to be s afternoon one of these had been bought as a curiosity by john the english footman who was now	2
sight seeing on his own account he was surveying it from top to toe with an amused ir when him for a john bull said quietly in english take care of your pockets i the second time you have me i cried the thief in a rage as john clapping his hand on his pocket saved his handkerchief and the disappointed man aimed a blow at s temple which john s arm with a look of concentrated malice he disappeared in the crowd so you speak english do you said john to familiarly you don t look english though you re not ruddy i am been in english service perhaps yes travelling servant who with the reverend george i m with lord what are you doing now the selling you don t want one i suppose i should think not a pretty story to tell of one of lord s servants no ive three two at home and one here large print and travelling pocket what jolly fools the people are making themselves there to day it is weu they do not understand what you are saying they have had no means of knowing better that is their misfortune not their fault hark they are cheering something is going on in the church a miracle a miracle was echoed from mouth to mouth the bishop s niece two years a healed in a moment miraculous spring merciful of our lady power of faith were the fragments of speech heard passing among the crowd see there s the bishop s carriage drawing up for her cried john climbing up the to look over the heads of the excited throng i saw her carried in i shall like to v saint s day afternoon f bee her walk out propped up between two as fm alive i ah i and he gave a tremendous groan of irony and disgust which luckily for him was drowned in the of true the carriage past the lady in feathers and jewels bowing to the through the plate glass rich and rare were the gems she wore john and that they dare call a miracle i oh my after the had rushed past well said he hungry time is at hand i shall step into that shop opposite and get some bread and cheese will you come too i ll stand treat de un ami as we say in french many thanks said but i have not earned my dinner yet you are spare said john i ve heard my lord say a ha of bread and a bunch of would suffice you at any time that s not the way john bull his flesh and muscles no we stand by tlie roast ie de the you seem a said not much of that replied john evidently flattered german i can t frame my mouth to but french i got on with pretty well as soon as i took to my own way of learning it instead of lord s what was his way said why said john he gave me some little books one of which was called dialogue but bless my heart there was nothing in the dialogue that i had the least occasion to say madam sir or miss i am your obedient servant my lord and the young ladies knew i was that without my telling em and i ain t nobody else s a vessel of war i love milk butter and cheese and stuff nothing that would be really useful such as look sharp mind what you re after that s mine go along i i ve nothing for you these are the things a fellow wants the books are too civil by half not one of them has anything corresponding to i ll blow you all up so as soon as i mad this out by attentively reading the saint s day afternoon english column i made up my mind that the author was not a man of the world and put his book carefully away in brown paper as a of my lord and studied the language by ear hence i speak it like a native you are frequently told so said continually said john i make my way wherever i go that is wherever the people understand either of the only two civilized languages on earth french and english and i m of double the value in consequence to my lord who has no need of a i must say the only persons who are those who ought to be the very last namely my lord and the young ladies to whom i am so useful but this is only poor human nature and i ve observed in the course of my life what i dare say have observed also that it isn t the foreigners themselves who laugh at you for their language but own countrymen and who think they can do better however if you will not un i shall so good bye i shall keep an eye on you through the window the the street now clearing a little began to make an demonstration of his business by silently extending one of his books to such passengers as he judged from their appearance to be likely to become some paused to give the volume a casual examination and returned it without a word others stopped questioned and went away without buying it after all at length sold a copy then a long time passed without his having another customer then his market people crowded round him to hear what he had to say in recommendation of his books and at length his whole stock ran off with the exception of a couple of copies these appeared unlikely to be sold as the people were now hastening in another direction to see the miracle	2
play lord in passing had a few words of an interesting nature with the but as he also was bound for the green meadow chosen for the theatre with the purpose of making his observations not on the play but the audience he pro saint s day on his way after a few cordially expressed wishes of success to his mission as the day was now past its and his business at a stand thought he might as well refresh himself at the coffee house john had long left it and the public rooms were quite deserted except by a woman who was sweeping them and of whom some bread and cheese you will perhaps prefer sitting in the open air said she and at her suggestion he went through the house to a plot of open ground behind it where a few benches and tables were set under trees a party of dirty looking men were just moving from one of these tables where they had been drinking beer there was no other company except a young man talking very earnestly to a girl at a table apart sat down near them and while waiting for his refreshment drew one of his from his bag and began to read he continued to keep his eye on the page while he ate his bread and but occasionally his attention was diverted by lis catching a few of the impassioned words uttered in an under tone by the young man and by the girl s sobs he was urging her to some course to which she would not consent and at length with a muttered curse he arose and went away the girl remained shedding tears without raising his eyes from the book as if reading aloud uttered in the tone of compassion woman why thou whom thou the girl started from head to foot but uncertain whether she were addressed or not said nothing after a single searching look at her which made her eyes sink before his pursued in the same tone there is joy in over one sinner that the girl in tears i repent said she softly the blood of christ from all sin said oh how i wish i had never come on this pilgrimage said she it was against the known will of my father and mother what shall i do saint s day arise and go to thy father and say father i have against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy daughter he will be ao angry i he has reason to be angry but your own course is plain deserves a sharp punishment and you must bear his anger meekly harshly it may be expressed but suppose he thinks worse of me than t deserve and me from his door i hare no friend if you do what is right and are penitent for having done wrong god will be your friend i am still more afraid of my mother can a mother forget her child yea she may forget the lord yet will not i forget thee the girl sat in an agony of i dare not go back i exclaimed she then why did not you go with the young man said no i could not i had just strength to the avoid that yet now i feel so unhappy i shall never see him again and again she wept that will not be the greatest misfortune that might happen to you oh what ca i i do wringing her hands hear this and he read to her the of the prodigal son as she listened her features become more composed i have half a mind and yet have quite a mind what shall i say if any where do you come from from the neighbourhood of on the road to my father is a we don t live in the village i shall probably be pursuing that direction and may reach your door as soon as you will go forward go bravely i will come up with if i can and will stand by you and for you but should any occurrence detain me still go home without waiting for the people you came with to you what is your name saint s day afternoon you must turn off at the broken cross before you reach and when you have crossed two fields you will see our cottage which has three beside it oh if you should fail me i i will not god willing can you read yes sir take this book with you then and when your heart fails read a little of it and then go forward again i give it you courage your fate depends on the decision of this hour will you go she rose took the book and said i will remained for some time in a fit of musing on rousing himself from which he his bible and occupied himself according to the continual custom of the in committing a certain portion to memory the striking of the town at length to him that the day was and on looking about him he saw people at a distance moving in various directions which led him to conclude that the miracle play was over and the audience he had no longer any business in the town his object was to proceed to the and avail himself of one of the to descend to for a fresh the battle op the pigs supply of his foot which he had strained a good deal the day before was somewhat by his late rest a d having paid his little reckoning he started briskly on his journey ready to enjoy it now that the hot sun was declining and the fresh evening air his temples in making his way towards the high road he had to cross the market place	2
where a considerable number of persons had collected round a man who was either or preaching his violent action and tones made it at first to decide which by the crowd paused for a few minutes to hear what he was saying a year and a half ago proceeded the speaker impressed with a sense of my duty and of your danger i warned you of these wolves in sheep s clothing that were creeping into the fold wolves shall i say nay rather devils w ho enraged to behold you advancing in neglect nothing that is calculated to religious principle in our towns and villages not content with doing all they can the to the faith of people by their false logic and they them to purchase detestable books to be the holy translated into the vulgar tongue but which have been condemned and by the church again and again i have one of these now in my hand which on this very day of all others has been sold to a poor young fellow who little knew that he had better have laid hold of a red hot coal than have touched the infamous even if it had been offered to him instead of at the low price which as a mere blind the asked for it see here not closely enough mind you to enable you to one word of its contents but behold from a distance what paper what what binding could it ever answer to any honest man i ask you to supply such an article as this for three in a fair way of trade to say yes would be absurd no are actors behind the scenes persons ready to waste good money in the of bad books but the e of thb pigs do not you faithful and beloved i play into hands by handling peeping into or in any wise having anything at all to do with these books or their on the contrary them chase them fly at them fall upon them scatter and them i you will be doing good and acceptable service having heard quite enough of this discourse was quietly endeavouring to make his way through the crowd but the had become so dense in consequence of the fresh streams of people pouring in from the that he thought it best not to attract attention too much by his neighbours the heat made him feel for his handkerchief to apply to his face and to his surprise instead of drawing forth his own red cotton one he found in his hand a lady s gaily and embroidered he then remembered having felt a man s hand in his pocket early in the day and was not a little astonished to find that instead of having his own withdrawn a much hand the one had been added to it his attention was diverted from the mystery by hearing one or two voices in the crowd exclaim we bought books father i what shall we do with them bring them hither to me my sons replied the without delay and ve will make an da e of them we dip them in and fix them on poles and set them alight and carry them all blazing about the streets as and and lucky will it be for the wretched of such matter if he blaze not in some market place himself soon or late there goes the fellow that sold me mine f shouted one of s morning customers him in the green jacket that s stealing like a fox i have at him and he aimed a stone with such precision as to hit the violently on the at him i after him i away with him cried the preacher clapping his hands and them on as if in chase of some wild beast my friends began but a half the battle of the bitten apple hit him on the temple he saw it was no time for remonstrance but for flight and darting from his with the of a hare he left them in full cry after him being far more slender and than the majority of those who were giving him chase he bade fair to win the race but his wounded foot soon began to make its remembered and whether he would or no his pace in spite of the continually sent after him the crowd being in that condition after a day s pleasure that usually itself in or mischief were delighted at this outlet for their spirits heads were out of doors and windows to see what was going on and the tumult suddenly darted through a covered way into a back street and thence crossing into a by lane he for a moment escaped his foes and was beginning to halt on his tender foot wh a fresh cry of stop thief i he has stolen the virgin s pocket handkerchief made him spring forward with renewed quick as lightning it flashed across his mind the that the man whose hand he had felt in his pocket that morning had either for purposes of mischief or to himself of dangerous made him the unconscious of one of those gay pocket handkerchiefs with which the various images of and saints were on as the finishing touch of their fashionable casting it behind him as a spanish would drop his scarlet flag he continued his flight while a yell of from behind announced the crowd s of his supposed the chase now becomes a painful one he on the foe close at his heels when suddenly an unexpected force appears in the field the horn is heard in advance that war charge the return of the champion at the head of all the pigs in the neighbourhood in another moment is among the not hemmed in by them but clearing them by half over their heads with the	2
light of a practised hunter the next minute they are entangled among the crowd run the battle op the pigs between their legs many a clumsy cursing getting their own trodden on and expressing their sense of the and injury by pier ing of laughter mingle with the uproar of the multitude the human is for a while brought to a stand and gets ahead but soon the scent is re covered and the pack in full cry is once more at his heels it is of no use now to mind the of his foot he is in the he has passed them he is in the open road in the fields he is them the and become more and more faint his limbs and lungs have won the race but where is he in what direction has he been running east west north or south the sun flaming as it goes down tells him that but he knows no more he has been running a couple of miles for safety without a thought whither he is going all he knows all he sees is that he has never crossed the ground before that the fruit trees and com and the apple are new to him that he is far away from the city and from the high road and that he is approaching the back entrance of a large heavy built cottage with milk and set out against the wall to dry suddenly he is clasped to a man s heart a well known cordial voice come in thou blessed of the lord and he finds himself in the arms of he had approached the back of his host s cottage by a course without knowing it after a day of solitary intense study and self communion which had wrought strange and gracious changes in his inner being had come to the door half dizzy with the continuous flood of new light that had been pouring in upon him to breathe for a few minutes the fresh evening air had heard the distant shouts had the panting fugitive and as he drew nearer and more near beheld in him to his surprise delight the very man he longed to see and feared never to see again how fast and vividly and fervently the the battle op ill words flow when the heart and soul give them utterance in a few minutes had given a picture of the day s story in a few more minutes had given to understand how the great of his spirit had been broken up the souls of the two men were knit together they poured them out in prayer and giving of thanks they fell into yet deeper more solemn communion on the most thrilling most important subjects that men can look into they deeper into one aiid another mystery than they had ever done before mysteries through which a lamb may yet in which an elephant may swim they helped one another through led one another on their hearts burning within them all the time it was as in those old days when they that feared the lord often to one another and the lord and heard it and a book of remembrance written before him for them that feared the lord and thought upon his name and they shall be the lord of the hosts in that day when i make up my in the midst of this converse such as it men to have held and god to have approved and came in not overflowing with of animal life and boyish fun as on the preceding evening but tired worn out hungry and cross close on their heels followed mother and kindly as usual she was one of those rare whom nothing can put out and last of all drooping and the languid who had them all in the morning and who now like after the ball had subsided from her finery into her ordinary peasant costume all of course were taken by surprise when they saw in his old quarters the little boys first was for pulling ear when his face suddenly half its length and became expanded into a broad smile at sight of the the battle op the pigs all you strange man i cried he springing to him and winding his arms tightly round one of s i thought we should never see you any more how glad i am you have come back but why did you say you should go the other way here exclaimed mother pausing astonished at the threshold i can hardly believe i see him i i hope you are not sorry to see me though said i was chased out of the town like a mad dog was it yo i they were making such an uproar about cried mother in still greater surprise i thought they had been pursuing a thief here came in with her bundle of properties under her arm how tired i am i cried she dropping into the first seat tired to death i oh i uttering a little shriek of surprise when she saw you are not sorry to see me again i hope said in his accent the well replied she i certainly hoped we were going to have the evening to ourselves i that is an speech to a valued guest said her father valued repeated she slightly curling her lip yes valued replied with decision but come you are all worn out i am the only fresh one among you i will get supper ready you said you would have it ready for the children against their return observed mother making the nearest approach to a rebuke she was ble of and nothing is done the fire out the table bare and the cow not i do believe i cried starting up oh goodness i i hear the poor thing	2
i let me milk her for you said rising with a limp i have often a whole of twenty cows no thank you said my father promised to do it and since he has not remembered his promise i ll milk her myself the battle op the pigs i quite forgot exclaimed i am truly sorry i i entirely forgot it if one wants a thing done it is best to do it one s self cried catching up the stool and vanishing as she spoke that girl is quite upset said mother looking after her i can t think what has come to her this day or two dear me dear me i and without more she set down the portion of her stock in trade turned up her best skirt and pinned it round her tied on her coarse apron and began re lighting the fire while confused at his was hastily spreading the supper table with every he could find aided in a weary way by remained at s side s hand and occasionally applying it to his cheek and examining him all over especially his feet this foot is bleeding you poor man i cried he suddenly oh i look mercy on us said mother the ing from her task to survey the injured member why it s cut through and through it does not hurt much said not nearly as much as when the was in it yesterday because the bleeding it said his humane but it is very to lose blood from the foot i ll attend to it directly before i another stick and won t mind waiting a bit for their will you certainly not said i couldn t touch a morsel while that foot was bleeding so it makes me feel quite sick it makes feel sick too i know said little gazing anxiously at his friend he s turning quite grey quite white i i look i fainted as dead as a stone when he came to his senses he felt quite confused and all over was holding him up in his strong arms mother binding up his foot and who had been so with him a few minutes ago was cold water on his face and shedding warm tears j viii s tears must help to swell the vast of the sources of which are for and unaccountable since she was a very unlikely girl to waste such symptoms of weakness merely because a man had badly cut his foot and as for any more pity for the than for any who begged a cup of milk at the nonsense it is not to be supposed for an instant the family at length sat down to their late supper but was not permitted to stir from the rude settle which answered every purpose of a sofa as far as comfort went and the little boys who sat close enough to him the to be able to help him to whatever he wanted without leaving the table fed and him as as if he had his hands as well as his foot discourse however it seemed as if all had their minds too full or their bodies too weary to permit them to utter more than short sentences moreover there seemed a feeling of disappointment or melancholy the excitement of the miracle play was over and the young people had been embarrassed and by one or two and accidents mother had found a good market for about half her stock but had had her pocket picked of her while these were alluded to one after another the only person who was not weary was the most silent of all ai d seemed living in some spirit world of his own to judge from the smile of sweetness that shone upon his countenance they had just concluded their meal when a tap was heard at the door mother quick as thought moved the brass lamp she had the working just lighted so as to throw into the shade and shifted her own position a little to to do the same so that they sat between him and the door and nearly concealed him the meanwhile had raised the latch and walked in without farther ceremony he was a tall fresh looking young german rather superior to the as far as color and features went though his countenance had little more intellect than one of s and his figure had about as much as a of flour that was concealed indeed by his though it could not carry off a certain of carriage and of shoulders is it you lad said you should have come earlier if you wanted supper for we have just cleared the dishes oh that doesn t signify much said whose was not rapid i only thought i d just look in well it t be for long then my good the fellow said for we re just going to shut up oh i ll go directly if you like i said moving to the door no no don t take him up like that interposed mother only means to say that we are tired one and all with our day s work and pleasure and are longing to be in our beds that s all he means i didn t see you there master said where said why in the town said no sign i wasn t there though master i however the fact is i kept house i m too old for all this nonsense why your mother wasn t said my mother had her to sell said repeated aye repeated taking up one of them and with it what are they else i fashioned them and painted them fashioned and painted that saint said pointing to one in a the working as if he had hit on an ment yes and i can tell you	2
who he was said peter the little legged fellow that used to live over against the town hall but we re all getting sleepy to night and you don t wake us up much are you sleepy said to very said sighing instead of yawning you wouldn t speak a word to me to day said he lowering his voice i didn t see you said shortly not see me oh i well if i did i only just caught sight of your shoulders when you had turned aw y there was no good in that was there no only you knew well enough where i should be knew why i told you i well then i had so many things to think about that it was no wonder if i forgot it the and yawned this time so that she set all the others too what an odd thing it is said mother that when one person everybody should come and i be to your bed or you ll yourselves tomorrow and the goose captain will blow his horn without your hearing him veil i don t seem wanted said getting up and looking wistfully at by the by there was a funny thing happened this evening why there s a man one would think he frightened you said a friend of ours who is not very well said mother why goodness you are in such a all up the back of your you ve been in the mud all among the pigs said still staring hard whose face he could not see you never knew such a bother there was a man selling wicked books in the town by the by i came to warn yon against him the working thank you i never buy wicked books said i feel the compliment all the same we were him out of the gates pursued when up comes the witli all his you never knew such a row in your life here and there they were as if all their noses were being rung at once people right and left me among the rest who got a between my legs down i went and i fall heavy i should think so said bursting out laughing laughed too i should think you needn t laugh said to her looking hurt why not said i thought you meant us to laugh who could help it well i shall be oflf said abruptly beginning to be sensible through all his that hia presence was i m wanted at home there s a many things he added darting a look at that they think at home none can do better than i the doubtless said mother you re an excellent fellow ah said he towards the door and looking at i wish d said that instead o she i made no answer well good night to you all cried turning short round when he reached the door hey why that s the very man i what man said annoyed at himself for having shifted his position just an instant too soon why the man that sold the wicked books said fixing his round blue eyes on the the have a remarkable gift of staring you silly fellow they weren t wicked said why i bought one myself oh did you so said slowly moving but still keeping his eyes which began to have something of malice in them on you ve got one of those books have you master that we ve been dipping in and carrying round the town on a pole the working you d better not though vm a silly fellow am i well maybe i am though they that are at home don t think me so good night stay i cried as he went forth let him alone said he grows more tiresome every day i think i am quite glad he is gone but i am sorry he has gone in an mood said i would have set him right in two words said laughing they are as well he s always hanging about and she don t like him not i said so now til bar the door father and we ll sing ave maria and be off and she put the into his hand said her father gently taking the instrument from her and then laying it on the table i am going to play that hymn no more no more father no more my dear daughter henceforth i shall only offer prayer and praise to the one true god the father what do you mean i mean what i say this morning i could hardly be said to believe in god or man to night i am a firm in god the father and his son christ but in no saint no created being as an object of worship clasped her hands in desperation this is your doing i cried she darting a look at say rather her father this is the lord s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes god sent this man to our door to save me to destroy the peace of the family i think exclaimed to break down the walls of our faith oh i this is the first night we have ever gone to bed without joining in the ave maria how can we expect a blessing to rest on the house and wringing her hands together she hurried into her own little chamber and shut herself in never mind never mind my friend said to who looked full of trouble the working she ll come right soon or late i know that girl s heart as well as i know my own our lord himself warned us said that the gospel of peace should sow in families should set the father against the son the son against the father the mother against the daughter the daughter against the	2
the entire day in its earnest perusal not without prayer and the result was a as sudden and i believe as effectual as that of such cases are rare some in them altogether i the that they occasionally occur i seldom look for an immediate reward of my labours but in this instance i had it the man had great force of mind and simplicity of purpose he was desirous i should continue under his roof but i had a call to a certain village not far from hence on my way to it after some hours i approached yonder farm house having yet a bible in store i resolved to it for sale and approached the door a man was crushing apples in a mill at first he did not distinctly comprehend my but a young man probably his son who had alighted from a heavy cart horse just before i came up and whose face i remembered to have seen spoke to him aside for a few moments with much eagerness on which his face became with rage you the rascal said he to me who caused such a tumult in the town last night i dare say you thought the report of it would not reach this secluded place but ill news flies if you do not instantly depart i will set my dogs at you i was beginning to but op the dog without another word he put his threat into and though i am no bad yet having a tender foot it would have ill with me but for your s rescue j rejoice that we came up at the time said lord where are you going towards my lord we shall pass through you may continue where you are till we get there do you often meet with such as these continually my lord you see you are fighting against the stream constantly my lord it must needs be so a dead dog with the stream a live dog can swim against it hum i are there many of you i am the only one my lord as yet as yet then you expect co wherever there is a demand there will eventually be a supply but do you attempt to as well as the the e people will let me my lord but that is on the province of regularly trained and ordained teachers alas my lord can people read the bible in the dark i shall be happy enough to yield my post to regularly ordained teachers when they to occupy it meantime i hold my little candle to those who cannot read without it you had some sort of training i think you told me yesterday from mr yes my lord he taught me as much as he had strength to teach and i had capacity to receive during so short a time you could not have had a better i knew him well he was worthy of his name he had some though so he favoured your teaching and preaching did he he said my lord he believed i had in the school of christ ha i that has a of george in it certainly he also said my lord that christianity is indeed by church order but does beware of the dog not exist for the mere sake of it he thought if christianity led the way order would be sure to follow aye that was a good deal like him too and lord sat down and resumed his book but did not turn the leaf for some minutes john now took up the word there s politeness for you i said he in an under tone a two fields off pulling oflf his hat to us though he never saw us before nor ever will again why english touch their hats to strangers don t they said not two fields off said john no it s mere foreign french polish look at that old chap a out the edge of his on a little instead of it on a there s civilization for you what are those people doing in the corner of that field their corn on a piece of ground they have trodden hard said we in said john vo the such a lot of queer customs it almost one to keep a journal i think i shall if i ever come abroad again but it s too late to begin now look at those with great bundles on their heads knitting as they go there s industry for you they are carrying home for their j cows said nothing comes amiss to i them for one use or another some of the children are washing the weeds they have col i in the stream there s economy for you i said john our english cows would turn up their noses at such rubbish german cows are not so particular said many a poor family that cannot afford to turn out a cow to grass can spare the labour of a child or old woman to reap the weeds and coarse grass on waste enough for a cow s keep we who journey from place to place should not be too to the customs of om own countries to take a hint from others when we find it all very well as far as it goes said john beware of the dog some nations and some people are in one thing some in another as long as i drink plain water my lord allows me my beer money i shall have enough soon to buy a french horn what a lot of beer money the might save i they might indeed said smiling it was unlucky too in some respects said john that i gave up beer when i did for i find upon trial that the german water does not agree with me consequence is i am only able to take coffee	2
or water and am thirsty all day i didn t take a pledge mind ye but i for the sake of and in that you have your reward said t only in their beer continued john there s a lot of other things they don t come up to the mark in in these catholic countries why now i heard my lord reckoning that the working days in a year are three hundred and ten because we only rest on the sabbath day christmas day and good the friday monday and tuesday and whit monday whereas these foreigners who don t keep sunday like sunday at all but have shops and open and their and so forth their working year has only two hundred and sixty days because they keep such a lot of saints days whereby we ve a clear advantage over them of one sixth of our time in the way of industry ah said we have a clear advantage over them in many an instance besides that did you ever hear of the of not i said john well a good many years ago when the or were pretty strong in france and much blood had been shed between them and the a law was passed for their protection called the of from that time they flourished to an extraordinary degree and the district in which they were settled became so fertile under their cultivation that men called it the garden of the lord besides his field labour every beware op the dog peasant had his loom while those who lived in towns became such as to almost all the commerce of the south of france in an evil hour louis the resolved to put a stop to all this so by way of he first destroyed twenty two of their churches then he released the from paying their debts to for years then the dead bodies of persons who had refused the communion were dug up and di about the streets then dying were obliged to submit to the presence of priests and who endeavoured to make them finally were on the with liberty to execute incredible on them they them before slow fires thrust their heads into hot till the persecuted beyond endurance in vast numbers to england and holland carrying their skill in with them and thereby nobly the hospitality of the countries that sheltered them while the com the of their own land received an blow but stop cried interrupting himself as they reached a broken cross by the here our roads divide god s blessing be with you must you go said john i must indeed and having uttered a few words of grateful farewell to lord the proceeded briskly on his way x when approached the white cottage with the three trees he his pace not a soul was in sight the door and windows were shut and the red glittered on the small diamond shaped panes that peered through their mantle of ivy had returned had she been forgiven had she been were questions that occasioned some anxiety the moment he tapped at the door it was hastily opened and a couple of eager faces were thrust out they belonged to a but vigorous old peasant and a woman not much younger than himself the it is not she said the old man with a gesture of impatience but he may know something of her nevertheless said the old woman what do you want good man is your name said aye aye i m said the peasant and thia is my wife have you seen our has she not then returned alas no said clasping her hands in anguish three days ago she left us we know not why nor with whom and we have neither seen nor heard anything of her since oh my heart and sitting down on a bench the poor sank into tears you see you said old to pointing towards his wife you see how it is with her master she naturally fears the worst and though i m of a firmer sort i know not what to think i don t know who you are nor why you come but we naturally thought yon might have seen our i have said hear that cried looking at his wife who immediately wiping her eyes and came towards him well master i saw her yesterday said there was a festival you know going on which had drawn many people together your daughter among the rest we forbade her to go said the distance was too great for either of us and we had no one we liked to trust her with i was taking some refreshment at a said and at a table near me sat a young man and a girl that girl was your daughter the young man was no doubt said his brow and setting his teeth close he was about my height but more strongly built with yellow hair gray eyes and a on his left cheek twas he the rascal cried his hands we had forbidden him the the house and i fear that he rather than the festival tempted from home go on ho was talking to her earnestly and passionately not in such guarded tones but that i could gather the substance of what he said the girl was choking in tears and i could make out that he was tempting her to a course of sin i knew it i was sure of it cried old covering his eyes i know he never meant her any good and she so mistaken so obstinate i tears rolled down his cheeks his wife wiped them away but hear what ensued my good friend said taking his hand she would not be guided by him in terrible anger he rose and left her then where is she cried i thought said faltering i	2
should find her here oh no i oh no i you only come to confirm our worst fears you tell us who was with her and you have not brought her home but hear me said when the young man left her she continued weeping in a low voice i addressed to her the words of scripture woman why thou whom thou and she i she started looked round appeared surprised at my addressing her in the same tone i continued there is joy in heaven over one sinner that arise and go to thy father oh true friend cried grasping him by the hand much more passed she confessed that she left home without your knowledge and in defiance of your known wishes but was sorry for it i applauded her for having so firmly resisted her wicked and advised her instantly to return home she said she dared not she dreaded the anger of her father but more of her mother no wonder no wonder said hastily i with her in your names and your i felt assured you would the come the returning penitent i knew you would remember that we are all and that christ died for us and that we must forgive one another she wavered trembled at last consented god be praised i cried but this was twenty four hours ago she might have been home last night well the day was far spent when i parted from her it has now taken me some hours to come over the same ground still i thought she might she would she may have by the way at the house of some friend we have no friend on the road said more likely some harm has befallen the child by the way cried or she may have returned after all to that villain to encourage her said i told her that i would follow her and endeavour to make her peace with you but i was prevented from keeping my promise by circumstances i could not foresee when i last saw her her face was set towards home let us go cried taking up his hat and staff she may have fainted by the way at this moment a slender shadow darkened the threshold and a drooping downcast figure against the door post father i am here i forgive said sinking on her knees sprang towards her with joy and affection on his face her mother on the contrary directly she saw she was safe hardened herself against her marked and understood the of feeling to her he whispered softly she is all in tears and too ashamed to look up go to her it is not my place to go to her but hers to come to me replied i to make much of a good for nothing girl that has been three days out of sight of her friends in bad company just because she comes back to the only people that care for her when nobody else will have her the don t say that whispered still more because you know it is not true would have had h r and tried so hard to have her that none but a very good girl could have stood out against his tongue do you call a girl a good girl who puts herself in the way of such there is none good no not one christ himself said so we are none of us good but by comparison and i called her good not because i thought her absolutely good for she has committed a great fault but because only the good daughter of a good mother could have acted as she did at the time i first saw her he gently laid his hand on s arm but the arm was away good daughter cried she how shall ever have the least trust in her again one woman should have pity on another pursued a mother should have pity on her child the lord has pity on us all she was going to reply in the same cutting manner as before when some softer in ence suddenly came over her with tears in her eyes she went up to her daughter and put her arm round her neck oh mother i can t bear this cried i thought you would never and she clung to her in tears when the first of emotion was over gently said let us pray they all knelt down and now farewell said he when his prayer was over going cried just as we find time to think of you as well as of ourselves yes my good friend i have nothing more to do here my work calls me hence how can we our sense of your kindness veiy simply your daughter has a book i have given h r let her read in it to you frequently till i come again for i may come again some day won t you even break bread with us before you depart to tell you the truth i could not swallow u the just how no i am not hungry i feel something of what our lord felt when he said i have meat to eat that ye know not of m y meat is to do the will of him that sent me old man and he laid his hand on s shoulder with extreme solemnity and gentleness your daughter has committed a great fault has a greater and if turning to who listened to him with suspended breath if you now apply with a true penitent heart to the blood of christ instead of to any acts of superstition god will blot out your and your sins will he remember no more you will find all about it in that book read it day and night read and pray in another	2
minute he was gone was prudent in thus to one who had so lately the full free promises of the gospel let us answer this question by asking others is justification by faith promised or is it not did christ preach it with reserve to and does it not whatever man s about it may be does it not practically forth the fruits of good and holy living is faith the root or the branch is morality the fruit or the root can anything so break the stubborn heart as the discovery that god is love that he loves us while he hates our sins and that his most earnest desire is to free us from their power and penalty let us once fed his love to be ours and a life of holy obedience is sure to follow i all experience is for it even though all argument should be against it however all we have to do is to relate the story of a man who firmly believed the doctrine of justification by faith and who acted upon it was now taking the road to as if treading upon air his heart was light and overflowing with cheerfulness all nature seemed to with him the very hills to clap their hands and the valleys to laugh and sing no were too strong no too bold to express the gladness which universal nature displayed around him the as he passed under the trees laden with ripe and apples along the way side the who were them threw him of ripe fruit with a cheerful greeting and never did ripe or apple taste more delicious in front of cottage doors busy were setting of and to dry in the sun or hanging strings of apples from the window in how many ways thought he is our good god generous to us i in the spring he brings forth the tender blades and young blossoms in the autumn he the abundant fruits of the earth into our good measure pressed down and running over lord our governor how excellent is thy name in all the earth his mind was so so full of pleasant thoughts as to give him sources of enjoyment independent of outward circumstances he thought of the with and made out for himself in imagination some outline which was in fact not far from the reality of poor s homeward journey her disappointment at his not her her fears of meeting her parents alone and her hanging about the cottage after nightfall and sleeping in some barn or with a feeling of their protection about her though they knew not she was at hand he thought of her probable future and prayer for her formed itself in his heart then he thought of the town the festival the preaching the and the pigs of mrs of of dr of margaret of the poor artist they seemed like figures in a dream or shades in a magic lantern so quickly had they vanished one after another then he lingered with sweetness on the thought of he felt that short as their intercourse had been he could esteem that man as his brother he thought of with an interest and tenderness he had never felt for a woman before there was nothing to draw him back to her their paths did not run parallel it was not likely he ever see her again he had no desire but to go right on and yet he was conscious of a delicious to the ward lier passing the love of a brother again his heart formed a prayer it was for her then he thought of that benevolent old woman mother those deep violet blue eyes that expressive smile so lovely even in age what must they have been at the age of that spontaneous kindness that cheerfulness and activity which made her a match for any one in the family how richly heaven had endowed her with gifts that no money could purchase i insensible and nevertheless to everything relating to spiritual life i could such an one go on to the end along the broad path leading to destruction and smiling as she went no he had faith that god must have marked her for his own then those two pretty boys with voices like and faces like if he were a father he should like two just such curly funny loving little to be his own lord again with so much to be proud of and no pride those two high born high minded girls with intellect and purity stamped on their open brows and that light hearted young fellow in the up to anything equal to anything s thoughts were presently off to merry england and now just as night is falling he enters lord is there also but they put up in very quarters xi though daylight had scarcely faded the enormous saloon of the hotel de i in which a hundred and fifty persons were seated at the d was in a blaze of illumination scores of were hurrying hither and thither presenting dishes to each in succession or bearing immense piles of plates a noisy band performing opera airs was nearly drowned in the clatter of knives and forks and the hum of many voices and it occurred to john that there could hardly have been more at s feast at the more table of the d or in the quarter of the city found a number of shaggy heavy the headed together instead of in the bosom of their own families each with a long pipe that nearly reached from his mouth to the floor and with a pint of wine before him they were so obscured in a cloud of smoke of their own raising that whom the smell of tobacco always affected with felt his best refuge would be in bed as	2
therefore as he had discussed his meal he retired to his chamber and slept profoundly till daybreak when he awoke the blue was trembling and sparkling in the rising sun he sprang up dressed prayed partook his early breakfast and hastened to the river side in passing a cross street he saw a man just turning out of sight in advance of him whom he knew in a moment to be his old and could hardly help smiling to think that this time he saw him himself unseen but what if his old foe unseen had seen him already he had found his way to the which was close alongside the the apart from it only the length of a plank he entered it at once the men were at their sitting about the deck and exchanging a few words now and then with a few companions sitting on the took out his little bible and began to read to himself presently a lull in the conversation ensued shortly afterwards a man with his mouth full observed come master as you are amusing yourself you may as well amuse us read us a spell looking up at him and then all around on his audience whom he took in at a glance immediately raised his right arm and hand before him with a gesture that had it not been so perfectly natural to him might have been called theatrical but as it was had something in it singularly impressive and after a single moment s pause that was just to fasten every eye him ho burst forth in his soul stirring manner with ho every one that come ye to the waters and he that hath no money the come buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price and so on to the end of the chapter the effect was the men drew about him absorbed just as we see them in one of s on the of listening to an who sings the adventures of one with his hands clasped round his knee another with his arm resting on his companion s shoulder another with his arms folded on his his teeth set his eye fixed his soul in the world of dreams as for like his divine master he taught from the ship while a cluster of his hearers stood on the shore having read the chapter straight through with amazing power and fire for an man who had only zeal and a good natural taste to guide him he closed the book though one or two bade him go on for he saw passengers down to the with and luggage and the next moment the noisy bell rang and the deck was covered with people volumes of black smoke were now the issuing from the chimney men were bustling about talking leave taking and pulling off their hats continued at the side of the vessel which was just on the point of starting when a crowd of excited looking people rushed down towards it crying a on board a bible i over with him i into the water with him i him over to us and we ll make short work with him my boys don t you wish you may get i cried john in english as the boat moved off was wiu er shouted he and shaking his clenched hand at them as the distance between them increased the men made violent gestures at him and at in return while all the others along the water side with national politeness were pulling off their hats what jolly fun said john addressing himself to and raising his hand on high to clap it into the open palm of the other with more cordiality what did th y want of you why should they throw you into the the river just for reading a chapter in the bible my senses i you didn t know i was here continued he setting in for a regular gossip i m running down to to fetch up mrs who has run for want of knowing foreign languages are you going as far i am going on to oh i our course lies quite the other way i think we shall push on to by that time sir charles will have returned and we shall get back for miss to be married look here i i ve bought a horn for ten i don t know if it s a very good one because i ve been afraid of blowing it very loud lest i might annoy lord though there was such a row at the d last night that i did not think one noise more would have made much difference just between courses i did step out and give one little blow unfortunately the note that came out wasn t in the key the band were playing in and i was obliged to hush it up directly like what miss calls making the sons on her harp one of the running by gave me such a look i pretended i was only blowing my nose and it away in my handkerchief to repay myself j shall get up on the top of one of these hills and blow like like to blow your head off what a beautiful river that said you may say so returned john and yet it s not so much the river as the banks hills and plains and wide mountains rocks and snow white flocks castles high that touch the sky oh my oh my i it s all my eye if you had an eye you would not say so observed yes i should because i only said so for fun taken as a whole germany s nothing to england but with regard to rocks and castles on them it i to me now the rocks and mountains	2
appear like toys said you must have been in then b at i m thinking said john ah by the by you are i remember you come from where they sing e e do you know now interrupted with a forced smile that went off into something very like a sob that s just what i can t stand i can t you said john with surprise and at the same time a passenger at the other end of the deck who had caught the fragment of the air john was humming took it up on a strange is not it said his eyes filling so fast that he was quite ashamed of himself strange that a bi of a tune like that should make me see my mother at her cottage door looking toward the cow pastures and my sister who has long been dead coming across the meadow in the evening sun he could it no longer as says in king but fairly laid his head down the on his arms and wept as if his heart would break poor fellow poor fellow said john i ve heard something before of this strange disease you are subject t y de pay j not quite so bad as that said wiping his eyes and then out again tis that i say and nothing short of it said john positively malady de pay short for malady i ve heard my lord speak of it you ll have to go back to your own country my poor fellow nothing else will cure you oh yes it s passing oflf said drying his eyes do you know said john i was about to ask you some questions about that country of yours because it s a land i much desire to see and very likely see next summer but as you re so tender upon it i won t allude to it any more ask me what questions you mil replied i i the nothing will do me so much good as i talking of it and for the next two hours the two men were in earnest and almost continuous conversation on only pausing now and then to bestow a passing and pre occupied attention on the ever changing beauties of the river banks john had so many questions to put wholly and some of them enough to that the dialogue for some time took the form of a but at length it gave place to almost continuous narrative went over his own history then went back to the early history and of the not the glorious return of all which to hear did john seriously incline they sat a little way apart from every one but an sick or sleepy wrapped in his cloak with his cap pulled over hi eyes lay on a bench a little way off and who after a few muttered and at having his own meditations or disturbed by so much talking at length applied i the himself quietly to listen to every word that was said and found himself not paid amiss for his trouble once or twice an irrepressible smile at john s remarks only escaped observation under shelter of his cloak collar once or twice as related the fortitude and of his people or spoke of the various exercises his own constancy had been exposed to the became intently interested once or twice even a tear strange i found its way into his eye at length john suddenly finding himself very hungry and observing other people going to dinner said he must go and make friends with some one going below and bade accompany with a smile shook his head and produced a roll ha i cried john tis that low diet that ruins your constitution and makes the least thing upset you come along with me declined and when john had left him resumed his book a couple rather tired of themselves and of each other amused themselves at a distance from him by the r what his book was likely to be at length to settle the they approached i you seem interested in your reading my i fellow said the gentleman very pray what may your book be the bible sir said do you wish to buy it no e said the other very hastily add retreating with his companion he observed to her in english sharp practice that i never knew a cooler thing in my life i the lady the gentleman was going to make some additional remark when he was checked by s stepping up to him why did you say sharp practice sir said he respectfully in english you asked me of your own accord the name of my book it was the last i had on hand of many that i have been selling about the country and as in many instances they have been purchased with as containing the pearl of great price i thought it possible you might desire to have one that was all the and he to his old place as gently as he came hang the fellow said the gentleman laughing rather foolishly who would have thought of his knowing english john came up at this moment see what i ve got for you here said he producing sundry apples and nuts these are the things you ll like i know you spare with low spirits and weak are always fond of these and i like them too they don t with me nothing does but the german water so now wo u go nature has given us good nut i ve been thinking of you while i was away and the sum of my thoughts is that if you would have plenty of boiled beef and roast beef and horse boiled mutton and three times a day you d have no more of this by the time they approached these	2
