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their duty and to abide by the letter of their employer s orders did not the litter there take that for your she said giving each a tap on bis ear and half impatient rope half she leaped from the litter and bounded forward the friends met mr covered his face and groaned aloud what has happened to my family demanded mr my wife my son my uttle ones oh speak god give me grace to hear thee in vain mr p to speak he could find no to soften the frightful truth mr turned his horse s head towards and was proceeding to end himself the suspense when his friend seizing his arm cried stop stop go not thither thy house is desolate and then half choked with groans and sobs he unfolded the dismal story not a sound nor a sigh escaped the man he seemed to be turned into stone till he was roused by the wild shrieks of the little girl who ed had listened to the communication of mr take the child with you he said i shall go to my house if my boy returns send a messenger instantly otherwise suffer me to remain alone till to w he passed on without appearing to hear the cries and entreaties of hope who forcibly detained by mr screamed oh take me take me with you there are but us two left i will not go away m you i but at last finding resistance useless she yielded and was conveyed to the village where she was received by her aunt whose hope le was as noisy and as mr s bad been silent and by any of the ordinary forms of sorrow early on the following mr attended by several others men and women went to to offer their sympathy and service they met at the door who greatly by the sight of human faces and ears willing to in formed them that immediately after her master s arrival he had retired to the apartment that contained the bodies of the deceased charging her not to intrude on him a murmur of apprehension ran around the circle it was to leave him here alone whispered one it is not every man though his faith stand as a mountain in his prosperity that can bear to have the lord put forth his hand and touch his bone and his flesh ah said another my heart me when mr told us how calm he took it such a calm as that is like the still dead waters that cover the lost cities quiet is not the nature of the creature and you may be sure that unseen and ruin are underneath the poor dear gentleman should have taken i something to eat or drink said a little plump full j fed lady there is nothing so f to grief as an empty stomach madam do not you think it would be prudent for us to guard with a little cordial and a bit of cake if good girl can give it to us looking at the dear lady s gone was ever in her and i not she left such behind mrs shook her head and a man of a most solemn and owl aspect who sat between the ladies turned to the last speaker and said in a deep tone thou not bring thy to this house of mourning and perchance of sin where the lord works satan also tempting the wounded i doubt our brother hath done violence to himself he was ever of a is to say a peculiar and silent make and what won t bend will break the suggestion in this speech communicated alarm to all present several persons gathered about mr some advised him to knock at the door of the adjoining apartment others forcing it if necessary while each one was his opinion the door opened from within and mr came among them do you bring me any news of my son he asked mr till this question was put and answered there was a of voice a knitting of the brow and a of colour that indicated the agitation of the sufferer s soul but then a sublime composure his countenance and figure he noticed every one present with more than his usual attention and to a superficial observer one who knew not how to interpret his mortal the fixed melancholy of his glazed eye and his rigid muscles which had the of marble he hope might have appeared to be suffering less than any person present some cried outright some stared with and r curiosity some were in the expression of their while a few were pale silent and all these many coloured feelings fell on mr like light on a black surface no change meeting no return he stood leaning on the till the first burst of over till all yielding to his example became quiet and the apartment was as still as that in which death held his silent dominion mr then whispered to him my friend bear your testimony now us with a word showing that you are not amazed at your calamity that you counted the cost before you undertook to build the lord s building in the wilderness it is suitable that you should turn your affliction to the profit of the lord s people mr felt himself stretched on a rack that he must endure with a martyr s patience he lifted up his he and with much effort spoke one brief sentence a sentence which contains all that a christian could feel or the stores of language could ex press god s will be done he said and then hurried away to hide his struggles in solitude relieved from the restraint of his presence the company poured forth such moral and pious reflections as usually flow from the lips of the spectators of suffering and which	6
would seem to indicate that each individual has a spare hope stock of wisdom and patience for bis neighbour s though through some strange they are never applied to his own use we hope our readers will not think we have with their feelings by drawing a picture of calamity that only exists in the tale no such events as we have feebly related were common in our early annals and attended by horrors that it would be impossible for the imagination to not only families but villages were cut off by the most dreaded of all foes the savage in the quiet possession of the blessings we are perhaps in danger of forgetting or the sufferings by which they were obtained we forget that the noble lived and endured for us that when they came to the wilderness they said truly though it may be somewhat that they turned their backs on egypt they did all on earthly they left the land of their birth of their homes of their father s they sacrificed ease and and all the delights of sense and for what to open for themselves an earthly paradise to dress their of pleasure and rejoice with their wives and children no they came not for themselves they lived not to themselves an and people they came forth in the dignity of the chosen servants of the lord to open the forests o the and to the light of the son of to restore man man oppressed and hope trampled by his fellow to religious and civil liberty and equal rights to replace the creatures of god on their natural level to bring down the hills and make smooth the rough places which the pride and cruelty of man had wrought on the fair creation of the father of all what was their reward distinctions the sweet of home no but their feet were planted on the mount of vision and they saw with sublime joy a multitude of people where the solitary savage the forest the forest vanished and pleasant villages cities appeared the tangled expanded to the thronged highway the consecrated church planted on the rock of heathen sacrifice and that we might realize this vision enter into this promised land of faith they endured hardship and death as said one of their company that he is not worthy to at all who for fear of danger or death his country s service or his own honour since death is inevitable and the fame of virtue immortal if these were the of enthusiasm it was an enthusiasm kindled and fed by the holy flame that on the altar of god an enthusiasm that never but life and strength as the immortal soul in the image of its creator we shall now leave the little community assembled at to perform the last offices for one who had been among them an example of all the most attractive virtues of woman the funeral ceremony l sl u was then as it still is among the descendants of the a simple service a gathering of the people m n women and children as one family to the of mourning and his party in their flight had less than an hour s advantage of their and by their they would have been compelled to despatch them or have been overtaken but for their sagacity in the forest they knew how to wind around to shape their course to the margin of the and to penetrate while their in that accurate observation of nature by which the savage was guided were over mountains arrested by or half in an hour s silent and rapid flight the indians halted to make such arrangements as would best their retreat they placed the little on the back of one of the and attached her there by a or strong wide band passed several times over her and around the body of her bearer she screamed at her separation from but being permitted to stretch out her hand and place it in his she became quiet and satisfied the who so lately had seemed two now appeared to regard the devotion of the children with complacency but their was not extended to and in particular the indian whom he bad wounded and whose arm was irritated and los ko e te eyed him with glances of brooding perceived this and lest the savage should give way to a sudden impulse of revenge she placed herself between him and this movement awakened from a sullen and striking his hands together angrily he bade remove from the english boy she obeyed and mournfully resumed her place beside her father saying as she did so in a low thrilling tone my father my father where are my father s look and voice has found his daughter but i have not found my father felt her reproach his features relaxed and he laid his hand on her head my father s soul she cried h listen to me listen to me she waved her hand to the to top and they obeyed why she ed in an impassioned voice why hath my father s soul stooped from its ever upward flight till this day his knife was never stained with innocent blood yonder roof and she pointed towards has sheltered thy children the wing of the mother bird was spread over us we ate of the children s bread then why hast thou died their blood why art thou leading the son into oh spare him send him back leave one light in the darkened habitation one echoed did they leave me one no my people my children were swept away like withered leaves before the wind and there where our pleasant homes were clustered are silence and darkness have sprung up around our hearth stones and grass has overgrown our has thy brother vanished from thy memory t i tell thee that	6