two men had made as much progress in each other s liking as many would have taken a couple of months to accomplish the now then here we come said john to where the people live in lots all among the chimney pots eleven thousand i don t believe there were ever so many unmarried young women in one place at one time ah there s mother on the look out for me that neat old lady in the black silk gown old said she does not look forty won t see thirty again though said john so she s no chicken but as good a soul when you come to know her i why she s been like a second mother to our young ladies i i fancy there s many a mother in high life has fretted less for a child than mrs did for miss when she thought she would not get over the scarlet fever now she sees me well they must me here so god bless you good bye i i like you my boy and i hope we shall meet again when reached he went to a small quiet looking house in a quiet street at the end of which might be caught a glimpse of a laden canal glittering in the sun the and bordered with tall trees under which men were busy among and of goods entering the quiet house by a passage the cleanliness of which was in agreeable contrast to the dirty german tapped at a door on the ground floor and was come in he entered a room furnished almost as plainly as a counting the sole of which was a pale reverend looking man advanced in life who have represented one of the early ministers he was intently engaged in writing but when he looked up and saw he appeared pleased rather than surprised well said he returned at last you have been much in my mind and in my prayers what success this time sat down and gave a detailed account of his doings which as they dated from an earlier point than that at which we have taken up his history occupied considerable time he spoke of dangers obstacles and of new broken and of old his lis h i i s the with great interest and asked many questions so you have come back empty handed said he at length no i have one copy still left said producing it and he then drew from his bosom a purse and accurately reckoned and paid down the money the books had brought him that for yourself said his putting an sum into his hand but are you sure i give you enough oh yes i would rather not be with more it is enough and more than enough for ray needs you see i so often get free quarters the is worthy of his hire my dear friend you accept a crust and leave a blessing well are you tired of your work yet oh no i i love it more than ever god be praised i on the whole i think we are making a little way oh yes but what is one among so many the there ought to be a hundred in the field ii this one field i his friend smiled and shook his head i shall not live to see that said he nor i i am afraid said however what one man can do i will do when will my fresh supply of be ready when shall you be prepared to start to morrow to morrow not to day sir because my shoes want mending and my spare shirt and want washing my good fellow why start oflf again so soon as to morrow you want a little rest oh no i am as fresh as a lark i you know i was on board the steamer all yesterday that was entire rest well the books shall be ready for you tonight then you can start when you will which course are you thinking of taking next have you any wishes on the subject oh no i leave everything to you i was thinking then sir i should like to the visit a few oi the acquaintance i made on my first round and see how they fare after that i might be guided by circumstances precisely so i have long felt it beat to trust all the details to yourself well go and get your mended or buy a new pair and return to dine with and me at one o clock but fail not in the to look in on mr i know he wants to see you i will sir then farewell for the present we shall have ample time for farther talk at dinner god be with you and the old man resumed his pen as closed the door next proceeded to the residence of one of the merchant princes of overlooking the principal canal it was a mansion noble stone steps heavily carved walls hung with dutch paintings and the ceiling of the principal saloon painted with the pour seasons the abode of commercial yet the counting house formed the part of the dwelling and the wealthy merchant always dined with his family at one o clock and returned immediately afterwards to business he received with cordiality listened with interest to his narrative which he told put several ent questions him a small sum of money and on its being declined did not press it on him but bade him remember he might have it whenever he wanted it after this a short conversation strictly and personally religious ensued after which the merchant shook hands with and dismissed him he went on his various errands about the town then returned to dine with the venerable mr and his pretty daughter and spent an hour or two afterwards	2
in conversation with them he slightly altered his plans so as not to start on the following day which was saturday but to remain to spend a quiet sabbath in and gather new mental and spiritual not to say bodily strength and refreshment before he commenced a fresh progress this gave him time for a little the f ting than he had at first in his deemed needful for in his few personal travelled as light of luggage independent of his books as an early providing neither two coats for his journey nor two pair of shoes very gold silver or brass merely a change of linen which he could get washed in any village where he for a day and a night light of purse and baggage light of foot and light of heart he quitted on monday morning with a heavily bag round his neck by a which to a less zealous traveller than himself would have been no slight took advantage of a for the first two or three hours of his progress then he or as john called it and proceeded briskly over ground well known to him he encountered and passed several laden with white deal of various sizes for the approaching and presently reached an open spot where scores of these were drawn up in the shade and their contents spread about the ground in profusion while a regular market or fair was going on among a considerable number of here paused to draw breath and sat down to rest on a shaft by the of one of the empty a man playing a wild kind of on a rustic pipe sat near under the hedge while one or two dutch built little were but merrily to his melody and a few hung about when the man ceased playing dropped a few words which led to a kind of conversation by and by his grand subject was quietly his bag opened and a few of his books disposed of he continued talking to these poor people for some time till they were drawn away from him by their needful after this the business of the fair went on so briskly that he found no other opening and from his acquaintance with such scenes that as the day would only be exchanged for and beer drinking he pursued his way presently he came in sight of a village with steep roof and strange looking spire the crosses over the graves in the little churchyard were hung with and with little cups of holy water across the opposite field the was an old residence something in the style of country house and along the road in front of it walked a stately elderly couple who might have represented and his wife with their at their heels a lit farther on he came to the modest dwelling of the of the little church who was just stepping from his door and seeing approach with his paused for a moment to see if he had any business with him presented to him one of his books the moment the ascertained what it was his face became and he exclaimed you infamous monster is this the way you dare to come and the village with your bad books and poison the minds of my poor simple people with your doctrine be calm sir interposed and see if you are in treating me so harshly are you not continued the angrily the of no i am not at any rate are you not a a a by the ah sir said your heat has taken away your memory and you do not just now recollect the of the to reply with and charity to those who differ in sentiment from you and by those means to avoid all moderate your displeasure i you and see whether the copies of the holy which i offer you are not faithful from the version by your church instead of doing this the became more enraged where is your s said he i don t believe you have one exhibited it that s nothing nothing at all said he scarcely glancing at it it merely you to sell books in general not in particular as i shall soon make you know in the presence of a magistrate will you say then time enough sir to think what i shall say when i am in his presence replied calmly but firmly our lord himself has left me a plain direction what to do in that case the settle it therefore in your heart not to beforehand what ye shall answer for will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your shall not be able to or resist see here is the passage fourteen have you the assurance to compare yourself to one of the holy said the no sir these words were meant for the direction of all christ s faithful people a a mere all would in that case avail themselves of it you are a fellow who not only hawk dangerous matter but make it more dangerous still by your own i have no patience with you i alas sir you should have nothing hut patience with me i don t words with me man or i ll hale you before the magistrate i and he seized him violently by the arm well sir i am quite willing to be treated as the early christians were he dropped arm i have by the changed my mind said he you are not worth the trouble it would cost me besides i remember our magistrate has just gone from home to the next town i shall take some measures however against you and darting an angry look at the passive he brushed past him and hastily walked forward towards the village guessed that he should find every door closed against him and he was right people him as he passed along	2
cried the suddenly to be a keeper in a lunatic asylum with that eye of yours i i never saw anything like it there s nothing in the eye only in the expression well expression or whatever it is i d give something to have one like it but i m not up to that game try there s no secret in it oh tis no use trying know you see i ve a temper ah where the secret is said well try to your temper now you see how useful it will be to you god s blessing be on you in the endeavour good night i stay i won t you have a bit of bread and cheese no thank you good night my little friends the and he passed his hand carelessly over the little silk of the they uttered a low wail of regret at his departure and the girl held towards him her fragment of bread smiling he off a little piece of it and as he returned it put his finger between her teeth she did not bite him but laughed like a little child he looked at the and they both laughed farewell i he again cried cheerily and waving his hand passed on if it be objected that neglected here and there to press an advantage and avail himself of an opening for doing more than he did i can only say that he had much ground to get over that the fields were white unto harvest and he the solitary and that his lord and master whom he followed as closely as he could in all things when urged by the people of various places to continue longer with them refused saying i must preach the kingdom of god to other cities also for therefore am i sent it was now nearly dark and still by the was toiling on towards the for haven where he would be suddenly he heard the sound of a heavy horse advancing along the road from behind him presently the horse rider passed him and though the obscurity was now such that he could dimly make out their forms his own outline it appeared was better discerned by the who having ridden a little in advance drew his rein for a minute to shout out to him the day is coming when all you shall be a second st so look to it i and with a yell of he galloped on judged this unknown ill might be the peasant who had caused his from the coffee house and he no good to himself from such a preceding him to the next village nor were his when he reached it no one would take him in many in fact had retired for the night and were already asleep others who were shutting up roughly denied him a lodging even though he should pay for it in the advance lonely and weary he crept ou his way and presently found himself beyond the village under a sand bank a portion of which having been dug away left a little cave or den in which he resolved to find shelter for the night have holes thought he and birds of the air have nests i will for once take refuge with the sand martin he himself up with his bag behind him and took out his remaining piece of bread the stars were coming out brighter and brighter every minute and he gazed at them with delight for he had learnt something of them from mr thought he you shine as brightly on me and shed as sweet influences as you did thousands of years ago on job and his friends quite so brightly perhaps for i have heard that in that distant region of the east the air is so clear that your rays distinct and divers colours as white yellow violet and deep red you glorious are supposed by the learned to by the be sixty times as brilliant as our sun well may he who created you be called wonderful i lord our governor i how excellent is thy name in all the world i that hast set thy glory above the heavens while lay thus and absorbed in the of the host he became aware of a slight noise a little way off and the stealthy sound of wheels presently all became quiet but again he learnt that he had neighbours at no great distance from him who seemed coming to a halt they spoke in grumbling under tones and at length a rough voice said loudly enough for to hear every syllable where are s and s chains and how should i know rejoined sharply you took them yourself in the morning and most left them on the grass yes i know i laid them on the grass returned the grumbling in order that you might pack them up along with the rest of the traps and i fancy you ll have to back for them old woman if youve left them behind back yourself then if anybody s to replied she and a quarrel ensued the details of which escaped s ears till he heard the man end it by saying now then young tumble into your will and ye probably accompanying the word with a kick to judge from the shrill cry that ensued guessed pretty well who his neighbours were and resolved to keep himself close for he felt no pleasure in their they were evidently a couple of and he the idea of their poor little being kept from like a couple of dogs by chain and the party apparently soon settled to rest for all became quiet as death and after gazing up at the stars a while longer and saying his prayers under his breath fell into deep sleep he was awakened at dead of night by a nightmare sensation of a heavy weight	2
on his chest and the strangeness and discomfort of his position added to the oppressive feeling under which he wa caused a trembling sense of fear to creep over him and made the perspiration cover his he experienced something like terror on discovering that his nightmare was no fancy that something warm soft breathing and heavy actually lay curled up on his chest it faintly murmur the ed when he touched it and when with a slight shudder he withdrew his hand and placed it beside him again it encountered something warm soft and alive close to his side for a moment the idea of a couple of young or occurred to him but the next instant he woke up sufficiently to recognise by the moonlight the little they also were awake and peering into his eyes and immediately began almost to him with soft kisses laying their little fingers on their lips in sign of silence then down off his body they muttered something to each other and shaking back their little spun glass seized one another by the hand rushed out into the moonlight and commenced and whirling each other round on the broad turf in perfect silence till thought he could almost realize in them a pair of little fairy all this was evidently done as much for his gratification as their own for they frequently looked toward him to see if he were watching them and then their little and joseph a their tiny arms retreating returning separating in perfect time though to no music but that of their own happy spirits it seemed the of joy at their freedom and of gratitude to him who been kind to them though but in a passing caress and for him they ran their baby exercises o er voluntarily after the fashion that they had been by blows and starving to exhibit them to the public utterly what the had said with respect to their age and felt convinced they were very young children though to the marvel of their they were dressed up like suddenly they ceased made a low bow and and then darting back to him climbed once more up his chest clasped their little arms about his neck and fastened their lips to his cheek as if in a perpetual kiss he smiled and after yielding for a minute or two to their ardent of gratitude attempted gently to put them oflf but jo i they were both the fast asleep i was very fond of children he had pity on these poor little wretches he was not used to such sudden and caressing he was somehow melted and won in short he let the little creatures alone sleeping soundly one on each side of him and presently fell sound asleep himself at daybreak he was awakened by hearing the exclaim in a voice of dismay hey i why the are both empty i how s this here s a pretty business i advanced with an in each hand here are your little charges master said he pleasantly they found me out sleeping under a sand bank and didn t go far astray said the man with a grim laugh they soon you out well i owe you something for bringing them back to me for they cost me a pretty penny will you breakfast with us gladly said who was too hungry to be very and j my old lady will have some coffee for us presently she s lighting a fire to boil it e en now i shall want something hot and strong to wind me up a bit for we ve got to turn back to where we were the night before last to find the if i sent back by herself she d stop half way to drink and she couldn t find em so to good to what good indeed repeated however i should hardly think it worth your while to undergo all that trouble for a few links of old iron you might do without them use a cord you mean said the why they d bite it through in no time use nothing of the sort said there s no need but we haven t room for em in the cart said the man they re obliged to he under it see here s a let down in the middle to divide em and a horse cloth to draw round a bed case of that rolls up for each of them by day and with hay or straw at night what more could they desire ths nothing more plainly said especially ah youve a this said the man leave me alone to deal with the i m used to it and you re not here s something to make you less said bringing him a steaming mess of in a dirty tin company first said and yet what shall i do then for my cup for we haven t one to spare and the young drink out of the same you must go without or wait till i ve done you and i can do like the young for once and for manners says thank ye i decline i what s yours is mine and what s mine s my own that s matrimony all the world over the little without a word put their cup into s hands and down at his feet clasping each other and watching him with their singular eyes as if it were quite breakfast enough for them to see him eat his he smiled patted their heads and looked at and a the young have hit it said they can wait till we ve done they shall have an extra bit of sugar for it kindly thought of said his coffee which was as thick as mud for my part i can t bear being harsh with children and i am sure these are younger than you think	2
the girl has not changed all teeth you found that out last night when you put your finger in her mouth said grinning you re a sharp un i well i use my eyes certainly and a precious good pair youve got i think the more of you for being sharp all the world s divided into them that are sharp and them that are not those little youve taken such a fancy to are as sharp as needles sharp enough to know it is their interest to love and be faithful to those who are kind to them said take my word for it if you are kind to them they will know their own interest too well to run away from you to any one who is not the i ve heard of going about to make a disturbance about being set free said are you the champion of white because these you know come from the same country as the there s the of it i i never saw scarcely ever heard of an till last night said as to makes us of what color he pleases you and i may not wish we were black but we could not help it if we were any more than these can help being white that s as plain as my wife said now why should others take advantage of us for what we can t help said and why should you be less kind to these poor forlorn children than you would be if they were of tlie same color as yourself how do you know that i am said why you would not chain and german children i d chain and philip pa there if she proved i replied he savagely s for you now and well i m sorry to it said down his coffee which he now began to perceive was particularly bad so don t let s harp any longer on that string if we re to keep friends said we shall never understand one another that has been partly my fault i put it to you just now as a matter of interest i will now just hint it is a matter of duty what are you driving at merely this my dear friend now hear me patiently you acknowledge i suppose that we both have master i i m my own master who do you mean god he and i don t have much to say to one another said abruptly he has his eye constantly upon you nevertheless he has far more power to hurt you than you have to hurt these children because you can only hurt them in this world he can hurt you in the next for ever and ever and if he sees you depend on the it he will hurt severely some of these days for he has said by the mouth of his own son shall offend one of these little ones it were better for him that a were hanged about his neck and that he were cast into the depth of the sea i i object to this style of talk said let s have no more of it i say you ve had your breakfast out of me and that s enough well i thank you for my breakfast and wish you a good day i will not on you any longer perhaps some time or other we shall meet again i hope we shall not arose bade farewell nodded to the and pursued his course the little creatures who had wistfully been watching his countenance all the while he spoke though it was doubtful whether they understood his language darted after him as as when he departed and clung to his legs taking up a sharp stone sent it after jo with deliberate aim and hit her and severely on the the poor little creature shrieked and fell on the ground master master i how can you be so pitiless cried catching her up in his arms and tenderly carrying her back in his bosom fluttering like a little bird that we catch in our hand he set her down a little way from and then approaching him sat down close to his side and took his hard reluctant in his own how could you find it in your heart to do that said he in his gentle voice none of your nonsense said trying to pluck away his hand but not succeeding he averted his face however from those searching eyes you think now said that i have taken some unaccountable fancy to these little creatures at first sight not so i assure you at first they rather me it is only that i am naturally fond of children had you ever a child oh bother i none of this said aye that he had master said the stepping up behind him the hard muscles of her face strongly working three of the prettiest you ever set your eyes on they all died young more s the pity other guess children from these said turning his face away from her though toward but without looking up they were pretty as she says not like these little why now though you take on about so do you know she s as wicked as she s little i fixed his eyes on the child upon the grass who was intently watching him though she was hardly n ar enough to hear what passed he looked into her pink glittering eyes as if he would read her very soul she but met his gaze was accustomed to read the faces of and penitent and confessed in this face he detected no vice i think said he to you do her injustice can she us that s one of her vicious ways said believe she can any but a bom natural and would have learnt something of german by this time however	2
here and there with a word of spiritual tendency just as much as he thought s mind able to bear his companion again became plunged in thought presently they came before one of those carved and coloured representations of our on the cross as large as life which n k the are frequently to be met with the road side on the continent and which to have something so while to many who have beheld and them from infancy they bring feelings of devotion was of the latter sort we ll halt here a said he stopping the horse then his rough head and approaching the figure with solemnity he crossed his hands on his breast and said earnestly lord i here promise and vow in thy presence to keep my word faithfully to this man thy servant and never to lay hands on or violently strike the children i have under my charge so help me and all saints i amen could not forbear embracing him wiped away a tear here then we part said gently getting down and kissing her and may god s blessing be on you all i am thankful to have met you and shall be glad if we meet again home sickness after a few more cordial words they each went on their several ways and now each step brought nearer and more near the scene of his approaching triumph but he must first step out of his path across some quiet fields to the house of a woman called mary she was one who had been by him long ago from a sinful life and he longed to know how it with her and whether she were yet in the faith he raised the latch but the cottage was empty she in the fields and had gone forth to her toil carrying her dinner with her but her bible lay on the table as if it had been used that very morning for everything else was in its formal place and observed with joy that the book betrayed tokens of constant reading every page to have been frequently though carefully turned and various favourite passages were marked one by a ribbon another by a dried flower or leaf another by a bit of thread or tiny scrap of paper while some pages were doubled in half others turned down the at the corner above others at the corner below there could be no doubt of its being the of a bible christian s heart rejoiced he left of paper on the cover on which he had written the lord be with you mary i and went on his way the having now begun all hands were busy and it was not to be supposed that many persons would be in their homes before sunset a few scattered however there would be those who were sick and or who had charge of the sick or of young children among them lay s harvest as he passed a a boy gathering grapes cried father i there goes the man who stood by your bedside when you were dying of the i can it be says the father yes i yes i it is and instantly father and son were embracing him where are you going are you going to our village will you abide there to night and to morrow and the night after yes you must i we have a nice home sickness bed and clean upper sheet for you and soup by the fire with us you must i oh how sorry i am cries the boy that you have come just when we are so busy with the i we shall not be home before dusk but grandfather is in the house unable to stir from his arm chair and he will be right glad to see you and the news of your coming will soon spread said tho man for i shall tell every ne i see and it will run along from one group of to another so that you will have a famous congregation this evening we have gone on that room the baker s ever since you were here though the landlord has raised the rent two or three times there we meet four evenings out of seven to consult the we are packed as close as and the little room gets as hot as fire for has left the iron on purpose to school us and preach to us on week days as well as and you have no notion how popular he is but nothing in comparison with you i you are quoted among us as an and the joyfully will ha yield you his reading desk while you are among us and sit at your feet farewell till i dare stay no longer but eat this delicious bunch of grapes as you go along gladly accepted the fruit and went on full of pleasant thought in the almost deserted village he went straight to the cottage of the man to whom he had been speaking and as he raised the latch he heard a feeble voice within slowly repeat the lord is my shepherd i shall not want he shall feed me in a green pasture it was the old grandfather in his easy chair reading the to himself an elderly unmarried daughter had him in charge and was busied in household work they joyfully received asked him a questions and made him sit down and partake of a plentiful meal when he had answered their inquiries he had many questions to put in return and after their curiosity had been satisfied and as the afternoon wore away the conversation took a more profitable turn sickness and himself deep in spiritual conference with the old man who was indeed his son in the faith though his senior by many many years at the came home from the and the cottage was completely	2
beset by joyous when the of their greetings had subsided they agreed to for supper and then to in the hired room to hear read to them in another hour they were crowded together for admission and found already at his post conversing with are you all here dear people he said all here dear teacher cried many voices since then we have met together to consider the blessed of god said he let us begin with asking his blessing on our deed and down they all knelt when they arose as many as could be with seats sat as close together as they could the rest stood behind every eye was fastened upon him he the bible the what a rare accomplishment it is to read well what a power it gives us to touch and the human heart i how singular that such an art should be so little improved was gifted by god with a pleasant and harmonious voice capable of any and with a pure taste needed only to be cultivated during his close personal attendance on his accomplished and gifted master mr had for his own benefit in the first place given a few simple hints in which had greatly improved his reading and when he found the desire that was in him to become a reader and of the throughout the world large he thought it a sacred duty and found it his greatest pleasure to cultivate s talent to the utmost always a simple hearted single minded fellow was far from over or indeed from his gift he felt so at the consciousness of his want of training and critical knowledge of divinity that he considered himself one of the very in god s v rome but yet he felt he had a call to that particular field of work as emphatically as any trained student of whom that solemn required at his and strong in the strength the spirit gives he felt no embarrassment in his so assured was he that divine assistance being humbly and earnestly sought the right words would always be put into his mouth at the right moment thus he never hesitated neither hurried nor paused except as earnest feeling dictated never stammered or strung words together for the sake of gaining time ho was so full of his message that he never wanted new and fervent thoughts they themselves in simple language thus it was that his hearers sat around him spell bound no eye drooped with sleep no frame or with restlessness all the senses were alert you might have heard a pin drop whenever he drew breath he read and then he commented on what he read and then he read again have you had dear then he the g b said no dear pray go on and he read again have you had enough it is now growing late you must be weary well perhaps we have had enough this night since you will read to us again then let us pray and then they dispersed to their lowly for a week or more continued among them and then pursued the like course in neighbouring villages the churches it his soul to see the fruit of his labours at length as the season advanced he felt he had dwelt among them enough he must visit other places also he had as yet sold few books for the people were already well supplied he therefore started on a new course intending to break fresh ground and when he had made a certain round and got rid of all his stock to make a on his way back to and see how it with and and and the and with this purpose in view he home sickness for some weeks meeting with the usual amount of obstacles in a new and sealed land all at once his strength was taken from him the mysterious national disease of home sickness the for his country fell upon him his nerves relaxed his appetite fled showers of tears continually fell from his eyes in vain he tried to rouse he struggled he prayed the was on him if he heard a bird sing he wept if he heard a child laugh he wept if he heard water or saw a distant blue mountain or cows and sheep feeding in a valley he wept he took shame to himself and tried to fix his thoughts on at her cottage door feeding her and reading his bible and he turned his steps toward them and resolved to go to them at once but all in vain an impulse stronger than his strength was pulling him another way he must see his old home his mountains his valleys his roaring rivers and or lie down and die and why not v as there any sin in it h c the any duty had impelled him to go elsewhere he would have obeyed it or have consented to but there was none there was no reason why he not go home and directly he had settled this in his mind though it was in the middle of the night and he was in a strange house he felt a strong desire to start oflf at once this was an impulse however he could resist and the more he reflected on the and innocence of following his inclinations the calmer and more composed he became till at length after all his and troubles he fell into peaceful sleep he awoke another man his and restlessness were gone his bodily strength was his mind had recovered its balance he fell on his knees and thanked god for the change what poor creatures we are i thought he how of purpose how weak and in action how amidst our and resolutions the lord of all the heavens must smile to know that by touching with his little r a single nerve and setting home sickness	2
their head found their way to him and the of his confinement by their talk one t tell of a wedding another of a market another of a day s hunting no one came empty handed so that and never had so the great a variety in their one brought a piece of bear s flesh another a bag of chestnut flour another a basket o grapes or a goat cheese or a fowl or a few eggs meanwhile when he had come in from his day s work at his loom or carved wood or read a chapter in the bible and took to wood carving too and helped to make up his store of toys for the spring fair he also gave the children lessons in reading and writing and towards the end of winter when he was pretty nearly well he had quite a little school of s and young girls and lads whom he gladly instructed in short so happily and swiftly did this winter pass that all were sorry when it broke up and was well enough to prepare to his wanderings he started in the first place for la tour little what dangers and there awaited him xvi in better come hack in the and take a wife cried as she stood at her cottage door with her infant in her arms watching him depart i don t know that any one would have me replied he cheerfully oh nonsense i any one would have shame for shame i won t hear another word more i good bye i well don t walk too fast especially up hill for of consequences remember you re not very strong yet i he doesn t hear me i do believe added she lowering her after m after him what a pace he is going at i cheerily walked on to where he bade farewell to various friends and then he proceeded to la tour keenly alive to the beauty of the spring and the delight of exercise in the open air but he was not very strong yet and he found it necessary to his pace before he reached the end of his six mile stage his mind was full of thick coming memories of the stirring scenes that had occurred in that valley in the old times and he prayed to god in his heart that they might never be revived having reached la tour he went to the s house to bid him adieu and not finding him at home he left a message for him and then crossed the little street to a shop immediately opposite to buy a new handkerchief while he was choosing one the woman of the shop suddenly plucked off his hat he looked up at her with surprise and seeing no advantage to himself to be derived from the the ment coolly put it on again the woman who was a roman catholic remarked you d better have submitted and may get into trouble for this why could not you pull off your hat for manners if for nothing better when the host was being carried by the priest saw you i am sure out of the corner of his eye and you know the laws require as well as within thirty yards distance to i was not aware the host was passing said nor did i remember the law and looking out of the shop door he saw a priest and two or three little boys forming rather a poor apology for a procession going down the street he concluded his purchase and left la tour without any further delay and had proceeded about half a mile on his road when he heard himself called to from behind and the next minute a couple of came up and roughly him he mildly inquired the reason of their him they replied you will soon learn that of the magistrate our business is only to take m prison yon before him however we know very well that you are the profane fellow who kept your hat on just now before the host well ray journey will only be an hour delayed said don t be too sure of that said the other our magistrate may put a spoke in your wheel that shall hinder it from rolling on for some time to come however it is not our business to speak to you and they walked on in silence a few boys and gradually collecting into a little body guard around them when entered the presence of the magistrate he found himself confronted by the shop woman of la tour and by two of the youths who had made up the procession these all bore witness against him that he had kept on his hat and the shop woman alleged in addition that when she out of humanity removed it for him he immediately replaced it and expressed no for his or otherwise the magistrate demanded his name place and occupation and find t tb ing that he house to house this is evidently a malignant fellow said he to his clerk and i t think it any honour to la tour to have been his nor to to have supplied his education therefore my opinion is that we shall do the community at large good service by committing mr to the prison of for the term of three months that is a hard sentence sir said how am i to be maintained there without food or money thirty miles away from my nearest friends people should think of those matters before they commit replied the magistrate you may let your friends if you have any know of your position all the of and many in la tour are my said the knows me well i recognise no such title as said the magistrate though i know who you mean to you must	2
go in prison and what is to become of my sir your have my bag it will be time enough to restore it to you when you come out you won t want to sell in prison but to read the bible sir you will be better without it your mind will have time to recover itself well sir luckily for me there is a large portion of it you cannot deprive me of concealed about your person no sir here touching his forehead ah that s the way with you in grain i there s no washing the mischief out of you remove the prisoner as was removed he looked about for one who might know him but all the men were at their work he caught the eye of a little boy however who was wistfully watching him nd called out to him tell your father and tell the and if you can run over to tell that i am going to the prison at for three months b the the boy nodded and went under guard he was placed in a cart and one seated himself beside him while the other drove as they passed between and st who had hitherto maintained silence signed towards the latter place i shall not fare so ill as the good old of st said he what happened to him said the the fathers of the got him into their power by a he was told that one of his flock was dying and wanted his spiritual assistance on his way he was beset he took to flight but a shower of bullets brought him to the ground the report of fire arms brought a crowd of his people around him and while they were over him as he lay and bleeding the burst forth and carried oflf the whole party prisoners to the here the good old was to and as he would not he was burnt and his unhappy fellow prisoners were compelled to carry the that were to him to the stake he died glory m ing that he was counted worthy to for the cross of christ in the evening when the passed the pile of ashes on their way to the embers it is said became suddenly red as if silently against them that was a i suppose said the i who believes such rubbish as that their excited had probably something to do with it said i do not insist upon it for the faith and constancy of the of our religion need no i suppose you mean to say we have had no said the no you have had many before was worn out which was after christianity became said don t you corrupt us said the you re a prisoner now not a preacher held his peace and they on in silence i remember says the author of that in the on foot with my the on my back i paused in pensive contemplation before a mountain torrent not far from the col the noise which it made in its course the into which it formed itself the various colours with which its waters were stained the enormous blocks of rock which it had and separated without entirely the trees which it swept away in its course held me for some time in profound meditation this torrent was the i pursued its banks and arrived with it in one of the four valleys known as the of the ancient my torrent was no longer turbulent it flowed with strength but yet with decorum as it approached the walls of here then i beheld celebrated by the massive crowning the two heights between which the town is built these which communicate by covered ways had been partly during the republican wars but one of them nevertheless had been repaired and converted into a state prison in this fortress was to be shut up for m prison three months clouds and mists surrounded the base of the on which it stood and seemed to it in mid air the having read his and finding it was for a trifling offence committed by an obscure person carelessly observed he supposed he did not mean to pay for a separate room in reply placed in his hand the few he possessed telling him it was all he had this will not go far towards your keep said the contemptuously i have no more said and i can on bread and a few if you have the bread without the your money will last longer said the it is lucky for you that the weather is too warm for you to want fuel and he turned him into the common yard the few prisoners who were about in it immediately collected i him glad to relieve the monotony of their confinement by looking at a new face they were and repulsive in appearance they asked him what he came to prison for and when he told them the il they p tied him and called it a shame they asked him what his occupation was and when he said they laughed he told them he had originally been a hunter they said there was some fun in tliat and began to ask him questions he answered them cheerfully and soon got into some of his hunting stories which he spun and made as entertaining as he could knowing they would now be his capital they became interested called him a good fellow him spirits and when he declined them and said he lived by rule and had broken a blood vessel they offered him bread and grapes which he accepted by night fall they were all good friends when a occurred he when some of them swore he said come if you say that i shall tell you no more stories you have not heard the best so it s to your	2
interest to humor me on which they laughed and within an hour of bed time he said come this is the time i always read the bible and pray shall i do so aloud or to myself in prison what a joke i cried one why you have no bible shut your eyes and you won t know that come humor me for once behave awhile and if you don t like my to night it will be time enough to protest against them to morrow agreed said they and drew around him i am going said with an of great seriousness in his voice to repeat the chapter of st s gospel and may god bless it to all our souls for his dear son s sake they were hushed and still never had s been more perfect his emphasis more impressive or more winning his words like dew on thirsty ground as soon as he reached the end beholding every eye fixed on him with d attention he said let us pray and the next moment every knee was on the ground they had all just risen when the came to lock them up for the night and wondered to find them all so quiet lord god i thank thee whispered as he lay down on his hard the next morning after their meagre breakfast were yawning or about the yard how stupid this is i cried rather the straw i slept upon or a piece of wood than do nothing let us all try to invent something to do and he whose invention is the brightest shall be the king of good fellows and receive public thanks their fancies were and one after another hit upon some way of their few and miserable resources anything is better than nothing said let us make trial of all and since you are good enough to lend me your knife i will this bit of stick into an old woman s head or stay would any one like to learn to read or write v where are our books and copy books to come from said one leave that to me said your coat is so dusty we might write upon your back and mine s not much better observing that they all laughed but the flag stones will do for if we had but slate or sticks in prison a substitute for both was hit upon by an in fellow who was rather elated by the he received for his talent and to work they went all except a select few who preferred a quiet game of pitch and toss while could thus find sermons in stones and good in everything it was no wonder that to a glimmering consciousness that he was a very good man they added a lively conviction that he was a very good fellow while they were all hard at their new employment ie suddenly cried hold enough why so said they in surprise too much of a good thing is good for nothing said why should not we study variety there was a famous m de st victor who during a long term of solitary confinement contrived such variety in his which were all mental that he literally found himself in want of time ours is not solitary confinement we have much more variety at our command than he had and we have the of hearing a dock strike the which will enable us to our occupations what is to hinder us from having an hour for reading an hour for writing an hour for walking an hour for talking an hour for singing three or four hours for labor and an hour for prayer there s the day divided at once i think master said one of the pitch who had just been beaten you want to be king of the court no i don t said readily you shall be king and be your i shall be shall be chief shall be of police shall be master of the works shall be master of the band if vm to be said where s the treasure to come from from the to be sure i every one that or uses bad language is to fine a that s good of you who have no money wait till i the fine said laughing is of public order be shall the in prison why i shall have to fine myself i cried all the greater fun if you choose to the penalty said tis but child s play after all said well and are not leap and pitch child s play you don t despise them anything for a change i cried so hail to king the first of his name and to his new i i said young in a low voice while the others were engaged in an game for which the had neither inclination nor strength these men are of you as long as you amuse them and you may even acquire a certain degree of power over them for good but i i like you for yourself i am here for a worse crime than any one of them has committed and myself for it and yet i love better things than they do and am sorry beyond expression for what i have done and the poor young fellow told him a tale of woe how that he had loved and had been deceived and had been and had a wrong party and had fallen upon and nearly killed an innocent man and though he lives pursued m crime was all the same i wished him dead and was ready to kill him when i him and beat him about the head and when they brought me here i did not c what became of me since had been false i did not care to live for there seemed nothing worth living for and though was	2
a i felt i had disgraced my people so i held close and went on here just like the rest but though i ve not virtue nor courage enough to take the first part i ll always be your second so reckon upon me i ll always back you up there are two or three more among us put in for as trifling as yours and i fear they are all you can permanently reckon upon for the next time the priest comes who does not come very often the others will go to him to confess and confess other people s faults or what they consider such as well as their own so he ll soon know all you and then he ll warn them against the you and they ll keep apart from you you ll see i s fears however were not fully realized it was a good while before the priest came at all secondly had meantime grown such a favorite that not one of his companions would speak ill of him the who was aware of a great change among his charges and thought it no sin to play and hear if any mischief were became a decided patron of and felt heartily obliged to him for his companions to order when the priest heard the fact reluctantly confessed that a prisoner was obtaining great influence over them the fact was so and by various accompanying statements that he thought it best to content with a very gentle charge to his to beware of being led astray by their ears let the charm never so wisely finally he played himself two or three times without being able to detect any harm and held a with mildly reminding him the old law for burning a minister who attempted to convert a catholic had never been and that though he was a he exposed himself to very said so little in reply and that little so gently that the old man could find no pretext for attacking him and being really of a mild and pacific disposition thought he might as well leave the matter alone meanwhile with a rusty nail blackened with a mixture of and for his had written out nearly all the gospel of st john on the walls of the yard this was the text book by the aid of which he taught his scholars to read and to commit portions of scripture to memory he told them this was a golden opportunity which might never occur to them again and even the most were aroused to a little exertion while the ardent made rapid and progress while all were his friends was his friend who hung upon everything he said everything he could out of him reason the ed him learned of him and aided him ia every way he could had it not been for the generosity of these poor fellows and the s humanity would have ill at the commencement of his for hia friends at and la tour could not immediately journey to nor obtain access to him when they got there but at length made his appearance loaded with a miscellaneous collection of good things which enabled to feast those who had shared their own scanty supplies with him and moreover brought a purse containing a small sum indeed but sufficient for the s w ts during the remainder of his imprisonment which had been collected for him in among the of he accepted this with as much simplicity as gratitude for the workman ia worthy of his hire and he knew that in spite of the reason of his punishment he was ia reality suffering his testimony to the cross of christ and now the time came when he was to regain his liberty to the no small regret of all those whom he was leaving behind how earnestly how affectionately did he them fo keep up to the mark he had set before them and press onward instead of falling off as soon as his personal influence was withdrawn as for he was resolved to become a as soon as his term was out which would be not long after s and he persuaded him to await him before he crossed the that they might travel awhile together with a sense of the blessing of liberty which nothing but the loss of it can give descended the rock of thanking god as he went at the foot of the steep road a man sitting on the bank started up and spoke to him and to his no small amazement he found himself greeted by john the hour and the man i cried john seizing him by tlie hand and working his arm like a pump handle you little thought to see me i fancy but i ve been watching for you this hour more i knew you were here and the would come out to day have known it some weeks my lord is stopping in on purpose to see you oh what a lot of things i have to tell you to be sure i must begin with the end and end with the beginning when we got into the valleys a fortnight ago we found all the in a about your and making quite a personal of it every man ing it home to his own hearth and heart well my lord thought the transaction such a shame even before he remembered who you were f brought that to his mind that he took it up quite warmly and spoke of it in the public rooms and called on m and m and wrote to the of the district to beg him to let you out it was no go in prison you must stay in spite of lord s and calling it a disgrace to the times so finding your time was almost out he resolved to wait quietly in the valleys	2