as died that boy shall die my soul rejoiced when he fought at his mother s side to see him thus make himself a worthy victim to offer to thy lion hearted brother even so fought felt that her father s purpose was not to be shaken she looked at and already felt the horrors of the captive s fate the foes and the knives and when her father commanded the party to move onward she uttered a piercing shriek be silent girl said sternly cries and screams are for children and and i am a coward replied to her habitually calm tone if to fear my father should do a wrong even to an enemy is cowardice again her father s brow softened and she ventured to add l end back the boy and our path will be all smooth before us and light will be upon it for my mother often said the sun never sets on the soul of the man that good had touched the spring of her father s passions dost thou use thy mother s words he said to plead for one of the race of her is not her grave among my enemies say no more i command you and speak not to the boy thy kindness but my revenge vol l k hope there was no alternative must feel or submission and she laid her hand on her hearty and bowed ber head in token of obedience had ed and understood her sion for though her words were uttered in her oa n tongue there was no her significant manner but he was to the success of her appeal he still felt the dying grasp of his mother still heard his sisters cry to him for help and in the agony of his mind he was incapable of an emotion of hope or fear the party resumed their march and suddenly changing their direction they came to the shore of the they had chosen a point for their passage where the of the river prevented their being exposed to view for any distance but still they cautiously lingered till the twilight had faded into night while they were taking their bark from the thicket of in which they had hidden it said unobserved to keep an eagle eye on our pathway our journey is always towards the setting sun every turn we make is marked by a dead tree a branch or an arrow s head carved in the bark of a tree be watchful the hour of escape may come she spoke in the lowest audible tone and without changing her posture or raising her eyes and though her last accent caught her father s ear when he turned to her he suppressed his rebuke for she sat motionless and silent as a statue the party were swiftly conveyed to the opposite hope hi the was then again taken from the river and plunged into the wood and believing they had pursuit they prepared to for the night they selected for this purpose a smooth grassy area where they were and defended on the river side by a natural formed of in branches of and elms collected dead leaves from the little hollows into which they had been swept by of wind and with the addition of some soft he made a bed and pillow for his little favourite fit for the repose of a wood the regarded this labour of love with favour and one of them took firom his hollow some corn and mixing of sugar with it gave it to and tbe little girl received it from him as as the young bird takes food from its mother he then made a cup of broad leaves together with delicate twigs and brought her a draught of water from a fountain that swelled over the green turf and into the river drop by drop as clear and bright as crystal when die had finished her primitive he laid her on her leafy bed covered her with skins and sung her to sleep the indians refreshed themselves with and dried fish a boyish appetite is not fastidious aiid with a mind at ease might have this coarse fare but now though repeatedly he would not even rise from the ground where he had thrown himself in air no hope excess of misery can enable a boy of fifteen for any length of time to resist the of nature for it may be remembered had watched the previous night and he soon sunk into oblivion of his one after another the whole party fell asleep with the exception of who sat apart from the rest her mantle wrapped closely around her her head leaning against a tree and apparently lost in deep meditation the by way of precaution had taken a position on each of so as to render it next to impossible for their prisoner to move without awakening them but love mercy and hope count nothing impossible and all were at work in the breast of she waited till the depth of the night when sleep is most profound and then with a step as noiseless as the falling dew she moved round to s head stooped down and putting her lips close to his ear pronounced his name distinctly most persons have experienced the power of a name thus pronounced awakened instantly and perfectly and at once understood from s gestures for speak again she dared not that she urged his departure the love of life and safety is too strong to be for any length of time hope was kindled and escape seemed possible thoughts rushed through his mind he might be restored to his father could not be far distant his would not dare to remain in that vicinity after the dawn of day one half hour and hope he was beyond their pursuit he rose slowly and cautiously to his feet all was	6
yet profoundly still he glanced his eye on faith whom he would gladly have rescued but shook her head and he felt that to attempt it would be to his own failure the moon shone through the branches of the trees and shed a faint and quivering light on the wild group looked cautiously about him to see where he should plant his first footsteps if i should tread on those skins he thought that are about them or on those rustling leaves it were a gone case with me during this instant of deliberation one of the indians murmured something of his dreaming thoughts turned over and grasped s ankle the boy bit his quivering lip and suppressed an instinctive cry for he perceived it was but the movement of sleep and he felt the hold gradually he exchanged a glance of joy with when a new source of alarm startled them they heard the dashing of oars breathless immovable they listened the strokes were quickly repeated and the sounds rapidly approached and a voice spoke not there boys not there a little higher up and hope shot through s heart as he sprang like a startled deer but the awakened too by the noise grasped his leg with one hand and with the other drawing his knife from his he pointed it at s heart in the act to strike if he should make the least movement or sound k t il hope le ue caution is the instinct of the weaker animals the indian cannot be surprised out of his and his companions thus suddenly awakened remained as fixed and silent as the trees about them the men in the suspended their oars for a moment and seemed at a loss how to proceed or whether to proceed at all it is a business i can tell you said one of them to plunge into those woods it is ill fighting with wild beasts in their own den they may start out upon us fix m their holes when we are least looking for them and if they should replied in the voice of one who would fain enforce reason with persuasion if they should are we not six stout christian men with bold hearts and the lord on our side to boot i grant ye that s at odds but i we have no command from the lord to come out on this wild goose chase i take a known duty replied always to be a command from the lord and you i am sure will be as ready as another man to serve under such an order was silenced for a moment and another voice spoke yes so should we all master if you could make out the order but i can t see the sense of all our lives and but a thank ye for nothing when we get back if indeed we ever get out of the of the forest again into a to be sure we ve them thus far but now on e river we lose scent you know thread the forest as as my good woman threads her needle and for us to pursue them is as vain a thing as for my old chimney corner cat to chase a through the woods come come let s head about and give it up for a bad job stop stop my friends cried as they were about to put the boat around ye surely have not all faint hearts fear naught you will not so your christian name as to turn your back on danger and you john who cut down the as you were wont to the in will you have it thrown up to you that you wanted courage to pursue the go home and take your curly boy oh your knee and thank god with what heart you may for his spared life and all all of you go to that less man at and say we could not brave the terrors of the forest to save your child for we have pleasant homes and wives and children for myself the lord helping while i ve life i ll not turn back without the boy and if there s one among you that hopes for god s pity let him go with me why i m sure it was not i that proposed going back said and i m sure said the second s f that i m willing if the rest are to try our luck farther now god above reward ye my good fellows cried with renewed life i knew it was but trying your metal to find it true it is not reason hope able that you should fee as i do who have seen my master s home looking like a slaughter house my mistress the and the best oh it s too much to think of and then that boy that s worth a of such men as we are of such as i i mean but come let s pull away a little farther up the stream there s no landing here where the bank is so steep stay tow a little closer cried one of the men i see something like a track on the very edge of the bank its being seemingly impossible is the very reason why the savages would have chosen it they now approached so near the shore that knew they might hear a whisper and yet to move his lips was certain death those who have experienced the a of a nightmare when life seemed to depend on a single word and that word could not be pronounced may conceive his emotions at this moment friends and rescue so near and so ye are mistaken said another of the pursuing party after a moment s investigation it s but a s track which it truly was for the savages had	6
been careful not to leave the slightest trace of their footsteps where they landed there s a a little higher up continued the speaker we ll put in there and then if we don t get on their trail master must tell us what to do it s plain what we must do then said go straight on i have a compass you know there is not as the hunters tell us a single hope smoke between this and the valleys of the there the tribes are friendly and if we reach them without falling in th our enemy we will not sue them farther agreed agreed i cried all the men and they again dashed in their oars and made for the heart sunk within him as the sounds but hope once admitted will not be again ex and with the sanguine temperament of youth he was already mentally calculating the chances of escape not so she knew the dangers that beset him she was aware of her father s determined purpose her heart had again been rent by a divided duty one word from her would have rescued but that word would have been death to her father and when the boat retired she sunk to the ground quite spent with the of her feelings it may seem strange that the indians did not avail themselves of the advantage of to tack their but it will be remembered the latter were double their number and besides s object now was to make good his retreat with his children and to effect this it was essential he should avoid any encounter with his after a short consultation with his associates they determined to remain in their present portion till the morning they were confident they should be able to detect and avoid the track of the enemy and soon to get in advance of them hope chapter vn but the scene is lovely a river there amid the fresh and fertile the paradise he made unto himself the soil for ages on each side the fields swell upward to the hills beyond above the hills in the blue distance the mighty columns with which earth heaven there is a tale about these gray old rocks a s tradition it is not our purpose to describe step by step the progress of the indian their sagacity in their native forests their skill in following and an enemy and all their devices have been so well described in a recent popular work that their have become familiar household words and nothing remains but to shelter defects oi skill and knowledge under the veil of silence we hold it to be an that a thing bad better not be done than be ill done suffice it to say then that the savages after crossing the track of their the forest with as little apparent uncertainty as to their path as is now felt by travellers who pass through the same still romantic country in a and on a broad as they from the the pine disappeared the country was broken into hills and rose high mountains e they traversed the sides of a river that swollen by the rains wound its way among the hills foaming and raging like an angry monarch the river as they traced its course to a mountain but still retaining its impetuous character leaping and tumbling for miles through a descending between high mountains whose stillness grandeur and contrasted with the noisy reckless little stream as stem manhood with infancy in one place which the indians call ed the throat of the mountain they were to themselves to the channel of the brook th e not being room on its margin for a the branches of the trees that grew from the rocky and on each side met nd forming a over the imprisoned stream to whose imagination breathed a living spirit into all the objects of nature it seemed as if the spirits of the wood had stooped to listen to its sweet music after tracing this little to its source they again plunged into the silent forest through and mounted to the of hills till at length at the close of the third day after having gradually descended for several miles the hills on one side and left a little interval of meadow through which they wound into the lower valley of the this continued and difficult march had been sustained by with a spirit and fortitude that evidently won the favour of the savages who always fi render homage to superiority over physical evil there was something more than this common feeling in the joy with which noted the boy s silent endurance and even contempt of pain noble victim seemed to him better than a human in proportion to hi exultation in possessing an object worthy to his son was bis fear that his victim would escape from him during the march had twice aided by nearly achieved his liberty these detected though defeated rendered the chief impatient to execute his vengeance and he secretly resolved that it should not be delayed longer than the row as the emerged from the narrow a new scene opened upon them a scene of valley and hill river and meadow surrounded by mountains whose embrace expressed protection and love to the gentle spirits of the valley a light summer shower had just fallen and the clouds in thousand had risen from the western horizon and hung their rich about the clear sun the rays passed over the valley and flushed the upper branches of the trees the of the hills and the mountains with a flood of light while the low grounds in deep shadow presented one of those striking and accidental in nature that a painter would have selected to give to hb art the gentle wound through the depths of the valley in some parts contracted to a narrow and murmuring over the rocks	6
that its surface and in others spreading wide its clear mirror and lingering like a lover amid the vines trees and flowers that fringed its banks thus it flows now but not as then in the freedom of nature when no mills and bustling threw their shadows over the silver waters j when not even a bridge their when not a trace of man s art was seen save the little bark that glided over them or lay idly along the shore the savage was rather the than the master of nature obeying her laws but never her dominion he only used the land she prepared and cast in his com but where she seemed to invite him by and the rich mould he did not presume to down her trees the proud crest of her and convert them into and gray the s stroke that music to the set s ear never then the peace of nature or made discord in her music imagination may be indulged in lingering for a moment in those dusky regions of the past but it is not permitted to reasonable instructed man to admire or regret tribes of human beings who lived and died leaving scarcely a more enduring memorial than tlie forsaken nest that before one winter s storms but to return to our they had entered the expanded by following the of the around a hill and easy of ascent excepting on that side which overlooked the river vol l l hope where half way from the base to the summit rose a perpendicular rock bearing on its front the age of centuries on every other side the hill was with now in full and bloom here and there surmounted by an intervening pine or whose winter foliage was fringed with the bright tender of spring we believe there is a even in the heart of savage man that to the voice of nature certain it is the party paused as it appeared from a common instinct at a little grassy nook formed by the curve of the hill to gaze on this singularly beautiful spot looked on the smoke that curled from the huts of the village in pine trees on the adjacent plain the scene to him breathed peace and happiness and thoughts of home filled his eyes with tears plucked clusters of and his little favourite and