and see you had fair play after all and help you to make a fresh start i am grateful to lord ham said for his interest in the welfare of a poor fellow of whom he knows so little why you see we know a good deal more of you than we did before we came into the valleys every one speaks well of you the especially and there were some that could not name you without tears and where are you now at an inn in a rum sort of a place this my lord was going to take a sketch of the fortress just because it looked picturesque in the evening sun hanging half way between earth and sky like s coffin but they were down upon him in a minute i no drawing to be made of their i oh my goodness i when every frenchman in france pay about our castle i and for reasons good because in england every man s house is his castle and would be defended accordingly so we don t set store on the solitary one stuck on a shelf well here we are you see on our way to italy because miss has married sir e thb charles and we re following in her wake we liad a wedding i fm getting up my italian you see bride veiled in french lace three clergy to marry her twelve six in pink and six in miss all smiles and tears mrs carpet down to the carriage doors crowd without bride given at the church door all the world to breakfast lords and w john s library the port royal latin grammar as well as s letters from italy no end of champagne and pink ice speeches and showers of tears new st carriage with four in pink satin french maid and in the oflf to two de sweet sir charles is a so they ve gone forward with bottle and bag and we follow after like little jack we re to pick them up at at this moment a group of people with boughs in their hands came towards them and found himself surrounded by a party of hi old friends including who had made this long to congratulate him on his his surprise and pleasure were so great that he fairly shed tears and lord and his daughter watching them from the inn window were by this simple triumph it is not needful to relate what passed between and lord nor how found that his had been destroyed nor how lord insisted ou his accepting the pecuniary amount of their value to pay his way back to germany nor how long remained in the valleys when he his wanderings he found his strength much diminished by his winter s illness and by his low diet and life in prison he had obtained a new supply of at and he proceeded towards his with at the time appointed just before he reached the spot he came to a group of people sitting by the with a j mule litter drawn up beside them whom the he presently recognised to be and the little knew him first and darted towards him with joyful cries hung back but when he held out his arms to her she joyfully sprung into them she had a shade over her eyes hardly more of a screen than those which ladies now call it prevented her being stared at by by and permitted her to enjoy exercise and fresh air instead of being up in the cart which had considerably improved her health and cheerfulness the whole party seemed comfortable together and after of their departed on his journey well pleased to have seen them he could hardly bring himself to judge of the little as fellow mortals there was something so wild yet so shy about them and the shrill cry which had set up on first seeing him had sounded like the signal of the having joined they crossed the col de la in safely with more deliberation than had done when he entered the valley for some weeks they together like christian and hopeful on carrying the bag but they parted when they approached the of germany as could make no way where french or italian was not spoken but they arranged to meet again at a future time s first business was to take up the german he had left behind him on the country with these on his shoulders he proceeded serenely on his way he did not long anywhere till he approached the district where we found him at the commencement of this narrative he first prepared to visit the and see whether the good seed sown there had sprung up or withered as he came in sight of their lonely cottage he beheld the figure of a girl issuing from the threshold bearing an old woman in her arms whom with some difficulty she carried beneath the and placed on a seat that surrounded one of the trees then she fetched a mat r s the her feet then e brought a book from the cottage and sat down beside her and began to read aloud as drew near he heard her in a low sweet voice repeating i will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence my help my help even from the lord who hath made heaven and earth he will not thy foot to be moved and he that thee will not sleep some one is coming said the young girl interrupting herself ah i do believe it is the good man who gave mo this book it is i welcome sir welcome i how often we have wished to see you i and now that you are come i can see you no longer	2
absence in better not tell him to night perhaps said gently well perhaps you are right though i thought he might sleep the better for knowing however you may at all events know that i have studied your blessed bible day and night ever since i saw you last and you will doubtless be glad to hear that though i have given up making i have plenty of cabinet work and never was more prosperous here come the boys said perhaps father it will be better and she whispered to him the remainder of the sentence nodded approval don t you go said he i ll see to it myself for you are the better nurse and went out and now said i shall take up my sewing and sit here quite quietly so that you can sign to me for anything you want and if you have any long speech to make you can write it on this slate but i think the best thing you can do wiu be to go to sleep stay i can i j the make your pillow a little more comfortable will come home by and by and be a better nurse than i am as she smoothed his pillow she saw his eyes which had hitherto continually followed her turn towards the empty in the opposite wall ah said she softly that s gone now i know what you miss and lowering her voice and hesitating a little i don t pray to st anne oh i cried he faintly unable to keep silence any longer if i liked you so much when we thought so differently what shall i do now if we think alike a quick universal blush spread all over her face and neck and had scarcely begun to fade away when it deepened again and again varying fading and like the sunset clouds on a beautiful summer evening looking at her with intensity thought he had never beheld any earthly being so charming but as soon as he became conscious how uncomfortable he was making her he looked j way in on her part she silently edged away her stool a little so that she could neither be face to face nor see any sign he might make if he wanted anything and totally forgetful how bad a nurse she was proving herself she commenced sewing silently and diligently nor ever stayed her hand till mother came in the good dame had already learnt from dr what to expect and entered without any of the bustle of a vulgar but with the collected air of a professional nurse in which capacity indeed her services were often put in she came up to and nodded and took his hand as as if they had parted but yesterday and then set about making a few simple arrangements for his comfort these done she returned to him with the ice dr had sent him and began feeding him with it seeing which gathered up her work and was about to retire but her grandmother suddenly called her back with i you can do this as well as i and i thb have forgotten take my place child only don t set him by feeding him too fast and she hastily went out ice is very pleasant in weather and it is very pleasant to receive it from the hands of a lovely young woman especially if the feels that it would be a very easy thing to fall in love with her though the was of the and the spoon of real imitation silver had cost about never had any y appeared to so delicious he swallowed the greatest deliberation for the sake of the feast nor did seem at all inclined to hurry him as for the rest of the family they were certainly in the the or perhaps the cow house to be out of the way but just as had concluded his came in and stepping up to him said the boys are going to bed in a few minutes but i thought if it would not disturb you we might as well have our family worst ip in here as usual signified his pleased m compliance and mother and the two boys came quietly in began by reading the hundred and not unto us lord not unto us but unto thy name be the praise for thy mercy and for thy truth s sake etc to the concluding praise the lord dear children said he when he had read to the end it is hardly possible to open the book of without coming to these words praise ye the that is to say don t praise this or that saint or holy nor glory and honour to any created being however eminent for but only to him not unto us but unto thy name be the glory praise the lord ye his servants praise the name of the lord it is nailed down and well in the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom a good understanding have all they that do thereafter they are on the right course the way that to life everlasting you and have often sung non without thinking much of the words even if the you understood them well this is the of them which i have just been reading to you in your own language not unto us d lord i and we will sing non presently because now you can sing not only with your lips but with your also not unto us lord but unto thy name be the praise for what for thy mercy and for thy truth s sake yes i gk d is a god of mercy and he is also a god of truth he will not say one thing and do another he said at the beginning that the wages of	2
sin even of a sin as eating an apple contrary to his should be death and death came into the world and has reigned here ever since otherwise he would not have been a god of truth he also said that the son of man that is christ should the head of the serpent that is of the devil of sin and therein he showed himself a god of mercy and he has been a god of truth in his promises as well as in his threats he never fails in his word consequently all who will avail themselves of his own terms of reconciliation may in harbour have their sins forgiven for the sake of christ that is and be mad free from the power of sin by the influence of the holy spirit that is and when they are justified and they may truly exclaim grave i where is thy victory death where is thy sting v and now dear children remember what is justification and what is and how god proved himself to be to us a god of mercy as well as a god of truth let us pray they all knelt down after prayer took up his and accompanied his children s voices in the sweet solemn of non they then kissed him shook hands silently with and stole to bed when drew near to he was pained to see the tears down his cheeks i am afraid this has been too much for you said he tenderly oh no said hush you must not speak but indeed i must said the whispering and drawing his friend s head close down to him that he might hear what he had to say you have made me see myself in a new light you have made me feel more strongly than i ever did before that i am an servant i have done nothing absolutely nothing to i have wasted opportunities my one talent while you with no privileges no advantages have made long strides toward the kingdom of heaven in those few simple words to your children was embodied the sum of gospel truth i why this is mere weakness cried in an voice sheer weakness of body and a letter teacher than you why who taught the teacher during the short time you abode with us were not your words like and yet sweeter than honey my doctrine and yours is one and the same because derived in both instances from the same source the pure word of life but my are but the poor weak of yours and all that they have of in harbour body in them or of soul is derived from their original there s nothing original in me man i except original sin but you see i m in earnest and you would never have made me so if you liad not been in earnest yourself no no you are now by god s providence in great languor and depression and see things in a bad light i can never see myself in any but a bad light whispered but the right thing to do pursued is not to see yourself at au but only the true light which is christ to keep your eyes upon the light that came into the world that all men through him should be saved right right i whispered the pressing his hand why now continued if the that were bitten by had kept over their wounds and their individual see how bad jam oh you re nothing to me would they have got cured think you they would have died every man alive instead of which moses the m bade them not contemplate their own wretched bodies at au but to keep their eyes fixed on the brazen serpent right right and that s what you must do my dear friend don t begin to y ur sickness by dwelling upon this or that short coming and thinking that god won t forgive you and you won t forgive yourself we re au servants and when we have done our best we have only done what was our duty to do let that alone god knows exactly what we are and yet us for his servants after all us with the wages paid in advance of his own blood and if that t melt us what you are a sinner in his sight so am i but we re there s the of it i the of god by faith in christ is upon ok them that believe there is no for ok have and come short of the glory of god where is then it is excluded by what law the law of faith by which alone even the just man lives in harbour i it is to my heart to hear you i why i m only repeating your very wn words and the of st paul come and bid this dear man take comfort in god though now for a season if need to he is in manifold temptations you have made a bible christian of this girl though not immediately she is the very joy of my heart i see how you have been the instrument of happiness to me nay don t turn away i will hold you fast sensitive as you are you shall hear me for once say how i love you i assure you there has often been a little competition between us which should have your bible she on the watch till i had done with it and i on the watch till she had done with it at last the dear girl laid out the money i had given her for a pair of or any toy or she might fancy at the fair on a bible for herself which she got with some little trouble	2
but even now i must confess to you yours continues the greatest favorite with us both chiefly i believe from having come from the as s eyes slowly turned from one loved face to the other he felt something of what expressed of the fulness of joy when he said oh if now to die now to be moat happy and we are not the only fruits of your good seed continued drawing yet closer to him and making her sit on his knee there are other some through my some to whom you imparted the gospel of peace yourself so that we are already a little church and we have a hired room in which we meet to read and pray and consult together on the word of god tliis has not occurred without many and much persecution you may be sure but still we keep our heads above water our grand want is of a and for you see they consider us as persons and would chase our children from their schools even if we had not withdrawn them so that the poor boys get or no and wo ik ourselves are in deplorable want of an teacher so that when you get about a little the best thing you can do will be to supply these wants till we can get a regularly ordained minister for i am sure it will be some time before you can safely carry about that heavy bag and now do you carry him into the room i have prepared for him said mother and help him to for it will never do for him to pass the night where he is i have made everything comfortable and when you are in bed i will come and you up and give you a stick to hammer against the wall in case you want anything in the night got into his room without being carried and he fell asleep and dreamed that was feeding him with ice man tt is was it not that a man whose soul had been for several years by the absorbing pursuit of a grand and holy purpose should find nothing better to dream about than eating ice was it not remarkable that the faith of a practised missionary should suddenly be at bo low an ebb as to make him grasp at a mere fragment of his own teaching restored to him by a poor brother in christ as a drowning man might catch at a plank we are all liable to these and flows the nature of s illness was to bring down his strength very much and make him as lo y as a child happiness was almost too great for him to bear ice one moment and humiliation was almost too great for him to bear the next whom the lord he frequently thus under this trial it was a blessed thing that was promoted to play in a humble way the part of to david when he strengthened his hand in god there can be but little question was david s inferior in spiritual experience and yet in his hour of trouble he was to him and cheered his soul whether it were owing to the cool air which the little chamber through the mother had left open or to twenty drops of in a full of water which she administered to him just before he closed his eyes certainly the first part of the night was spent in refreshing sleep and pleasant dreams but when mother her lamp with her hand stole in noiselessly and without her shoes to look upon him about two hours past midnight a cold dew was on his brow an hue had settled on his countenance and hia the es were contracted with pain she cautiously placed the lamp where it would not shine on his eyes and seated herself beside him in an old arm chair to watch through the remaining hours of darkness perhaps owing to her care which would by no means allow of his leaving his bed till the physician had seen him the perfect silence and stillness in which he was kept were favourable to his for l r who did not call till early in the afternoon pronounced him to be doing as as he had expected though he would by no means hear of his sitting upright or speaking above a whisper while the dull oppressive pain at his chest lasted he was glad he had had some quiet sleep at the beginning of the night gratefully whispered to him i think sir it was the ice oh very well said dr smiling you are welcome then to have one set down to my account daily if you think it worth se for now had in fact had a second ice ice which had been sent for and paid for by no one being in her confidence but who undertook the commission and though it was not quite so great a luxury the second day as the first inasmuch as it and possibly from his hands being rather warm it would run about the plate still was grateful for the delicacy after two or three days seclusion and silence he was promoted to the wooden settle in the kitchen where he lay at length reading the bible all day with at his work bench a few yards ofl and flitting in and out hither and thither in the performance of various little domestic yes here was tlie poor fairly laid on his back with no prospect of his labours for a long time if ever a consideration which sometimes filled his eyes with silent tears and if nobody happened to observe them well and good but sometimes little would come up and wipe them off which made him feel ashamed or would suddenly leave off singing and look i ad or would kindly take his hand for	2
a the minute and bring forth some soul strengthen ing text and then he would smile and fix his eyes again on his book and the next time they looked at him they would see his quiet face lit up with some inward of faith and love that an invisible had kindled now and then two or three of brethren in the faith would drop in after working hours and hold little meetings for reading prayer and sometimes they attempted and and was in a nervous fever to set them right in two words which yet they would not in their tender care of him let him speak then he would try to express himself on the slate and they would breathe on it and what he had written in their awkward attempts to it in despair he would let them go on way and hope better times and better were in store and he tried to let patience have her perfect work in him and to be content since it was god s win to be an servant one night after one of these little meetings there was a ice t great of the cottage windows put his head out and asked what it was for for your devil s agent and holding his returned a brutal voice we ll break every pane in your before we have done with you so this is your christianity is it said suppose you step in and hear a little of mine wait a bit i ll slip on my clothes and be with you directly we ll have a candle and i ll read a chapter or two out of my good book i know who you are very well by your voices and youve done me no harm but good for my book says blessed a re they which are persecuted for sake i m coming down my lads i of course they were all off before he had opened the door a few shillings repaired the mischief and his windows were never broken again the little boys had now no but german children are never in want of household or field so that they were employed one way or another all the day long still their minds were laying in spite of making each of them read a chapter in the bible to him morning and evening and when began to mend he was thankful to make the only in his power for the kindness he was receiving by attending a little to their writing and they sat on low beside him so that he could overlook them as he lay on the settle and speak to them in a low voice and when they were very good which indeed they were always he rewarded them with some of his wanderings his meeting with the little his losing himself on the col de la and his imprisonment at to such would listen so and respond by such animated expressions of delight that beyond bearing must needs her stool closer and listen too sewing all the while and affecting only a moderate degree of interest but had read many pages of the human heart and it was one of the dearest and sweetest experiences of his life when he found and knew ice himself to be winning his way into the sympathy of a girl whom the more he saw of the beauty of her daily conduct the more he esteemed as for there are many persons who can think of and attend to two things at once but he could attend to three there was his work which occupied his busy hands secondly there was the bible lying open at his side on which he continually cast down his eye taking in a verse at a time and committing it to memory his ears which must have been pretty sharp contrived to catch a good deal of what was passing in at the settle nearly behind him and one would almost suspect him of having had an eye at the back of his head he knew so well all that was going on there rejoicing over it in his quiet heart they re in for it thought one and the other of them fairly falling in love and one s as good as the other and there s not a pin to choose between them nor any one else that i know of worthy of either so i m heartily glad of it i as for mother she was so busy out of the doors as to have little time to waste on speculations about what was passing at home either her professional services as nurse were required or there was the cow s to collect or there were the to kill and carry to market or the clothes to wash in the river always something to do i and as for the changes that had taken place in the from one form of belief to another she said she did not see much yes i the impenetrable bid woman with her great deep set dark blue eyes and smiling eyes that like cardinal s seemed made to look into all mysteries and lips that set ill humor and heat at defiance who was so shrewd so keen so benevolent said she did not think and had much difference i there was no shaking that out of her or coming round her or making her from that one grand in the least they were obliged to consider it lost labor and to go on as comfortably all together as ever one afternoon dr looked in on them ice and pronounced to be in such a fair way of recovery that there was no longer need of alarm for him if he would be but careful you must return to your work by degrees said the doctor what is it sir what selling sir from house to	2
house i have heard of that trade before there are not many i believe who practise it i think i am as yet the only one sir in this country nay i remember falling in with one of your brethren in our town a year or so ago that was i sir indeed i had quite forgotten you you bought a bible of me sir oh yes i recollect have you read it sir you silly fellow how should i have time we must all find time to die sir so this is what i get by my attendance an sermon i g the oh no sir oh yes say i there s a good old saying my friend let the stick to his last you undertake to cure men s souls my time is devoted to their bodies yours among the rest yes sir and that was what made me think of your soul why you don t me worse than my neighbors i hope it is because sir you appear so much better than the that i can t forbear a word in season always take care though my good fellow that it is in season st paul sir ventured to be instant in season and out of season i recollect now you knocked me down with st paul before you swear by him oh no i don t swear at all well i only meant you queer fellow you re a i know yoa sa df air a should stick to his ice last you must not be surprised then if i stick to mine now i was thinking sir that whereas i have as you say the cure of souls and you the cure of bodies lord undertook the cure of both bodies and souls and while he preached salvation he went about healing all manner of diseases what a glorious thing sir to unite the two i what a field of action is that which lies before a christian physician i i am not for professions my friend a single one is enough for me and demands a life time however though my time is precious and i have been with you a good while already i will just mention a case that occurred to me in my practice within the which will interest you as a bible had something to do with it there was a genteel family living in our town some little time ago named one of the daughters had a complaint which defied my art to make out i thought it nervous she would have it however nervous or not she so wasted away under it that hei life became try what i she declined day by day all the at once her disease seemed to have made a stand her pulse became less irritable and a little stronger the peculiar harassed expression of her face disappeared i had no way of for the change and watched her very narrowly one day when i called nobody was at home to show me up stairs the maid had gone out and left the door i found my way up to mrs s mrs i repeated yes she was on the sofa and in her re grasp was a book she had evidently be n reading it was in a rich case of green velvet lined with pink silk but on examining it i found it to be a bible of very ordinary getting up just such an one as you sold me it was throughout with pencil marks i was examining it with some curiosity when she awoke and caught me in the fact ah doctor said she in the voice that is hardly fair of you you know very well that is but however that may be i have received more from it than from ice all your and i really believe she had the fever of the mind being the body had fair play when she became strong enough to travel i sent them all off to the can you tell me sir how it with the poor artist what poor artist whom we found in the garret oh we got up a little for him when he got well and sent him to rome where he is now he s a clever fellow well good bye don t try to do too much at first remember fair and softly wins the day what a nice man he is said after watching him ride away if i were a man i think i should like to be a good physician not a physician of souls then said well that would be still better certainly did you know anything of that mrs i sold her the bible who s talking too loud said mother coming in from the cow house the nay dear mother surely my tone was moderate enough however he lowered it at her bidding the less reluctantly as was sewing just within ear shot and every one else was at their own the doctor s favorable opinion of him had raised his spirits the prospect seemed to before him he became animated on the subject of wliat he should do and spoke so fast about it in his energetic whisper that was frequently obliged to say hey what and edge her stool a little nearer y and by began to shake liis shoulders with suppressed laughter marry come up i thought he to himself marry come up at last or my name s not i m sure that was the word oh that young and she sits there still no she s going softly away and he s lying quite quiet as pleased as punch i ll warrant him at having the subject xx i suppose said as they were preparing to separate for the night we shall soon have to say good bye to you now why said looking	2
uneasy oh because you re such a restless wandering fellow tliat you never stay long in one place and the doctor has taken leave of you i am sure he is not fit to travel yet father said hastily who said he was rejoined putting his arm round her waist so that she could not get away are you tired of me said tired of you my dear fellow cried mi the why i should like you to remain here always and so would here made a sudden movement to go oflf which having been foreseen was prevented then if we are all of a mind said why shouldn t i stay that s just what i say let us just go on as we are no not just as we are said why not said i have thought of an improvement on that plan said let s hear it said i am afraid of what may say said gently to take her hand which was very decidedly put out of his reach on her father s shoulder oh never mind her said what voice has she in the matter the question is between you and me shall you go or stay and the answer said is i will stay as the husband of otherwise and the day op his voice faltered the sooner i go the better here there was a violent and final effort made to get free failing which the imprisoned bird yielded to its bondage but could feel the poor little heart beating against his arm the answer is for her to make rather than for me said though i know what it will be she won t have you i d rather hear it from her than from you though said why don t you see she can t speak said here s a colour for you i father you really are abominable i said giving him a push well if you ve anything to say why don t you say it here s a straightforward man waiting for a straightforward answer will you not give it him yea or nay dumb as a i i m sorry for you my man she s waiting for and i can tell you father cried the that you are completely mistaken and i wish you both a very good night i and with a sudden rush against his arm she freed herself and ran off well said laughing are you satisfied with your answer or not perhaps i should not be said had not i obtained a rather more positive one what d shame i said why said i meant to tell you this very night only you me in a word dear friend will you give me your greatest treasure you will not have the heart to say no the two men grasped each other s hands the very thing i wished of au others i said and if you will continue to live with us there will be no we have plenty and to spare and shall share and share alike i hope to be soon able to put my full share of to stock said i have thinking of your proposal of my the of rejoicing becoming and scripture reader to our little church till we are able to get an or minister and then i will resume my what will say to that sees the matter exactly as i do and has consented these will be my head quarters so be my blessing be with you but though the father s blessing was so willingly bestowed it was not so easy to obtain the blessing of the priest marriage is reckoned by the roman among their seven and to receive one of these is to acknowledge yourself a member of their church however bestowed or under whatever mental accepted and were too to think of being united on these terms and the question was beginning to occasion them much perplexity and uneasiness when they learnt that a minister was in their the to him they applied without delay and after some who had almost begun to doubt whether she should ever get married at all found herself converted into mrs considerably sooner than she had expected the good minister interested in the account given by of himself and the little knot of with whom he was connected visited the infant church which assembled like the first es in a large upper room they having been already obliged by their roman catholic frequently to shift their quarters about forty persons here drew together who listened to m with marked and earnest attention but when a twelve month afterwards he again visited the little flock which had meanwhile been under s charge he was surprised and affected to find three hundred persons collected in a little chapel of their own built by their own labour and for out of their own the following year the progress was still more extraordinary they had obtained and were the day of supporting ah ordained minister they had built a school house the chapel was enlarged and filled to overflowing and two or three hundred people for whom accommodation could not be found were hanging about the doors and windows having planted had left o water at the end of eighteen months from his marriage he had resumed his wanderings he made three or four every year returning to cottage as his head quarters and when would tenderly persuade him to his next journey a little longer he would answer her with there is so much to do the fields are white unto harvest and i am the only i at length after some years he was surprised and delighted to encounter a fellow in the field he was sent out by the bible society and though not in the position of a regular of the like being in with the	2
an energy the more impressive by contrast with her usually calm and almost shy manner mercy poured out her protest what has my mother done she demanded with a sort of sacred fury that for the moment all murmurs and brought to the eyes of more than one tears half of pity and half of excitement what has my mother done that you would treat her dead body worse than that of a dog she has been more than a mother to me and how many times she has helped the sick and the poor oh are you the neighbors i have lived among all my life and that have been kind to me that i must beg for a grave for my mother who was kinder and better than you all and you who saved your hand when it was frozen who little hope when she had the scarlet fever you were glad enough to have her help when she was living but now her self control gave way she broke off in a burst of hysterical sobs leaning her face upon the shoulder of her trembling old father for a moment giving the of way before his niece s vehemence covered his confusion with a sneer and again attempted to seize the handle of the before he could do more however a vigorous grasp caught his arm and a young fellow drew him roughly back let be the young man said in a deep voice his strong white teeth showing angrily let be or it will be worse for ye like a wild cat turned to strike but before the blow could fall the clergyman sprang to catch the strong wrist of his angry stop priest commanded in a voice of authority i warn you that you are going too far enraged as was he was still sufficiently master of himself to realize that it was not safe openly to defy the clergyman and it is not improbable too that he could not himself wholly shake off the habit of obedience that was almost universal in the scattered parish with any ally less powerful than superstition it would have been idle for him to set himself against the minister on any question but the remote of the wave of mad in the bundle of time ness which shook in were more than a century in dying away and in the belief in was as perfect as the faith in religion even to day the superstition lives in many a remote new england village and the air of the sea laden as it is with mysterious sounds and influences seems especially to these s whole stubborn nature was by this time aroused and all his cunning bent on the carrying of his point he felt instinctively that the tide of general feeling was turning against him and with genuine new england he hit upon precisely the appeal that would most surely win the crowd again to his views well he sneered falling back if jacob takes the matter up of course we must all give way even if he wants an accursed witch wife buried in the same lot with all the christian folk we come of everybody knows that him long ago to make him run after mercy and ye daniel strong have cause to remember the luck she gave him but if he takes sides with the devil the two together may well be too much for the honest men of the of the appeal produced an instant and powerful effect and the angry retort of jacob was drowned in the cries of assent and approval that answered s words that was the lover of mercy was well enough known in a community where a man was hardly able to keep even his thoughts to himself and the reference to this fact at once the sincerity and of his interference by alluding moreover to an old that extended to boats and all interests which the narrow life of permitted and in which was always victor had secured for himself a powerful support not only daniel strong but many of the young men under a secret sense of defeat while the coincidence between the universal success of the and his fondness for the witch s daughter was exactly the sort of argument which appealed most strongly to the superstitious the crowd once more broke into speech which was rather a than a and which became more angry as it swelled the words of priest were lost in the noise jacob placed himself between the and his but even the bundle of time his stout shoulders seemed a slight enough barrier against to the dead it was one of those and critical moments in the progress of a mob when it is broken into innumerable separate groups in angry dispute and when it is idle to attempt to reach it as a whole until some striking incident once more its divided attention it is usually true moreover that upon the first general impression which shall be exerted on a mob at such a crisis depends its action it is at its most stage and will readily take the stamp of whatever idea is strongly presented to it by this time the crowd collected at the churchyard gate included almost every human being in the village and it had assumed the character of a genuine mob the of priest the entreaties of the appeal of mercy and the interference of jacob had all proved of no avail and there seemed small hope but would carry his point and the body of the dead be cast in upon the jagged rocks of the devil s den help at this desperate crisis came from an of source by one of those strange that seem to reach the mind the of through some sense beyond the five and to appeal to some faculty more subtle the excited villagers became aware that something	3
new had happened a sudden hush spread over the wild company excited paused with open mouths in the midst of their and stretched their necks toward the the angry men broke off their noisy to turn their eyes in the same direction even mercy who had clung to her father in the terror of seeing familiar faces transformed into strangeness before her eyes by superstition and rage turned to look toward the coffin it was only old who had at this critical moment made her tottering way up to the and flung herself down upon it lame and weak and wandering in her wits the poor old creature whose stream of life had been so thin that for almost a century it had on without even the ordinary measure of human existence had only now been able to complete the journey from neck all the long track she had come half tottering half crawling to lay her blessing upon s grave in a wail that had in it the pathos of the sound of the wind in the forest the wretched in the bundle of time cried over and over with heart broken oh but she was my life oh but she was my life oh but she was my life the cry was so intense that it thrilled even the stolid of neck perhaps for the time being rendered more sensitive than usual by unwonted excitement the of their nerves became every moment greater as they stood in groups picturesque and strange the brief november afternoon was darkening to its close long lines of fiery light breaking the cold gray of the western sky a few scant snow were silently stealing through the air falling upon the angry villagers upon the tall form of priest with white locks and black gown upon the strong young figure of jacob standing between his and the dead upon the pathetic group of father and daughter and amid them all that withered century old figure of repeating in shrill oh but she was my life they all understood that cry there was no one there but knew well how long the of had been a on the of they might all remember too if they chose that whom they had left to the tender of a woman they called a witch was the widow of a man who had lost his life carrying help to a vessel on which were the fathers and husbands of people still alive and in this angry crowd had been too proud to go on the parish and her neighbors half a century ago had sworn that she should never come to want now only the charity of this woman from had kept her from actual starvation oh but she was my life the trembling aged voice over and over oh but she was my life pricked to the heart two other women almost young enough to be s came out from the crowd and beside her bowing their heads with sobs upon the coffin there was a rustle and stir among the they knew well enough what cause for gratitude these two had everybody knew all that happened on neck and remembered now how to one of these women had come in the horror in the bundle of time of a saving angel and how beside the bed of the second she had watched when a malignant disease kept every other woman on the neck away oh but she was my life her voice rising in a thrilling strain which made the excited women shiver as if with cold the crowd of wavered then whose stout muscles had out tired those of all the other on the long march from s cottage to the shadow of the square meeting house in which they stood strode forward again to the coffin she set her arms and looked about her and ye she demanded who gave ye that cloak ye re wearing this very hour and ye who brought ye through the fever last fall and ye gates who nursed your wife in time if was a witch well would it be for neck if we had more of them oh but she was my life came in the piercing cry of like a refrain rising still higher and higher oh but she was my life the of take up the priest cried with a gesture at once of dignity and of command bury her wherever these men will the ground will be consecrated wherever her body lies take it to the devil s den he went on the occasion inspiring him with unwonted fire and i tell you the devil s den will be holy if s corpse comes there a wave of sudden feeling swept over the people like a mighty wind as if obeying a common impulse they rushed forward with sobs and broken to raise the but waved them back no she said no man shall touch this the women that have brought it so far in spite of their husbands orders can carry it the rest of the way there was a murmur of mingled assent and remonstrance but it was in the end as said followed by all the men even to who but yielded to the tide of feeling he could not turn back the women of neck bore the body of to her resting place in the consecrated ground of the old in the bundle of time ye have buried a witch muttered under his breath as they left the sacred spot but in solemn rebuke priest answered him we have made the grave of a saint a summer comedy a summer comedy isle au is less known than it deserves to be since there is no other island on the new england coast so lovely except mt desert but that it is the pleasanter for being not yet too much in the fashion none of its admirers will be likely	3
the moment she rises bravely however and comes forward holding out her hand i see it is my duty to beg your pardon she says coldly you furnish so striking an example in the bundle of time of the satisfaction which comes from doing one s duty that i am to miss the opportunity he a little abashed i beg you will not put it in that way of course duty is duty she and it often has the added advantage of being the most odious thing to one s neighbors that can be devised as we have to pass sunday under the same roof and as there happen to be only four of us here it seems to me it will be better to all further performance of duty until some time when we can escape from each other he forgetting to her hand which he has taken when she offered her apology with all my heart i was perfectly miserable when you sent back my ring she withdrawing her hand and going back to her rocking chair oh very likely you were you say in love with me then how amusing a passion that is over is to look back upon he you seem to speak from experience she oh not necessarily i really don t seem to remember having been very deeply in love he beginning to lose his head a little although not yet conscious of it you have certainly declared she who hasn t when a man is in love with her a woman will say anything to please him he you give your sex a good character a summer comedy she laughs by way of answer fully aware that she is getting him to lose his temper and secretly sure that if she can make him angry she may gain her point in the end she with men to deal with we have to use our wits of course you can t blame us for that he then that explains why you were so ready to send back my ring you never cared for me at all she since you got over it so quickly it is so much better all around is n t it it is so pleasant to feel that nobody is hurt he savagely having forgotten entirely his of indifference who said i d got over it she why did n t you he with an inward devoted to her feigned innocence no i did n t she oh i beg your pardon i m sure but your studied reference to all that sort of thing as in the past he what sort of thing she why being fond of me and and all that you know she casts down her eyes and after a moment be quite without any apparent cause to blush violently mr who has risen and begun to pace up and down with his hands behind him stops in front of her chair with the determined aspect of a man who will stand no more nonsense the bundle of time look here he says with a good deal of emphasis you know i have n t got over it she how should i being fond of you and all that as you call it is n t the sort of thing that a man does get over a soft flush comes into miss s cheek she her pretty hands and looks out over the sparkling sea with a smile of new happiness you don t know she with feminine how fond we have become of little island over there isn t it pretty from here very pretty but i m not interested in islands just now i m interested in you she that s very kind of you especially when i am as cruel as you oh i don t take any credit for it i can t help it s ie then you ve tried he yes i have i had to did n t i come you need n t pretend not to care for me and if you do i won t believe you s ie i like your impudence he then it s all right for i promise to be nothing but so you have nothing to dislike s ie that will require very little change the answer seems not wholly to him for he smiles warmly as he takes a chair close by a summer comedy hers then he possesses himself of her hand and after a second of hesitation he puts his arm about her and kisses her full upon the lips she with an indignation so that she has to join in his laugh at it why george right here suppose somebody should see us he oh it is so still here that nobody could see us being a woman she does not immediately perceive the of this logic and with no very great show of to a repetition of the demonstration five minutes later mr appears with his wife in the doorway behind the young people and the pair with a shrewd glance of satisfaction it s all right he remarks in a self satisfied aside we shall have a quiet sunday all to ourselves margaret they won t trouble us le a political dinner a political dinner here is upon the third floor of the union club house on park street boston a card room overlooking the common which is often used as a waiting or reception room for private dinner parties about five o clock one october afternoon a gentleman stood by one of its windows looking out over the tops of the already almost naked trees the heaps of yellow leaves and patches of dying grass and thus on to the sky beyond the public garden and crimson with the of an sunset the man was young tall and well knit with elastic graceful figure and a proud carriage of the	3
head a certain and restlessness of bearing indicating a highly nervous temperament his hand which rested upon the of the window was long and slender with carefully kept nails while his evening dress was worn with the ease and air of one whose occupations leave him so in the bundle of time leisure sufficient for the cultivation of some in his personal habits the door of the room although not was nearly closed and whenever a step sounded in the hall outside the solitary of the apartment involuntarily assumed an attitude of attention which gave place to a look of relief when the step passed by at length the sound of a long deliberate tread reached his ear and his slender fingers stopped their nervous play upon the window a look of disgust came over his face and without turning he said as the door swung open to admit the you are almost late richard to one accustomed to vary the monotony of life by it might have occurred to remark the use of the full name and it indeed throws a certain light upon the character of richard to note that not even his most intimate friends ever thought of calling him by any of those familiar in which after all lies the essence of good fellowship was below medium stature pale in the of skin hair and eyes and he wore always an air of being well brushed which was so perfect as to be somewhat a political dinner it irritated his cousin tom the tall young man who stood at the window so intensely that even now with his back to he was conscious of an exasperated inclination to seize the other his smooth hair his shirt front and his coat it seemed to him as if an intolerable interval elapsed before richard in his deliberate fashion responded to his greeting we may be interrupted in a moment said coming at once to business and i wish to be sure you understand what i understand perfectly the other responded impatiently turning away from the window to face his i am to pay another of your infernal black mail and your note was sufficiently explicit to let me know what is expected of me you need not take the trouble to go over it again i won t listen the other smiled putting up his hand with a gesture of glancing at the same time towards the door to assure himself that he had closed it on entering my dear fellow he said there is really no occasion for a row you know you mean to oblige me and why make a fuss about it in the bundle of time tom muttered a curse of impatience and turned back to gaze out of the window once more while the other despite his detailed the scheme that night to be for his political far below in park street a s boy was carrying home an order of roses a bunch so big that their crimson burst out of the paper and made a vivid spot of color in the old street even in the fast growing dusk tom never saw roses or indeed anything else lovely without thinking of and he almost groaned aloud as the remembrance of her face came into his mind now for five years he had been to miss and for a scarcely shorter time had he been in the power of his cousin who stood here to day with the determination to enforce that power to the utmost he wheeled again swiftly and faced his of course they count on a handsome from you mr was saying though when you me you are not to put that out too just hint at it look here tom broke out why can t you come out like a man richard and say how much money you will take for a political dinner that piece of paper it would be quite as well for you and you are fast driving me to desperation the other smiled cruelly taking from his pocket book a worn yellow envelope out of which he drew an old letter and a check very innocent looking bits of paper he observed the check between his fingers i think i won t sell just yet tom there s more in you than money your friendship counts for something my boy especially just now when your fondness for me is all that prevents your being an out and out independent and making a fool of yourself i m really doing you a service in keeping you in the party you d only be sacrificing yourself to go after george george is the only man that can carry the district retorted even excuse me interrupted the other with perfect with your influence might carry the district but he can t without it and as i am so fortunate as to have secured that a click at the door prevented the conclusion of his remark and a small active gentle a the bundle of time man with red hair and shining entered mr replaced letter and check in their envelope this into his pocket and the cousins greeted the by a name familiar in political circles half a dozen other gentlemen followed in quick succession and the talk became general poor tom seated himself in a chair near the window and as the glare of gas replaced the fast fading daylight he sat staring gloomily at the row of figures clubs hearts and diamonds with which the walls were decorated he took little part in the talk only by an effort himself to respond when addressed and when dinner was announced he rose with a sigh of desperation five years before the cousins had been together in a state street office tom open handed newly had quarrelled with his father and was constantly in want of money he	3
was in a fashionable set was just out of and exceedingly popular at the clubs he was gay and perhaps a little wild but never vicious the intense pride of family which he inherited from his mother was a strong defence against any course positively evil the brightness of the family fair fame being almost a religion with him a dinner yet one black day tom so far with temptation as to his father s name to a check it was rather the occupation of an idle moment when devilish possibilities presented themselves to his active mind than the intent to commit a crime he had just written a letter to a pressing saying that he enclosed the amount of a bill which tom felt must be paid at all and in his brain over the possibility of obtaining the funds needful to make the letter true he recalled how perfectly he was able to imitate his father s signature the useless check book at his hand was that of a bank where his father s credit was good although the son s account was hopelessly and almost in less time than the telling the fated paper was written and folded in the letter no sooner was it done than a of the crime of which he was guilty overwhelmed tom with such a flood of shame and self that even had he succeeded in instantly destroying the he would always have blushed to recall his to disaster just how his cousin whose desk was next his own had divined his opportunity and been able to reach over and possess himself of the fatal letter tom was never able clearly in the bundle of time to understand in the office it had seemed impossible to create a disturbance when his demand for the paper s return had been refused while any faintest of the consequences of s possession of it did not enter s mind until long afterward not until the time came indeed when richard deliberately began his black operations thinking of the matter to night tom cursed himself for the time that he had not defied his cousin rather than by weak compliance brought himself deeper and deeper into the mire it is probable that the consciousness of the guilt of yielding at least to the suggestion of temptation and of having gone so far in the evil path as actually to write his father s name had much to do with his allowing richard to over him he firmly believed that had he been left to himself the check would never have been uttered and it was certainly true that his impulse to destroy it had come as soon as the signature was written but he could not forget that there had been a moment when his intention of the benefit of his crime had been sufficiently strong to lead him to trace that signature the utmost care a political dinner tom was keenly sensitive in regard to the family honor and the idea of a breath of scandal filled him with the deepest dismay he was led along moreover and his made more complete by one or two notes so carelessly that taken in connection with the check and the letter in which it was enclosed they might almost seem an admission of his guilt it was a long time before he realized to the full the cruelty and the of his cousin and by time it was clear to him he seemed too completely in the power of the other to escape the dread of exposure the of how a story the other might make out of the evidence in his hands had led tom to yield to the first demands of richard and after that the rest followed as a matter of course when a few months after the check was written his father s death left him the possessor of millions tom believed his way to peace to be an easy one richard had as yet displayed no and that he would sell the check had not for a moment doubted with this one terror removed he would be free to marry and whatever folly had his past but so simple and short sighted a bargain s in the bundle of time little suited richard s subtle and ambitious nature he counted tom s wealth as his already but he did not on that account intend to lose his hold upon his cousin s influence as well he longed for political advancement and he v as personally as as tom was well liked below this too was his life long instinctive enmity against his cousin when they were boys together richard had hated tom for him in races for being more than himself he was full of bitterness that tom was the heir to as many millions as his numbered hundreds and last of all he was full of the jealousy of a base man who sees his enemy win the love of the woman to whose favor he secretly for five years he had been patiently making tom his tool and working toward the end which this evening should as he led the way into the banquet room he was so full of self that even his slow step assumed a certain quickness do you see how is he whispered to tom as they went to the dinner table he d like it better if if he were going to carry off the honors himself a political dinner they belong to him was the bitter reply and he d have them if you were n t a scoundrel and i an tut chuckled don t abuse yourself and do try to be a little less tom glanced at george the man who the best elements of his party believed should be candidate instead of political issues this year were turning as almost never before in the history of the country on principles	3