the old chief fixed his melancholy eye on ar solitary pine and by that rooted in the ground where he lifted its branches to the bare rock where they seemed in their wild desolation to brave the fury that had stripped them of beauty and life the tree was truly as it appeared to the eye of a fit emblem of the of a ruined tribe see you child he said addressing those roots the tree must fall hear you the death song that through those branches nay father listen not to the sad strain j it is j hope but the spirit of tree mourning over its decay rather turn thine ear to the glad song this bright stream image of the good she the aged trees and the tender and her song is ever of happiness till she reaches the great sea image of our eternity speak not to me of happiness it has vanished with the smoke of our homes i tell ye the spirits of our race are gathered about this tree points to that rock that sacrifice rock his keen glance turned from the rock to understood its meaning and she clasped her bands in mute and he answered to the silent entreaty it is in vain my purpose is fixed and here it shall be accomplished why hast thou linked thy heart foolish girl to this english boy i have sworn kneeling on the ashes of our hut that i would never spare a son of our enemy s race the lights of heaven witnessed my vow and you that now this boy is given into my hands thy brother i will spare him i no not to thy prayer no though thou on me with thy mother s eye and with her voice i will not break my vow had indeed taken a final and fatal resolution and prompted as he fancied by supernatural and perhaps the of his own heart he determined on its immediate execution he announced his decision to the hope a brief and animated consultation followed during which they their and cast wild and threatening glances at who at once comprehended the meaning of these menacing looks and gestures he turned an appealing glance to she did not speak am i to die now be asked she turned shuddering from him had expected death from his savage but while it was comparatively distant he thought he was indifferent to it or rather he believed he should welcome it as a release from the horrible recollection of the at which haunted him day and night but now that his fate seemed inevitable nature was appalled and shrunk from it and tiie spirit for a moment endured a pang that there cannot be in any the avenues of sense were closed and past and future were present to the mind as if it were already invested with the attributes of its eternity from this excitement was roused by a command from the savages to move onward it is then deferred thought and heaving a deep sigh as if for a moment relieved from a pressure on her heart she looked to her father for an explanation he said nothing but proceeded in silence towards the village the lower valley of the at the period to which our history was inhabited by a peaceful and as far as that epithet could ever be applied to our savages an agricultural tribe whose territory between the and the was bounded and defended on each side by mountains then deemed to a foe these inland	6
a celestial spirit breathed them into his soul stillness and peace stole over him he was amazed at his own tranquillity it may be he thought that my mother is permitted to minister to me he might have been agitated by the admission of the least ray of hope but hope was utterly and it was only when he thought of his father that his courage failed him but we must leave him to his solitude and silence only interrupted by the distant of the owl and the heavy tread of the chief who spent the night in slowly pacing before the door of the hut and her companions were conducted to a standing on that part of the plain on which they had first entered it was completely enclosed on three sides by dwarf oaks in front there was a little plantation of the luxuries of the savages on entering the hut they perceived it had but one a sick old woman who was stretched on her mat covered with skins she raised her head as the strangers entered and at the sight of faith uttered a faint exclamation the fair creature a messenger from the hope it land but being who they were and whence they came she made every and expression of courtesy to them that her feeble strength permitted heir hut contained all that was essential to savage hospitality a few were burning on a in the middle of the apartment the smoke that found passed out by a hole in the centre of the roof over which a mat was adjusted and to the side by a cord that hung within the old woman in her long pilgrimage had accumulated stores of indian riches piles of sleeping lay in one corner nicely dressed the walls baskets of all shapes and sizes decorated with rude images of birds and flowers contained dried fruits indian com nuts and game a covered made of folds of bark was filled with a kind of beer a of various roots and shrubs neatly turned wooden and and of clay supplied all the demands of the of savage life the travellers directed by their old hostess prepared their evening a short and simple process to an indian and having satisfied the of hunger they were all with the exception of and one of the in a very short time stretched on their and fast asleep seated herself at the feet of the old woman and had neither spoken nor moved since she entered the hut she watched anxiously and hope the movements of the indian whose appointed duty it appeared to be to guard her he placed a wooden bench against the mat which served for a door and his pipe with tobacco from a over his shoulder and then filling a with the liquor in the and placing it beside him he quietly sat himself down to his night watch the old woman became restless and her loud and repeated groans at last withdrew from her own miserable thoughts she inquired if she could do aught to her pain the sufferer pointed to a jar that stood on the embers ia which a preparation was she ta to give her a of the liquor she did so and as she took it it is made she said of all the plants on which the spirit of sleep has breathed and so it seemed to be for she had scarcely swallowed it when she fell asleep once or twice she and murmured something and once heard her say hark to the is he is perched on the old oak by the sacrifice rock and his cry is neither musical nor merry a bad sign in a bird but all signs and were alike to every sound rung a death peal to her ear and the hissing silence had in it the mystery and of death the night wore slowly and painfully away as if as in the fairy tale the moments were counted by drops of heart s blood but the most wearisome nights will end the morning approach hon ed the familiar notes of the birds of earliest were heard and the twilight peeped through the of the hut when a new sound fell on s startled ear it was the slow measured tread of many feet the poor girl now broke and vehemently entreated the to let her pass the door or at least to raise the mat he shook his head with a look of as if it were the demand of a child when the old woman awakened by the noise cried out that she was dying that she must have light and air i and the started up to raise the mat it was held between two poles that formed the door posts and while he was it as if inspired and quick as thought poured the from the jar on the fire into the hollow of hand and dashed it into the which the mo hawk had just the was boiling hot but she did not she did not even feel it and she could scarcely repress a cry of joy when the savage turned round and swallowed at one draught the contents of the cup looked eagerly through the but though the sound of the footsteps had approached nearer she saw no one she saw nothing but a gentle that to the plain a few yards from the hut and was covered with a grove of trees beyond and peering above them were the hill and the sacrifice rock the star its rays not yet in the light of day shed a soft trembling beam on its summit this beautiful star alone in the heavens when all other lights were spoke to the superstitious or rather the imaginative spirit of star of promise she thought thou dost still linger with us when day is vanished and now thou art there alone to	6
proclaim the coming sun thou dost send in upon my soul a ray of hope and though it be but as the spider s slender pathway it shall sustain my courage she had scarcely formed this resolution when she needed all its for the whose footsteps she had heard appeared in full view first came her father with the chief next alone and walking with a firm step was his arms folded over his breast and his head a little inclined upward so that fancied she saw his full eye turned after him walked all the men of the tribe ranged according to their age and the rank assigned to each by his own exploits they were neither painted nor ornamented ac to the common usage at and sacrifices but everything had the air of hasty preparation gazed in speechless despair the procession entered the wood and for a few moments disappeared from her sight again they were visible mounting the of the hill by a winding narrow shaded on either side by they now walked singly and slowly but to their progress seemed rapid as a falling she felt that if she were to remain pent in that prison house her heart would burst and she vol i m e sprang towards the doorway in the hope of clearing her passage but the caught her arm in his iron grasp and putting her back calmly retained his station she threw herself on her knees to him she entreated she wept but in vain he looked on her with unmoved already she saw the foremost of the party had reached the rock and were forming a around it again she appealed to her determined keeper and again he denied her petition but with a faltering tongue and a drooping eye in the of a necessity that could brook no delay had forgotten or regarded as useless the sleeping she had into the s draught she now saw the powerful agent was at work for her and with that quickness of apprehension that made the operations of her mind as rapid as the impulses of instinct she perceived that every emotion she excited but the effect of the suddenly seeming to all purpose and hope of escape she threw herself on a mat and hid her face burning with impatience in her mantle there we must leave her and join that fearful company who were gathered together to witness what they believed to be the execution of exact and necessary justice seated around their sacrifice rock their holy of they listened to the sad story of the chief with dejected countenances and downcast eyes save when an involuntary glance turned on who stood his fate cruelly by hope ds every moment s with a quiet d ity and calm resignation that would have become a hero or a saint surrounded by this dark cloud of savages his fair countenance kindled by holy inspiration he looked scarcely like a creature of earth there might have been among the spectators some who felt the silent appeal of the helpless courageous boy some whose hearts moved them to to save the selected victim but they were restrained by their interpretation of natural justice as to them as our artificial of laws to us others of a more cruel or more irritable disposition when the described his wrongs and depicted his sufferings their and would have hurled them at the boy but the chief said nay brothers the work is mine he dies by my hand for my first born life for life he dies by a single stroke for thus was my boy cut off the blood of is in his veins he has the skin but not the soul of that mixed race whose gratitude is like that vanishing mist and be pointed to the that was melting from the mountain tops into the transparent and their promises like this and he snapped a dead branch from the pine beside which he stood and broke it in fragments boy as he is he fought for his mother as the eagle fights for its young i watched him in the mountain path when the blood from his torn feet not a word from his smooth lip betrayed his victim vith praises as the theirs with flowers he his over s head and cried see he not thus stood my boy when they flashed their before his eyes and bade him betray his father brothers my people have told me i bore a woman s heart towards the enemy ye shall see i will pour out this english boy s blood to the last drop and give his flesh and bones to the dogs and wolves he then to to prostrate himself on the rock his face downward in this position the boy would not see the stroke even at this moment of dire vengeance the instincts of a merciful nature asserted their rights sunk calmly on his knees not to life but to commend his soul to god he clasped his hands together he did not he could speak bis soul was in still communion that the imperfect offices of prayer at this moment a penetrated the trees that enclosed the area and fell his brow and hair it with an almost supernatural brightness to the savages this was a token that the victim was accepted and they sent forth a shout that rent the air bent forward and pressed his forehead to the rock the chief raised the deadly weapon when springing from the side of the rock screamed forbear and interposed her arm it was too late the blow le waa force and direction given the stroke aimed at s neck severed bis s arm and left him the quivering member dropped over the precipice staggered and fell senseless and all the savages uttering horrible rushed towards the fatal spot stand back cried i have bought	6
his name there just as he had carved it well it will be a kind of a history for mr s when we and the forest too are laid low your father permitted the honest fellow s to flow he himself only said as he drew me to him and kissed me you have kept a faithful copy of our dear in your memory my honest and my aunt for the honour of my excellence in the art poor my tie maintained that he had taught me the theory while aunt boasted her knowledge of the practice but alas the little honour my success reflected fi them was not worth their contest and i did them no injustice in secretly all my skill to the source whence the maid derived her power to trace by the secret lamp the shade of her lover affection for my dear and for his father is my inspiration but i confess it might never have appeared in the of even this rude painting if my aunt had not taken lessons at the of the at paris and had daily access as you know she has a thousand times repeated to us to the paintings of and in the palace of but into what does this betray me the day is yours and i will not speak again of myself my aunt meaning to do it what honour she could had our dinner table set out with massive silver dishes engraved with her family s bearings they have never before seen the light in america your father smiled at their contrast with bare walls pine tables chairs c and said we looked like in his rude hut surrounded with the spoils of rome and aunt who has a decided taste for all the of her family grandeur entered into a warm discussion with master as to far the new man might law hope folly indulge in a vain show by the way their on the grounds of church and state have of late almost ceased when i remarked this to your father he said he believed i had brought about the present state of affairs by affording them a l d of ground where their common affections and interests met whatever has produced this result it is too happy not to be cherished so i hav taken care that my p r never would provoke a human being should avoid as far as possible all those peculiarities which as some colours offend certain animals were sure every day and thrice a day to call forth my aunt s i have too entered into a secret with the effect of which is that master s little brown wig is brushed every morning and is at least once each day straight on his head the brush has invaded too the hitherto regions of his and his black stock gives place on every lord s day at least to a white collar aunt herself has more than once remarked that for one of these scholar folks he goes quite decent as to aunt i am afraid that i you were here though we may both have gained with our years a little discretion yet i am afraid we should laugh as we were wont to do at her innocent peculiarities she many a weary hour in new head gear and doth daily as says break the law s costly apparel is the same and tiresome if there are for the tongue in england pray send some for her we are going to morrow on an to a new settlement on the river called your father feared the toils and perils of the way for me and has consented reluctantly to my being of the party aunt remonstrated and ex pressed her natural and kind apprehensions by that it was very and a thing quite unheard of in england for a young person like me to go out exploring a new country i urged that our new country faculties that young ladies in england were unconscious of possessing she maintained as usual that whatever was not practised and known in england was not worth possessing but finally she concluded her opposition with her old customary phrase well it s peculiar of you miss hope which you know she always uses to whatever her opinions or inclinations my good who would fain be my on attending me you may laugh at him and call him my knight oi squire or what you will but i assure you he is a right and suitable to a pilgrim i will finish my letter when i return a journey of twenty miles has put my thoughts which you know are ever ready to take wing to flight th october thursday or as the has come from boston that we be more particular in avoiding these heathen th month th th day i dear we followed the indian that winds along the margin of the river and reached without any accident there is but a narrow opening there out of the forest and mr wishing to have an extensive view of the country engaged an indian guide to conduct your father and himself to the summit of a mountain which rises from the meadows and an ocean of forest i had gazed on the beautiful of this mountain that in this transparent october atmosphere were as blue and bright as the heavens themselves till i had an irrepressible desire to go to them and like the child who cried for the horns of the silver moon should i have cried too if my wishes had been your father as my conscience tells me he does too easily in my wishes and nobody objected but my who evidently thought it would be for him to from the toils that i and who looked forward with dread and dismay to the painful ascent however we all reached the summit without to life	6