of and honesty party lines were everywhere being broken through by men who found conviction stronger than party and tom himself felt his heart burn within him at the consciousness that the support he was to give his cousin was a direct of his sincere belief to be honest he must have who was set aside almost solely because the large interest which tom represented was supporting the latter there had been a good deal of by richard but tom s influence and tom s millions had everywhere been his card had an inherited place in the boston political world and in this particular matter no other man s word was of so much weight as his so that he felt to o in the bundle of time the full the responsibility of the he was to make which although would practically settle the matter richard had taken his seat opposite his cousin and with sparkling of lights of and of laughter the dinner went on tom could not eat and with gloomy eyes he looked down the table from his seat on the right of the eminent who presided his money paid for this feast at which he sat so unwillingly and to which he was brought to offer up his political honor as one more sacrifice to the of his tyrant his was almost it seemed to him that he must break out in some desperate deed he replied mechanically to what was said to him his face like a mask assuming a smile at the numerous which flew faster and faster he thought of and how she would despise him if she knew he had never dared tell her the truth but with painfully wrought excuses had explained the delay of their marriage until even her perfect faith was strained to wonder sitting at the feast to night tom ground his teeth and cursed the fate which made him wrong the heart that trusted him he looked across at his a political dinner cousin whose sallow cheek was flushed with triumph and a bitter leaped to his lips at the bondage in which he was held an old purpose long cherished took new shape in his mind suppose he should rise in his place and lay bare all his whole wretched story to the honorable gentlemen dining here after all the ordeal seemed less dreadful than to stand up before them as for his cousin whatever was noble in his soul asserted itself and he sat more erect as his determination took form he might lose all that was dearest to him he shivered and set his teeth together at the thought of going out from this brilliant company a disgraced and man the impossibility of making them believe in the innocence of his intentions in writing that check came over him like a blast of icy air that these men who had all his life given to him the honor which belonged to a member of the proud old family into which he had been born should to morrow ever and ever after look when he encountered them seemed to him a punishment too terrible for human nature to endure the friends of his fine old father the companions of his college days the men he knew and in the bundle of time liked at the club all seemed to come in review before him passing his mental self as he sat there in the gay over the wine with averted faces and mien to confess seemed to him to mean the of all honor and all happiness he could not explain could he even persuade he could only rise in his place and confess what he had done and that he had borne the burden of it so long that it was intolerable to bear it longer he would not even richard he thought with a of contempt behind which perhaps lay some subtle self if those who heard could and did read between the lines of his story that was not his concern he would not even mention his cousin s name but he almost groaned aloud as he thought of her to tell the truth meant giving her up and he reflected bitterly that not even the fact that he had never been so worthy of her as this confession would make him could not change the fact that he could not ask her to unite her with those of a man disgraced he would be worthy of her he said to himself even if he lost her he would not add to his the crime of being false in this public act it a political dinner was in no small degree a sense that to night he was acting in a sort of public capacity which gave him the firmness to hold to the resolution to speak the vital force which despite all corruption all and all selfishness does still live in our free institutions for every honest man strengthened him to go forward he might perhaps have lacked resolution to make this supreme sacrifice of himself had private issues been at stake but in his mind a throb of that patriotism which is the hope of the country woke all the nobility and fire of his soul whatever may have been the weakness or wickedness of his previous hfe he was at this moment truly and nobly a hero he set his teeth together and waited what he had to say in his mind and mingling it with the words in which he meant to tell the whole naked truth to at last the dinner meanwhile wore on and almost before tom realized it the air was full of cigar smoke and the for the evening was on his feet what he said poor tom could not have told had his life depended upon it he smiled to himself with dry lips as he fancied what would be the	3
effect of the remarks he meant to make in the bundle of time the applause which now followed as a matter of course would hardly be so ready then he reflected with a ghastly sense of humor he clapped when the sat down remarking to himself that he was glad the speaker s rather unusual of mouth and forehead was not his and then almost with a shock he realized that his cousin richard was on his feet mr had prepared himself most carefully for this ordeal yet he was not wholly free from and as he cleared his voice to begin his air was that of a man who finds unexpected difficulty in getting his words to consent to be uttered tom strangely grown calm bit off the end of a cigar and watched richard with a critical air a sort of disinterested curiosity as if he already looked back upon his past with vague wonder the speaker grasped firmly his coat collar drew a deep inspiration and went bravely forward with his carefully collected he began to quote he thrust his hand into his pocket and drew out a handful of papers selected a list of figures and laid the others upon the table before him among them was the yellow envelope which tom knew so well a political dinner fixed his eyes upon it as a bird looks into the eyes of a snake which him in telling of it afterward tom declared that it seemed to him he could not move that some irresistible power held him and that had not a special providence interfered in his behalf that envelope would have gone back into richard s pocket providence on this occasion took the form of the of the evening who was seized with a sudden whether from the effect of generous or from a naturally humorous disposition is not apparent in either case it seemed to him an excellent joke to the heap of letters lying beside s plate and them about among those of the guests near him the speaker absorbed in his figures noticed nothing and fate tired of poor tom directed that in the distribution the yellow envelope with several others should come into his trembling fingers when he held the envelope in his hand his powers all re asserted themselves yet so firmly and fully had he determined upon confession that even now the need was removed the heroic resolve did not at once in the bundle of time vanish he looked down at the envelope and with a thrill of scorn so keenly realized in what a slavery he had been living that it seemed necessary to make his declaration in order to regain his self respect to his highly wrought mood it appeared easier to speak than to keep silence in another moment however that common sense which prevents half the noble deeds which but for it would stir the world itself and he smiled at the folly he had almost committed yet it mattered very little since before fortune put this chance into his hand he had conquered in his fight with self and and this was certainly nearer to being a hero than most men ever approach holding the letters carelessly he extracted the check from its and passed the whole bunch to his next neighbor that gentleman in turn handed them to the next man and so in succession each guest handed them until when richard warm with pride and his exertions resumed his seat amid the customary applause the whole was gravely handed to him by the fact man who sat next below him and it was only after the dinner was over that he learned of their a dinner there was a stir of expectation when the having introduced him rose slowly to his feet it was understood well enough what he had to do and however much his companions might wonder they could not but agree that what he attempted he did with grace richard watching him was at once astonished and elated at the hearty and air with which his cousin delivered his opening sentences briefly but forcibly tom ran over the points oi the political situation the need of a strong candidate in the crisis which they all saw approaching he stood easily holding his cigar in his fingers and now and then with the hand that held it his general remarks concluded he took from his pocket a bit of paper leaned forward to touch the end of it to the flame of a candle and with it lit his cigar i do not mean gentlemen he continued when his cigar was well alight and the last of the burned check fell from his fingers to turn this social occasion into a but it is as well to come to an understanding of each other s feelings in order to work with a harmony which shall be effective so that i feel excused for mentioning for your consideration the name of a in the bundle of time date upon whom i think we can all agree and whom so far at least as i can speak we could heartily unite in supporting richard modestly cast down his eyes while a deeper hush fell upon the company these men were and it is probable that their objections to the they expected were based upon grounds of rather than upon moral conviction yet being in a situation where they realized that the better feelings of the masses might be taken advantage of they regretted the loss of an opportunity to be so virtuous they were prepared to it is true but they were not wholly reconciled to giving up the rare luxury of being at once honest and successful as for tom it was even then with the ashes of the fatal paper lying before him only by a mighty effort that he held himself to his task he leaned forward	3
nervously mechanically picking up a a swift train of thought brought back to him the scene he had looked at from the adjoining room a couple of hours before the sunset the s boy carrying home the big bunch of roses and it brought back too the remembrance of which those roses had awakened a political the name gentlemen he said drawing himself up to his full height is that of george there was an instant of surprised silence then a storm of applause an amateur an amateur it is a sunny afternoon in august and upon the wide of the cottage is a group of young folk standing or seated in chairs and upon the railing one of them has a and the discussion going forward largely with the best pose of the groups which mr van is about to take although it may be added that other things come in for a word now and then but where in the world is mrs asks a looking creature of twenty or if she is to be the centre of the group we can t pose till she comes she went to change her frock miss answers she did n t like the one she had on i will say that mrs does her duty by her clothes young who is in a in looks as well as otherwise adds tom who is with the widow s charms oh of course dick don t you think it would be splendid to go over to the old fort and have a group asks it in the bundle of time what should we go over to the fort for in this blazing sun demands uttle miss whose languid pose shows how averse she is to unnecessary exertion oh it would be so romantic and the old guns would be so good to pose against miss wishes to be taken as the goddess of war says why not the goddess of peace she asks oh that is miss s you could n t think of interfering with her certainly not miss answers with s more emphasis than seems absolutely necessary never mind miss tom remarks all the women who have made any stir in the world who have been remembered and be and all the rest of it have been the cause of war and so come under your she is welcome to them miss puts in i wish her joy of the troublesome crew if she attempts to manage her subjects i suppose a woman is never thoroughly attractive and really good at the same time jack that is an admirable thing to say to us cried miss ladies we are either not attractive or we are not respectable take your choice i did not say respectable jack answers with an amateur coolness i said really good you are all so attractive that i am convinced that you are none o you really pious and perfect mr knows that a woman would rather be called an abandoned wretch than commented miss dear me van turning with the air of a man having upon his shoulders the of the universe are n t you almost ready take us as we are mr van miss returns for my part i cannot think of moving oh but you must he answers of course i cannot take you if you will not pose then i won t be taken oh don t say that he you know i want to take you all just pose the rest of us laughs miss and grace won t be left out for the world why must we wait for mrs asks dick let s have two or three groups before she comes all right answers van whose only anxiety is to get to work how furious she will be miss remarks under her breath to miss so much the better is the response which less of christian charity than might be desirable in the bundle of time now keep perfectly still all of you van says miss please turn your face a little to the right no to the left i mean miss please look up a little more you can t wave that about in that manner but my dear fellow i assure you that i can for i do but i mean that you must n t then why don t you say what you mean but you don t stop oh i stop when the time comes old fellow i know this amateur it will be ten minutes yet before you are really ready and i don t see why i should let my go out so long beforehand van puts on an expression of long suffering fortitude and his emotion by examining the of his with great attention miss he says after a moment s study will you pull your hand back a little it is so far forward that it will be out of proportion the hand is withdrawn with a jerk my hands are bad enough when they are properly taken i don t think that i could stand having them made any worse i knew a girl that had her engagement broken because she sat for an amateur photograph tom with much solemnity the young ladies instantly forget all about their an amateur and turn to him with the keenest interest who was it why was the engagement broken tell us about it ladies ladies van cries in despair don t change your positions i was just ready to begin who was the girl miss asks of tom the altogether yes who was she oh she was a girl i knew the man she was engaged to made a row about her being with a lot of people on a hotel look here cries the exasperated van i should think that you might be in better business than trying to break up things in that way trying to break	3
up things my dear fellow i never for an instant thought of such a thing drive ahead but tell us about the girl miss oh there isn t anything more to tell but why did he object oh just a matter of taste he thought it wasn t the correct thing the young ladies regard one another with looks of uneasiness and are apparently completely out of conceit with the whole idea of a photograph don t you think miss says rising and turning almost back to the that we had better wait for mrs after all in the bundle of time wait for me the widow cries as mrs appears with great sweep and of i am very sorry if you find it so unpleasant to wait for me it is always unpleasant to be deprived of mrs s company tom with mock gallantry but then there is the anticipation of her coming dick adds in the same tone thank you for nothing the widow answers you shall both be for making game of me the young men groaned in concert she means it tom i can always tell by the way she says a thing whether she really means it or is only trying to somebody after that you will get no mercy the widow cries his fingers with a fan her is wonderful to behold her gown being of black lace over yellow silk and much with glittering drops of yellow glass a large diamond star upon her breast and others twinkle in her hair heavens but is n t the widow got up to do execution murmurs under his breath to miss mrs turns upon mr van with all her customary animation there you horrid man i ve taken all the trouble to put on this gown because you said you it an amateur would like to take me in it i hope you appreciate the sacrifice is it a sacrifice to make one s self beautiful puts in dick it is needless to the refined gold tom come the widow declares turning upon them sharply i will not be if you do not behave i will take mr van around to the other and have my pictures taken all by myself oh do that is just what we were longing for that is civil to mr van oh van does n t mind he s hardened to it to be a successful amateur dick declares it is necessary to lay aside all human except selfishness and vanity tom adds with frightful that is a nice thing to say mrs don t mind them mr van she continues turning to that gentleman who has apparently been so much engaged upon his that he has not noticed what has been said we appreciate you at least will you all please get into position the asks with cheerfulness we will take a few views and then try some time plates o in the bundle of time if anybody thinks that i am going to put my dress beside that gown of mrs s remarks miss he is little acquainted with my disposition or with the feminine mind tom adds oh that is nonsense mrs i want you for a foil besides that frock is awfully becoming i knew this gown was n t much miss whispers to miss but i did not think that it was bad enough for her to afford to praise it there is at this moment so little interest shown in the entire scheme that van is evidently thoroughly discouraged he goes from one to the other and as soon as he can get two or three in place he is harassed by the discovery that they are moving about or that the others have escaped him altogether i never did see anything like it he cries in anguish you won t be quiet an instant i don t think that i will be taken anyway mr van miss with an evident endeavor to appear as if the idea was at that instant born in her mind i don t think that it is quite the thing to be taken in groups this way the young men laugh significantly but the girls who have been longing for this escape and who have besides made up their minds that nothing will induce them to be taken in their plain an amateur with the widow in her splendid instantly take sides with miss and declare that they will not be taken the suggestion of a broken engagement is too much for them jack says laying down the glass with which he has been to identify a in the whose engagement is broken demands mrs with instant interest s without an instant s delay mrs changes color slightly but she holds herself wonderfully well in hand in view of the fact that she is perfectly well aware that every person present knows that her cap has been set for the mentioned for a couple of seasons and that she was in a rage when his engagement to another was announced to cover the pause which follows she takes the glass and looks over the bay what is that she asks it is the jack answers with something like a wink to tom and dick the widow turns instantly to van laying the glass in the beside come mr van she says if nobody else is to be taken you may take me is it an engagement tom asks don t be impertinent she isn t the mr s in in the bundle of time miss with every appearance of innocence yes is the reply to which all the girls listen in the hope that there will be something added come mr van the widow remarks briskly i have been ready this age where shall i stand just where you are oh no j it is much better to stand here mrs miss breaks in why not try	3
the comer of the by the post or there by the door why not have her taken as if she were just coming out of the door i think it would be better for her to be sitting on the steps why not have her sitting in the holding the or the spy glass adds tom all these suggestions are poured out at once upon the unhappy who begins to feel that he is in a he turns from one to the other and in the end says to mrs well do whatever you think best you don t expect me to pose myself do you the mr always handles the subject s head a great deal and then says fix your eyes just an amateur here and look natural wink often enough to relieve the eyes if you haven t learned that you don t know the a b c s of your duty nobody is to handle my head the widow declares a chorus of feeble laughter this retort and then there is a renewal of suggestions in regard to the pose why not pose as if you were walking away and just turn your head over your shoulder there that s good keep that way oh no that s too stiff a little more to the left hold your chin up a bit that fan is too far down just a thought to the right now there that is perfect now ready oh bother what is the matter now i ve been and put in the wrong and this is the time plate then take a time picture can you stand still without a rest of course i can go ahead all right ready now i say the voice of jack at this critical moment i suppose you know that all that yellow will take black take black the widow in dismay why i shall be as solemn as a a the bundle of time she entirely her pose and turns to the consideration of this important question with a suddenness which leaves the completely in the you might go and put on another gown miss suggests a little nonsense mrs i have had all the dressing i can stand for one afternoon besides van the light is getting fainter we must have the pictures now or not at all i don t see why you could n t have said that half an hour ago the widow says turning to with marked oh i did n t remember that i had been asked then you had better have kept quiet altogether the long suffering van there is a good deal of chatter and suggestion of various sorts and in the end mrs declares that nothing will induce her to have her picture taken oh don t say that van here i have given up a party this afternoon on purpose to take you well i don t want to be taken and that is the whole of it she accordingly turns and with a great of her yellow and black van looks after her a moment and then turns to the others for sympathy an amateur it s too bad old fellow tom remarks lazily that you should n t get a single plate yes it is one of the girls adds after all the trouble you have taken oh i am satisfied he with a grin i have two or three good snap shots at mrs that ought to come out first rate have you really yes i thought i should get a better expression if she did not know when she was taken i hope that you have n t played the same trick on us the significance of the s smile is too evident to be mistaken the wretch i believe he really has girls he has really taken us all well what was i here for van inquired gathering up his i ve had experience with girls before and i knew it was best to take a plate when i had a chance whereupon there is an effort to get his away from him but as the young men take no part in it he has little difficulty in making his escape his wedding gift to mrs which was presented a couple of months later was a capital picture of herself in an admirable pose on the with a glimpse of her future husband s just visible in the over her shoulder t t the man who committed the man who committed i it was the most ridiculous of situations to have lived thirty years under one name married under it and then be suddenly called upon to change it was enough to make even a harder headed man than philip a little confused and when it came to his wife s taking a new name also and that quite a different one from either of his it is no wonder that declared that the personal identity of the family was wholly lost and that for his own part he knew neither who his nor himself had become it came about in this way and his wife were not related yet they had from birth an aunt and an uncle in common which is a puzzle which he may solve who cares to take the trouble although for a proper understanding of the matter it should be added that two more old than these n the bundle of time same relatives never or quarrelled with friends in their wilful fashion they were very fond of philip and and to them they willed the ample fortunes with which fate had provided them they departed life at about the same time and aunt left her property to on condition that the latter assume the family name of the while uncle his wealth to philip upon terms precisely similar it made no especial difference to he was not unwilling to assume the proud old	3
name of his mother s family and with aid the change was soon effected but with the situation was more complicated had she been single she could have shifted her name temporarily changes of this sort being among the ai which are supposed to enter into the calculations of every young woman the idea of taking a name which was not her husband s was another thing and too ridiculous she said it suggested the weak minded of strong minded women far more closely than was at all pleasant but as for having aunt s money go to those disagreeable girls declared she would sooner take forty names or have no the man committed i name at all and so it ended in the of powers on behalf of mrs as well as of her husband with the ultimate result that the young couple became known as mr and mrs a of which put them in very serious doubts as to who they might really be it chanced that about the time matters were settled the date arrived when the pair had planned to visit to avoid the of the boston spring but what are we to call ourselves demanded as they were discussing details you say you cannot reach until a week after i do and it will certainly look peculiar enough for mrs to announce that she is expecting her husband mr in a few days i simply shall refuse to recognize you when you get there it is too utterly ridiculous for our names to be different nonsense replied you could n t help rushing to meet me if you were called van and i peter you me too much to resist me especially after a week s separation you you horribly conceited wretch cried his wife i never speak in the bundle of time one word to you when you come to if i die of i won t even honor you with a glance of my haughty eyes as aunt used to say oh you shall see had more than half forgotten the threat of his wife when he stepped upon the hotel at but a single glance at the self possessed little woman who sat with an elderly lady in frosty curls showed him what was before him the faintest flush swept over mrs s smooth cheek as mr in passing the ladies lifted his hat but no other sign would have indicated to the most acute observer the fact that she had any previous acquaintance with that gentleman she went serenely on with her apparently as intent upon its conventional beauties and as deeply interested in miss s gossip as before she had been prepared for this encounter she had known to a minute the probable time of her husband s arrival and had taken her place here for the especial purpose of him she soon the man committed excused herself and went to her room where she executed a series of girlish of wild glee but hardly with the highest of dignity then she made the most of and went down to dinner fate or so contrived as to fix that gentleman s place opposite his wife s at table mrs s first feeling at this arrangement was one of pleased amusement yet she felt it to be in a manner a challenge her love of mischief asserted itself and throughout the meal although she was unusually she totally ignored mr he made some advances in the good graces of miss whose seat was next his own discovering that they had common acquaintances in the north and by the time dinner was ended patience not being the strongest trait of his character he thought himself in a position to make use of that elderly maiden s good offices may i ask the name of the lady opposite he questioned as they left the table she was sitting with you on the when i came her face seems familiar that is mrs answered miss delighted to be able to give information she is from boston have n t the bundle of time you ever met her she is very intimate with the of whom we were speaking oh that is why her face seems so familiar was reply shall i be too much upon your kindness if i ask for an introduction i shall be pleased to present you she will certainly be glad to meet a friend of the but mrs merry weather had been quietly watching the pair since in the course of their conversation they had reached the parlor and the intent with which miss now approached her she turned away with well feigned and stepped through the long window upon the a mischievous gleam lighted her eye she saw captain an officer on leave whose acquaintance she had made during her week at smoking alone just outside the parlor window and immediately joined him his wife having fled perceiving that he was freed himself from miss as speedily as possible and himself to the as he came through the long window his wife turned to go to her room and in passing let her the man committed fan whether by accident or design even she herself was hardly sure fall at the feet of the latter he picked it up but as she took it his grasp lingered upon it long enough to compel her eyes to meet his has n t this gone far enough he murmured under his breath thank you she returned aloud and he stood aside to let her pass iii it was perhaps half an hour later when a servant tapped at s chamber door bringing a note the which she saw at once was in her husband s hand ran to mrs introducing mr philip it read as follows dear mrs will you allow me to make you acquainted with mr philip i have known him all my life and	3
can speak of him as a capital fellow whom you will find it a pleasure to know i take the opportunity of adding my regards and with devotion i remain very sincerely yours philip in the bundle of time hesitated a moment here was the way out of her difficulties but enough at this indication of a readiness on her husband s part to humor her caprice she became unwilling to end the farce the cleverness of his device amused her but it also stirred her up to match against his her skill in it was hardly ten minutes after despatched his before the servant returned it to him accompanied by a tiny note which said mrs regrets missing the acquaintance of mr especially when he is so cordially by an apparently disinterested third person but as she is not aware of having in the world a friend whose name is philip she is sure there must be some mistake in the delivery of this letter to her this note despatched sat waiting for nearly an hour expecting some further demonstration on the part of her husband but as at the end of that time nothing had occurred she concluded to retire she was both amused and vexed the of the situation grew more and more evident she lay tossing about in bed vainly trying to sleep becoming more and more restless every moment the man committed she heard the sounds in the hotel gradually the beams of the late risen mo n struck at length the top of her window throwing a mellow light through the chamber lay watching the golden glow as it moved slowly down the curtain when her attention was suddenly arrested by a shadow which began to define itself upon the window shade it was the of a man s hat beneath which the shape of a head soon made itself visible then the form of a man s shoulders and in time his whole figure except so far as it was obscured by the balcony chair in which he sat he was smoking and something in the pose of the shadowy head convinced the that the visitor was her husband had raised herself upon her elbow following the development of the figure upon the curtain when it was complete she slipped softly out of bed and dressed hastily her hurried completed she hesitated a moment then walked boldly to the window and drew up the shade the window was open and at the first sound the turned toward her he started as the moonlight fell upon her face he ejaculated is that you in the bundle of time hush she said in a whisper you knew it was i or you would n t be here i had n t the faintest idea where you were retorted i was here trying to think what you meant by treating me so and do speak lower she interrupted somebody will surely hear what if they do do you want to compromise me compromise you yes compromise me i should think you d care more for the reputation of your own wife than to have it known she was talking with a strange man at midnight from her chamber window he threw back his head and laughed a long laugh which broke out afresh under every attempt to it he you you ll be the death of me i never heard such a delicious bull in my life for heaven s sake she exclaimed in a hoarse whisper leaning out of the window in her eagerness and putting her hand over his lips miss s room is directly over mine and she has ears like a i come inside he said rising lightly the man committed and making a motion to put his foot over the window sill no no no she cried then suddenly closing the window in his face and it she sat down on the floor and burst into foolish tears her husband stood helplessly regarding her by the clear moonlight he tapped on the pane softly once or twice then as she paid no heed he trimmed his cigar and walked away with an air of injured dignity and was seen no more that night iv mrs dressed herself with especial care upon the following morning and never had she looked prettier than when she took her seat at the breakfast table her husband was already there but with the first glimpse that she had of his face she perceived that he was seriously vexed he gave not the slightest heed to her presence not even acknowledging her arrival by the stirring of an he finished his meal silently and before had done more than her cup of coffee he left the table half an hour later as she sat at one end of the while her husband strode up loo in the bundle of time and the other her gloomy were interrupted by the appearance of miss who with an air of mystery took her seat by s chair and drew out her a very handsome man she said after a moment s silence mrs started with a sudden consciousness that she had been intently watching her husband and that her companion had her glances who she asked to appear indifferent mr you looked as if you thought so too oh is that his name who is he who knows him here i don t know miss answered but a significant of the lips left the to infer that awful things remained but what oh nothing what are you about mrs asked with a shade of impatience in her tone what do you know about him nothing oh i assure you positively the committed loi nothing returned the other only i thought i heard his voice on the balcony last night in the night you know and that fast mrs s room is almost under mine	3
fast i m sure i never thought mrs fast oh she must be or she would n t be talking on the balcony in the night with a man i could n t be sure it was he for i have n t heard his voice much though now i think of it the gossip went on eagerly as a new idea seized her he asked me to present him to you i do it now and that will give me a chance to hear him speak while i remember the sounds of last night but began oh you need n t mind miss interrupted he must be respectable for he s a friend of the and away swept the excited little woman shortly to return with mr mr mrs and before had time to recover herself she was sitting there talking to as if they were the strangers it was too ridiculous yet there sat little miss shrewd alert eager for a morsel of scandal as is the early bird for the i in the bundle of time worm and was far too to yield herself to the tongue of any woman she scarcely followed the earlier portions of the conversation with its usual which needed no very close attention but all her energies were aroused when her husband threw down the by saying it is strange mrs that i never heard the mention your name gray was my at and i have known him all my life indeed returned coolly raising her eyes to meet his and the main point of his remark i should have said that mr gray s was a mr i certainly have met such a man at the there was a in our class retorted capital fellow the girls all used to over him it can t be the one i mean then said she severely no girl could possibly over him a stony silence succeeded broken by an inquiry from miss upon the length of time mr remained at that depends he answered carelessly there is nothing in particular to detain me here the man committed no mrs merry weather said with sarcastic sweetness then why do you remain the most useless thing in the universe observed to cover the sting of the words by a sudden of manner is an idle man come come miss interrupted briskly that is far too personal mrs i m sure an idle man is no worse than an idle woman and he is still a man you know and therefore necessarily good for something laughed no therefore not expected to be good for anything retorted his wife good he said now we shall get on as long as we can confine ourselves to general abuse of the sexes mrs we are safe it is individual application that is dangerous oh that is no matter she returned if it is n t personal for instance if i said that a man who put both himself and his wife into a ridiculous position should have wit and skill enough to find a way out of it that would still be a remark of a general nature certainly and if i answered that under bundle of time those circumstances some women would be so stubborn or so stupid that not even solomon could get them out of the simplest fix that too would be only a moral that runs at large i am neither stubborn nor stupid poor burst out tears starting into her eyes my dear mrs merry weather exclaimed miss whose presence alone prevented the conclusion of the whole misunderstanding at that moment of course mr meant nothing of the sort how could you think so it is said to be a feminine trait to make a personal application said i was only speaking of the wife of the man in the we women are easily hurt said in a low voice rising and moving away she was wounded and miserable in imagining the comedy which she and her husband were to play she had fancied a sort of stage courtship a little high flown and unreal from the consciousness on the part of the actors that they were merely playing a light half mocking gallantry was what she expected or at least so she had told herself although in truth with a woman s sentiment she had also expected the ring of genuine the man committed love too tears were in her eyes as she now sought a seat in a retired part of the and it was with difficulty that she refrained from breaking down altogether a step she knew approached quickly her husband said coming up to her how long miss s appearance cut the question short why here you are she cried what made you run away have you discovered mr no he but i hope to for mrs has been kind enough to promise to drive with me this afternoon i will have the carriage at the door about three if that suits your convenience and before either lady could utter a word of comment or suggestion he had lifted his hat and withdrawn v the afternoon was the scenery sufficiently novel to both philip and to hold their attention and for the first half hour of their drive there was nothing to indicate any shadow of between the pair i in the bundle of time at the end of that time they found themselves upon a secluded portion of the road when coolly put his arm about his wife and kissed her she resisted a little but ended by returning his embrace with much oh dear she sighed how good it does seem to be ourselves again and not somebody else i think it has been perfectly since you came it seems a week since last night then why did you send back my letter of introduction that was particularly horrid of you of course i did	3
n t think you d give up so she returned you were a great goose and a great goose not to break in when you locked the window in my face i suppose oh well it does n t matter was the feminine retort it s all over now anyway for the next half hour the couple delivered themselves over to the of and by sudden perils into which they were brought by s driving little of his attention being left for his horses then all their was once more of course the husband remarked now the man committed we can tell and have done with all this uncomfortable nonsense oh no cried just think what a horrible scandal that hateful miss would make out of it she is capable of anything what could she make out of it but the truth but nobody could ever be made to understand it and it really is too ridiculous can t you think of something else dear yes he retorted savagely i can think of several things the price of stocks for instance or the of or of how i hope uncle and aunt are in the most tropical of for making such wills why philip how can you talk so it is you have no acquaintance by that name he interrupted and my aunt too she went on without him and your own uncle her husband broke into a bitter laugh you have a logical mind mrs he observed perhaps you can think of something i in the bundle of time h poor sobbed the of her nerves finding relief in the tears which flowed fast you have no heart at all you there there i but being wise from past experiences he attempted no further argument only gathered her into his arms and allowed her to sob her emotions into his left breast pocket vi the result of the further conversation between mr philip and mrs may be inferred from the fact that when they reached the hotel about dusk the gentleman went to the office and wrote upon the register mr philip and wife a simple line which yet proved sufficient to send a perfect of gossip and conjecture through the quiet of the hotel where nothing so exciting had occurred since the of with young two before when husband and wife entered the dining room together that night felt the eyes of every person present and was the man committed far more completely covered with confusion than even in the blushing days of her really miss murmured leaning across the table i was never more surprised in my life if i had known you were going off to get married this afternoon i would at least have thrown a after you is it true that you were engaged but had quarrelled that s what i told mrs i was sure of it this morning oh we have known each other a long time said poor her cheeks crimson but we have never quarrelled the next morning it was even worse at first noticed nothing amiss but his wife s feminine sense detected hostility in the air the moment she entered the breakfast room on miss s face she read fresh in every line while mrs s bow was so slight that if such a salutation had not been expected it would scarcely have occurred to a that it was intended for a bow at all plainly the tide of gossip had been setting strongly against the young couple and wondered what new development could have given it so much sudden she was enlightened later in the no in the bundle of time when she received a crisp note from miss asking the favor of a few minutes private conversation and although philip protested that it was sure to be a case of interference his wife insisted upon going to the s room she was received with great solemnity sit down miss began poor dear laughed it seemed natural enough that a lady of so strongly marked should regard any woman who had committed matrimony as having fallen into a dreadful abyss don t laugh miss went on with rather unnecessary pathos what i have to tell you is too dreadful i can t bear to have you laugh what in the world began there there the other interrupted do be calm don t get excited it is n t your fault my fault echoed her guest what are you talking about what is the trouble that man miss said becoming more and more has deceived you the man committed a that man you think is your husband mr deceived me yes deceived you do try to be calm i felt it my duty to tell you mrs says she remembers having seen him in boston and his name is n t at all but but he had it changed said not at all understanding miss s drift but that is n t the worst he is married already married echoed the other but he has committed ejaculated miss he has but her listener upon whom the situation suddenly dawned burst into laughter which prevented further speech a tide of laughter which she could not check with which she struggled in vain for a moment then turning her back at once upon miss and politeness she fled to her own and laughed herself into trying to give her husband an intelligible account of the charges against him in the bundle of time vii it was impossible to make take things seriously the more severely virtuous the lady looked the colder the glances which followed himself and his wife the the affair seemed to him and the he appeared he by in the very face of miss who cut them both dead after mrs s abrupt flight from her chamber he had taken the landlord into his confidence and the two	3
men would be seen whispering and nodding together like arch and only the fact that his wife was unhappy cast any cloud over his boyish never mind he comforted her the are coming this week we be very exclusive and associate with nobody but them and in a day or two the did arrive the were out driving when they reached the hotel and almost the first question mrs gray asked of miss was where are mr and mrs the mj n committed it is n t mrs any longer miss replied pulling a terrible face it is mrs is it returned mrs gray lightly it does n t matter but where are they i don t know hesitated the or that is i do not care to know but i think they are driving together how you speak don t you think is lovely handsome is that handsome does miss observed with a conspicuous lack of originality mrs gray stared in amazement i think we cannot be talking of the same person she said rather coldly the people of whom i spoke are the best friends my husband and myself have in the world but gasped miss echoed mrs gray what has to do with it everything the man i mean has committed and i don t see why he is n t arrested for it and his wife or the woman he calls his wife knows it for i told her myself he came here and they pretended to be strangers and the next day they went off and got married and i told her t bundle of time you told her exclaimed gray who had far remained a silent listener of the conversation and he burst into laughter as boisterous and as s had been oh that is too much that is beyond everything i ever heard in the midst of this outburst the offending and his pretty wife drove up to the and at the imminent risk of her neck flung herself out of the carriage into the outstretched arms of mrs gray old fellow cried gray loud enough to be heard from one end of the to the other how are you i hear you ve been committing bless your ugly responded so i hear myself good lark is n t it and in half an hour everybody knew all the details of the affair for the landlord considered himself released from his bond of secrecy and although some sharp were made behind their backs mr and his wife encountered nothing but the most and manners thereafter as for miss she so far herself as to remark the man committed i am sure mrs it was strange you thought me in earnest about your husband s being a you must have noticed that i was hurt at your suspicion but in her heart of hearts she never forgave either or an amateur an amateur it was rather a pleasant room and decidedly a pleasant morning and certainly no one should have hesitated to say that the two young people in the room were pleasanter than the room or the morning either in the first place rose west was pretty enough to make a young man lose his head or an old one his heart and her cousin philip had apparently utterly surrendered both mistress rose assumed that all devotion was simply her right and took his adoration quite as a matter of course laughing when he sighed mocking when he protested and altogether so and him that fifty times a day he was ready to rush away in desperation never to see her again yet always just as the limit of his patience was reached the arch little would so far as to bestow upon her despairing lover some pretty smile or some trivial gracious word that cost nothing and meant nothing but which brought him to her feet again ten times more than before rose was an and her cousin insisted that the and attention she received i in the bundle of time had spoiled her and in truth she did receive praise enough to have turned any head not most securely placed upon its s shoulders how much was for her reading and how much for her beauty it might have been hard to say protested that it was entirely the latter but was a prejudiced witness the poor fellow was so madly jealous of every word she spoke and of every faintest smile which her lips that it drove him nearly wild to think of her smiles and soft words upon the public while he had to content himself with mockery and laughter matters were somewhat complicated too by the fact that had aspirations for the stage himself and this very morning he had been trying to rose into giving him a lesson in only as it was part of his to pretend that he had no great respect for her powers lest any praise should tend to confirm her in that public career which he hated he found matters somewhat difficult to manage i tell you rose he said at length after much i m going to read you a speech i m studying you can be audience you know and it will be improving to you how extremely kind you are she retorted but you are always telling me that i know nothing about so i m afraid i can t really appreciate it an amateur that is just it said you represent the common intellect i want to see how i should affect an ignorant audience thank you returned rose with a malicious twinkle in her eye but if you really want to know how the audience is affected i shall have to very well assented he with a great affectation of reluctance this being precisely the thing he desired only don t interrupt too much it is the scene	3
have been painted but of such refinement not the smallest trace had escaped the touch of time it was now of an unbroken tint of varied only by the dull red of its one chimney and the small windows of glass it stood a few rods back from the country road upon a slight into which it had the appearance of slowly sinking as from year to year the annual fall made a higher and higher mound beneath its low windows a ragged cluster of stood upon one side of the front door and there were still signs that at some remote period a similar had stood over against it in the late spring shoots with wide green leaves would still rise from the old roots but they never had vigor enough to survive the next winter i in the bundle of time two women were coming across the fields toward the house one morning about nine o clock moving with that awkward stride which the fact that new england so seldom walk outside of their own doors they were both in their working clothes although one had on a hat which was decorated with large and badly artificial roses there was in their air a certain flavor of excitement and which would to any observer have betrayed the fact that there was something unusual in prospect they advanced with eager haste brushing with their heavy gowns the dew which still lingered in the depths of the and talking with a rapidity strangely at with the habitual restraint and deliberation of country hfe i d know s td ought t wore this hat the taller of the pair said tossing her head with the consciousness of being arrayed with undue splendor upon a week day but them young ones d got off somewhere th my nd i could n t take the whole day to find it oh don t make no sort o her companion replied there ain t nobody there but old mis jones she went over in mary jane s house bout to lay er out si stayed there all lone night i should n t think he d a wanted to good gracious responded she of the hat ef mary jane c u d live there day in an day out for ten year with a dead man buried in the i sh d think si might stay there one night he ain t scared o stopped to away from her gown a withered branch of which with thorns had caught at her as she passed d you know she said sinking her voice into a sort of confidential half tone i ve been just crazy to get inter that house for the life o me i never could make out what mary jane did with all them things an i know the other interrupted eagerly ain t it queer mis told me that that time she went to boston more n three years ago mary jane sent by her for a whole lot of things paper an an paper an beads more n two dollars worth she said mary jane give the money inter her hand after she got the stage with a list o the things she said she meant to it but somehow she lost it in one o them big stores where she got in the bundle of time the things i expect she was considerable confused i ate she were assented but the thing is what d she do with all that stuff i tell you there s some ry bout mary jane an m goin to find out what t is tore i leave that house or my name ain t the pair had come to a stone wall thickly overgrown with a confused mass of golden rod and poison ivy over which they made their way with some difficulty they were in the in which stood the lonely old cottage toward which they were bound and either to regain their breath or from some not unnatural shrinking now that they were almost in the very presence of death they their steps a little d you ever hear asked up to her companion and glancing toward the house as if the dead woman lying there might still chance to be able to her that an mary jane to set up the woman stopped and regarded her with the most vivid interest depicted upon her dull face him that s buried in the there she demanded in mary jane s house yes him i ve heard that they t sit up consider ble replied with all the delight which a woman from the communication of a fresh bit of gossip t course twas much s twenty years ago but they to go told me he know d well well i w ant r know exclaimed was that the reason they the body in the oh fer th land sake no f course not he was a well down there an it in on him an when they tried ter im they he d gone down in a so they could n t im they had come close to the weather beaten house by this time and passing around to the back door they paused an instant be yer goin t knock asked knock responded why sh d i knock just for mis jones t ain t her house ny more n tis mine she opened the door as she spoke and together they entered the dingy little passage which led them into the kitchen it was a poor place and already there had fallen upon it that mysterious air of neglect which the removal of the of the dwelling from earthly concerns the two bundle of time women looked about them with an eager curiosity but they did not stop i ve been in most every room in the house said leading the way farther into the cottage	3
dropped with astonishment at the wonderful in mary jane s house structure which the rays of the dim candle lighted there in the cellar stood a sort of evidently made of boxes covered with white cloth which was here and there stained with from the of the place along the sides were hung wreaths and of dried ground pine in which the wild white of new england pastures were mingled with flowers wrought of colored paper and beads and bows of fastened the at the while along the base of the ran a strip of twisted and by the damp and upon this was laboriously embroidered that passage of scripture wherein mention is made of and as having gone down quick into the pit wall i never see to beat n all my born days said what s worked all round the bottom there s the text what was preached to at his fun mrs jones replied i ve tell p there was a minister over to the corners preached it an they say twas a ful discourse wall it must a ben n awful sight o work to make all them letters commented f mary jane d my to in the bundle of time round after i guess she d never no time for sort o thing seems ef mary jane must a just put her whole soul inter it observed she must a ben years an years a it wonder where she learned how t make them paper flowers they re real i must say mrs jones remarked with a professional air she done well to keep things to herself so close there t nobody never the idea what she was up to she must jest a lived for it mrs said t must a ben n sight o work repeated stooping to examine more closely the of the tomb i sh d think she d ben scared f fear she d got inter herself said oh that was all over t the time s up mrs jones explained light them two scene lamps there n let s see it all lit up poor mary jane she must a taken a sight o comfort in it the lamps were lighted casting a flickering and uncertain glow over the pile and for half an hour the three women over its fantastic they called in mary jane s house attention to this detail and to that they upon which work had been done first and upon the length of time which the whole had occupied and all the time they kept exclaiming over the strangeness of this on the part of mary jane the ludicrous side of this homely exhibition of the love which mary jane had borne to her lover swallowed up alive by the pitiless so long ago did not present itself to the mind of these women whose lives had been lacking even such few pale of imagination as had cast their light over mary jane s sad and lonely heart they appreciated better than women of far more culture might have appreciated the touching aspect of this grotesque memorial in all their comments there was still a faint as if they were speaking of something not without a certain character no of costly wrought by the hand of genius could have conveyed to them so full a of the tragedy and of the imaginative comfort as came to their minds through this damp and time stained this spoke a language which they understood and it appealed at once to their feminine sympathy and to whatever in the bundle of time they possessed they lingered over it with respectful and sincere admiration almost with tears in their eyes seems s ef i can t to them women it all to pieces said at last with her toil stained fingers the leaves of a rose of pink paper mrs jones turned toward her with the air of one who has made her mind up beyond venture these women ain t a goin to lay no hand on it she announced they ain t a goin to see it even what s more why how you goin to help it i tell yer how i m goin to help it mrs jones answered setting her face in an expression of grim determination i m jest a goin to take it all to pieces before anybody sees it but jest us oh mis jones you ain t really yes i be too i don t b you to sneered mrs jones f you think i m o them women from over to the corners you don t know jones i ken tell yer that i m goin to put them flowers round inside the coffin an them wreaths f ever in mar y jane s house on the outside an there won t be down here for no women to at an don t you it the two women stood astounded at her boldness for a moment and then brought forward a last argument which seemed to her so strong that she almost trembled as she said it but mis jones she said them women bein the lawful might take the law on yer mrs jones rose to her full height her face flushed with feeling law she echoed i don t care one single straw for the law what i m goin by now s the gospel i m goin to do s i be done by f i was that poor dead upstairs you may help or you may leave alone s you please but i m goin to by mary jane f she is dead she turned and with fingers which were none the less for being strong and coarse began to the from the cloth to which they were fastened her two companions hesitated a moment and then they too began to undo the work upon which mary jane had the passionate tenderness of years i	3
an afternoon tea an afternoon tea drawing room of mrs de mrs de is seated upon the beside mr jack mrs and mr d in easy chairs close mrs de of course i never believed it i said when i heard it that was far too shrewd to make a scandal when she had so little to gain by it mr that is the way i look at it she d never with a fellow who could not give her and flowers her affections were always in direct proportion to a man s credit at the s mrs de l poor jack how dreadfully hard on you mrs oh i m sure you don t do her justice she is a girl of so much principle mr but there was such a close connection between principle and interest in her mind mrs de l you are always so horribly cynical i hate you mr p don t reward him for being sarcastic in the bundle of time mrs de z thank you jack we will call it square may i give you tea mr mr d thank you no more i have already destroyed my nerves mrs c then why not have another cup it is certainly delicious mrs de l then i may fill your cup mrs c of course i am happy to say that i have no nerves mr p i had suspected it do you know mrs c because i have endured you so long mr p oh come now that is sheer mrs de l don t spare him i m not equal to keeping him in order myself enter miss and miss mrs de l i am so glad to see you my dear we were just speaking of you mr p yes mrs was telling us that she heard you had returned miss j returned from where mrs c mr misunderstood i said i had not seen you since i returned aside to mr p i murder you for that mrs de l that is undoubtedly what mr was thinking of miss j it would be kind of you mr to remember that we danced together at the ball three days ago mr p oh i thought that you might have an afternoon tea taken a short trip somewhere a sort of excursion perhaps mrs c does any one know who is to lead the german at the miss j aside to miss you see that they know all about it miss c aside the more reason for facing it out mrs de z you are silent miss miss c i am enjoying the intellectual conversation mrs de l so nice of you to put it in that way enter tom there is a stir among the ladies miss walks away to the window in the back part of the drawing room and absorbed in the view mrs de l so glad to see you mr why did you not bring mrs with you mr b oh she is somewhere about town and i couldn t find her don t you know she may turn up here at any moment mrs c you must be anxious to have her mrs de l of course he is will you have a cup of mr b no thanks tea so near dinner time is a thing i never could stand don t you know he speaks to the ladies and then miss at the window mrs c really it looks like an appointment i is the bundle of time miss c looking at mrs and mr ana then at mrs de and r it is so much the fashion nowadays for married people to that one is prepared for anything mrs c the men so seldom seem to care for the girls nowadays that it is singular to see anything of this sort miss c yes is apt to be confined to the married women mrs de l the young women mr d are so dreadfully in earnest were you going to say mr p come hadn t we better proclaim an armed and talk about somebody who is not here to defend herself mrs c with all my heart do you know they say mrs is awfully cut up about her husband miss g why mrs de l oh how awfully severe don t you think he is worth caring about miss c i meant to ask what reason she could have mr p oh none in the world why should a woman care if her husband is of a pretty girl mrs de l so i say i always tell mr de he may with as many pretty girls as he likes but i should hate to have him go on with a an afternoon tea plain one for everybody would say what a homely of a wife he must have if he can put up with a girl that looks like that miss c we all know you to be a philosopher mrs de enter mrs she starts at seeing her husband but herself instantly she kisses mrs de and speaks to the other s mrs de z your husband said you were coming i am delighted to see you you never come nowadays to see your old friends mr b who has come forward with miss yes i was waiting for you to come in mrs b i am glad to find you here miss i want you to come home to dine with me mr p aside to mrs there i call that beautifully done all round mrs c it could n t be better miss j thank you so much but i have promised to dine with miss c yes and i really cannot spare her mrs mr d aside to mrs the and way in which she swore to that lie commands my highest respect mrs de l do sit down it is just the middle of	3
the afternoon miss c rising in response to a glance from miss but we really must be going i in the bundle of time had no idea it was so late one always forgets about the time at your house mrs de mrs de l oh i wish one always could i d forget my time of life miss c that would be only returning the compliment to time for so completely forgetting you mrs de z ha ha you are just as sharp and clever as you were in the days when i used to look up to you older girls in my school days mr d aside to mrs a for an mrs c aside to mr we really must get out of this before it becomes a free fight mrs de l kissing miss and then miss i am so glad you came do come again soon you know i am always at home and if you don t care for me you are sure to meet somebody or other who will entertain you miss and miss mrs c don t you think those two girls are going off dreadfully they used to be such a pretty pair mrs b miss is pretty still don t you think only i do think miss makes up badly mr d good bye mrs de mrs an afternoon tea is going to set me down at the club i must spare my aged frame you know mrs de z we are very sorry to spare it i assure you there is the usual embracing and ceremony mrs is accompanied to the door by the hostess and goes away with mr dan ton mrs b aside to her husband you had better come with me it will look better mr b certainly my dear i intended to mrs de l returning i wish dear would not drive about so openly with mr dan ton people do talk so horribly mrs b it is always so unpleasant to have any scandal connected with one s friends mr b or one s family mrs de l indeed it is i think i should certainly die to be mixed up in a scandal but one ought to be charitable and especially people who are so united as you two are mrs b well nobody can stop people from they will invent the most injurious stories i tell dick we may wake up any morning to find the whole town ringing with some absurd story that we have separated or or murdered each other or anything else dreadful mr p that would be a good joke but really people know you both too well mrs de l if anybody is safe from scandal i should think you ought to be the bundle of time mr b oh nobody is mrs b good bye my dear come and see me soon and you mr you never come to see us more leave taking and once more mrs de her guests to the drawing room door as she returns she throws her hands up in a mock gesture mrs de l who would believe that within forty eight hours that man had started to with and been brought back by her brother mr p altogether i think we had rather a lively and amusing afternoon the way that cat fought for her friend was something delicious is a bit but she s game to the mrs de l really jack you ought not to have them people are talking awfully and only yesterday i got a curtain lecture on your account mr p i m awfully sorry my dear why don t you talk back i m sure you have chance enough mrs de l oh i assure you i was n t over meek but after all you can t talk back to everybody and will repay everything that was said to her this afternoon with interest mr p let her who cares what if people do talk besides the scrape will furnish r an afternoon tea folk with enough to talk about for some time to come so we may rest easy mrs de l perhaps it will i m sure i hope so shall i see you at the to night mr p yes i shall look in about twelve good bye they walk toward the door together and this time mrs de her departing guest beyond the drawing room door the of which falls behind them t t the tiger the tiger t was one night when we had been dining with major that i heard the story the major was rather famous for collecting odd characters and this time he had asked us to meet an old friend whom he had known in india since the major had travelled in india as well as everywhere else that civilized man does travel he might well have been an englishman so great was his love of and it is not improbable that this characteristic was the one which most him to his numerous english friends of whom the present visitor mr was one the stranger was a strongly built wholesome looking man forty five or with a weather beaten face and a keen eye and a closely cut crop of iron gray hair his hands were also of noticeable strength if appearance counted for anything and his whole build indicated both l in the bundle of time unusual power and unusual endurance lie was rather quiet during dinner but after the women had gone and smoke and talk had pervaded the dining room he burst out rather suddenly and unexpectedly a great gray cat had followed the servant into the room and came to rub herself against the legs of the company with the freedom confidence of an established favorite my dear the englishman cried as soon as he caught sight of the animal will you excuse me if i ask to have that	3
beast put out the manner in which he said this indicated so much discomfort that everybody stopped talking and stared at him while the host himself rose to without waiting for a servant i beg your pardon mr said the color mounting into his cheek but since that time in india major i haven t any control of myself where one of the cat tribe is concerned i have to kill it or i must get away from it the host nodded my dear fellow lie said don t mention it i beg i wonder that you ever had any nerve for anything after that by the way do you mind telling the gentlemen about the the tiger l l scrape it was the of an escape i ever knew of and they will all be interested the englishman and said he did not intend to lead up to this but of course we all insisted and in the end he was induced to relate to us the following story the major who had heard the tale from other sources afterward for its entire and indeed the character of the would in itself have been sufficient to establish this you see he said pushing up his sleeve so that his arm was bare almost to the elbow i am not without some evidences of what happened my whole body is covered with such as these the crossed and one another in a perfect as if the skin had been scratched with a sharp but surely a cat could not do that tom french said as we looked in amazement at these singular that would depend upon the size of the cat he returned with a smile i do not mind telling the story although it is not a thing that it is very pleasant to recall i ve had times when i woke up in the night and remembered it with a sensation that made ii in the bundle of time my hair rise on my head the cat that scratched me was the great a tiger that you might have heard of in india ten years ago as the devil in that ridden country a murmur ran around our circle and we involuntarily drew our chairs nearer to the he smiled faintly perhaps a little amused at the effect that the mention of the tiger produced and at the same time it was evident that he began to feel the of the attention which was instantly upon him india has been a sort of second home to me mr continued there is said to be a bit of indian blood in my family though whether this is a theory that grew out of the conclusion of my name or whether the name came from some indian i am not prepared to say we have the family history for a couple of hundred years without mention of him though so that this indian must be pretty remote at least i had hunted everything in india that there is to hunt from the elephant down but i had never killed a man and in an evil hour i decided to have a crack at the the beast was a that had kept the tiger the whole region of in terror for well on toward a dozen years and the victims that had gone to feed her in that time were well up in the scores the natives were so thoroughly afraid of her and so completely convinced that she was inspired by a demon that they could hardly be persuaded to defend themselves and when it came to getting men to go with me i found that it was all but impossible after an awful lot of and with the promise of an extravagant price i found a couple of men such as they were and amid the cheerful of all the inhabitants that i was but offering myself up as food for the man i set out on my quest before i returned i had come to the place where i should have been glad to see my men eaten but they came out of it safe and to this day probably boast how they killed the we had little trouble in coming on the track of the beast the old lady had been dining on a mother and child in a little village half a day to the south and was known to be still in the neighborhood looking out for more provisions of the same sort we searched a couple of days without finding her and then my men declared that she must the bundle of time have left the locality some of the tracks that we had found were rather fresh however and i decided that we would look about one day more before we left the place we had but a single tent and were with as little luggage as possible the third night we in a charming little grassy meadow a couple of miles out of the village one of the prettiest spots i ever saw in my life there was a little brook not quite dried up running right through the middle of it and half a dozen trees were scattered round before you came to the which began about an eighth of a mile from our tent the night was as light as day for the moon was full and i sat until about ten o clock in front of the tent smoking and admiring the view of a bit of mountain top that showed far off in the west through a break in the trees when i turned in i gave particular directions to the men about watching and tried the effect of a little by adding that if they both got to sleep at once the tiger was a demon and would know it heaven knows whether i was n t right too it must have been near midnight when i	3
woke and in the second of waking dreamed that i was hunting and my elephant had fallen on me i saw the exact spot where the tiger the accident had happened a place near the upper village of where an elephant had stumbled with me once and which i suppose stuck in my mind as a dangerous point i even noticed how the that are put on under the had covered me so that i was wrapped up in them it was curiously real and detailed that dream and yet it must have all been into the of a minute between the tiger s falling on me and my being awake enough to know what had happened the beast had come up behind the tent and leaped directly at it the men were both asleep of course and very likely they would not have seen her if they had been awake she had evidently made up her mind to have a little white blood that time and the cunning beast was clever enough to know how to steal a march by a flank movement the natives you remember believe that the intelligence of every man a tiger eats goes into the beast and this by that calculation was as wise as at least a score of men unless the intelligence of some natives is to be counted as a negative quantity like that of the two men i had the tiger had jumped so that her body lay directly across my if she had struck a little higher she would either have in the bundle of time crushed the life out of me or at least knocked me insensible and if she had struck a little lower very likely she would have broken my legs the canvas of the tent was between us the whole thing having gone down under her weight and through it i could hear her to discover just how her prey was placed then with one scratch of her tremendous she up the canvas so close to my head that i could feel the against my cheek and in less time than i have taken in telling you she had me by the breast of my hunting jacket which i luckily had on as the night was a bit she pulled me out through the in the canvas as you would pull a out of a bag rising so that i could slip out from under her body and there i was in the full moonlight in the jaws of the man the story stopped to his lips from the glass before him but nobody spoke we sat in breathless silence and with a glance around the circle of intent faces he went on again it is no light thing to be face to face with a man who has been in the grasp of a man eating tiger and he could not but see that we were strongly affected by his story the first thing i was conscious of see the tiger ing the englishman continued was those two infernal cowardly natives climbing a tree i was so enraged that i forgot to be afraid and the first sound i made was a command that i roared to them to come back and pick up their guns of course i might as well have to the wind and there i lay helpless in that infernal beast s grip and saw them scramble into the branches entirely and of course as little able to aid me as if they had been a hundred miles away oddly enough i was not afraid even then the tiger had not hurt me beyond the fall of her soft body across me which really had not injured me in the least i was conscious of the intensely smell of her breath and it may be that the modern theory that there is in the breath of these creatures a certain quality has some truth in it at any rate i was not in the least frightened and my mind was perfectly tranquil my arms were free and in the single moment that the tiger paused after she had drawn me out of the tent i managed to reach out and catch the of the gun which one of my men had flung down close to the tent as he ran it may be that my movement startled in the bundle of time the beast but at any rate she began to move toward the she went in the direction which the tent had faced which indicated that she had made the half circle in the covert before showing herself at first she stepped slowly and i was able to slide my hand half way down the barrel of my rifle but then she began to run and the stock caught in a turf of grass i held on with all my force but the tiger evidently feeling the pull backward gave a sudden spring forward and the rifle was out of my hand my head and my heels were dragging but fortunately the ground was soft and beyond a scratching from the grass and the leaves of the weeds i suffered no great injury my mind ran over all possible means of escape i tried to get at my pocket knife but when i succeeded in reaching my pocket i found that everything had been shaken out as i had been dragged along then all of a sudden the tiger stopped about to the and dropped me on the grass i lay perfectly still raising her great handsome head she was a splendid devil to look at she began to call in a soft way the call of a cat for her a hundred or so the tiger the infernal beast i never hear a cat call her without its all coming back to me she had hardly called a couple of times before the two of	3
behind her i caught hold of one of her hind legs the act was instinctive like my attempt to run away it seemed as if i had somehow got beyond taking care of myself and some instinct had come to the rescue i have always been remarkably strong in the arms and i clung with a desperate grip in the first astonishment the animal swung around so that i was whirled around a half circle of seven or eight feet instantly however she stopped and bent her body so that her splendid head with its teeth showing white in the moonlight came close to mine quick as a flash and still acting without any conscious thought i swung my head to the other side of her and at the the bundle of time same time i bent her leg across my knee with all my force i do not know mr said looking round the circle of eager faces with a smile whether you will believe me when i say that what i did was to break the leg of a living and a man at that across my knee and yet that is literally what happened i remember the savage strain i gave all my force ail my anger and all my instinctive thrill at the sudden hope of escape to put force into me i felt the bone snap and instantly i sprang to my feet caught one of the by the head and flung it as high into the air as i could the yell of rage and pain that that beast gave makes my flesh creep still when i remember it she whirled about as i sprang backward but sank down instantly on her broken leg at the same instant the that i had thrown struck the earth with a terrible and sent up a that would have made your hair rise the mother turned her head to see what had happened and that gave me one little instant in which to get away from her i ran toward the tent and she followed she could no longer spring but on three legs she could run as the tiger fast as i could go and she was close at my heels when by the mercy of heaven i stumbled over my gun i don t know how i got that rifle into my hands right end first and fired it but i did it somehow and then i distinguished myself by dropping down in a dead faint i hav e n t any idea how long i lay there those cowardly natives in the trees were afraid to come down even then and when i came to the pair of were about their dead mother whose nose was actually against my foot so close to me had she fallen i thought at first that i would keep the creatures alive but they made me faint simply by their presence and i told the men to shoot them both next morning the men of made something of a hero of me as they are apt to do when a man has simply been forced to do something out of the common course to save his head one of the there sent me this ring there had been in all this discourse which may seem unreal and cold when set down upon paper a certain simplicity and frankness which were as convincing as they were as the speaker ended there was a deep drawn sigh almost in from us the bundle of time all so deep had been our attention and our in the tale we sat for a moment in absolute silence with our eyes fixed upon the englishman then little lieutenant who is swore a great oath under his breath it was not the thing for a man to do in a company of gentlemen but it did express our feelings pretty well the host rose without comment and said shall we the ladies then who in his way is as as the little lieutenant sprang up and going to the englishman shook him heartily by the hand without saying a word there was a quick murmur from the rest of us which was equivalent to a unanimous of his act then we went into the drawing room and rejoined the ladies yes and no yes and no miss may who has been curled up in the corner of a comfortable sofa in her upstairs sitting rises to welcome mr frank whose card has just been brought to her and whom she has allowed to come up as an especial favor mr coming forward with outstretched hand so good of you to see me you ve been ill i hear miss yes mr m quickly but you are better miss d smiling and waving him to a seat in a big easy chair while she her old position yes mr m do you know i ve been all but on the sick list myself miss d yes mr m i took an awful cold coming out from the ball was n t the weather dreadful that night miss d yes mr m and i had such a pain in my lungs miss d yes mr m and my throat was so sore miss d yet more yes l o in the bundle of time mr m and i certainly thought i was in for and all the rest of it cheerful was n t it miss d apparently not sure how much is jest and how much earnest yes mr m however i m all right now do you know i think i ve got the biggest kind of a joke on ned miss d with animation yes mr m you know how dreadfully smashed he s been on lily miss d yes mr m well you know that tall cousin of hers that comes from philadelphia to visit there miss d yes	3
mr m well ned asked lily to go to the opera with him the other evening and she wrote back that she was already engaged miss d yes mr m and of course ned went to the opera and about until he saw them and miss d greatly interested yes mr m and he saw her with this great tall fellow that he did n t know and he got perfectly furious with jealousy miss d le a ni fig forward in the greatest interest and putting a into her mouth just because her eye fell on them when she was too absorbed to consider what she was doing yes mr m and now he s making no end of a row yes no l l and wants me to go and demand his letters back should n t you think he d do it himself miss z with animation yes mr m and all the time i know it was only her cousin and i won t tell him is n t that an awfully good joke miss d doubtfully yes mr m you don t seem very enthusiastic don t you think ned deserves a lesson for being so unreasonable miss d more positively yes mr m after all women always admire a man for being jealous they think it shows that he is really in love miss d y e e s mr m don t you know it is so miss d with a shrug yes mr m come you are trying to me should n t you want a man to be jealous who was in love with you miss d with a nod and a little gesture which intimate that she holds very positive views on the subject yes mr m laughing there i said so i knew you d take ned s part now don t you miss d after a brief interval of silence in which she apparently tries in vain to decide to what the admission her yes mr m women are never logical i suppose you think their are above logic in the bundle of time miss d quickly yes mr m or below it miss d yes mr m oh don t be offended you know i always agree with you even if i know you are wrong it is only polite to agree with a woman i always say miss d yes mr m there now i ve got you all cross again i declare i don t know what i shall do to you you are cross are n t you miss d smiling in spite of herself at his absurd manner yes mr m with a sigh of but not very i think i can always make girls forgive me when they are provoked miss d yes mr m why said the other day i talked so fast that nobody else could get in a single word now you know better than that don t you miss d yes mr m and she was just as cross as she could be because i would n t let her tell a story but i talked right ahead and the first thing she knew she was laughing like anything don t you think she is a sort of a girl miss d laughing yes mr m the sort of girl that ought to be in a kind of stage setting and be composed in a picture you know yes and no miss d yes mr m now you are a different sort altogether miss d yes m oh yes you know never really has anything to say that is worth hearing and she is always interrupting one trying to say it now if you excuse me for saying it to your face it is a pleasure to talk to you you always have so much to say miss with a sweeping bow yes mr m oh you may laugh but truly i d rather talk to you than to any other girl i know the girls are so full of nonsense and they all keep saying so many silly things that no sensible man can bear to talk with them don t you know i ve had a great notion of getting a lot of cards printed to send round as and the motto miss d yes mr m was to be little folks should be seen and not heard don t you think that s an original idea miss d yes mr m oh now you think i m into girls again and you don t like it don t be cross because you see i especially want you to be this afternoon i came for a special reason miss d yes mr m i ve been trying for a long time to get a the bundle of time up my courage i am really awfully shy and i ve always been of you than of anybody else miss d drawing back into the corner of the sofa and becoming colder with a that something of importance is coming yes mr m yes i really have i ve always liked you best of all the girls i think we ve known each other long enough so we can be perfectly frank don t you miss d faintly yes mr m his minute in sudden confusion i wish that is do you know i m awfully fond of you miss d in a tone colder yes mr m why of course you must have known it have n t i always asked you first for the you do dance so awfully well too miss d yes she folds her hands and looks into his face with an air of great innocence mr m moving in his chair of course you know it and you must have seen what i meant by it miss d laughing yes mr m oh you think i	3
asked you just because you dance so well it was n t that at least that was only part of it miss d with an air of candid but wholly interest yes mr m oh miss i wish i were sure you d answer one question the way i want you to and no but after all the best way to find out whether you will or not is to ask it is n t it miss d yes mr m i never was any good at making speeches i always talk on in httle scraps and wait for other people to put in a word now and then when they want to miss d yes mr m it makes conversation so dull to have it all one way don t you think miss d yes mr m but i wanted to ask you if you he pauses and looks at her she smiles and he continues as rapidly as ever i wanted to ask you if you would n t marry me miss d very quietly no mr m do you mean it miss d yes mr m really miss d yes mr m why not but then i don t suppose i ve any right to ask that i hope you are not offended we can be friends still miss d yes mr m i m so sorry you are sure you are in earnest miss d yes mr m then i suppose there is no good in urging you i won t cry over milk don t you think it is better to take things in the bundle of time miss d smiling and regarding him curiously yes mr m rising well that is off my mind at any rate i ve been meaning to ask you all winter you are sure you are not offended miss d yes mr m so many girls are put out you know when they won t have a fellow miss d yes mr m i had n t any idea it was so late really i ought to have gone long ago good bye don t bother to rise good bye and before miss can even add a word of farewell he goes quickly away apparently as brisk and as ever t t f the chamber over the gate the chamber over the gate t was the one week in the year when the httle old town seemed really possessed of life and it was the day of that week when its life was at its fullest tide ever since the pink above the tops of the hills had foretold the coming of the market place had been and the peasant folk the the pleasure and the pleasure had come pouring along the winding roads leading to the shut in village which thus once in a out into the glory of its annual fair all through the sunny hours had the noise of traffic the sound ot bell and drum and and those rude which the vagabond from the south love to play upon laughter and song had mingled with the of sheep and the of cattle the shrill cries of strange shouting their wares and the loud of the calling to pleasure to enter their dingy tents and behold i the bundle of time and wonders the of beggars the barking of dogs the merriment or the of children formed an of sound and through every street of the place every nook of the valley where it stood and even from the sides of the hills about it the din as the night fell the uproar increased although now there were not a few folk who were making their way with more or less ease and as the case might be along the ways which led them out of the valley toward their homes on the other side of the hills two travellers who were the tide and were descending the road which led from the south smiled into each other s face as they approached and heard the riot more distinctly we may be late one of them said but it is evident that the fun is not over by any means certainly the noise is not the other responded but let us hasten for i am as hungry as the parish priest after a fast day i warrant that no parish priest was ever so hungry as i am said the first speaker laughing i could eat a the great bear overhead if it were only a little before a fire the chamber er the gate smiled and glanced up at the stars but he only quickened his steps by way of reply and in a few moments more the pair stood at the arched which led into the court of the inn of the village for fifty and one weeks in the year the inn was as deserted and dead as a rock when the tide is out but now it with life and in answer to their request for lodgings the landlord laughed in their faces by saint martin he said with tremendous this is a pretty time in the week to be looking for lodgings every corner even to the mouse holes has been full since monday and thou for rooms as coolly as if it were any other week in the year thou late to the fair friend we found other fair more attractive returned who acted as speaker but now thou must needs give us a bed if thou out of thine own we are able to pay thee thine own price and i warrant that that is large enough the landlord was firm in his denial of any means of the two travellers and they were about to leave the inn in the hope that some place might be found elsewhere in the village where they could get lodgings for the night when the landlady	3
in the bundle of time who had come up during the conversation said to her husband in a half aside but there is the chamber over the gate he turned and looked at her with a fierce glance but as he did not in words rebuke her she said to the strangers you would not mind lodging in the same room for one night though it be narrow nay answered we are and have never yet been so far apart that we mind a single bed there be two beds she returned thrusting backward with her elbow her husband who was evidently minded to interfere eat your supper and go out to see the fair if it please your when you return all shall be in readiness for your sleeping it was evident enough that there was here some mystery or other but the matter did not seem of much importance in comparison with the fact that a chamber for the night had been secured the brothers ate their supper in great content and then followed the advice of the landlady by going out to see the fair which was still in full blast the were the drums and pipes and strings and bells were sounding voices of all keys and all tones were and calling and laughing while the of the chamber over the gate to and fro like in a hill the brothers went from tent to tent and from to and examining everything laughing at the and the shows the snake and the with the infinite of youth until at last the fatigue of their tramp over the hills to the town added to that of the fair made them turn their thoughts to the inn and to their resting place for the night come said the best of the fun is over and i am tired let us go and see what sort of a hole may be this chamber over the gate into which we are to be thrust to sleep it cannot be much responded or it would have been filled already here in good is a witch let us have our fortunes told before we go the before which he paused was a sort of rude tent fashioned of dingy stuff and lighted by a torch which had already burned down almost to its the fortune was an old with shining eyes who sat crouched upon the ground and called out to the to come and hear all the secrets of fate come hither handsome she cried l the bundle of time to the brothers here you shall learn all your fortune here you may discover if your love you and if they will grant your suits cross your palms to me brave all the secrets of fortune are mine both the brothers hesitated and each glanced at the other as if had he been alone the witch would not have called in vain but as if there were that to be told which he would not have heard by his fellow oh come thy way said who hath faith in these sitting in the streets let us to the inn and to bed the other moved on as he was somewhat we may dream out our fortunes in this mysterious chamber over the gate he said with a light laugh ay cried the witch his words go thy ways to the chamber over the gate and read the future in the mirror of thoughts there was so bitter a in her tones that both the brothers turned to look at her and in looking back they made a wrong turning so that in another moment they found themselves in a of tents and unable to see their way out of it the chamber over the gate and ignorant in which direction lay the inn for which they were bound stay cried after they had turned and twisted in half a dozen directions we must needs ask guidance here in the nick of time is the waiter who served us at supper it was indeed the inn waiter who stood before them and although he had evidently been the fair with deeper than were consistent with much of gait he was still able to guide them as he went moreover he and seemed disposed to become extremely confidential and ye are to lodge in the chamber over the gate he said at last nodding his head with drunken gravity i wonder now will it be one of you or both what dost thou mean demanded the man looked at him with a cunning shaking his big head but he did not reply to the question directly i warrant now he said that the mistress made you to pay the reckoning in advance did she not she is a shrewd baggage and she had promised the priest that the place should not be slept in this year there was over much last fair time in the bundle of time what happened last fair time asked laying a hand on the man s arm for they were now close to the inn gate it is always the same the man said it was the same that always happens when there are in the chamber over the gate what nonsense is the man you struck in the voice of the landlord who at this instant appeared in the it is a good lodging would the gentlemen sleep in the streets he held up the torch he carried upon the serving man a glance so angry that the shrank away ashamed without even waiting for the coin which would have bestowed upon him for his service as a guide come this way my masters the landlord said turning to a narrow doorway which opened in the side of the arch which covered the entrance to the inn and leading his guests up a crooked and contracted which its way upward in the solid wall	3
the chamber into which he conducted them was a small square room witli two strait windows looking down into the of the inn and a single narrow opening opposite through which one might have shot an the chamber o er the gate at an enemy approaching from the street without the place was furnished a couple of beds stood over against the two windows a couple of and a shabby table were placed against the walls while a dingy mirror of glass set in a frame hung between the windows good this is not a apartment said laughing never have i been in so strait quarters before the street would be quarters wider the host returned grimly but on the whole the cheer is better here than there such as it was there was evidently nothing to be done but to make the best of things and when the landlord had lighted their rush candle and himself off the brothers got speedily to bed the noises in the village had largely died away the in the inn itself had subsided and the lay there in silence and a darkness which was lessened only by a ray of light from a lantern set upon a post before the inn which strangely struck through the narrow in the outer wall of the chamber and fell upon the old mirror opposite for a space they were quiet but at length said softly in the bundle of time art thou awake yea the other answered i am not drowsy but i thought that thou asleep for a moment made no reply then he burst out suddenly he demanded with a trace of in his tone what said the lady to thee this morning there by the trees perchance retorted his brother with sudden bitterness if i tell thee thou wilt say to me in return what thou whispering to her when i came upon thee in the even naught that she was to hear cried angrily good sneered i would not be sure that thou not have been to hear what she said to me by the trees started as if to spring up in bed but controlled himself and lay down again he was stretched out upon his side facing the opposite wall of the room and his eyes were irresistibly attracted by the gleam of light reflected upon the old mirror which hung between the windows for a long time there was silence in the chamber while continued to stare at the mirror the chamber o er the gate thinking angrily of his brother and of the lady suddenly it seemed to him that there was a movement in the dull surface of the mirror there was an appearance of rolling clouds as if masses of luminous up continually from the centre and spread onward toward the edges of the glass he watched it idly thinking of it only as of some upon his tired eyes coming from looking too long until he became aware that the surface of the whole mirror had cleared and that in it he could see reflected the chamber with his brother and himself lying in the two beds he wondered at the clearness of the reflection in a room so dimly lighted but before this wonder could fully shape itself in his mind it gave way to another he seemed in the mirror to see the reflection of slowly and stealthily rising from the bed involuntarily he glanced toward but in his dim corner he was lying quiet without himself moving saw his shadowy semblance in the mirror steal from its place with a caution which was in itself a confession of evil intent he saw it stoop to the stool whereon lay his clothing and take from its belt the dagger cold sweat of fear broke out upon s forehead as he lay there and saw his double in the bundle of time glance toward the sleeping with the fury of a rival in his eyes he gasped his hands so tightly that the nails cut into the palms he said to himself that he was dreaming and yet he knew that he was fully awake he felt as if the dreadful picture on the mirror was painted so plain that all the world might see and he dared not stir lest his brother wake and behold it he grew hot with shame and then cold with fear as he saw pictured before him his own self creeping across the chamber with the stealthy glide of a midnight the dagger clutched with ready hand to strike the and with it all he felt as if ten thousand were urging him to do this very thing which he saw before him hardly could he restrain himself from stealthily gliding out of his bed to seize his dagger and creep toward the couch of as he saw his shadow doing in the glass moreover it seemed to him that this was nothing new but as if it were in some way the of something which was already familiar to him this way of clearing his pathway to the love of the lady with a sudden horror it flashed upon him the chamber over the gate that it was from the wicked depth of his own mind that this dreadful vision had come he groaned aloud with horrible self and remorse it is the mirror of thoughts he murmured unconsciously speaking aloud at the word sprang up in his bed it is false it is false he cried out furiously i never thought to murder thee in thy sleep the mirror lies what cried springing up in his turn thou see it also i saw a lie returned in a voice of rage it is an accursed if thou hast seen a vision of me it is a of that witch in the market place a vision of thee echoed what hast thou seen demanded	3
sitting up in bed and leaning forward in the semi darkness as if in a vain attempt to read the face of his brother thou cry out that it is the mirror of thoughts i saw i saw nothing answered nothing but some idle imagining that is something which perchance i dreamed he was overcome by the discovery that the vision in the mirror had been seen by his w the bundle of time brother but with a change of actors and that to each the mirror had evidently offered the picture of himself playing the yes assented eagerly doubtless thou hast been dreaming i saw that thou asleep was too much overcome to reply to this and once more silence fell in the chamber over the gate the quick breathing of the brothers sounded loud and hollow and felt his heart beating hotly against his breast he was too confused to think clearly and little by little despite the excitement of the feelings which the vision in the mirror had awakened sleep overcame him he fell into a slumber which was broken by and half in which he seemed still to see his own shape creeping snake like across the room to plunge the dagger in the heart of his brother suddenly with a cry of terror he awoke and sprang up the dream had become a reality and stood over his bed his dagger in his extended hand the instinct of self preservation is strong and quick and almost before he had seen his danger had grasped the wrist of the brother who would have been his the chamber ol er the gate he cried in the name of god what art thou doing what thou do if thou a man cried back fiercely i am myself of him who would steal away my lady there was a breathless struggle in the darkened chamber brother fighting against brother in a mad contest for life or death was the more quick and but was the stronger of the and when to strength was added a weapon the issue of the combat seemed not to be doubtful felt his strength failing and through his mind there rushed humiliating recollections of the many times his brother had beaten him in playful struggles for mastery he remembered the torch ring in the wall of the castle hall which he had been used to clutch as a boy to prevent his brother from throwing him to the ground and he seemed to hear again the mocking triumphant laugh with which would always in the end him from his hold and fling him down upon the rush strewn floor even in the midst of this struggle for life could remember how the rushes always slipped under him as he fell at last he could see the face of his mother t bundle of time looking over the gallery above which she could reach from the chamber where she sat at with her maidens by passing through the and whence she was wont to keep an eye to the doings of her wild lads in the hall beneath for the sake of our dead mother cried out with face so vividly before him that a vision could not have been clearer for reply lifted his strong knee and set it against his brother s chest straining to get free the hand which held the dagger felt a shuddering sense of failure of being again conquered and with it there came a sense that to the victor belonged the lady a of self contempt swept over him that he was not able to even when she was the prize with a last despairing effort he threw all his force into a straining every till he felt the blood his temples as if it would burst through in the fury of the thrust he flung the right arm of backward with a so vicious and so sudden that the dagger was torn from the hand which held it and sent flying across the chamber it flew full into the midst of the weird mirror and the chamber over the gate the glass into a thousand which flashed in the light with sudden radiance and then went out in blackness leaving the room almost totally dark now that it was deprived of the reflection of the lantern without at the crash as if it were the breaking of some spell which the mirror had cast over them the brothers stood still panting and yet clutching each other with the grasp of men who fight for their lives it was too dark for them to see the faces each of his brother but they were so closely locked that the hot breath of burned s cheek for the love of god he panted why thou me he felt the strong frame of his brother quiver and then suddenly the head of was bowed to s shoulder and both were sobbing like children they wound their arms about each other as they had done when childish quarrels were made up and the hot tears of remorse and reconciliation washed away the bitterness of the strife they sat down hand in hand upon the edge of the bed and were silent each struggling with his thoughts said hesitatingly at in the bundle of time length dost thou think that the lady loves thee i know not answered all that she hath told me well the other said as he hesitated she told me there by the went on pressing his brother s hand as if he asked pardon for the words that she could not love thee but i that she with me now by our lady mary cried out she hath played us both false in good what she said to me in the was that she could never love thee it is as we have thought and she doth but amuse herself with us twain while her	3
heart is given to that cunning a conviction born of old knowledge and seemed to take hold upon them both yet i would have killed thee for her sake murmured he threw his arms about and kissed him on the cheek then as if ashamed of this last display of he rose by the true cross he said with the air of one who has never known emotion this is a mad time of the night to be talking get thee to bed the chamber ol er the gate then after both were in bed and had lain a long time in silence spoke once more dost thou think he asked somewhat hesitatingly that the foul mirror which we have broken hath done men to death here in this chamber with its visions in good i know not answered but us it hath reconciled yea was the reply but not until we had shattered it a lesson in natural history a lesson in natural history she standing with drooping head and busily a hole in the sand with the point of her of course you are right i have never known an instance in which you were not he regarding her with a little concern but apparently with more curiosity now you are angry she have i no cause to be captain he you must have she i must have he of course else you would not be angry she oh now you are sarcastic he if i had with you you would have been equally displeased she you are determined to be disagreeable he on the contrary i am anxious to be agreeable if i only could hit upon the way in which it could be come at she indeed and to think how little one might have suspected that he flinging himself on the sand at her feet you do not mind if i lie down i trust she by all means make yourself comfortable he thank you in the bundle of time she looks at him doubtfully for a moment and then moving away a little but not so far as to be out of ear shot she seats herself upon the end of a log he i should think that that seat would be damp she it is no matter he if you do not mind certainly it is not she you might have found me a better seat he rising with elaborate courtesy and bowing toward the seat on the sand which he has occupied you will perhaps condescend to try the place which i had she thank you but i prefer to remain where i am he flinging himself down again as you please there is a short silence during which she becomes more and more solemn while he an e cheerful expression of countenance she looks out over the sea while he regards her idly twisting his cane in his hands he i think i promised to give you a lesson in natural history to day did i not she very likely but i should n t think of troubling you he oh it is no trouble i assure you i have nothing else in the world to do she it is a pity you have nothing to do i never could respect an idle man a lesson in natural history and so i proposed to become a busy one by giving you the instruction she that would indeed be something not much it is true but still something she very well if you are determined to undertake my education you had perhaps better begin he good it will perhaps be best that i examine you a little at the outset in order that i may discover how much you know i shall have to question you s ie is that part of the bargain i e there is no bargain so far as i know you said that you wished to know more of natural history and i to instruct you now the field of natural history is a wide one it is probable that there are some divisions of the subject which would be more attractive to you than others and it is also probable that you are better prepared for some than for others in order to discover what is the best thing to begin upon it is necessary that i discover what you know in this department already i trust that i make myself clear s ie oh perfectly he and of course you are ready to answer the questions i ask s ie that will depend upon what they are he you mean upon whether you can answer them or not s ie not at all t bundle of time he what then she upon whether i wish to answer them or not he that is hardly a satisfactory attitude for a she but it is necessary with such a teacher he thank you it is hardly worth while to go on after that she as you please what had you thought of beginning upon he we might have had an instructive lesson upon the nature of the female of man she if the truth was to be told i cannot but regret that for your own sake you did not go on it is hardly possible that you could fail to get a new respect for the sex if you only studied it carefully he do you know it seems to me sometimes that you women are more profoundly ignorant in regard to yourselves than any other animals she taking as the standard of course the things which you men suppose to be true in regard to us he of course we are disinterested and can tell what the truth is she disinterested he why not she you do not of course try to make things square themselves to your theories a lesson in natural history he our theories are only facts she and to what conclusions	3