or limb and then we looked down upon a scene that made me clap my hands and my pious companions raise their eyes in silent devotion i hope you have not forgotten the brilliancy of our woods they say the foliage in england has a paler sickly hue but for our western world nature s youngest child she has reserved her many coloured robe the brightest and most beautiful of her garments last vol i n lid week the woods were as green as an and now they look as if all the summer spirits had been them with flowers of the richest and most brilliant philosophers may inquire into the process of nature and find out if they can how such sudden changes are produced though after all i fancy their inquiries will turn out like the experiment of the in boy who cut open the drum to find the sound but i love to lend my imagination to poets dreams and to fancy nature has her of little spirits who bo wander everywhere than the s sphere he must have a imagination and a cold heart i think who does not fancy these vast forests filled with invisible have these beautiful valleys of our which we saw from the mountain like a smile on nature s rugged face and as far as our vision extended till the broad river diminished in the shadowy dis to a silver thread have they been seen and enjoyed only by those savages who have their summer home in them while i was pondering on this thought mr who seldom in a fanciful suggestion said to your father the you know brother had their empty in honour of those who died in their country s cause and on a distant soil why may we not have ours and that the spirits of who have died for liberty and hope le religion have come before m to wilderness and taken possession in the name of the lord v we lingered for an hour or two on the mr and your father were g the for future villages already marked out for them by clusters of indian huts the instinct of the children of the forest guides them to these rich intervals which the sun and the river prepare and almost till for them while the gentlemen were thus engaged i observed that the high t rock c the mountain was crowned with a pile of stones and about them were strewn relics of indian sacrifices it has i believe been the custom of people in all ages who were instructed only by nature to worship on high places i pointed to the rude altar and ventured to ask mr if an acceptable service might not have been offered there he shook his head at me as if i were but little better than a heathen and said it was all worship to an unknown god but said your father the time is approaching when through the valleys beneath and on mount incense shall rise from christian hearts it were well replied mr if we now in the consecrated it to the lord about the cliffs lay ears of and skins of wolf and shaggy bear the of the tribe here made to the great spirit for they deemed like of the time that god doth walk on the high places and affect h hope and let me stand for it said i you it i was gently for my levity but my hint was not taken for the good man has never since spoken of his without calling it mount my senses were enchanted on that high place i listened to the mighty sound that rose from the forest depths of the abyss like the roar of the distant ocean and to th voices of nature borne on the invisible waves of air the farewell notes of the few birds that still linger with us the rustling of the leaves beneath the s jo k us leap th of the startled from his perch the of the cow bell and the barking of the indian s dog i was lying with my ear over the rock when your father reminded me that it was time to return and bade who had attended us look well to miss s descent and lend a helping hand to master my poor s skin changed to brick colour and that he might not think i heard the cast upon his serviceable power i stepped between him and and said that with such wings on each side of me i might fly down the mountain ah miss hope said restored to his self complacency you are a thought us he would fain have appeared young and not from vanity but to persuade me to accept his proffered assistance poor old man he me in mind as be went after panting and leaping or rather settling from to of an old horse that almost cracks his bones to keep pace with a his involuntary groans betrayed the pain of his muscles and i on every projecting cliff on the pretence of taking a farewell look of the valleys but really to allow him time to recover breath in the mean time the gentlemen had got far in advance of us we came to the last rock of difficult passage gave me his hand t as me in springing from it and asked to ascertain if the below was sure a necessary precaution as the leaves had sometimes proved treacherous in performing this office startled a that lay concealed under a mass of leaves and moss the himself up and darted his into his hand i heard the rattle and saw the poor man s as he sunk to the ground exclaiming i am but a dead turned to pursue the snake and i sprang from the rock i begged to show me	6
the wound it was on the back of his hand i assured him i could easily extract the and would have applied my lips to the wound but he withdrew his hand at that moment returned she would the poison from my hand said verily she is but little lower than the angels what miss hope exclaimed would you be guilty of murder even if you could save n the old gentleman dying and dying as it were by the will of the lord v i assured that there was no danger whatever to me that i had read of many cases of poison being extracted in that way without the slightest injury to the person it he asked me where i had read such stories i was obliged to refer to a book of my aunt s called the wonders of the this seemed to but authority he shook his head and said he would believe such nowhere out of the bible i entreated vehemently for i well knew it could not harm me and i believed it to be life or death to my poor he seemed half disposed to yield to me thou hast a marvellous persuasion child he said and now i remember me of a proverb they have in italy the lips extract from the heart and poison from the wound again shook his head nothing but one of those they put into verses he said come come master stir up a manly spirit and let s on to the fort where we may get help it s lawful for you to use and don t your memory for any more such scholar rubbish to you in to our young lady s exposing her life to save the end of yours expose her life retorted rising with a of honest indignation that for a moment overcame the terror of death you know that if i had a hundred lives i would rather lose them all than expose her precious life i you master i believe you and whether you live or die i will always you for a true hearted man and you must excuse me for my boldness in when i thought our young mistress was putting herself the jaws of death we now made all speed to reach the fort but when we arrived there no aid could be obtained and poor s death was regarded as inevitable i remembered to have heard say that she knew a certain to the poison of a and when i told this to your father he ordered our horses to be and we set out immediately for home where we arrived in six hours even in that brief space the disease had made fearful progress the wound was horribly and the whole arm swollen and i saw despair in every face that looked on i went myself attended by and to s hut for i knew if the old woman was in one of her moody fits she would not come for any bidding but mine as you know was always her wont took up her testimony against the old heathen witch it were better she said to die than to live by the devil s help i assured her that if the case was her own i would not oppose her pious preference but that now i must have my own way and i believed the of life would direct the means of its preservation though it was near midnight we found at the entrance of her hut i told her my errand peace be with you child she said i knew you were coming and hav e been waiting for you she is superstitious or loves to affect supernatural knowledge and i should have thought nothing of her harmless boast had i not seen by the significant shake of s head that she set it down against her the old woman filled a from a of in one corner of her hut and then returned to with us we found in a state of partial delirium and nervous restlessness which your father said was the immediate of death aunt was kneeling at his bedside reading the prayers for the dying ordered every one with the exception of myself to leave the room for she said her would not take effect unless there was perfect silence your father retired to his own apartment and gave orders that he should in no case be diverted from his prayers aunt withdrew with evident reluctance and lingered till s patience was exhausted when she pushed her out of the room and barred the door against her i confess would gladly have been excluded too for i from witnessing s mortal agony but i dared in no wise cross so i quietly took the lamp as she bade me and stood at the head of the bed she first threw aside her blanket and discovered a kind of which she had concealed beneath it with a snake s skin she then pointed to the figure of a snake on her naked shoulder it is the symbol of our tribe she said foolish child she hope u su for die saw me shudder it is a sign of our won f r our race by him who first drew from the veins the poison of the king of all creeping things the tale was told by our fathers and sung at our and now am i the last of my race to heal a servant in the house of our enemies she remained for a moment silent motionless and perfectly abstracted a loud groan ed her she bent over him and muttered an in her own tongue she then after many efforts succeeded in making him swallow a strong and bathed the wound and arm with the same liquor these were repeated at intervals during which she her quick and mysterious motions as if she were writing on	6