have your facts admirable phrase led you he that women are the most selfish the most inconsistent the most she really it is not worth while to go on that sort of abuse is at once too and too cheap to be worthy of the eloquent lips of captain it was you was it not whom mrs was pleased the other day to call the most courteous gentleman of the time he mrs is a old s ie she would be pleased to hear you say so it would dawn on her for the first time that the most courteous gentleman of his time could lose his temper and a woman like a he does it not seem to you that the conversation has become a trifle too personal to be wholly well bred it is possible that that construction might be put upon it by some mrs for instance might incline to that view he what is the reason that you take so much delight in me i never lose my temper with any other woman in the world s ie that is proof that we should never be together he you forget that i am a and believe she in small l in the bundle of time he don t interrupt it is rude and believe that like like she that means that if i like you it will cure your liking for me he nonsense it means nothing of the sort she oh that is not a peculiarity of yours it is common to the whole sex i could perhaps give you a lesson in the nature and attributes of the male of the human race with profit to you it would be necessary to begin it is true by asking you questions he i could at least be patient in answering them if i undertook it which is more than could be said of some she don t be too modest say which is more than can be said of most of your sex he i was thinking of yours she it is a fault of your character if you will pardon my mentioning it to think too much of our sex he i am aware that the subject is one which it is to take too seriously she thank you is this natural history he it has become so uncertain who is to take the part of in the lesson that the whole scheme of instruction has been she which is such a pity he it is certainly not my fault she nothing can be a man s fault as long as there is a woman alive a lesson in natural history very likely you are right s ie does this seem to you a very intelligent or conversation he on the contrary it seems to me utterly she then it would perhaps be better if you would go on with that famous discourse on natural history which you were anxious to give me the animal kingdom is headed by a which is gifted with peculiar which distinguish it from the monkey tribe it is from the cold by any natural clothing it is unable to upon raw food it is neither endowed with strength to withstand the attacks of the other animals nor able to climb to escape them as do the and in a word it is in most respects inferior to those species from which it is supposed to have descended she oh most admirable philosopher he the female of the species is capricious vain and wholly she a second daniel come to judgment he her strongest characteristic is the love of finery although in some specimens the love of deceit and of cruelty seems to even this she do you know captain it has often seemed to me that the strangest thing about men is the way in which they take to abuse of our sex the moment anything in the world goes against i l in the bundle of time their wishes if the wind blows in the wrong direction it is always upon women that man throws the blame adam is said to have begun it when he laid the blame of the fall upon eve for my part i have no doubt whatever that he sent the serpent to tempt her so that he might have an excuse for eating the apples without taking the blame he as if that were necessary she you may be sure that he would the blame on to woman somehow he at this stage of human history nothing seems to me more stupid than the of reproaches upon the sexes she i am so sorry to have begun it yes j it is a pity that you did s ie you impudent wretch you know that i did nothing of the sort but you would have if you had had a chance s ie that is masculine he well i am ready to forgive you she that is more than i can say he oh if you are not ready to forgive yourself i cannot help that she rising i think it is time for me to go back to the hotel he oh don t hurry your conversation is of a sort she losing her self control captain i will never speak to you again a lesson in natural history he and why not pray she you are never tired of me and i think you are too cruel really miss i she oh don t deny it of course it is foolish of me to mind but i give you my word that it never occurred to me that you cared for all this silly talk i did not think there was point enough to my to wound you s ie recovering herself that is just it it is not keen enough to pierce without being felt it only he you are evidently	3
on the way to me when you return to abuse she not that you deserve to be forgiven but he but you know that i am at heart your devoted slave she no that i had not suspected he it is true nevertheless i am yours to dispose of at your will she then suppose that i suggest that you should start on an exploring expedition to the south pole he with all my heart if you will come too she come you are improving i have never before heard so gallant a speech from your lips he there is no telling what you can make of me if you will really take me in hand in the bundle of time she but he there is no but about it i intended to add to my remarks on the race of beings upon which i began to lecture that great and noble as the man is he is nothing unless he is taken in hand by the female of his sex and trained she the theory does you infinite credit but suppose i reply that the training of some individuals of the species is so difficult that no sane woman would think of undertaking it he that is all very well in theory in practice it is the duty of women to take pity upon the most hopeless cases which present themselves the glory is the greater if the men they labor upon are apparently hopeless she upon that theory i have certainly no choice but to take you captain he it is a bargain then she i suppose so he thank you she but i did not give you leave to kiss me like that he it is a fact of natural history which i neglected to mention that the masculine affection gratitude and stronger sentiments by pressing his lips to those of the female of his species as thus she it is highly improper of him and yet he and yet she and yet not wholly unpleasant t t one class day if one class day it j amid roses that the bee runs the song and in the same mood the poet wrote joy is the of sorrow pretty sitting in the window seat of jack s room in and looking out over the gay picture of fresh young faces and still gowns which make up the glory of a class day did not know these but she was none the less the spirit which them she had been so perfectly so securely happy half an hour ago she had settled herself so amid her crisp white drawing the window curtain before her as a sign that she wished to be let alone while she rested and waited for harry to send the escort he had promised to take her to the tree harry himself was class and had so much on his hands that it was really wonderful that he had been able to devote so much of his day to miss as he had already t bundle of time given her a reflection which had been in her mind when the gossip on the other side of the window curtain had suddenly come to her ears and her with thrust it had been such a delightful day thus far thought she had never seen a morning more perfect when the sunshine was so bright and so soft and so warm yet neither nor glaring when the air w as so fresh and the trees so green the flowers so fair and never moreover although this was by no means her first class day had her dress been more perfectly satisfactory more in the carriage or more about retaining its freshness as the day wore on and then there was that magnificent bunch of which harry had not forgotten to send her and which was beginning to at her belt at this moment and above all there was harry himself he had somehow contrived to be on hand when the carriage drove up looking than ever and he had been so kind and attentive he had been more than that for he had found the opportunity in the shade of a big palm which in a clumsy green tub was one of the of the where half a dozen men of whom he was one ay one gave the most dashing spread of the day to put the all important question toward which he and had been all winter she flushed with exquisite pleasure sitting in jack s window seat at the remembrance and too with a shy shame at the kiss she had granted him in token of the love she could not find words to express but all this was half an hour ago and now she sat still in the shadow of the curtains so thoroughly miserable that she could hardly seem to herself ever to have been happy she had come over to jack s spread and jack who was her cousin had tucked her away in this window seat to be comfortable and rest and then she had heard that dreadful talk which was destined to change the whole course of her life the were the wife of an ex governor a short stout hard woman whom had always detested a woman one might have selected from her appearance to be concerned in such bitter gossip and a faced girl for whom miss had if possible even less fondness the two had seated themselves close beside s window seeing indeed that somebody was there but not noticing who it was so well was the of the window seat by the in the bundle of time and in their talk they were perfectly without whether they were overheard he is class were the words which arrested s attention is he the younger lady asked in that tone which so suggests that some scandal	3
trial came one class day for then harry ran out from the struggling shouting laughing crowd with his hands full of roses and with skilful aim threw the whole bunch straight into s lap she bowed and smiled her thanks clutching the blossoms as her girl friends fell upon her to imitate on a small scale the grand scramble around the tree when it was all over when the noisy cheering growing and was silent and the crowd was scattering came down from her high seat with the spoil of the tree pinned into her belt along with the drooping there were two or three to be got through and then the dance in the evening her courage failed her as she thought of it she would go home at once she would get away from the crowd and noise and hide herself where she could be quiet and think can t you get me a carriage somewhere she said to tom ours won t come until evening and i don t think i can stand this headache much longer it was not until she was seated in the carriage which he found for her that she said softly to her cousin jack who had heard of her departure and hurried to ask how she was in the bundle of time will you tell mr that i have gone home i had promised him the first dance all the long drive in from cambridge to boston sorrowfully discussed the situation with herself and tried to fight down the pain which swelled in her heart she had been born and in a circle where a stain upon one s birth was an and disgrace she felt amid all her sorrow a pang almost of shame as if some doubt had been cast upon her own and now and then a throb of anger mingled with her pain as if her lover had deceived and betrayed her confidence by hiding the truth about his birth all other feelings however in an intolerable sense of anguish at the loss of her it was characteristic of her training rather than of her nature that there did not for a moment enter her mind any idea of continuing her relations with harry from the moment she had heard applied to him that terrible word all question of her marrying him was answered forever it did not occur to her that it could be otherwise she did not debate that phase of the matter with herself at all not even turning over in her own mind the obvious plea that a marriage as an act of one ay religion was widely different from an ordinary case of union she only wondered how she could bear to give her lover up saying to herself that it would not have been so hard yesterday before he had put his love into words and before that kiss had so bound their lives together she felt sure that harry would understand that he might follow her home and she was sure he would come but it was nearly nine o clock before his card was brought to her she had been sitting alone in the dark crying a little now and then but for the most part too bitterly sad for tears she scarcely paused to her eyes before hastening down to the parlor and she came into the dimly lit room with the flowers he had given her still hanging crushed and faded at her belt he started up as she entered and before he spoke he took her in his arms and kissed her fervently she yielded herself up to his passionate caress an instant then she freed herself and stood looking at him with trembling lip and eyes full of tears what is it he exclaimed aware that something had happened but not in the least suspecting its nature what is the matter she turned away from him to throw her t bundle of time self into a great easy chair and burying her face in her hands upon its arms she burst into a flood of tears he sprang to her side and put his arms about her soothing and caressing her she struggled to regain her self control and by degrees her sobs ceased she sat upright her bosom heaving and the tears still running from her eyes he regarded her in concern and bewilderment as she strove to speak and waved her hand toward the chair from which he had risen on her entrance obeying her gesture he sat down and looked at her with questioning gaze it is terrible she said when she was able to speak and i ought to have known known what demanded more and more puzzled she looked at him an instant with eyes a sudden coldness came over her you are a she said with an intensity which showed how much she felt the words his face fell you have n t just discovered that he returned no she answered but it never meant anything to me until until one class day she hesitated then stopped altogether looking at him with a face full of piteous appeal he did not speak however and she was forced to go on until to day i heard mrs i heard a woman say she stopped again the rosy blood flushed her face young started to his feet crimson to his temples his face was hard and set he leaned his back against the mantel and folded his arms you heard a woman say he repeated taking up and continuing her words that my mother was a sealed wife and that i was born of a marriage was that it yes replied with a slight hesitation which to his thoroughly aroused indicated that this was not all very likely he went on with a little bitter laugh this woman that you heard used the ugly words which	3
are fond of upon women i tell you that my mother is as pure and as lovely as any woman alive nothing that he could have said would have touched her so deeply she rose from her chair and held out her in the bundle of time hand to him his face softened as he took it but he went on none the less vehemently it is all very well for old that know nothing about it to sit in judgment here in boston on the women of salt lake city if they were there they d follow the prevailing religion just as they do now i don t believe the rubbish myself but i do know that women like my mother are as conscientious and as true in every way as the people who abuse them he dropped her hand and began to pace back and forth on the hearth rug trying to restrain an indignation which was evidently of no recent growth and you he said at last stopping before her you are like the rest i did n t try to deceive you how could i tell that you would n t realize what my being a latter day saint meant when i knew that you knew it and to day the of feeling was too bitter he set his lips together his whole face white and drawn with misery poor s tears were falling now she clung to the corner of the mantel with both hands it is not that she said all that you say must be true but it isn t that one class day what is it then he demanded almost fiercely you wouldn t marry me now and if it isn t that what is it i would marry you if there were only myself to consider she answered mournfully but with a certain firmness which showed that she did not even consider the possibility of but there are father and mother and my brother i do you love me less than you do them he broke in fiercely they have had you all your life and they have each other i have only you in all the wide world she shook her head sadly no she said there is more than that i might leave them and brave all that the world would say but but what he demanded as she paused but afterward i do not understand he began afterward i would be so good to you that you could not repent then he met her glance and saw the blush rising in her pale cheek a sudden comprehension of her thought came to him ah he cried out with a fresh bitterness as if he had been in his most tender spot you mean that your children shall never have to say their father was in the bundle of time she bent forward swiftly and laid her fingers over his mouth preventing him from concluding the sentence he looked at her with despair in his glance as if she were separated from him by an gulf then he took her in his arms and kissed her passionately she clung to him sobbing but even then it did not occur to her to consider the possibility of changing her decision she felt the misery of the situation with all the terrible which belongs only to the inevitable but you love me he said at length as if trying to reconcile that fact with her oh she sobbed i do love you so no denial she could have spoken would have made him realize how fixed and was her resolution as did the tone of utter despair in which she said these words he knew then although he would not yet give her up that his pleading would be in vain yet he pleaded with her because he could not bear to lose her he urged her love and then he claimed her by his own she had no answer she could not argue she only clung to him and begged him to spare her further torture begged him to leave her to forget her and then with the one class day next breath moaned a pitiful prayer that e would always hold her in remembrance the clock on the mantel measured the hours into and quarters with regularity until the silvery told off the close of class day in midnight and harry took s face between his hands and devoured it with his hungry gaze as if he were its least detail upon his sorrowful memory good by he said you will be happy sometime i am not selfish enough not to wish that with my whole heart i will go back to salt lake of course jack said when some knowledge of what had occurred came to him through and he had his friend of course it s tough but what could harry have been thinking of any way to suppose that one of our family could marry a to which the young lady to whom he confided his opinion assented but she added with a sigh whose seemed to include all the inexplicable misfortunes of life such a handsome fellow as he was too t mt a fishing party i a fishing party the warm air from the fields comes blowing down through the bushes and shrubs on the river s brink and the two young persons who have their in the shade of the growth the languid stream seems hardly to move as if it shared with all nature the languid drowsy calm of the time nobody who was not both young and fond of would have been found in such a situation on that sunny afternoon and it was evident had the most casual observer been present to notice that there was little more than the most shallow pretence in the fishing which they were apparently there for j	3
she it is so warm that no fish that was not an idiot would stir to bite this afternoon i told you that it was too warm to come he oh no not too warm to come or you would not have come she it is too warm he then what did you come for she simply because you so he how weak minded she nothing of the sort i wanted you to be punished for me he and so you nobly sacrificed yourself she of course a girl always sacrifices herself to the good of others t bundle of time he that accounts for the of the refusal of men she oh no that is to be accounted for by the fact that there are limits beyond which even feminine self sacrifice cannot go he but you are fond of fishing you said she did i then i am he that is logical she of course it is logical i know that i always tell the truth and if i said that i am fond of fishing it follows that i must be he that is she of course if a man had said it it would be different he yes quite different she but i did not say that i was fond of he that is one of the legitimate attractions of fishing she but i do not believe that there is a single fish in all this stupid river he who cares so long as we are here she well i like that he do you she but we came after fish he did we she did n t we he i did n t she what did you come for he you a party tke young woman preserves a fine indifference and almost an air of under this compliment although a faint blush does steal up into her soft and rosy before she at her line with sudden vehemence she oh i ve got a bite a real one he yes i she more than ever but she will not show that she understands she what do you mean he what i said she but that was nonsense he oh of course after a girl is always nonsense she after a girl what an elegant expression he not elegant but expressive she expressive he yes it just expresses how we follow on as the silly fish go after the hook she they don t he but you said that you had a she oh that was nothing he it might prove to be something if you would only try to land your fish she her line run out with the current oh it was probably a mud fish or an nothing else would bite such a day as this he but to land it would show so much the more skill on your part in the bundle of time she but it would be of no good after it was landed thank you she innocently for what he you have something on your line you had better attend to that she goodness how it i should n t have thought that any living thing could be so lively on so hot a day it is probably a he sweets to the sweet she don t lose your temper it oh she has pulled in her line until the head of a great appears above the surface in which are anything but and then with a scream of horror she allows it to slip through her so that her prey once under the water she oh it is an he apparently it is she oh the horrid nasty thing to get on my hook he you put the hook out for him it isn t likely that the poor fool is any better pleased with the state of things than you are she too much excited over the danger that the monster which she has may come into the boat and itself by devouring her bodily to consider whether these last words do or do not contain some hidden meaning oh what shall i a fishing party do how shall i get that dreadful great thing off my line he he isn t on your line you know he is on your hook she oh what shall i do he you might land him she oh i never never could i throw away my line first he but you would n t let him go through life dragging a hook and line after him would you his tone and manner are so significant that it is impossible for her to pretend that she does not understand the application of his remark he is so plainly the case of the unlucky with his own that there is instantly the of a personal flavor to the conversation which makes her for the moment forget the awful peril of having an monster attached to her by a cord a feminine and desire to improve the opportunities of the situation puts for the instant the out of her mind entirely she that does not trouble me he d be sure to get rid of it somehow they always do seems to him that she is softening and he is to move somewhat nearer to her he no he could n t the bait is too tempting and your hook is too sharp she you tip the boat over if you lean over so far this way he i risk the boat won t you take me off the hook in the bundle of time she a well feigned appearance of entirely misunderstanding you captain he venturing to steal an arm about her waist you can t have failed to see how fond of you i am and in this uncertainty i am far worse off than that unlucky she but he is n t off you know he is on he don t me darling while he is speaking a	3
wicked smile of the most heartless and malicious mischief brings out every in mistress s face and she herself in swiftly and gathering up her line so that as the captain attempts to follow up his appeal with an impassioned kiss by a quick and swift jerk she lands the which proves to be an enormous fellow full in the lap of her captain starts back with a leap which nearly the boat uttering at the same time a word which at least a acquaintance with ter ns she don t swear he with more temper tha i politeness oh no of course not women always take refuge in morality after they have outraged all decency she i must say you are amiable i b tt miss like another before her has upon an enterprise without sufficiently considering what the consequences nay be the is and about on the bottom of the boat in a manner calculated to throw an entire boarding school into and it itself a party upon the feet she has been so absorbed in watching the face of her companion that she has forgotten all about the but now her wits entirely desert her and she bursts into a series of shrieks which would alarm the entire neighborhood were there any neighbors in it to be she oh save me save me he with a vicious and wholly delight in her distress you do not seem to like it now that it is here she oh take it away take it away he i should not think of with your capture she i will jump overboard he you will find it very damp in the river i assure you the this remark by about anew as if the mention of the of its native element were more than it could bear she oh captain oh do do do take it away he secretly but not ready to show his pity what did you pull it in for she oh i don t know oh i ll do anything for you if you will only kill that horrible creature the for the moment into comparative and the captain is therefore able to steel his heart against the misery he he comfortably and easily in the so in the bundle of time bow of the i do not at this interesting moment happen to think of anything that i really want you to do besides if i did it would seem too much like for me to mention it she poised on the stern oh dear dear i hate you he it is kind of you to take the trouble to think of me at all she i did n t suppose that you could possibly be so cruel lighting a with much coolness i know you won t mind my smoking especially as the wind blows this way she there is n t any wind he be careful or you will fall overboard the meanwhile having been left entirely undisturbed for a few moments has become calm after its first excess of which apparently was but a not uneasiness at finding itself among complete and wholly strangers it lies now almost upon the bottom of the boat perhaps wondering what it has been brought there for and perhaps pondering upon possible means of escape the of its violence gives miss an opportunity to recover something of her own calmness she makes a desperate attempt to appear wholly at her ease an air of withering severity he casually giving the a touch with the toe of his boot it is strange what mistakes one a fishing party may make miss i had always thought of you as a lady until that landed in my lap she you are intolerable he and you the aroused by the captain s now begins a new and particularly lively series of which almost throw miss into she makes a brave endeavor to restrain herself but it is an utter failure and she ends by burying her face in her hands and bursting into tears he never being able to endure the sight of a woman in tears hem she perceiving that she has touched him and yet keeping the corner of an eye fixed upon the while she is with another watching her companion oh oh oh he oh don t cry i can throw the beast overboard if you like she oh please please he you don t object to losing your fish her only reply is that of increased sobs and after enduring it as long as his tender nature can the captain rises to return the captive to its native element she watches him until he has the creature at the very edge of the boat when she suddenly and him she stop he what is it she that is my that you are throwing away in the bundle of time he drops it in amazement setting his foot upon it in a vain attempt to reduce it to that calmness which is essential to the production of a good effect in polite society he what do you mean that you don t want it thrown overboard she i don t think that you have a right to throw away what does not belong to you he that is so like a girl she recovering her spirits a little what is the he yes one is as slippery as the other she thank you he oh pray don t mention it do you want this thing thrown overboard or not a provoking gleam of flashes into her face which somehow sets his heart beating she regards him with an arch side look not with a certain condescension she i don t know it is all i have caught you see he well what of that she so it would be a pity to throw it away if i have to go home without anything to show	3
for the whole afternoon s fishing regards her a in a dazed sort of way and then he rushes to the of the boat and her in his arms wholly regardless of the or the of the a fishing party he you blessed darling she after a moment of inarticulate bliss i hope you are satisfied now he to be landed yes thank you anything is better than to be in suspense she anything is better i he laughing and clasping her more closely yes even this she how mean of you to say that he but i landed in paradise you know she oh thank you you could hardly say less one would think under the circumstances he but i know i feel so much more i even forgive you the the perhaps aroused by the mention of his name to a consciousness that he is his opportunities to take part in this comedy becomes instantly and most as lively as ever and begins to execute a series of movements which may be designed to the joyous of affairs but which fail to appeal to the young woman s sense of fitness when he ends by in a chill and slippery ecstasy of emotion about miss s trim ankles she breaks in upon the bliss of her lover with a shriek of the most piercing he what is it dear she oh that that take it away i he where is it i don t see it she oh i m all tied up in it he where e bundle of time she if you don t take it away this minute i never speak to you again whereupon he goes down upon his knees in the bottom of the bt at and to grasp the creature by the head and in a moment more that unfortunate has been offered up an innocent victim upon the altar of their happiness and deep peace upon the and its occupants t s adventure s adventure u r r the hideous which was neither speech nor song had been going on for hours and began at last to be with it as if it were a it was perhaps an that the were there in the closed hut which it would be death for a man to enter it might be a prayer to the infernal gods in whose honor he was to be sacrificed at sunset r r he had become so by the of the position in which he was bound by the fatigue of by the dull of the old yonder that he had wholly ceased to have any sensation of concern he thought of his approaching fate as one thinks of events that have already befallen one in dreams r r i r it was probable he reflected that f h ea it s adventure almost miraculous the information that lady mary was after all not to marry the duke it was the irony of fate that he should be and doomed to death he reflected that this was the result of his own disregard of all when he got that letter which had been wandering from one missionary station to another for six months he had struck straight through the forest for the coast and this was the result well lady mary had sent him away and he muttered a curse under his breath and reflected how little such philosophy consoled him for the loss of the happiness toward which he had been hastening then he shook himself angrily and strove again to regain the drowsy indifference which he so cultivated the heat and the influences of the time helped him and once more he put lady mary and all that lay outside of the filthy hut out of his thoughts and drifted away toward sleep deeper and deeper became his semi oblivion the of the insects in the hot air outside mingled with the death song of the old women until all were blended in one of sound suddenly the song of the changed o the bundle of time i r r bim bim i the song took on a new character a fresh energy and now at regular intervals the dull of the drum was heard really the old ladies are waking up reflected in the same fashion as before the old god either will not hear or he is as sleepy as i am and they must wake him the sudden flash which came from the raising of the mat before the door of the hut in which he lay bound aroused him with a shuddering thrill his first thought was that the hour of death had come to him but in an instant he reflected that at least it was not yet much past the middle of the afternoon he could tell this by the intolerable heat and by the sunlight which hotly into the hut as if the mat at the entrance had been a dam to keep back the flow of a tide of splendor a woman was for an instant against the sky and then the curtain dropped leaving a blinding darkness in place of the blinding light closed his eyes once more and lay still he was aware that the new comer was creeping toward him muttering to herself in s adventure the same strange tongue that was being sung by the women in the hut over there a tongue of which in all his wanderings in africa he had never before heard a syllable and which bore no sort of resemblance to the ordinary language of his a sharp pain in his leg made him start and shrink as far as his bonds would permit him he opened his eyes and in the half darkness saw the old who crouched over him muttering in the strange tongue collecting his blood in a small she had thrust a sharp wooden into his leg and from the	3
wound a stream of blood was down you me too quickly mother he said in the dialect you will have it all soon why take it a little at a time the started at his voice and turned toward his face oh i am awake he said if that is what you want to know did you think i would sleep while you my body full of holes the woman leaned forward still holding the under the wound so that no drop of blood should fall to the ground while with the other hand she thrust back the hair which was tossed over s forehead in the bundle of time then she drew from her a bit of something wrapped in a fragment of this she spread like an upon the place she had cut it stung like fire but the bleeding was at once i i ll not engage you as a surgeon if i ever need one exclaimed in english your treatment may be effective but it hurts like the deuce as he spoke the old woman set the in which she had been his blood carefully upon the ground near the door of the hut then she reached up her long arms to the roof and tore a hole through which the light came streaming nor was that absolutely necessary the prisoner began in english then he went on in the speech no sunlight for me mother i am to be despatched soon enough there is no need to roast me beforehand i dare say you will do that afterward the thought which his words suggested gave him the keenest pang that he had known since he had been overcome and bound there by the black falls it had not before occurred to him that he was not only to be killed but to be eaten afterward he had himself against the thought of death but at the idea of what was to come s adventure after an irrepressible shudder ran through his body bim sang the invisible chorus and for the first time the full horror of the situation thrust itself upon him despite all his marvellous self control and the indifference to life which he had so long cultivated the beside him bent over and examined his face intently with her eyes her breath was in his face her black and broken teeth grinned ghastly before him there were a like her yonder his death song and their foul hands would tear his limbs at the feast to night a horrible feeling of and overcame him from which he was aroused by an exclamation of the woman who bent over him it is the white hunter she said in the dialect opened his eyes in astonishment what do you know about white hunters he demanded the white hunter killed the bush cat at the snake hole the woman answered in a whisper the white hunter saved the son of my son like a vivid vision there rose before t bundle of time that day when he had saved the boy from the bush cat in the lower valley the cry of the old woman who had carried the boy away into the forest seemed again to ring in his ears and he knew that this was she instantly the instinct of self preservation up in his breast he was alive in every fibre of his being he regarded the old woman with burning eyes he did not waste breath by asking her to save him his eyes indeed aid but he was not one to say what was already known besides there were guards alongside the hut crouched on the shady side of the little building to escape the glare of the and he had no mind to be overheard by them in anything which might arouse suspicion he all at once assumed that this old creature was to save him and he looked at her with the of his conviction shining in his face bim him the old woman shuddered at the sound she pointed her finger toward the hut where the women were this out refrain and shook her head then she laid her finger upon her lips in that gesture silence which is universal in civilized and lands she said s not a word but sat down upon the ground and smoothed a space with the palm of her hand then with her lean and bony forefinger she began to draw rude figures upon it first she made a figure upon one side of the place she had smoothed leaving the outside of it open and vague she looked up at as she did so as if to see whether he understood this beginning of her signs his face gave no indication of comprehension the old woman swept her arms abroad in a wild gesture and he instantly seized the idea that this figure stood for the forest and that the woman was making a map nodded but did not speak and the other went on with the utmost rapidity making marks in the sand she showed him still working in silence and indicating her meaning always by signs the relative position of the hut where they were to that in which the women were singing to the council house of the village and to various objects then she took hold of the ropes of twisted palm fibre which bound him and with her teeth tore at them with so much energy that in an short time he was free sat up and stretched his cramped limbs he was alive again and the sweet a the bundle of time ness of the joy of mere existence turned him half giddy he was half naked alone and in the midst of hostile tribes and yet the prospect of escape made the blood through his veins with all its old energy he watched as for his life while the old woman drew with her	3
black finger a line from the spot which indicated upon her rude map the hut where they were to the edge of the woods three times she made him trace it over with his own finger pointing out to him the then with a sudden sweep of the hand she brushed away all traces of the she did not in providing for his safety forget her own all this had been done with a swiftness which showed plainly enough that the woman did not wish to convey to those who had sent her for the blood the impression that she had lingered beyond the time needed for getting it now she crept to the side of the hut opposite the doorway and marked two lines upon the ground then she stole back to the side of when the drums beat she whispered the guards will leave dig through the wall quickly and go the way to the forest tomorrow there will be food and a weapon in the hollow tree by the red fall fr s she caught up the from the ground and was gone in so short a space that he had not even time to thank her evidently she carried the blood into the hut where the women were singing for almost immediately there arose a perfect fury of sound from the chorus the whole air through the hot afternoon with the shrill cries of the women whose became each instant more fierce and barbarous for a time sat up and rested his tired muscles strained and aching from the in one position then he reflected that it was not unlikely that the guards would look into the hut before they left their charge to go to join the procession which would come to conduct him to the banquet it is to be a banquet in my honor he reflected grimly and yet it would be like that of a certain of worms i should be eaten rather than eat he lay down again in the position in which he had been tied arranging the broken ropes so that in the dim light it might seem to any one who looked in that they were still in place he lay thinking of the chances of escape he thought of how in the bundle of time he could tell this story at one of lady s afternoon could he but get safely back to england and he seemed to see the bright eyes and parted lips of lady mary as they would look while he talked she would shudder as he spoke of the blood and it was not improbable that she would also shudder could she see him now he smiled at the thought half naked the long from that wound he had received in the fight with the still red across his shoulder he was not exactly the figure to put in an appearance in the most exclusive drawing room in all london it seemed to him that the afternoon would never end he thought that at least the old women must have sore throats tomorrow after keeping up that all day long he wondered whether they would drink his blood mingled with some infernal of and unspeakable things pr whether they would the red drops over their hideous bodies now that he felt sure of escaping even the idea of their intention of dining upon him only affected him as a bit of exquisite satire he could afford to smile at them now with all the accumulated horrors of their s he should foil them he should the fame which he had won among the tribes all along the river of being a too powerful to be resisted he wished that he could set fire to their village before leaving them it would be a pleasant parting testimony of his feelings toward them however perhaps that was not to be thought of if he escaped that was the main thing with lady mary waiting there in england it was not well to run the risks which he had so encountered in the days when he wanted rather to be rid of his life than to preserve it he would try to sleep while he had time he might find it long before there were another opportunity he endeavored to forget everything and at length he really did fall into a half full of wild dreams suddenly the sharp stroke of a drum made him start he was broad awake in an instant he heard his guards who had probably been sleeping on the shady side of the hut and who had not stirred for hours get up with some muttered speech one of them came and thrust his head through the doorway but he instantly withdrew it and as soon as he had done so sprang to his task of making his way through the in the bundle of time side of the hut it was a simple matter of tearing through a slight of twigs and palm leaves and it was quickly accomplished he peered out through the opening a few shrubs grew close by and his way out of the hut he crouched a moment among these getting his direction the noise of the drums the howling of the natives and the of the horns of the priest combined in a din which made him shudder the song of the old women was done now and a dozen lays had taken its place as if the people were with joy over the coming sacrifice or was it the feast the thought of the feast started on his way toward the forest half creeping and half running he made his way from to from behind one hut to another constantly drawing away from the noise of the assembly he saw in a hut he passed a half filled with food he seized it and went on his way eating with his hands he	3
was half and thirst tormented him to the point of madness the woods were near now he had only to cross an open space and then the of thickly growing bushes would receive him s adventure suddenly a dog sprang out from one of the huts an ill half starved brute and sharply at the sound a chorus of dogs all over the village took up the cry and with a vehemence that was to hardly less than it seemed as if the cries must attract attention even amid the noise of the infernal with which the natives were now proceeding toward the hut from which the victim had escaped he gave a wild leap over a low which lay before him and ran for the forest he plunged into a thicket of bushes that scratched and tore his naked shoulders he did not heed the pain for he was at last in the woods and in the woods he felt himself a match for a whole tribe of the branches closed behind him just as there arose a terrible yell from the village which proclaimed that the had discovered the escape of their supper threw back his head and replied with a yell of triumph beyond were freedom and lady mary e in the jury room i in the jury room the place is a western state of recent creation and the scene a jury room into which the has just introduced a jury which chances to be composed exclusively of women the room is and cheerless furnished only with a dozen arm chairs and a long table upon which lie a heap of soiled cards bearing the words guilty and not guilty and which have apparently been used in the or innocence of half the inhabitants of the state the ladies have the air of being rather and uncertain and preserve a certain as long as the is present as if they feared to betray their with the situation the instant he is gone and the door is locked behind him there is an appearance of relief in the whole company there mrs remarks i am glad that the s gone he has a sort of grin on all the time that i simply cannot stand yes mrs he seems to think it is awfully funny to have a jury all of women i don t see what there is in it that s so awfully amusing in the bundle of time oh there are some men that always find anything that a woman does funny mrs puts in i am sure women do things as well as men is n t it a glorious triumph for the cause miss with to have at last a jury of women at last woman can b tried by her it is the other members of the company are perfectly well aware that if miss who is by profession a woman s rights orator be allowed to go on without interruption she will talk for the rest of the day upon the cause so two or three break in upon her at the same time yes yes mrs small says hastily it is glorious as you say miss but i d like to get through with it and get home my baby s sick and i don t want to stay away from her a moment longer than i have to oh is she sick mrs asks poor little thing what is the matter the two ladies plunge into a private and deeply absorbing discussion of the of mrs small s offspring from which they pass to the of babies in general and are startled by the of miss sharp that they must show that they can judge as and as as men i agree with you the mrs returns it is a grave responsibility that we have assumed and we must show ourselves worthy of it in the jury room is there any fine for not deciding right asks timid mrs fairly fine miss sharp with splendid scorn whatever we do is right oh no mrs says my husband is a lawyer and he told me yesterday that we had to decide according to the evidence or the judge could set the verdict aside and according to the law adds miss who does not wish to seem less fully informed than her companion yes according to the law and the evidence the other lady says accepting the but how can we tell what is according to the law mrs fairly looking quite alarmed at the weight of her that s just what the judge told us when he charged us replies the with a shade of impatience in her tone oh i could n t understand what he said at all mrs fairly more overwhelmed than ever i wish i d said i would n t be on the jury anyway your saying you would n t be on it would n t have let you off miss returns women can no longer the of civilization this grand phrase the of poor timid mrs fairly who with tears in her eyes turns for comfort to a placid woman who has sat down beside her in the bundle of time oh mrs jones she what shall i do i don t know anything about law and evidence the other smiles upon her with comfortable oh what difference does that make she i don t know anything about law or evidence either but i know i m going to vote against that bold faced that sat there in the witness box as bold as brass and lied away so this remark causes so great a commotion that two ladies who have been engaged in exchanging for cake writing them down with the of a pencil on the backs of the dirty verdict cards pause in the midst of their conversation and mrs small and mrs are arrested in their histories	3
of all the their children have ever had oh you must n t talk that way mrs much shocked that was evidence and we have n t any right to say that evidence is a lie mrs jones smiles on with serenity if i know a thing is a lie i shall say it s a lie whether it s evidence or not she and for that matter she adds stoutly if it was law and i knew it was n t true i d say so just the same the confusion of tongues which arises in response to this is such as to make it impossible to catch the whole of any remark in the jury room oh my i why who ever did you ever hear but you might be but the cause the at length is constrained to rap on the table to bring things to something like order there there she says it will never do to go on like this we shall never come to any decision at this rate decision miss i came to a decision the minute i saw that dreadful looking woman the idea of her bringing suit against that fine looking man it was utterly absurd but you had n t any right to make up your mind till you had heard the witnesses i just the same is the defiant and i d like to know who s going to make me change it but you might be for contempt of court oh what is contempt of court mrs fairly appalled at this new which has sprung up in her path bother miss they can t fine us for what we say here besides there s a penalty for telling what is said in the jury room the judge said so well any way mrs says somewhat o in the bundle of time taken we have to make up our minds now according to what we heard in the court oh well anybody whose mind is n t made up may make it up is the but it does not take me forever to make up my mind when the whole thing is as plain as a the ladies murmur a little among themselves to indicate their sense that this language is rather too strong and then the two who were interested in turn back to their occupation did you say three eggs or four one asks the other and as i was saying mrs remarks to mrs small after he had been sick for three weeks he was so thin that you would n t have known him oh i wanted to ask you about that ruffled mrs says to mrs fort there is an interval of varied conversation and at the end of ten minutes miss who is very jealous of the dignity of which has been conferred upon mrs when she it herself looks sharply at that lady don t you think that it is time for us to take a vote she asks oh by all means mrs answers we will take a vote if the ladies are ready i thought some might like to discuss a little further first how do we vote some one asks in the jury room we put those things into a box the replies indicating with a wave of her hand the dirty cards and discovering with evident the use to which these are being put by the ladies of inclination that is if there are any of them left when we are ready to use them oh my one of the to the other under her breath how sharp some folks can be yes the other especially if they re set up a uttle by an office but there is n t any box some observing member of the jury declares there ought to be is the response a search of the room failing to bring to light anything in the nature of a box there is at first dire perplexity but at length miss sharp has a brilliant thought the said that if we wanted to know anything we were to rap on the door she the dozen women look at one another in questioning silence this proceeding seems to them so bold that only a stout heart could think of venturing upon it will somebody please rap the says rather timidly it s your place to rap miss answers with evident enjoyment in the bundle of time but i thought somebody nearer the door nobody else has any right to knock is the reply and although mrs has secretly her doubts about this she is not prepared to dispute the proposition well i am ready to do my duty she with a smile to cover her timidity with a show of she goes to the door and timidly but so faintly that it would be impossible for one without to hear oh that is no use miss you must knock louder than that the second rap is hardly less ineffectual than the first but at the third the puts in his head what is wanted he asks is the verdict ready not yet mrs answers we have n t anything to vote in the box is gone the in a manner which the ladies feel to be highly offensive box he echoes there ain t no box the men vote in their hats the ladies of the jury exchange glances expressing indignation at this last crowning insult to womanhood with a large w but we can t vote that way mrs to observe i suppose you can t very vote in your in the jury room the returns with excessively ill timed you may have my hat he holds out his hat and mrs takes it in an manner there ain t nothing more is there he asks with a grin even more offensive than the previous one and mrs for	3
a moment with her eyes fixed on the hat in her hand as if it were a then she walks to the table and drops it i would n t vote in his hat if i never at all she this declaration is received with general approbation and a consultation upon the possible methods of taking a vote it is at length decided that the shall be placed in a pile face downward on the table and then counted this important matter being disposed of the calls for the vote it is evident from the consternation with which the call is received that there is not a full readiness among the company to give their i i don t think i have made up my mind quite one said timidly looking about her with an appealing glance for moral support i ve made up my mind to vote against that horrid woman miss with emphasis and if you will tell me which of these is against her i vote it this very minute bundle of time why guilty would be against her or or not guilty the replies with growing confusion i don t think i am quite clear myself dear though of course she adds brightening visibly under the inspiration of a idea we can make it either way we please if we only agree beforehand oh that is not right at all miss sharp breaks in one of the persons in the case is the and the other is the and guilty has to be for one and not guilty for the other but which is which i don t remember exactly but it s so any way my husband told me to vote not guilty mrs remarks pleasantly and he s a friend of the man so not guilty must be for him and guilty for the woman i tell you how you can tell speaks a who has thus far been too deeply engaged in counting the of a piece of very elaborate fancy knitting to take much part in the conversation my husband told me that the name of the person that came first in the name of the case is the one that you give a verdict for if you vote guilty and the name of the one that comes last is the one you vote for if you vote not guilty but what is the name of this case some one there is an awful pause of half a moment in the jury room i don t quite remember whether it is or the hesitatingly can anybody tell not only anybody but everybody is ready to tell but unfortunately there is a great in the opinions and it is discovered that there are about equal numbers who favor each reading after a good deal of over this point it is at length decided that there is nothing for it but to appeal to the and that is accordingly once more summoned by a rap upon the door well ladies the remarks pleasantly putting in his head what can i do for you this time verdict ready at last not quite sir mrs answers we only wanted to ask what the name of this case is what the great scott the cries ain t you got as far as the name of the case yet the regards him with a look of outraged dignity we simply wished to inquire she the comes in and the door behind him oh certainly he answers the case is that of for obtaining money under and is the man a asks in the bundle of time yes is the man miss claims that he borrowed money of her under pretence of intended marriage do you think he did asks mrs with the utmost great scott the you don t expect me to give an opinion do you i m under oath ladies well i did n t know but you could tell something about it mrs explains it is dreadfully miss regards her with eyes of concentrated rage and the instant the door is closed behind the she falls upon her i should think that for the credit of womanhood you might have been more careful what you said to that she he will go and tell just what you said to him for my part i should think that there might have been sense enough in the room to keep from calling him in at all i said all the time that it was i beg your pardon the replies at last by the repeated attacks of miss to strike back but it was because you were so positive that it was that i felt that there was no way of convincing you short of calling in the the murmur of the members shows so plainly that the general sentiment is with mrs that in the jury room miss does not venture to pursue the subject but not to be put down entirely she remarks that at least now that the point is settled it would be well to take a vote at last very well mrs returns we will take a vote then those that are in favor of miss will vote guilty and those that are in favor of mr will vote not guilty the are all there i wish to say before we vote miss remarks in her most and manner that it is well to remember that this is the first case that has ever been tried in america before a jury of women and that it is well to remember that the whole future of american women may be influenced by the way in which we vote if we give a vote for the man it will show that we are not narrow minded but that we are liberal enough to side with the right even when it is in favor of one who has been an enemy	3