the invisible air she her body into tile most horrible and tossed her withered arms wildly about her and shall i confess to you that i trembled lest she should assume the living form of the whose image so violent was her exercise that the sweat poured from her face like rain and ever and anon she sank down in momentary exhaustion and stupor and then would spring to her feet as a starts on the course fling back her long black locks that had fallen over her bony face and repeat the strange process after a while how long i know not for anxiety and terror prevented my taking any note of time showed plain symptoms of his became free the colour in his hope his brow bad been drawn to a knot relaxed and his whole appearance became natural and tranquil now whispered to me fear no more for him he has turned his back on the grave i will stay here and watch him but go to thy bed thy cheek is pale with weariness and fear i was too happy at that moment to feel and would have remained but s gestures for me to withdraw were vehement and i left her mentally blessing her for her effectual aid as i opened the door i stumbled against it was evident from her posture th t she had been peeping through the do not think me a if i confess that my first impulse was to box her ears however i suppressed my rage and for the first time in my life was prudent and and i stooped to beg her to go with me to my room i am sure it was with the timid voice of one who asks a favour for the moment we were in the light i saw by her mien that she felt the power was all in her own hands it is enough she said f to make the hair of a saint stand on end to have such on in my master s house and you miss hope that have been as it were exalted to heaven in point of privileges that you should be nothing better than an aid and of this of satan hush said i and keep your breath to give thanks for good mr s recovery has cured him satan does not send forth bis with healing now miss retorted the provoking ture you are in the very of bitterness and blindness of the flesh did not the with their even as did moses and the sons of darkness always put on the form of the sons of light i always said so i knew what it would come to i said she was a witch in mistress s time and you spoke then as you do now for is no witch no witch rejoined screaming with her owl voice so loud that i was afraid your father would hear her try her then see if she can read in the bible or mr cotton s no no but give her your aunt s prayer book and she will read as as a minister said i you are mad outright you seem to forget that cannot read anything it is all the same as if she could persisted her master makes short teaching there are none so deaf as those that won t hear i tell you again miss hope remember mrs remember what she got for shutting her ears to me you will forgive me for losing my patience utterly at these profane allusions to your mother and commanding to leave my room she made me bitterly repent my want of for self willed as the fools of solomon s time she determined to have her own way and went to your father s room where she gained and gave such a description of s healing pro that late as it was i was summoned to his presence as i followed along the passage she whispered to me now for the love of your own don t use his blind partiality to his judgment i made no reply but mentally resolved that i would task my power and ingenuity to the utmost to justify when we came into the study to my great joy was dismissed it is much easier for me to contend with my than my your father bade me sit down by him i seated myself on the at his feet so that i could look straight into his eyes for many a time when my heart has at his solemn address the tender spirit stationed in that soft eye of his so like yours has all my apprehensions i spoke first and said i was sure had spoiled the good news of my s or he would not look so grave he replied that it was time to look grave when a dared to use her and beneath a christian roof and in the presence of a christian maiden and on a christian man but he added perhaps hath not told the matter rightly her zeal is not always according to knowledge i would gladly believe that my house has not been tell me hope all you witnessed tell me truly i obeyed your father heard me through without any comment but now and then a deep drawn y sigh and i had finished he asked what i understood by the strange i had may i not answer said b the language of scripture that this only i know that whereas thy servant was sick he is now do not my dear child said your father scripture and thus add to your sin in as i trust dealing with this witch and her i replied i did not believe had used any he asked me if i had not been told that some of our indians had confessed that when they were they were devoted in their	6
infancy to that these were for the devil that they held actual conversation and were in open and with him v i said i had heard all this but if it were right to take the confession of these poor children of ignorance and superstition against them selves i repeated what i had often heard you e say that believed the mountain and the valley the air the trees every little had their present invisible spirit and that the good might hold discourse with them why not believe the one i asked as well as the other v your father looked at me dost thou not believe in child v he said while i hesitated how to reply lest i in some way vol l hope your father hastily turned th leaves of the bible that lay on his table and opened to every text where familiar spirits and are spoken of i felt as if the windows of heaven were opened on my devoted head as soon as i could collect my wits i said something about not having thought much on the subject but that i had supposed as indeed i always did that bad spirits were only permitted to appear on earth when there were also good spirits and holy to oppose them your father looked steadily at me for a few moments then closing the bible he said i will not blame thee my child but myself that i have left thee to the guidance of thy natural reason i should have better instructed thee he then kissed me bade me good night and opened the door for me to depart i ventured to ask if i might not say to that it was his orders she should be ent in regard to no no he said no farther with that matter but go to your own apartment and remain there till the bell rings for morning prayers my heart but i dared not i came to my room and have been sitting by my open window in the hope of hearing s parting footsteps but i have listened in vain and unable to sleep i have tried to my mind by to you poor old if she is given up to the it will go hard with her is hope an obstinate self willed fool i believe she be willing to see hung for a witch that she may have the pleasure of saying i told you so poor such a harmless helpless lonely being my tears fall so fast on my paper that i can scarcely write i blame myself bringing her into this case but it may be better than i fear i will leave my letter and try to sleep it is as i expected was sent early this morning to the she was tried before our mr and it was not enough to lay on her the crime of but and some of her to her all the that have happened for the last seven years my testimony was from me for i could not disguise my reluctance to communicate anything that could be made to her our looked sternly on me and mr said take care hope that thou art not found in the folly of who would have blessed when the lord commanded him to curse i said it was better to mistake in ng than in and that i was sure was as cent as myself i know not whence had my courage but i think truth companies not with cowardice however what i would fain call courage mr thought necessary to rebuke as presumption thou art somewhat forward maiden he said in giving thy opinion but thou must know that we re mo hope it but as the whistle of a bird and judgment to thy elders in leaving the room i passed close to i gave her my hand in token of kindness and though i heard a murmur of shame shame i did not withdraw it till the poor old creature had bowed her wrinkled brow upon it and dropped a tear which no suffering could have the trial went on and she was pronounced worthy of death but as the authority of our does not to life limb or her fate is referred to the court at boston in the mean time she her sentence in a cell in mr s cellar we have as yet no jail has been summoned before the and publicly for expressing himself against their proceedings mr charged him to speak no more against and righteous government for to such heaven had sent some had been spirited away by satan some blown up in our and some like poor of taken into s feelings are suppressed but not subdued how i wish you were here dear sometimes i wish your mother s letter had not been so per nothing but tiiat last request of hers would have induced your father to send you to your uncle if you were here i am sure you would hope devise some way to save when she is gone you will never again hear of i shall never hear more of my sweet sister they if we may believe still dwell safely in the of among the these are said to be a fierce race and all those tribes who dwell near the coast and have in some measure come a christian and are called praying and indians say that the are to them as wolves to sheep i cannot bear to think of my timid sister a very dove in her nature among these fierce tribes i wonder that i am ever h and yet it is so natural to me to be happy the commander of the fort at at governor s request has made great efforts to obtain some information about my sister but without any satisfactory result still to me that her knowledge is	6