of woman has this man been against woman is demanded amid evident excitement yes he has written against it in the then that settles it one woman declares i will never vote in favor of a man that has wished to keep our sex on the level of and by us of the this remark is received with what might most accurately were it not for the want of deference to in the bundle of time the sex implied by the use of the term be called a of excited determination for my part miss sharp rises to remark while i agree with what miss says in regard to the importance of what we decide to do i look at the matter from exactly the opposite point of view in regard to the verdict what is the reason that women have been so long trampled under the feet of men if it is not that they have not held together it is all very well to talk of being broad enough to give a verdict in favor of a man the always are in favor of men and if we do not show that we are prepared to stand by our sex how can women trust their cause to our hands we are here to represent the strength of womanhood all over the east they are watching us and the eastern papers say that they are waiting to judge by the results in the west whether it is worth while to try woman or not what will they say if the first woman jury in the country goes back on woman the effect of this is so great that miss is forced to see that she is again in the she takes revenge in a feminine way excuse me miss sharp she says sweetly but your front is coming off miss sharp her front hair with frantic haste and from the discussion to consult with her pocket mirror in a corner her triumphant enemy who has thus snatched victory in in the jury room the very moment of defeat turns upon the company a smiling glance which seems to intimate that of course they are convinced of the justice of her position now and such is feminine nature that for the most part they are oh ladies cries out the plaintive voice of mrs small won t you please to vote so that i can go home my baby is sick and i am so worried that i don t know what to do yes mrs jones we may as well vote now as any time those that have made up their minds will keep to em no matter what you say or what the evidence is and those that have n t will vote one time as well as another this is not a soothing speech but the fat and placid mrs jones is so perfectly unmoved by the glances cast in her direction that it is felt by the others that all would be wasted so that nobody ye will vote now mrs says with dignity please select your there are not enough here somebody declares that is because they have been used up since we came into the room the declares fixing her stern glance on the whose pockets are filled with dirty pieces of on which are written for various and sundry kinds of cake well we can t vote without more cards i j the bundle of time we shall have to call the again i am not going to call that horrid man again mrs declares with spirit nobody knows exactly what reply to make to this and a pause which is broken by an unexpected move on the part of mrs i am going home she declares rising i am just sick of staying here and i never will be on a jury again in my life i don t know anything about their old case and what s more i don t want to i am tired to death and i am just going home why you can t go the won t let you out i should like to see him touch me my husband would just tear him to pieces if he laid a hand on me but he has to keep you here it s the law i don t care anything about the law i resign from this old jury and that is the whole of it if i m not a member of it the has n t any right to keep me shut up here as if i were a prisoner myself it is shameful and i shall tell my husband just as soon as i get home by this example mrs small rises also and begins to settle her bonnet i resign too she says i must go home and see to my sick baby but you can t resign cries miss in wrath and consternation nobody can resign from a jury in the jury room then what was i put on it for demands mrs standing at bay i thought it was going to be splendid you always said it would be when you i can t stay here and if they will let me go i will promise never to vote again my husband said i should n t like it and i don t i don t the rising of her voice and the appearance of her countenance sufficiently warn those about her that it is only a step to and great is their consternation i say cries mrs we shall never agree on anything at this rate why not draw lots to see which way the verdict shall be i cannot betray the trust of the state a sentimental looking shaking her curls with an expression of being prepared to die for principle for my part another in quite a different spirit i will vote for anything if i can only	3
be allowed to go home meanwhile mrs and mrs small after consulting together are seen to be advancing to the door upon which the former vigorously the appears with great and the other wait with breath while the following takes place between him and the would be what do you want now ladies verdict ready in the bundle of time we are going home mrs sweetly we have resigned from the jury resigned great scott resigned thunder and the bursts into wild and laughter which becomes so violent that there seems to be imminent danger that he will in the end burst a resigned you can t resign from a jury mrs back but mrs small the color rising in her cheeks attempts to pass the i am going to my sick baby she says will you stand out of my way sir the awful dignity of her manner the who the door and puts his back against it look here ladies he says lord knows i d like to send you all home it s always been my belief that women had no business round a court of justice but you ve been and i have n t any right to let you go you ve got to give in a verdict or stay here long enough to show that there ain t no possible chance of your agreeing before you be discharged at this awful statement mrs bursts into hysterical weeping whereupon the at first makes a motion as if he were minded to attempt consolation but he evidently thinks better of it and goes out the women gather in a discouraged in the jury room fashion about the weeping woman while mrs small whose has given way to anger herself of an opinion of the which is at once so and so obviously that it is not worth while to set it down for my part cries mrs fairly i think it is just shameful to shut us up here and not let us out i should think that would be ashamed of themselves i should think that every woman in the land would rebel against such an i should like to know how they think we can tell anything about the law if we stay here for a week the situation is becoming tragic and there is no telling to what pitch of desperation the company might have come when some ten minutes later the who has been in consultation with the judge returns with the welcome news that his honor is willing to accept a plea of and to allow the jury to be discharged and thus it comes about that the first woman jury of the state does not in the end declare for either the man or for the woman in the case but among the of that part of the world it is held to be a fact not to be disputed that whatever is the second best story in the world the best is certainly the account which is given by the of his dealings with the female jury i miss jane miss jane he lived in a square house with a roof which stood less than a score of feet from the village street tall and trees grew in the tiny front yard hardly larger than a pocket handkerchief and managed among them by great and ingenuity to keep the place so shaded that a fine green moss had spread itself over the stems of the and over the somewhat fence which enclosed them they were the most and ghostly of trees and their tops were at least twice as far from the ground as was the roof of the house they the house was not one of much pretence it was a two story substantial building and there had even in the beginning been some in the way of carved the front door and in the elaborate leading of the fan light above but time had so the carving and with rest in the bundle of time less teeth at its edges it had so off the paint and had with the aid of the wind so bent and the old fan light that the glory of these things was no more the house was still in a state of preservation sufficient to bring it within the bounds of respectability but it had no longer any faintest pretence of elegance whatever may in the beginning have been its state the windows of the old house were small panes and it may have been that the terrible which was so marked in jane was the result of constant attempts to peer through them and between the branches of the at what passed in the village street only that there was so little ever passing in the village street that this theory does not upon reflection seem within the mansion was quaint and crooked and above everything else it was narrow the furniture was plain but stately and with a fine air of having been in existence so long that it had come to be something more than mere furniture being endowed with some of the characteristics of the folk with whom it had so long associated the tall clock which had away the lives of miss jane s ancestors for three or four generations was too big to stand in the tiny hall and had to be given miss jane a corner in the sitting room that good apartment which has vanished with the advance of civilization the green silk which lined the doors of the ancient secretary was almost white with age along its folds while the were dull with time and despite all could not be rubbed into the vulgarity of appearing new there were chairs covered with such as has not been in the shops since the days of our and which apparently will not be again this side of the judgment day the books on	3
the spider legged old tables were published when the century was young if indeed they were not brought into being in a century dead before this one was born all about the house was the air of and of belonging to a time long since gone it was perhaps because she grew up in this atmosphere that miss jane had always the air of being old when she to school in she might at any moment have been mistaken for her own grandmother and the danger of regarding her as a contemporary of her own furniture grew greater as she advanced in life she was a queer little fair haired thing with a curious a sallow cheek and a strangely nervous motion of the chin she threw her chin up in the bundle of time as she talked or as she sat silent moving her lower jaw like a nervous which tries to get rid of its bridle it was an inheritance from her mother a kind hearted and amiable old lady who had the forbidding appearance of the typical witch in story miss jane had properly speaking never been young since she had been born with maturity of mind no less than of person she was rather a humorous body but there had never been anything at all resembling about her she was born a hundred years old and that of course made a difference the store of worldly goods of which miss jane was possessed was small there was a trifling income from some property which her father had left and when there is no to speak of a very little income will do after the death of her mother jane took to going out to do sewing for the few families in the village who were in a position to indulge in the luxury of a it was partly that she needed tlie money and quite as much that she needed the companionship she could not bear the thought of sitting day after day alone in the empty house and she was not of sufficient to run from one neighbor s to another s after the fashion of the miss jane it was in the line of her professional work that miss jane s romance happened and that she came to be the topic of conversation for the whole village for a time she was moreover made a person of consequence in the eyes of her fellows and that is a thing which the feminine soul dearly loves there was a great stir at the house of squire and all the domestic atmosphere was in commotion the squire s nephew his pride his pet and his heir was coming to visit him in that mysterious way in which intelligence is diffused in a village where there is nothing to interest folk save the intimate affairs of their neighbors it was known that there had been serious difficulties between and his uncle and that this visit was quite as much for the arrangement of terms as of a friendly nature nobody knew just what had been doing this time and indeed the of were of so terrible a nature that the good village folk were only in the habit of alluding to them in a sort of awe stricken whisper as being quite beyond the range of their simple and he was known to smoke while the squire had wine on his own table so that it was not surprising that the young fellow in the bundle of time should be so abandoned as to drink it he had been to paris and to visit that city in any capacity other than that of a missionary must always seem to the good villagers as something not far removed from a crime he was supposed to have been into all sorts of vices and cards and wine and tobacco were as familiar to him as possible there was certainly no doubt about that and yet withal was an youth there was not a man woman or child in the village who did not secretly admire him he was the rural ideal of manly beauty if not of virtue the type of politeness if not of propriety on those rare and fleeting occasions when he condescended to honor the village with his presence he was the all absorbing topic of thought and of conversation his looks were commented upon his easy impudence was viewed with secret admiration and expressed the young men of the village studied his attire while the young studied his face and figure his most trifling remarks were quoted and remembered he became for the time being the village while yet he set at defiance all the village traditions and outraged all the village customs when he was seen openly along miss jane in the direction of a brook on sunday morning with his rod lifting his hat to the church whom he met with as easy an air as if it were any other of the seven days in the week instead of the first there was a flutter in the village conscience which must have s interfered with the reception of such divine truth as that morning was announced from the village pulpit he read french novels he drove fast horses he smoked cigars and and whatever he did he did with the unconscious air of one for whom the of village morality did not exist it was evident that he either did not in the least care what the villagers thought of his morals or that he was so indifferent to the whole moral question that he had never taken the trouble to find out what they did think on this particular visit the squire had ranged himself to some extent upon the side of the village he had heretofore taken much the same view of the matter as did his irrepressible nephew or to be more exact he had assumed that whatever did	3
all seem to think that i am an idle for naught he said then with a quick change of tone that would not have done to an actor of standing he added but then i never had a mother or a father to set me going straight a boy is n t good for much until a woman takes him in hand that is so miss jane assented briskly you should marry miss when i marry answered i must have a wife with a steady head and a clear one so that there shall be one in the family miss jane laughed but with evident approval of the sentiment you will probably take some silly little who is pretty but who never had an idea in her head she returned no said with emphasis you do not do me justice miss jane i have knocked about a good deal so i have understood she and i am older in my judgment than i get credit for being he went on the interruption i know what i need as well as anybody does in upon this conversation the next day to her friend miss jane owned that she was a good deal struck by it and she added that when had gone on to ask her advice in certain matters she had given it with a conviction that she might be doing the young man a real service the of the little town were of course soon put in full possession of all this information by with the addition of much more from the imagination of in the bundle of time that lady while it was not long before all the village were talking of the amazing intimacy which had sprung up between miss jane and he had called at the old house under the more than once he had been seen walking home with her from more than one of the houses where she was employed and there was a general among the good ladies of the town to secure the services of the for the sake of seeing whether the young man did really come to escort her home at night as was reported it is not to be pretended that all this did not to some extent turn the simple head of miss jane to be the centre of village gossip to have risen to the dignity of being associated in the minds of her with the village favorite was more honor than she had ever to or expected she was flattered and excited and her chin worked more than ever as she caught her neighbors watching her with curious eyes as for he was not only carrying out his scheme but he was amusing himself as well he had never found any adventure of his life more droll miss jane was not without plenty of natural which miss j ine made her good company and she was not in the least sentimental so that he was able to carry on the farce of her without any disagreeable necessity of pretence the whole town knew how often he walked with miss jane and how often he talked with miss jane and indeed it was part of his plan that they should know he was giving a sort of to the whole affair with the intent that it should come to the ears of his uncle and in time to the ears of his uncle it did come naturally the squire at first treated the whole story with contempt and laughed at the idea that his nephew should be paying attentions to plain and elderly miss jane but when began to take the out driving and was seen walking with her in the moonlight then the squire lost his head a little and began to think that there was perhaps something in it he said one morning after revolving the situation in his mind i hope you are not going to waste your whole summer about when you should be looking for a wife i mean just what i have said and and i have made up my mind to obey in the bundle of time you sir responded secretly delighted then why don t you set about finding the right girl you can t find one in a moment oh the girl doesn t matter was s careless answer i don t want to marry at all but if i must marry one girl is as good as another but one girl is not as good as another you young his uncle responded beginning to get red in the face you must remember that you have to consider your family oh of course i should think of marrying a girl that is not respectable and i shall try to get one who comes of a good family you don t ask any more do you the squire was inwardly raging but miss jane s family was every whit as good as his own and he knew it so that it was of no use to continue the attack on that line but you would n t want a wife who was a he said angrily or one that or had any oh that is a matter of taste responded with a great affectation of indifference if she is good it is enough miss jane since when did you come to have so great an admiration for virtue his uncle sneered angrily since i have been confined down here in the country answered significantly the power of virtue has become impressed upon my mind as for beauty that is after all a matter of taste i don t think i mind a little in a woman it does n t look so set as the regular thing you know you are a rascal his uncle roared losing his temper completely and he flung himself out of the breakfast room leaving to smile to himself over the	3
success of his th success was not quite so rapid as the young hoped however his uncle was angry but he did not give way even after had had the to parade miss jane before the squire s very face on his arm at a he made no proposition to pay his nephew s debts and as his were becoming more and more pressing was forced to play his last card and actually ask miss jane to marry him miss jane was a shrewd little body and had not talked to her about his the bundle of time for nothing she understood the young fellow perhaps better than he did himself and it is certain that she would have made him a far better wife than he was in the ordinary course of things likely to pick up she was a little flattered that he should have chosen her as his and being a woman she enjoyed his while she yet knew perfectly well that they were worth nothing whatever you are not in earnest she said when he asked her to marry him not in earnest he repeated rather em at the turn things had taken do you think that i do not mean what i say i should be sorry to think that a descended to say anything that he did not mean miss jane responded with gentle severity blushed and wished himself a thousand miles away but when one has asked a woman to marry him he cannot gracefully retreat until she has at least given him some sort of an answer but you do not er me he said meekly oh i will answer you she said i would n t marry you for anything you could mention miss j ine not marry me echoed rather aghast at the of the fact that there was a woman in the village who would not jump at the chance to marry his royal self and i am not fond of being made a cat s either miss jane continued working her chin in her and young began to have a strong suspicion that when he undertook to trick his uncle by a sham of being engaged to an person he had made a mistake in his selection of the person he had never in his whole life had so awkward a moment and never had he felt so small he stammered something he could not have told what it was and to it miss jane made no pretext of paying any attention whatever am i to understand that you really wish to make me your wife miss jane asked with an awful clearness of utterance which made the cold run down s if not why should i have asked you to marry me he returned with weak you do me the honor of supposing me to be a fool miss jane said l in the bundle of time i beg your pardon he said it j you had better beg my pardon does it strike you as a manly thing mr to make a of a woman in this way many a girl might have taken you in earnest and not seen your game at all you might have destroyed the peace of her whole life how did you know that i was not as sentimental or as trusting as any one i was sure began poor but she interrupted him fiercely she cried you were sure of nothing but that this was a way to deceive your uncle you did not do me the honor to give a single thought to what i might or might not feel you were so absorbed in yourself that you had not a thought to spare for me but i assure you broke in almost beside himself and feeling as if he were being in the public street by a woman that you will assure me perhaps miss jane interrupted him again that you were honest with me and that you had no intention of deceiving the squire you are a nice fellow you must be proud of yourself after all that he has done for you and after miss jane the way in which you have repaid him to think of playing this trick on him you might have spared him if you had no on me miss jane s blood was up and for once in her life she indulged herself in the luxury of saying exactly what she thought and all she thought her victim in his chair like an unfortunate on a pin but there was no escape from the piercing glance of her eyes he had never in his whole life before been in a position where he was treated as a who could and must be judged by the same laws as those which governed the conduct of ordinary mortals he was accustomed to be regarded as one in whose favor there were always innumerable exceptions to be made and the sensation of being in with vulgar and was as disagreeable as it was novel really miss jane he remarked with a desperate attempt to rally his scattered dignity i must say that it seems to me that you are taking an extraordinary tone with me when one asks a lady to become his wife he at least expects that she will answer him kindly that depends miss jane responded nodding her head significantly well you l in the bundle of time shall be answered kindly i accept your offer we will be married in a month you had better tell your uncle to night he may not like the match an as there is n t any too much time for him to get reconciled to it in he had better know as soon as possible poor sat staring at her like one of reason if he had been disconcerted by her previous remarks this announcement completed his but	3
miss jane he began a month oh of course you would prefer to make it a week she interrupted i understand the natural impatience of the young lover but really i cannot think of having less than a month to get ready in i think it will be pleasant to go abroad for wedding trip don t you agree with me i have always wanted to see europe the young man stared at her with eyes but you said you would not marry me for anything he managed to a woman s no always means yes she answered besides i do not marry you for anything i marry you for nothing the struck as being as completely out of place as a jest at a funeral he sat in silence for a few moments and all the miss jane time there was in his head the strangest mixture of desire to get out of this scrape admiration for miss jane and withal a dawning of more manly feelings a shame of what he was and what he had done rose in him as he sat there with his eyes cast down and tried to collect his thoughts he raised his head at length and looked up to meet the eyes of miss jane who was regarding him closely miss jane he said i beg your pardon with all my heart i have been a and i see it i can do nothing but beg you to forgive me i forgive you she said rather more than he expected after he had himself to this extent do you find it so easy to forgive yourself the color flushed into his face miss jane was doing her work thoroughly and now that she had got to it no he answered humbly that is not so easy again they fell into silence and for full half an hour they sat there in the gathering twilight without speaking miss jane never showed more discretion than when she allowed this silence to flow unbroken she realized instinctively that was think m the bundle of time ing as he had never thought before in all his careless young life and that if there any salvation for him it perhaps lay in this hour miss jane he said at last you have done me a greater service than i can tell you thank you and good bye he rose and held out his hand and she gave him hers without other word than it must be confessed that she was filled with a feminine curiosity to know what he was intending to do but she wisely to ask she did hope that sometime she should know what he had thought during all that long silence but she was capable of holding her tongue at the right time and she did not ask her chin after he had left her and for a day or two she was but after that she settled down to the old routine she knew somehow that had left the village but beyond that nobody seemed to have any information and miss jane was more than once questioned in regard to the young man by those who felt that she might know something in regard to his sudden departure there was a suspicion that miss jane might be afflicted at his desertion which kept many silent so that she was not in general greatly troubled and for more than a week she had no news miss jane at the end of that time she had a letter from it was written from the city where he had gone to begin work despite the fact that it was he had made a clean breast of the whole matter to his uncle and had promised to go to work for the first time in his life if his debts were but paid and the old squire being wise enough to recognize the fact that this was not a time to or to stick to the strict letter of his declaration had said not a word of blame or reproach but had put the young man in the way of setting to work at once i hate it desperately arthur wrote but i am working to make a man of myself and one that you shall not be ashamed of miss jane the villagers have never been able yet to discover what happened between miss jane and the friendship which had existed between her and both and the old squire seems to contradict the theory that she was made the victim of the young man s while the respect in which she is held by the squire who is accustomed to speak of her as the most sensible woman he knows has given her a new in the village is turning into a steady and really good fellow and when he comes en the bundle op time down to see his uncle on his he is not long in finding his way to the under the tall trees it is proper that i should come to see you at once he is accustomed to say for i suppose that the truth is that we are really engaged of course miss jane answers but that only means that i have the right to interfere if i do not approve of the woman you really mean at any time to marry i int a reading lesson i m a reading lesson it is a beautiful july morning and on the of a cottage sits mrs with her six year old son the water in the bay is sparkling and dancing and not a few are gliding to and fro over the blue surface of the bay mrs wears an expression of great determination and in her hand is a reading book of type is seated at her side in a low chair and wears upon his face that serene expression which can only belong to a	3
child who has the world at his feet because for him no world exists which he cannot conquer you know mrs says in tones of softness which at once induce in the experienced ears of her son the idea that she is about to ask him to do something which he will not wish to do that if you are to keep up with your class after being out so much while you were sick last winter you will have to read with me mornings this summer i am willing to give you my time to help you and in the bundle of time you need n with great self denial i don t want to take up your time but you don t want to m back into the with the little ones do you mamma but i can get along somehow i am too old to go back with the little ones age doesn t have anything to do with it it will depend upon what you know this view of the case seems to make an impress sion upon the boy since for a moment he is and his mother that he is pondering upon the matter but he breaks out with th entirely question mamma why don t they have fourth of july every month i will tell you all about that some other time dear now you know we are to have a lesson she opens the book with an air of determination so stem that the boy before it but he is not yet subdued but mamma i would like to know about it now some other time now i want you to read a profound sigh and his eyes upon the book as if it were a curious thing of which he does not in the least suspect the use i think you read the first of this before you left school but we will begin at the begin a reading lesson just the same this is a story about and is the dog and is the cow oh mamma frost is going to call his new dog frost fish don t you think that that is a funny name yes dear but we will pay attention to this now why do you say pay attention mamma attention isn t the same thing as money never mind that want you to read spell the first word b o oh mamma do look at that funny boat out there it is almost alike at both ends if you look at the boats dear we shall have to go into the house for our lesson i think it is pleasanter out here don t you but i can t help seeing things mamma can i if you will look at your book you won t see what is out in the harbor dear me i wish nobody had ever found out that there was such a thing as reading then there would have been no fairy stories written for me to read to you then you could have made them up and that would have done just as well but everybody does not think so what would other folk have done oh i don t care about them master with the frank selfishness of childhood anyway i don t want to read n the bundle of time then don t waste any time about it but read at once and get through with it that is the simplest thing to do b o w what does that spell mamma i will tell you those two first words because they are not words that we have very often that is bow now you go on and read the rest d o d o give the sounds of the letters and then you can tell what the word is not darling but oo no dear mrs says with a sigh which seems wrung from her very soul the word is do oo do regards the word with an air of unaffected but purely curiosity do you think i be able to read as well as you do mamma in a week hardly in a week i should say at the present rate of progress the mother answers with a smile what does that mean mamma what does what mean what you said presents eight present rate of progress means the rate at a reading lesson which we are getting on it means that if you do not learn faster than you are learning now you won t be able to read for a long long time well i m going to learn very fast now d o d o do oh yes do y y o y o y o u you you do you well go on s e s e s e e sound the letters well put the e on e what does that mean e well oh mamma can t i have a recess now our teacher always lets us have a recess when we are tired but you have read only one word and that i told you if you have a recess after each word how soon do you think we should get through the book but i m tired so that i can t think besides i want a drink dreadfully if i let you go and get a drink will you come back directly in the bundle of time mamma and may i have a piece of too why it isn t half an hour we left the breakfast table but i m awfully hungry mamma mrs a sigh of profound anguish but she weakly gives her consent to the and away with a which is a marked contrast with uie languor of his previous motions the mother looks out over the sunny bay and makes an attempt at a sort of mental	3
calculation of the time and effort it is likely to take to teach her son to read all the words in the book if it takes an entire morning to master a single one she sits for some time and falls into a reverie wherein there is a good deal of speculation upon the question of what is the proper method of children and of imposing upon their savage natures the entirely arbitrary discipline of civilization the question is one of so much that she is unable to come to any solution whatever although she so completely loses herself in the reflection that she is not aware of the passage of time until fifteen minutes or so have passed then she begins to wonder what has become of her son and at the end of ten minutes more she that it would be a good plan to go after him just as she rises to go to look for him he comes running around the house after his dog which is i reading lesson carrying in his mouth a stick to which is tied a of red cloth oh mamma he cries utterly the whole subject of lessons and all of the sort do see run with the flag his mother says in a tone so severe that he is suddenly arrested in his play do you think i can let you go for a drink and a lunch again if this is the way you do when you are trusted but mamma i was coming just as fast as i could run but what about he was only just running ahead of me and did it take you a whole half hour to get a drink you said i might have a piece of and you always told me to eat slow say slowly and not slow to eat slowly but it did not take you half an hour to eat a piece of but never mind about it now mrs remarks with another sigh we must go on with the lesson before the whole morning is gone i have letters to write for the noon mail and i shall not have time if we do not hurry but mamma why don t you write your letters first and let me read afterward k in the h op stop talking and s and lead the first word is bow and after that you had read do now go on i had read mamma but i have forgotten what the second word is do you then do you reads in a confident manner s e e see see m e what does m e spell mamma sound the letters not but e well what does that make can does can begin with oh it is what no no me me can you see me not can you see me do you see me mamma can you see anybody through glass that is a mile thick don t ask such questions now pay attention to the lesson go on with the next word but mamma just tell me this one question and i won t ask any more can you see anybody through glass if it is a mile thick no of course you could n t not if the glass was perfectly clear a reading lesson oh i don t know how thick glass would have to be before you could n t see through it you could n t see anybody a mile off anyway could you an awful expression of despairing came over the face of mrs she says with firmness if you do not pay attention to your lesson i shall not let you go out to play all this afternoon you should have read the whole page in this time and you have not got through the first line oh have i got to read the whole page mamma oh i don t want to read so much as that it looks his mother answers with an attempt at as if you would be sent to bed before you got through another line oh i don t want to go to bed i read i will truly if you won t send me to bed very well then go on and read do you see me i did n t i read that well mamma very well go on a m was am i was am no no not was am but i am i am the that word i knew i am the oh mamma that word is too long for me to read just tell me that word bundle of time that word is little i am the little d d d o o d o what is the last letter no g g d o g cow why you know what that what made you say cow there is a cow in the picture an n ay there is something else too oh is a man d o g does not spell man what else is there oh dog did n t i read that well very well but that isn t the end of the sentence what is the other word that is a long word mamma and if you have letters to write i wish you would tell me just for this once so that we can get through that is the dog s name has a dog and its name is curly isn t that a funny name mamma what has that to do with the reading lesson i think i might have a recess now anyway why should you have a recess when you have just got back from being gone half an hour this is anyhow and nobody has lessons in a reading lesson but you have n t had lessons for six months well i was sick anyway don t you think i was	3
good when i was sick yes you were good most of the time when was sick he was so cross that they couldn t do anything with him his nurse told that she did n t know but she should have to get a new place was so naughty should not let you hear such things why she could n t help it she did n t know what she was going to say till she said it did she she could n t put her hands over my ears could she i tell you i d just kick some if she tried to do that the sound of a clock striking within mrs that if letters are to be written for the noon mail it is necessary that they shall be attended to at once she the reading book with an attempt to look stern which only results in her looking troubled an aspect which does not in the least affect master she says i must go now and write my letters but i cannot have anything like this to morrow you must have a better lesson to morrow and i shall be obliged to keep you in from play if you do not read well mamma i just hate reading and i never want to know how but suppose that you were on a desert island with nothing to eat and there was a sign that told t in the bundle of time where provisions were hid and m could not read it then you would starve because you did not learn to read what are things to u but there wouldn t be a sign on a desert island there might be people might have been before and left it why do they call family robinson s island a desert island there was n t sand there and a desert is where there is sand and nothing grows but palms and sand and and they call any island a desert island when nobody lives there but that is n t right it is right if that is the way in which the word is used no it is n t mrs sighs with the air of one who an impossible discussion and rises as she turns to go into the house she looks back to say remember that to morrow we are really to read yes mamma did n t i read good to day to this question she makes no answer but goes to her desk to write to her husband who is still in town to see if he cannot find a to bring with him when he comes h t one morning in spring t i ll i ii ii w i i i l h i v i k l la one morning in spring he sunlight lay over the hills the fields and the the hills were purple with the richly colored of the shrubs and the trees not yet fully in leaf the fields were green with the springing grass while the trees in the showed the tender green of little and the of coming blossoms the had come and the air was full of their cries as they flashed to and fro in beautiful smooth flight the sky overhead was tenderly blue with clouds as soft as silk the air was full of that delicious chill spring feeling which makes one remember at once the winter that is just past and the summer that is at hand two old women stood beside a gate and talked leaning their arms upon the and seeming hardly able to stand there without such support yet they had stood there for more than an hour talking in a low in the bundle of time ing of the issues of fate and life and death like two of the together in the interval after the days of the earth had been completed one was a small woman thin and delicate as a shadow and looking as if the first breath would blow her away she had looked thus delicate for sixty five years and in her the neighbors had said don t seem possible sam s folks ever be able to raise that girl now they said instead oh she the ly f all she looks so delicate aunt was not without a certain pride in the difference between her appearance and her of vitality she smiled when she said that she was failing with a meaning look which explained that the remark was to be taken as a joke and that she really did expect to keep her frail hold upon existence for many a year longer she tossed her head at the f the young girls of the village remarking that she had seen how that sort of thing wore so that any girl who looked more than usually strong felt that under the eye of aunt she was as it were marked out for speedy destruction one morning in spring the other woman was of a more generous mould she had an of and a bosom enough to have served for half the neighborhood had there been any means of its proper division she was good in her appearance and inclined toward the in her attire no she said i tell you i just t slept a wink all night there s been rom the time he went off last evening and she won t let me come into her room she her father s folks does always did now it ain t my way to shut out my own flesh and blood when i m in trouble but she s different she is the small figure of aunt seemed actually to quiver with suppressed eagerness what did he say she asked with the air of one not only anxious but actually greedy for the answer what was there for	3
him to say demanded mrs with as much indignation as her good natured face was capable of expressing when a man s done what he s done there ain t a great sight that there s left for him to say to my way o looking at things that s so the other assented but in the op stop and asking questions and read the first word is bow and that you had read do now go on had read mamma but i have ten the second word is do you then do you reads in a manner s e see see m e what does m e spell mamma sound the letters not but e well what does that make can does can begin with oh it is what no no me me can you see me not can you see me do you see me mamma can you see anybody through glass that is a mile thick don t ask such questions now pay attention to the lesson go on with the next word but mamma just tell me this one question and i won t ask any more can you see anybody through glass if it is a mile thick no of course you could n t not if the glass was perfectly clear a reading lesson oh i don t know how thick glass would have to be before you could n t see through it you could n t see anybody a mile off anyway could you an awful expression of despairing came over the face of mrs she says with firmness if you do not pay attention to your lesson i shall not let you go out to play all this afternoon you should have read the whole page in this time and you have not got through the first line oh have i got to read the whole page mamma oh i don t want to read so much as that it looks his mother answers with an attempt at as if you would be sent to bed before you got through another line oh i don t want to go to bed i read i will truly if you won t send me to bed very well then go on and read do you see me i did n t i read that well mamma very well go on a m was am i was am no no not was am but i am i am the that word i knew i am the oh mamma that word is too long for me to read just tell me that word x m the bundle paused to over the of information that they were sharing i should n t ha thought aunt observed that he d ha had the face to tell all about the s on o thai girl he did n t was the answer he said it wa n t fit for a decent girl to hear disappointment was plainly visible in the face of aunt oh he did did he she retorted he was giving himself away the worst kind to say that the mother of was evidently suddenly aroused to the consciousness that it her to put in a word in behalf of her daughter s lover i d know about that she responded i d n know what you expect o him he could n t leave his own camp could he and go off and sleep in the woods like a bear if he ain t a joseph i d n t know as he s the only one that ain t the of her usually placid voice and the remembrance of certain in the history of the men of her own family made aunt change her position uneasily oh i ain t a him she said but one morning in spring what do you s pose be the come out of it all l make it up with him she would n t last night mrs replied with a note of despair in her voice it does seem s if that everlasting might have held his tongue and not told o this just to make trouble for and dan there s some folks is always so malicious yes that s so assented aunt the two stood a moment in the sunshine reflecting upon the wickedness of mankind in general and of in particular and then with remarks about the waiting they moved apart mrs returned to the house while aunt went on her way to repeat to other the information she had from her friend meanwhile within the house had so far recovered from the anguish of her soul as to be able to watch through the closed shutters of her chamber while her mother stood at the gate when the latter came back toward the house put on a hat and descended just in time to meet her mother in the entry for the land cried mrs suddenly confronted with her daughter in thb bundle of time her had not yet adjusted themselves to the dusk of indoors and she had almost stumbled against her daughter before she perceived her stood before her pale and the marks of weeping on her cheeks and a light of resentment in her looks which her mother knew only too well well she said i hope you have told that old old maid everything that there was to tell it would be a pity if she should have to make up anything her mother returned soothingly i ain t told aunt nothing and if i had she would n t tell wouldn t tell retorted with scorn did she ever know anything that she didn t tell her own age the mother wisely allowed this question to go and turned her attention to the task of changing the subject what you got yer on for you ain t a goin out	3
be you you look all beat out come into the kitchen and have some breakfast i ve it all hot for you the girl turned wearily away and went toward the door i don t want any breakfast she said with one morning in spring more gentleness i did n t mean to be cross mother but i ain t feeling well it was good of you to keep things hot but i could n t eat anything it would stick in my throat the mother looked at her with her lips working but where be you going the girl considered a moment then she turned back and faced her mother with a gesture of genuine sorrow i m going over to s hollow she said with a note of defiance in her voice s hollow the other woman echoed with amazement yes the girl answered she was paler than ever and she leaned against the wall of the small entry as if her strength had failed her there was in her voice a note of dogged determination which did not escape her mother s ear not to that that girl yes to that girl mrs looked at the desperate face of the girl with a pinched expression about her lips twice she tried to speak but her voice failed her and she could find no word in which to put the thoughts which swayed her why she said at last after tn the le tim what seemed to them both a long interval of i would n now there ain t else to do but what are you going to say to her a hot blush came over the face i m going to find out the truth she said then as if she did not dare to trust herself to further speech lest her resolution should fail her entirely she turned away and went into the yellow spring sunshine the road along which took her way wound in and out among groups of trees which her somewhat from the keen eyed observation that she felt with morbid self consciousness would be bestowed upon her just now by the of the village as she went her anger swelled against the old who were probably at this very moment shaking their heads over her affairs and dan for the first time since this miserable business had come to her ears she found herself involuntarily defending dan to herself it was natural that her new england nature trained to look upon sin of the sort of which he had been guilty as of the deepest should have been moved to one morning in spring its depths by the discovery that her lover had been guilty of with the girl she had shrunk with horror from the bare thought of the fault of her lover and it had seemed to her that all was over between them even when he pleaded for forgiveness and assured her of his continued love she had still felt the physical and moral which made it impossible for her to yield to his entreaties now however by a seemingly but in reality perfectly logical reaction she began to defend him in her mind the thought of the village had made her take sides with him instead of him at the pitiless bar of conscience she began to feel as if he could not be so wrong as it had seemed with the thought she involuntarily lifted her head and looked about her with more animation than she had shown since the fell as she did so she perceived that she had come farther than she realized and that she was almost at the end of her walk s hollow lay just before her it was a singular basin shaped depression in the hills looking rather as if it had been dug out by the hand of man than as if it s in the bundle of were the work of nature it was not more than a dozen rods in and all about it ran a fringe of the gloomy which so strangely pleased the taste of a past generation but which seem to be utterly d as if from a to the want of appreciation on the part of the present of the land across which they throw their broken shadows in it stood the house wherein the family out its existence shut oflf from the rest of the village the loneliness of ihe situation might in itself have seemed to mark some social separation between the of the shabby dwelling which showed forlorn traces of having once been touched up with red paint and the neighbors of half a mile away the mind of however was not in a condition to be susceptible to reflections of this nature she was considering as she paused on the brink of the hollow how she was to see without running the of the whole family and what she should say to her after she had found her suddenly as if her thought had the image of the girl from came out of the house and advanced toward the place where one morning in spring stood miss stared at her with a fascinated look as she came on not capable of turning to run away as she wished to do yet becoming more and more confused as the other came nearer and nearer she had never seen the girl so closely before and when at length they stood face to face she could not but be struck by the wild and evil beauty of the other there were those who affirmed that there was blood in the veins of the mother of the family and in the daughter the strange beauty of the mother seemed to have an added she had black hair which without curling hung in wilful locks which were crisp and wrinkled her eyes were large and piercing her lips full and red	3
her skin had a deep hue beside which the cheek of looked pale and wan while the blood which flushed beneath it was evidently rich and hot her dress was neglected and in places torn yet it had here and there traces of a certain instinct for which was quite as artistic as it was feminine and which would in itself have been sufficient to show that there was some strain beside the ordinary blood of new england in her veins as she climbed the hill she walked slowly a t w fm of and it was evident to the that she was soon to become a mother she pulled more at the throat her loosely fitting gown and drew her fingers through the hair which uncovered down her neck but she gave no sign of being conscious of s presence until she had come close to her i seen you coming she remarked in a voice quite devoid of any particular sion and i thought likely you d leather talk to me alone than in the house all the young ones round the effect of this address upon was like that of a dash of cold water thrown in her face it startled and confused her but at the same time it brought forcibly home to her the need of retaining her self possession yes she said mechanically and without knowing what to add looked at her with piercing eyes she said you t slept none he did n t neither at this familiar mention of her lover the red blood flew into s face she felt as if a deliberate insult had been offered her you re take it hard went on with unexpected coolness he said you did has has he been here faltered one morning in spring catching her breath at this new proof of her lover s treachery he t been gone more n a minute the other replied without a word turned where she stood and began to walk away but she moved like one suddenly struck blind putting out her hands as if to feel for support stop the other woman said you need n t go off that way he warn t here from no love for me a sudden note of bitterness came into her voice as she added if there is any one woman in the world that dan hates worse than he does the devil i m the one if he don t believe that i am the devil that is there was a desperate ring to her voice which bore convincing testimony to the truth of what she said and which arrested s steps more than the words themselves a certain defiance a brutal indifference to whatever sounded in these hard accents and told how deep was the wound made by the hostility of the man with whom fate had tangled her thread of life but began the other laughed bundle w oh pale thing cried out you f don t even dare tb ask the questions you to get answers to i told him i hated you but be blamed if is enough of you to hate she s wrist as she spoke and squeezed it so tightly that cried out in agony the girl burst into a peal of wild laughter did it hurt she cried that ing to what i do if i wanted to oh i m strong enough she threw out her arm s a sudden wild gesture as if appealing to the wide heaven above them and a quick of anguish distorted her handsome evil face why could n t he have loved me she cried out instead of this stupid little fool i was a mate for him shrunk away together as if from a mad woman oh you need n t be afraid the other said again into her half manner i ain t a going to hurt you i told him i would n t a sudden rush of outraged dignity came to the aid of i am not afraid of you she said lifting one morning in spring her head there was no need of his coming to you on my account once more she turned away but the other caught her by the wrist hold on she said i have n t done yet i told him i d tell you the truth about that night i i don t want to hear faltered who had come for no other purpose but who now would have given anything to escape but you we got to responded he came over this morning and made me promise he could make me promise anything i d go to h for him if he wanted me to the of her tone and manner was not but held her own now her moral courage was her physical weakness and she did not as at first under the burning eyes of the woman before her say it then she said and let me go home that night said her voice taking on a curious note which was half defiance and half tenderness i knew he was alone in the camp i heard sam tell acres so and i made up my mind that m thb that was my chance i ve loved dan ever since he in he t never cared the turn of his finger for and he never pretended to it pretty for i woman to be in love with a man that ain t even up to her but i m from the common run of girls i don t care who knows that i ve been in love with dan all my life a shudder went through she felt too faint to stand and moving aside a step she leaned against the trunk of the forlorn and broken laughed savagely i started about as	3
soon as dark and walked all the way up to the camp except for two or three miles that i got a lift on a load of wood that some up country man was home and got with it was about the middle of the night when i got there and dan was so sound asleep that i thought i should never get him up to let me in put out her hand with a shuddering gesture stop she said i don t want to hear i can t hear laughed oh you re too nice to hear are you one morning in spring well it ain t no matter it warn t his fault he told me that night that he despised me for coming and he cursed me into the bargain that was the reward i got for stop cried again i won t hear you you were a devil to go there the other came close to her and caught her once more by the wrist in a grip so strong that it left its mark for many a day you poor fool she cried savagely what do i care for that i love him you pale do you think i cared what happened afterward i love him i tell you oh i should like to pull you into inch bits and throw you to the dogs in the yard down there you think you care for him and again her laughter rang out like that of a here she called suddenly here prince here watch the dogs which always surrounded the mansion came bounding up out of the hollow at her call their tongues hanging out of their mouths at her boys cried then just as they sprang toward who was in mortal terror she caught them by their at tub op mm ai down i down t home home the dogs away to look at her in t what sudden change of instruction might mean got wild again commanded and went back to the tumble down house in s hollow caught her breath leaning against the tree trunk you had better go home i shall kill you if you stay here you all you want to i did n t tell it for love of you he s in love with you fast enough you need n t be afraid of me he would n t touch me with a ten foot pole had no word to say but she needed no second bidding to speed her departure she trembled in every limb but she hastened along the road by which she had come intent only upon getting as far as possible from that dreadful woman and her frightful dogs but before she had gone ten paces ran after her and laid a strong hand on her shoulder sick with fear turned her face over her shoulder to her her eyes met those of fairly with triumphant hate one morning in spring and malice there was something in the intensity with which she into the ears of the words which were her parting arrow poisoned and sure to leave a wound she bent down over the shrinking girl with glittering gaze and her with the frightful truth i shall have his child she said the end i f ii i i f messrs brothers poems by including of the and son in shadow one volume cloth price each volume separate price these poems are always poetical they are carefully finished they are not de they do not affect american humor and they are utterly mr t b might own a good many of them they reveal mr mind and temper at their best and will be enjoyed by those who have an ear for fine light impressions and delicately expressed the the poems all very short except the ballad of the are almost all with love s delicious essence the passion receives fresh illumination in a hundred ways warmth richness smooth flowing melody these are some of the traits of mr verses which are well worthy the setting here given them they are almost invariably the setting of some pretty and thoroughly poetic thought and the writer s expression is clear and precise and studded with bits of exquisite a there are many who will welcome another volume fi om the pen of although it be a sad one the twenty nine which make up this little collection are but variations of one melody and that played in the minor key they will sink deep into many hearts for they are the expressions of various moods which all who have known grief and loss will have felt and be able to comprehend the men and women who have no artistic gifts and who sit and shed salt tears in stony silence unable to give their woe adequate words will feel that a human heart has here been revealed to them able to with every throb and of their own there is not a cry of a bruised soul but will find its echo in some one of these and the knowledge that they are the expression of a real and personal sorrow gives them a power and interest that no ideal or imaginary work could possess brothers boston br hm p a book o by z i oo er ling him a h am bright and i t q d c i c m tht ml are ae and they are separated tf bright m hi die a mr writes smoothly and i a entertaining reading a book o nine tales by whose writing has been familiar in magazines and newspapers for several years is a volume of short stories suited to the light leisure of summer days in the country there are really seventeen stories although to make the title appropriate	3
to make me change it mrs there there mrs talks with miss and miss sharp across the table the others all talk together mrs fort to mrs fairly oh can you remember it i am so glad l ve wanted that receipt this long time a gentle jury mrs fair oh i ve made that cake too often to forget it besides i always remember my mrs fort if only had some paper to write it down i ve got a pencil mrs fair take one of those cards on the table mrs fort yes that will do she goes to the table y and takes a handful of cards reaching between miss and miss sharp miss sharp what do you want of those mrs fort oh just to take them she goes back to her seat and begins to write with pencil on her watch guard mrs fair three cups of flour one cup of butter two eggs one mrs fort oh don t go so fast three cups of flour mrs but if you insist upon following your prejudice you might be for contempt of court mrs jones contemptuously i d like to see anybody fine me for contempt of court mrs fair oh is there anything else what is contempt of court miss skin bother they can t fine us for what we say here mrs fort oh never mind that tell me the rest two eggs what else miss skin besides there s a penalty for telling what s said in the jury room mrs well anyway we have to make up our minds now according to what we heard in the court miss skin oh well anybody whose mind isn t made up may make it up of course it doesn t take me forever to make up mine when the whole thing is as plain as a everybody falls into private conversation except mrs jones who on placidly mrs to mrs small and as i was saying after he d been sick for three weeks he was so thin you wouldn t have known him mrs fort to mrs fairly writing new cards and putting them in her pocket yes i think it is better than mrs to mrs oh i wanted to ask you about that miss to miss smith won t you take hold of this so that i can measure it miss and miss smith rise and measure the reins which miss is knitting a gentle miss skin to miss sharp yes i tell you that we shall gain if we have an entertainment miss sharp with amusing miss skin of course miss smith how pretty that purple comes in miss yes doesn t it that out yesterday when that witness said had on a purple dress when he proposed to her it came over me just like a that that was what wanted next to the miss skin jo miss sharp yes if i were see very different doings miss sharp to mrs you think that it is time for us to take a vote mrs oh by all means we will take a vote if the ladies are ready i thought some might like to discuss a further first mrs fort tu get some more cards i m perfectly delighted with these s goes toward the table and gets more cards miss and miss smith a their miss thank you i think i shall be able to finish it before we come to a decision sits miss smith how do we vote sits mrs waving her hand toward cards we put those things into a box miss holds up cards miss skin you mean if there happen to be any left when we get ready to use them mrs oh my how sharp some folks can be mrs fort only took two or three of the old things they were too dirty to use miss sharp but you seem to have used them mrs jones yes it s just like the sewing circle there was always somebody there to stir up things before we got through the afternoon mrs perhaps ladies we had better take a vote now we have been here some time and it may be expected of us miss skin i don t see any box to vote in mrs there must be one somewhere miss sharp miss mrs and mrs rise and look about after the box mrs there isn t any box miss then of course we can t vote miss smith herself at end of table l no we can t vote mrs jones if s just as well it a lot of bother mrs sitting behind table r yes s what i think a gentle jury too my husband said that the would be the hardest part for me miss sharp l f vote of course we ll vote do you suppose that we are to be cheated out of our right to vote by such a paltry trick as the hiding of the box miss skin r f knock on the door for the ta y all look at one another in alarm mrs b l moves nearer to the table and looks around mrs will will somebody please rap miss skin it s your place to rap mrs but i thought miss sharp nobody else has a right to call the mrs approaching the door timidly well i am ready to do my duty she softly miss sharp he can t hear that mrs somewhat louder miss skin oh that s no use you must knock louder than that if you want to get a man mrs some can t get one even by knocking as loud as ever they can miss skin do you mean me i scorn men miss sharp so sad for the men mrs small o ladies won t you please to do something so tiiat i can go home she	3
rises and crosses to mrs jones mrs jones can t you make them vote or something mrs jones no my dear i can t women can t be mrs we are going to vote mrs small as soon as we get a box to vote in she loudly hack entering well what is it verdict ready all but mrs jones rise mrs not yet we haven t anything to vote in the box is gone hack grinning box there ain t no box the men vote in a hat the ladies look at each other in indignation or lion miss sharp to front he womanhood mrs but we can t vote that way hack i suppose you can t very vote in your you may have my hat he holds out his hat mrs takes it in an manner there ain t nothing more is there mrs nothing sir hack going i d be as quick with the vote as i could ladies the court is getting impatient exit miss sharp odious monster miss skin horrid beast f mrs walks to table holding hat at arm s li drops the hat on table i i i i a gentle jury i vote in his hat if i never at all miss sharp of course not they all sit again except mrs mrs small and mrs fairly r f mrs im mrs l f miss sharp and miss as before mrs fort l b miss end of table l miss smith before table l mrs table r mrs jones as before mrs behind table c mrs jones we used to vote at the sewing circle down to by up face down miss skin yes that s the way mrs yes do very well ladies please prepare your mrs mrs mrs small mrs fairly all go to the table for and stand whispering in centre of stage miss rises and comes in front of table l miss i i don t think made up my mind quite she looks around miss skin rising and coming to front i ve made up mv mind to vote against that horrid woman and if you ll tell me which of these is against her i ll vote this very moment she goes to table for card mrs why guilty would be against her or or not guilty i think i m quite clear myself dear though of course we can make it any way we j ease if we only agree beforehand miss sharp rising oh that s not right at all one of the persons in the case is the and the other is the and guilty has to be for one and not guilty for the other miss smith rising but which is which miss sharp i remember exactly but that s so any way mrs rising and coming to front my husband told me to vote not guilty and he s a friend of the man so not guilty must be for the man and guilty for the woman mrs i ll tell you how you can tell mv husband told me that the name of the person that comes first in the name of the case is the one that you vote for if you give a verdict of guilty and the name of the one that comes is the one you vote lor if you vote not guilty miss but what is the name of the case there is a moment of silence mrs i don t quite remember whether it b v s or v s can anybody teu miss skin it is v s miss sharp it is v s mrs my husband says that it isn t v s it s t lo a gentle jury miss skin well then it s mrs that s not the way i remember it miss skin when i know a thing i know it it s i tell you miss sharp i know it isn t but if miss s got it in her head that it is the only thing to do is to call the again mrs i hate to call that man miss skin you needn t call him i tell you it s mrs well we ought to be sure i ll call him she goes to and miss this is the first place i ever saw where you knock for folks to come in hack putting in his head well ladies what can i do for you this time verdict ready at last mrs not quite we only wanted to know what the name of this case is hack what the comes in great scott ain t you got as fu as the name of the case yet the women shrink to r and l f mrs jones calmly now and then scratching her head with a knitting needle mrs with dignity we simply wished to inquire hack oh certainly very natural curiosity miss skin you needn t sneer at us sir because we are women hack oh not for the world the case is that of for obtaining money under miss and is the man i hack yes is the man miss claims that he borrowed money of her under pretence of intended marriage mrs do you think he did hack great scott you don t expect me to have an opinion do you i m under oath ladies mrs well i didn t know but you could tell something about it it s dreadfully hack you ll have to figure it out among yourselves exit miss skin turning to mrs with an enraged gesture i should think that for the credit of womanhood you might have been more careful what you said to that he will go and tell just what you said to him for my part i should think that there might have been sense enough in the room to keep from calling him	3
in at all i said all the time that it was mrs i beg your pardon but it was because you were so positive that it was that i felt that there was no way of convincing you short of calling him in there is a general murmur miss but sits down front of table l now that this is settled we will take a vote ladies those that are in favor of miss will vote guilty and aa ami a gentle jury ii those that are in favor of mr will vote not guilty select your please miss sharp sits before table r miss skin and striking an attitude i wish to say before we vote that it is well to remember that this is the first case that has ever been tried in america before a jury of women and that it is necessary to bear in mind the that the whole future of american women may be influenced by what we do if we give a vote for this man it will show that we are not but that we are liberal enough to side with the right even when it is in favor of one who has been an enemy of woman age mrs fair has this man been against woman mrs yes he s written against it in the owl mrs fort then that settles it i will never vote for a man that has wished to keep our sex on the level of and by us of the miss smith yes that settles it they all tion miss sharp rising for my part while i agree with what miss says in regard to the importance of what we decide to do i look at the matter from exactly the opposite point of view in regard to the verdict what is the reason that women have been so long trampled under the feet of men if it is not that they have not held together it is all very well to talk of being broad enough to give a verdict in favor of a man the are always in i of men miss smith hear hear miss sharp if we do not show that we are prepared to stand by our sex how can women trust their cause in our hands we miss skin but i tell you miss sharp please don t interrupt we are here to represent the strength of womanhood we miss skin of course miss sharp sit down i am not through we are the of the cause all miss skin i miss sharp will you sit down and stop interrupting miss sits all over the east they are watching us and the eastern papers say and say rightly that they are waiting to judge by the results in the west whether it is worth while to try woman or not what will they say if the first woman jury in the country goes back on the sex miss smith what will they say miss sharp they will say miss skin excuse me miss sharp but your front is coming off miss sharp her scratch ana to back r where she a pocket mirror and her hair miss out her hands in a broad gesture and looks about her smiling there you see that i was right la a gentle jury miss smith oh yes you were right miss she hasn t a word to say looking at miss sharp i it would be horrid to wear a wig miss smith oh so should i mrs small suddenly and forcibly o ladies won t you please to vote so that i can go home my baby is sick and i am so worried that i don t know what to do mrs jones yes we may as well vote now as any time those that have made up their minds will keep to em no matter what anybody says and those that haven t any minds can vote one time as well as another mrs what do you mean by having no minds i call that insulting mrs jones there ain t no men within hearing miss skin what s that to do with it mrs jones oh what s the use of pretending among ourselves the ladies look at each other in indignation but mrs jones on placidly mrs seems about to speak angrily but and speaks with exaggerated dignity mrs we will vote now please select your they move to the table and begin to pick out cards miss there are not enough here mrs that is because they have been used up since we came into the room miss smith we shall have to call that again mrs nothing will induce me to have that horrid man summoned again mrs l p you ma do what you like about and about the but i am going home all going home mrs yes going home i am just sick of staying here and i will never be on a jury again in my ufe rolls up her i don t know anything about the old case and what s more i don t want to i am tired to death and i am just going home miss sharp why you can t go the won t let you out mrs i should like to see him touch me my husband would just tear him to pieces if he laid a hand on me miss skin but he to keep you here it s the law mrs i don t care anything about the law i resign from old jury and that s the whole of it then i m not a member if i m not a member of it the hasn t any right to keep me shut up here as if i was a prisoner myself it is shameful and i shall tell my husband just as soon as i	3
ood i have shaken off the of last night and am more like what father used to tell me to be when i was a of a girl a cheerful as right as a though to be sure i do not know what being as right as a is any more than i did then last night it is true there were circumstances that might have been urged for a week it had been the of a saint weather that took all the snap out of a body s mental fibre mother had had one of her bad days when the pain seemed too dreadful to bear patient angel that she is had been in one of her most despairing fits and the old year looked so dreary behind the new year loomed so hopeless before that there was some excuse for a girl who was tired to the bone with watching and worry if she did not feel exactly cheerful i cannot allow though that it justified her in crying like a watering pot and the pages of her until the whole thing was like a composition written with tears in a school i certainly cannot let this sort of thing happen again and i am thoroughly ashamed that it happened once i will remember that the last day father lived he said he could trust me to be brave both for mother and myself and that i promised i promised so last night may go and be forgotten as soon as i can manage to forget it to night things are different there has been a beautiful snow fall and the air is so crisp that when i went for a walk at sunset it seemed impossible ever to be weak again mother is wonderfully comfortable and the new year began with a letter to say that george will be at home to morrow mother is asleep like a child the fire is in the best of spirits and does the for itself and for peter who is with content expressed by every hair to the tip of his white tail even is singing in the kitchen a hymn that she thinks is cheerful about sa a a e ter er er noon it is evident that there is every opportunity to take a january fresh start and to conduct myself in the coming year with more self respect so much for new year resolutions i do not remember that i ever made one before and very likely i shall never make one again now i must decide something about i tried to talk with mother about her but mother got so excited that i saw it would not do and felt i must work the problem out with pen and paper as if it were a sum in it is not my business to attend to the education of the minister s daughter especially as it is the minister s daughter and he with his whole congregation thinks it rather doubtful whether it is not sinful for even to know so dangerous an i sometimes doubt whether my good neighbors in would regard tom himself who father used to say as the for all rural new england with greater horror than they do me it is fortunate that they do not dislike me personally and they all loved father in spite of his in this case i am not clear on the other hand that it is my duty to stand passive and see without at least protesting a sensitive imaginative delicate child driven to despair by the misery and terror of a creed if had not come to me it would be different but she has come time after time this poor little morbid creature has run to me in such terror of hell fire that i verily feared she would end by going frantic ten years old and desperate with conviction of original sin and this so near the end of the nineteenth century so called of grace thus far i have contented myself with taking her into my arms and just loving her into calmness but she is getting beyond that the of a saint she is finding being so delightful that she is sure it must be a sin she is like what i can fancy the most imaginative of the to have been in their passionate childhood in the days when the only recognized office of the imagination was to picture the terrors of hell i so long for father if he were alive to talk to her he could say the right word and settle things the bible is very touching in its phrase as one whom his mother but to me whom his father would have seemed to go even deeper but then there is s father whose tenderness is killing her i don t in the least doubt that he suffers as much as she does but he loves her too much to risk damage to what he calls her immortal soul there is always a ring of triumph in his voice when he the phrase as if he already were a spirit in eternal and infinite glory there is something finely noble in such a superstition all this however does not bring me nearer to the end of my sum for the answer of that ought to be what i shall do with it would never do to push her into a struggle with the or to set her to arguing out the impossibility of her she is too young and too morbid and would end by supposing that in reasoning at au on the matter she had committed the sin her father would not let her read stories unless they were books perhaps she might be allowed some of the more entertaining of history but she is too young for most of them she should be reading about bed hood and the white cat and the	3
long engagement which may not be in a short one so that when george and i meet after a separation it is natural that almost the first question should be how long is it that we have been engaged the question is certainly an innocent one although one would think george might have answered it himself how much did the fact that he talked afterward so eagerly about the miss west he while at his aunt s and of how pretty she is have to do with the pain which the question gave me at my age one might think that i was beyond the of a school girl we have been engaged six years and four months and five days it is not half the time that jacob served for although it is almost the time he bowed his neck to the yoke for and i am afraid lest i am nearer to being like the latter than the former i always pitied for she must have understood she had not her husband s love any woman would perceive that six years and life is so short i poor george it has not been easy for him i he has not even been able to wish that the obstacle between us was removed since that obstacle is mother surely she is my first duty and since she needs me day and night i cannot divide my life but i do pity january george he is wearing out his youth with that old of a housekeeper who makes him uncomfortable with an ingenuity that seems to show intellectual force not to be suspected from anything else but she is a faithful old soul and it is not kind to abuse her how long is it that we have been engaged i have a tendency to keep on writing that over and over all down the page as if this were the copy book of a child at school how tom used to admire my writing books in our school days i his were always and blotted he is too big and manly to over little things and he laughed at the pains i took turning every corner with absurd care he was so strong and splendid on the ice when we went over on s pond and how often and often he has drawn me all the way home on my i but all that was ages and ages ago and long before i even knew george it never occurred to me until to night but i am really growing old the that tom remembered and on which he sent me little of have not in the least troubled me or seemed too many i have not thought much of of late years but to night i realize that i am twenty nine and that george has asked me how long is it that we have been engaged january and ashes have been my portion for days and if i could by tearing from my the last leaves blot out of remembrance the foolish things i have written it would be quickly done my new year s resolutions were even less lasting than the of a saint are those in the jokes of the comic papers and i am ashamed all through and through i have tried to reason myself into something resembling common sense but i am much afraid i have not yet entirely accomplished it i have said to myself over and over that it would be the best thing for george if he did fall in love with that girl he saw at and go his way without wasting more time waiting for me he has wasted years enough and it is time for him to be happy but then has he not been happy or is it that i have been so happy myself i have not realized how the long engagement was him he must have wearied or he could never have asked me no i will not write it january george came over last night and was so loving and tender that i was thoroughly ashamed of all the wicked suspicions i have had after au what was there to suspect i almost confessed to him what a miserable little i had been but i knew that confession would only be my soul at the expense of making him uncomfortable i hated to have him think me better than i am but this i suppose is part of the penalty i ought to pay for having been so weak besides probably it was only my weakness in another form the petty jealousy of a small soul and a morbid fancy he seemed somehow more remote than i have ever known him and i could not have told him if i would we did not seem to be entirely frank with each other but as if each were trying to make the other feel at ease when it was not really possible of course i was only my own feelings to him for he was dearly good january he told me more his visit to and he seems to have seen miss west a good deal she is a sort of cousin of the he says and so they had a common ground when she found that he lived so near to the she asked him all kinds of questions she has never seen them having lived in the west most of her life and was naturally much interested in hearing about her relatives i found myself leading him on to talk of her i cannot see why i should care about this stranger generally i deal very little in gossip father trained me to be interested in real things and details about people never attracted me yet this girl sticks in my mind and i am tormented to know all about her it cannot be anything	3
he said though he did say that she is very pretty perhaps it was the way in which he said it he seemed to my sick fancy to like to talk of her she must be a charming creature january why should he not like to talk of a pretty girl i hope i am not of the women who cannot bear to have a man use his eyes except to see their graces it is pitiful to be so small and mean i certainly want george to admire goodness and beauty and to be by his very affection for me the more sensitive to whatever is admirable in others if i am to be worthy of being his wife i must be noble enough to be glad at whatever there is for him io rejoice in because of its loveliness and yet as i write down all these fine sentiments i feel my heart like lead oh i am so ashamed of myself january miss came in this afternoon looking so thin and cold and tall that i have been rather sober ever since the of a saint i wish i had on shoes with higher heels i said to her as we shook hands then perhaps i should n t feel so insignificant down here she looked down at me laughing that rich laugh of hers mother always used to say she knew the could n t have been drowned in the flood she answered for they must all have been tall enough to to mt you know the so far back that yon must be able to tell whether she was right i don t go quite so far as that she said sitting down by the fire but i know that my great married a so that i always considered judge a cousin if father was a cousin i must be one too said i you are the same relation to me on one side miss went on that is on the other it s about cousin you see so that i can it or not as i please i am flattered that you choose to count us in i told her smiling and i am sure also you must be willing to count in anybody so good as yes is worth holding on to though he s so weak that he d let the shadow of a bully him the answer to the question in the new england who is the man ought to be he used up all the there was in the whole family though i confess that i never heard mrs called meek i assented meek i miss i should think not a is a sunday school beside her while as for tom january she ap her lips with an expression of so very marked i was afraid at once that tom must have been doing something dreadful again and my heart sank for his father but tom has been doing better i said this winter he this winter i she exclaimed why just now he is worse than ever oh dear i asked what is it now his father has been so unhappy about him if he d made tom unhappy it would have been more to the purpose tom s making himself the town talk with that girl what girl don t you know about the that live in that little red house on the rim i know the red house and now that you say the name i remember i have heard that such a family have moved in there where did they come from oh where do such come from ever demanded miss i m afraid nobody but the old nick could tell you they re a set of drunken that turned up here last year they were probably driven out of some town or other tom s been but i did not wish to hear of tom s and i said so miss laughed as usual you never take any interest in wickedness she said good that s about the only fault i have to find with you poor i tom has made him miserable indeed in these years since he came from college the bitterness of seeing one we love go wrong must be and when we believe that the the of a saint of wrong are to be eternal i should go mad if i believed in such a creed i would try to train myself to hate instead of to love or if i could not do this but i could not believe anything so horrible so that i need not daniel is a saint though of course he does not dream of such a thing a saint would not be a saint i suppose who was aware of his and the s is one of his most marked attributes of i wonder whether in the development of the race will ever come to be with a sense of humor a saint with that human quality would be a wonderfully compelling for good daniel is a fine influence by his goodness but he somehow the of virtue in the abstract rather than brings home personally the idea that his example is to be followed and all because he is so hopelessly without a perception of the humorous side of existence but why do i go on writing this when the thought uppermost in my mind is the grief he will have if tom has started again on one of his wild times i do hope that miss is mistaken i so small a thing will sometimes set folk to talking especially about tom who is at heart so good though he has been wild enough to get a bad name january things work out strangely in this world so that it is no wonder all sorts of fanciful are made out of them there could hardly be a	3
web more closely woven than human life to day when i had not seen tom for months and when the gossip of last night made me want to talk with him chance brought us face to face january mother was so comfortable that i went out for an hour the day was delightful cold enough so that the walking was dry and the snow firm but the air not sharp to the cheek the sun was warm and cheery and the shadows on the white fields had a lovely softness i went on in a sort of dream it was so good to be alive and out of doors in such wonderful weather i turned to go down the rim road and it was not until i came in sight of the red house that i remembered what miss said last night then i began to think about tom tom and i have always been such good friends i used to understand tom better in the old school days than the others did and he was always ready to tell me what he thought and felt nowadays i hardly ever see him since i became engaged he has almost never come to the house though he used to be here so much i meet him only once or twice a year and then i think he tries to avoid me i am so sorry to have an old friendship broken off like that the red house made me think of tom with a sore heart of all the talk his wild ways have caused the sorrow of his father and the good that is being lost when a fellow with a heart so big as tom s goes wrong suddenly tom himself appeared before my very eyes as if my thought had him up he came so unexpectedly that at first i could hardly realize how he came then it flashed across me that he must have walked round the red house i suppose he must have come out of a back door somewhere like one of the family such folk never use their front doors he walked along the road toward me at first so that he did not recognize me when he saw my face he half hesitated as if he had almost the of a saint a mind to turn back and his whole face turned red he came on however and was going past me with a scant salutation when i stopped him i stood still and put out my hand so that he could not go by without speaking good afternoon tom i said is n t it a glorious day he looked about him with a strange air as if he had not noticed and i saw how heavy and weary his eyes were yes he answered it is a fine day where do you keep yourself tom i went on hardly knowing what i said but trying to think what it was best to say i never see you and we used to be such good friends he looked away and moved his lips as if he muttered something but when i asked what he said he turned to me look here what s the good of pretending you know i don t go to see you because you re engaged to george you chose between us and there s the end of that what s more you know that nowadays i m not fit to go to see anybody that s decent then it is time that you were was my answer let me walk along with you i want to say something i turned and we walked together toward the village i could see that his face hardened it s no sort of use to preach to me he said though your preaching powers are pretty good i ve had so much preaching in my life that i m not to be rounded up by piety i smiled as well as i could though it made me want to cry to hear the hard of his tone january i m not generally with piety tom the whole town thinks all the heathen know i it s a pity there were n t a few more of em i laughed and thanked him for the compliment and then we went on in silence for a little way i had to what he said about george but it did not make it easier to begin i was puzzled what to say but the time was short that we should be walking together and i had to do something tom i began you may not be very sensitive about old but i am loyal and it hurts me that those i care for should be talked against oh in a place like he returned at once i could see on the they u talk about anybody will they then i suppose they talk about me i m sorry tom for it must make you uncomfortable to hear it unless that is you don t count me for a friend any longer he threw back his head in the way he has always had i used to tell him it was like a s shaking back its mane what nonsense of course they don t talk about you you don t give folks any chance and you do i added as quietly as i could he looked angry for just the instant and then he burst into a hard laugh caught by you were always too clever for me to deal with well then i do give the plenty to talk about they would talk just the same if i did n t so i may as well have the game as the name the of a saint does that mean that your life is regulated by the i supposed that you had more independence tom he flushed and stooped down to pick up a	3
stick with this he began to strike the bushes by the roadside and the dry of sticking up through the snow he set his lips together with a determination which brought out in his face the look i like least the resemblance to his mother when she means to carry a point look here he said after a moment i m not going to talk to you about myself or my doings i m a fast enough but there s no good talking about it if you d cared enough about me to keep me straight you could have done it but now i on my way to the devil and no great way to travel before i get there either we had come to the turn of the where the trees shut off the view of the houses of the village i stopped and put my hand on his arm tom i begged him don t talk like that you don t know how it hurts you don t mean it you can t mean it nobody but yourself can send you on the wrong road and i know you re too to hide behind any such excuse for the sake of your father tom do stop and think what you are doing oh father console himself very well with prayers and anyway he u thank god for sending me to because if god does it it must be all right don t tom you know how he suffers at the way you go on it must be terrible to have an only son and to see him flinging his life away it isn t my fault that i m his son is it he january demanded i ve been dragged into this infernal life without being asked whether i wanted to come or not and now i m here i can t have what i want and i m promised eternal hereafter weu then i show god or the devil or whoever things that i can t be into a the sound of wheels interrupted us and we instinctively began to walk onward in the most commonplace fashion a farmer s wagon came along and by the time it had passed we had come to the head of the bim road in full sight of the houses tom waited until i turned to the right toward home and then he said i m going the other way it s no use to talk to me but i m obliged to you for caring i cannot see that i did any good and very likely i have simply made him more on his guard to avoid giving me a chance but then even if i had all the chance in the world what could i say to him and yet tom is so noble a fellow underneath it all he is honest and kind and strong in his way only between his father s and his mother s for she is sharp he has somehow come to grief they have tried to make him religious so that he would be good and he is of the sort that must be good or he will not be religious he cannot be pressed into a mould of and so in the end but it cannot be the end tom must somehow come out of it january when george came in to night i was struck at once with the look of pleasant excitement in his face what pleases you i asked him the of a saint pleases me he echoed evidently surprised is n t it a pleasure to see you but that s not the whole of it i said you ve something pleasant to tell me oh i can read you like a book my dear so it is quite idle trying to keep a secret from me he seemed confused and i was puzzled to know what was the matter you are too wise entirely was his reply i really had n t anything to tell then something good has happened i persisted or you have heard good news what a fanciful girl you are george returned nothing has happened he walked away from me and went to the fire he was strangely embarrassed and i could only wonder what i had said to him i reflected that perhaps he was planning some sort of a surprise and felt i ought not to into his thoughts in this fashion whatever the matter was that interested him i sat down on the other side of the hearth and took up some sewing george i asked entirely at random did n t you say that the miss west you met at is a cousin of the i flushed as soon as i had spoken for i thought how it betrayed me that in my desire to hit on a new subject i had found the thought of her so near the surface of my mind i had not been thinking of her at all and certainly i did not connect her with george s strangeness of manner there was something almost weird it seems to me now in my putting such a question just then perhaps it was for she must have been vividly in his thoughts at that moment january he started flushed as i have never seen him and turned quickly toward me what makes you think that it was miss west think what was miss west i cried i was completely astonished then i saw how it was er mind george i went on laughing and putting out my hand to him i did n t mean to read your thoughts and i did n t realize that i was doing it but what made you i m sure i don t know i broke in and i managed to laugh again only i see now that you know something pleasant	3
about miss west and you may as well teu it he looked doubtful a minute studying my face the hesitation he had in speaking hurt me it s only that she s coming to visit the he said rather unwillingly told me just now why that will be pleasant i answered as brightly as if i were really delighted now i shall see if she is really as pretty as you say i felt so to be playing a part so somebody has said the real test of love is to be unwilling to deceive the loved one even in the smallest thing that may be the test of a man s love but a woman will bear the pain of that very deception to save the man she cares for from i am sure it has hurt me as much not to be entirely frank with george as it could have hurt a man but i could not make him uncomfortable by letting him see that i was disturbed yet that he should have been afraid or unwilling to tell me did trouble me he knows that i am not jealous or apt to take he is the of a saint always saying that i am too cold to be really in love it made me feel that the coming of this girl must mean much to him when he feared to speak of it if he had not thought it a matter of consequence he would have realized that i should take it lightly i am not taking it lightly but what troubles me is not that she is coming but that he hesitated to tell me something is wrong when george fears to trust me january i have seen her i went to church this morning for that especial reason mother was a little astonished at me when i said that i was going well she said you don t have much but i didn t suppose that you were so dull you would take to church going you can never tell i answered making a jest of a thing which to me was far from funny mr will be sure to conclude i m under conviction of sin and come in to finish the she looked at me keenly what is the matter she asked in that soft voice of hers which goes straight to my heart it is n t anything very serious mother i said since you will have the truth am going to church to see that miss west who s visiting the george thinks her so pretty that my curiosity is roused to a perfect she did not say more but i saw the sudden light in her eye mother has never felt about george as i have wished she has never done him justice and she thinks i him that is her favorite way of putting it but this is because she is my mother and does n t see how much there must have been on his side before he could fall in love with me january miss west is very pretty all the time i watched in church i tried to persuade myself that she was not i and sat there finding fault with her face saying to myself that her nose was too long her eyes too small her mouth too big as if my invention would change the fact it was humiliating business and utterly and miss west is pretty she is more than this she is wonderfully pretty there is an appealing baby look about her big blue eyes which goes straight to one s heart she looks like a darling child one would want to kiss and from all the hard things of life i own it all i realize all that it means and if in my inmost soul i am afraid i will not deny what is a fact or try to shut my eyes to the of my feeling about her of course george found her she is the young men in the congregation all watched her and even grim could not keep his eyes off of her she does not have the look of a girl of any especial mind her is after all that of a doll her large eyes are of the sort to please a man because of their appealing helplessness not because they inspire him with new her little lips will never speak wisdom i am afraid but in my jealousy i wonder whether most men do not care more for lips which invite kisses than for lips which speak wisdom i am frankly and weakly miserable george walked home with me but he had not two words to say i must try to meet this if george should come to care for her more than for me if he should if by a pretty face he forgets all the years that we have belonged to each other what is there to do i cannot the of a saint yet believe that it is best for him but if it will make him happy even if he thinks that it will what is there for me but to make it as easy for him as i may he certainly would not be happy to marry me and love somebody else he cannot leave me without pain that i am sure i shall show my love for him more truly if i spare him the knowledge of what it must cost me but what nonsense all this is a man may admire a pretty face and yet not be ready for it to leave behind all that has been dear to him oh if he had not asked me that question when he came back from i cannot get it out of my mind that even if he was not conscious of it it meant he still was secretly tired of his long engagement that he	3
was at least dreaming of what he would do if he were free he shall not be bound by any will of mine and if his heart has gone out to this beautiful creature i must bear it as nobly as i can father used to say and every day i go back more and more to what he said to me what you cannot at need sacrifice nobly you are not worthy to possess january i have had a note which me completely tom writes to say that he is going away that i am to forgive him for the shame of having known him and that his address is in a sealed envelope i am not to open it unless there is real need why should he give his address to me january the way aunt has of coming in without knocking stealing in on feet made noiseless by brought her into the sitting room last night while i was in the january twilight and meditating on nothing in particular i knew her slow fashion of opening the door like a at a cupboard as says so that i was able to compose my face into an appropriate smile of welcome before she was fairly in sitting here alone was her greeting mother is asleep i answered and i was waiting for her to wake aunt seated herself in the chair in tbe room and began to swing her foot as usual daniel s at it again she observed i smiled a little it always me that the troubles of the church should be so often brought to me who am an aunt arrives about once a month on the average with complaints about something they are seldom of any especial weight but it seems to relieve her to tell her which daniel i asked to her a little of course you know that well enough what is it now he won t have any fire in the she answered why not let somebody else take care of the then if you want a fire you don t suppose was her response with a chuckle that he d give up the key to anybody else do you i should think he d be glad to he hold on to that key till he dies retorted aunt with a and i should n t be surprised if he had it buried with him he wouldn t lose the chance of making folks uncomfortable the of a saint oh come aunt you are always so hard on i protested he is always good natured with me i wish you d join the church then and see if you can t keep him in order last night it was so cold at prayer meeting that we were all half frozen and mr had to dismiss the meeting old lady spoke up in the part of it when we were all so chilled that we could n t speak and she said in that little high voice of hers the is very cold to night but i trust that our hearts are warm with the love of christ i laughed at the picture of the half frozen and dear old lady coming to the rescue with a pious jest it was so characteristic but has anybody spoken to i asked you can t speak to him she responded her foot with a violence that seemed to speak celestial anger within i try to after every prayer meeting but he has the lights out before i can say two words i can t stay there in the dark with him and the minute he gets me outside he locks the door and posts off like a streak why not go down to his mill in broad daylight i suggested oh he d stick close to the grinding thing just so he could n t hear and i m afraid of being pitched into the she said laughing you must speak to him he pays some attention to what you say but it s none of my business i don t go to prayer meeting but it s your duty to go she answered with a shrewd smile that showed that she appreciated january her response and if you neglect one duty it s no excuse for another besides you can t be willing to have the whole congregation die of cold so in the end it was somehow fixed that i am to with daniel because the faithful are cold at their it would seem much for them to stay at home and be warm they do not as far as i can see enjoy going but they are miserable if they do not go their trouble them worse than the cold poor things i suppose that i can never be half thankful enough to father for bringing me up without a conscience prayer meetings seem to be a good deal like salt in the boy s definition of something that makes food taste bad if you don t put it on prayer meetings make church uneasy if they do not go if they will go however and if they are better for going or believe they are better or if they are only worse for staying away or suppose they are worse they should not be expected to sit in a cold in january why daniel will not have a fire is not at all clear it may be economy or it may be a lack of it may be for some reason too deep to be discovered i refuse to accept aunt s theory that it is sheer obstinacy and i will beard the in his mill regardless of the danger of the at least he generally to me january came up for me this evening while i was reading to mother s down in the parlor she announced says he wants to see you if you re	3
not help remembering the gossip about tom and the fact that i saw him coming from the red house i wonder if he has not gone to break away from temptation in new he may turn over a new leaf oh i would so like to write to him and to tell him how much i hope for this fresh start but i hardly like to open the envelope i have been this afternoon to call on miss west the are not exactly of my world but it seemed kind to go if you were really honest you would add that you wanted to see what miss west is like it is all very well to put on airs of disinterested virtue but if george had not spoken of this girl it is rather doubtful whether you would have taken the trouble to go to her in your very best and and you did put on your very best and wondered while you were doing it whether she would appreciate the lace you bought at i understand you wanted to impress her a little though you did try to make yourself believe that you were only wearing your finest clothes to do honor to her what a you are i the of a saint came to the door and asked me into the parlor where i was left to wait some time before miss west appeared i confessed then to myself how i had really half hoped that she would not be in but now the call is over i am glad to have seen her i am a little confused but i know what she is she is the most beautiful creature i ever saw she has a clear color when she like a red in september the last and the richest of all the of the year then her hair curls about her forehead in such dear little that it is enough to make one want to kiss her she speaks with a funny little western to her r s which might not please me in another but is charming from her lips the mouth that speaks is so pretty yes george was right of ber mind one cannot say quite as much she is not entirely well bred it seemed to me but then we are a little old fashioned in she did notice the and asked me where i got it oh she said when i had told her then you have been abroad yes i said i went with my father judge took you abroad several times did n t he put in yes i went with him three times oh my commented miss west how set up you must feel i don t think i do i answered laughing do you feel set up because you have the west that so few of us have visited why i never thought of that she responded you have n t any of you in the west have you january i have n t at least but that ain t anything to compare with going abroad she continued her face falling and going abroad three times too i should put on airs all the rest of my life if i d done that it is not fair to go on putting down in black and white things that she said without thinking i am ashamed of the satisfaction i found myself taking in her i was even so unfair to her that i could not help thinking that she somehow did not ring true i wonder if a woman can ever be entirely just to another woman who has been praised by the man she cares for if not i will be an exception to my sex i i will not be small and mean just because miss west is so lovely that no man could see her without well without admiring her greatly january i went down to the mill this afternoon to see daniel and to represent to him the of the faithful at frozen prayer meetings he was standing in the door of the mill which was open to the brisk air and his frock gave a picturesque air to his great figure he greeted me pleasantly as he always does i ve come on business i said your own or somebody s else he asked with a grin not exactly mine i admitted what has aunt sent you for now he demanded i laughed at his penetration you are too sharp to be deceived i said aunt did send me they tell me you are trying to destroy the church by them all to death at the prayer meetings the of a saint aunt can t be frozen she s too dry that is n t at all a nice thing to say i said smiling you can t cover your by her he showed his teeth and settled himself against the door post more comfortably why did n t she come herself he inquired she said that she was afraid you d pop her into the you see what a monster you are considered i would n t be willing to spoil my meal daniel likes to play at and if he had ever had a chance might have some skill at it as it is i like to see how he it if i am not always impressed by the wit of what he says i said why do you the people so in the i have n t known of anybody s being frozen but why don t you have a fire i persisted if you don t want to build it there are boys enough that can be hired how is your mother to day was the only answer the vouchsafed she s very comfortable thank you why don t you have a fire makes folks sleepy he declared and once more oflf abruptly to another subject	3

Subsets and Splits

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