certain and when i have endeavoured to ascertain the source whence she obtained it she pointed upward indicating that she held mysterious intelligence with the spirits of the air but i believe she employed this to hide some intercourse she holds with distant and hostile tribes what a comedy is life i am sure has copied nature in dividing his scenes between mirth and sadness i have laughed to day heartily and for a few moments i quite forgot poor and all my anxieties about her my for the first time his hope most unlucky left his room and made his appearance in the parlour i was sitting there with aunt and i rose to shake his hand and express my joy on his recovery his little gray eyes were for a moment blinded with tears at what he was pleased to call the of my regard for him he then stood for a moment as if he were lost as you know is always his wont when a comes over his mind which is none of the at best i thought he looked pale and weak and i offered him a chair and begged him to sit down but he declined it with a wave or rather a of his hand for he never in his life made a motion so graceful as a wave and drawing a paper from his pocket he said i have here an address to thee sweet miss hope wherein i have put in a body of words the spirit of my late meditations and i have endeavoured to express in the best with which many years of daily and nightly study have possessed me my humble sense of that marvellous wit and kindness of thine which made thee as it were a angel unto me when i was brought nigh unto the grave by the bite of that most cunning beast of the field with whom i verily believe the devil left a portion of his spirit in payment of the body he borrowed to our first parents this long finished master began the reading of his address of which in the language of the learned i could not as you know understand one word however he did not that my smiles were not those of nor hear aunt s remark that much learning and little wit had made him as crazy as a he had not proceeded far when his knees began to shake under him and to sit an attitude i suppose in the ceremonies of the schools the only ceremonies he he con with the aid of the chair i had placed for h un to kneel when he had finished his address which according to the rules of art had a beginning a middle and thank heaven an end ee to rise but alas though like he had an alacrity in sinking to rise was impossible for besides the usual of his bulk and he was weakened and by his late sickness so i was fain to call to his assistance and run away to my own apartment to write you dear who are ever patient with my an account of what aunt calls this yesterday was our lecture day and i went to the village to attend the meeting a sudden storm of and wind came during the exercises and continued and i was obliged to accept mr s invitation to go home with her after we had taken our supper i observed mr fill a plate with from the table and give it with a large key which he took from a little cupboard over the fireplace to a serving woman she returned in a short time the key and as i restored it to its place came hope shortly after to attend me home the family urged me to remain and from that there was no especial reason for my return i dismissed him th next morning i was awakened from a deep sleep by one of mr s daughters who told me with a look of terror that a despatch had arrived early that morning from boston the acquiescence of the court there in the opinion of our and s sentence of condemnation to death that her father had himself gone to the cell to announce her fate to her when lo she had vanished the prison door was fast the key in its usual place but the witch was away i hurried on my clothes and trembling with surprise pleasure or whatever emotion you may please to to me i descended to the parlour where the family and neighbours had assembled to talk over the strange event i only added exclamations to the various conjectures that were made no one had any doubt as to who had been s unless a suspicion was implied in the inquiring glances which mr cast on me but which i believe no one but myself observed some could smell from the outer kitchen door to the door of the cell and there were others who fancied that at a few yards distance from the house there were on the ground marks of a slight a plain indication of a from the enemy of mankind one of the most sagacious of our neighbours remarked that he had often heard of satan his servants hope into trouble but he never before heard of his getting them out however the of the case only served to their wonder without in the least their faith in the actual and as it appeared friendly alliance between and the evil one indeed i was the only person present whose belief m her was not as it were converted into sight i had been visited by a strange dream that night which i will venture to relate to you for you at least will not think me s i stood with the old woman beneath the elm tree at the end of mr s	6
garden the moon through an opening of the branches shone brightly on her face it was wet with tears i shall not forget she said who saved me from dying by the hand of an enemy as surely as the sun will appear there again she added pointing to the east so surely hope you shall see your sister but said i my poor little is in the far western forests you can never reach i reach there she replied if i crawl on my hands and knees i will reach there think you dear my will ever this dream to me i was the first to carry the news to your was in one of his meditative and it no more than if i had told him a bird had flown from its cage joined in the general opinion that satan or at least one of his had opened the prison door a d our good with his usual maintained in the teeth c her and that an angel had for the innocent old woman a week has elapsed it is whispered that on the night vanished was missed by strange were committed on s and oars heard on the river our have made long and frequent visits to and have hell secret with your father the purport of them i leave you to conjecture from the result yesterday he sent for me to the study he appeared deeply affected it was some time before he could command his voice at length he said that he had determined to accept for me madam s invitation to boston i told him and told him truly that i did not wish to go to boston that i was perfectly perfectly happy and what m asked will you and poor aunt do without me v your aunt goes with you he said and as for me my dear child i have too long permitted myself the indulgence of having you with me i have a pilgrimage to accomplish through this wilderness and i am if i linger to watch the of even the single flower that has sprung up in my r e but said i does not he who the path through the wilderness set the flowers by the i will i will not be up and cast away he kissed me and said i believe my beloved child thou sent in mercy to me but it were indeed sinful to convert the staff vouchsafed to my pilgrimage into i should ever bear in mind that life is a race and a warfare and nothing else you have this yet to learn hope i have proved myself not fit to teach or to guide thee nor is your aunt madam will give you pious instruction aiid counsel and her niece will i trust win you to the narrow path which as the elders say she doth so y ae the of this did not strike me agreeably and besides i love ba el i love your father with my whole soul i love him and as you already know therefore it is no confession i love to have my own way and i said i would not go you must go my child said your i cannot find it in my heart to you for your reluctance but you must go neither you nor i have any choice but why must i go i ask no questions he replied it is fixed that you must go tell your aunt that she must be ready to leave next week mr and his servants attend you now leave me my child for when you are with me you touch at will every in my hearty and i fain keep it still now ho k i left him i could command my tears and after i bad given them free course i informed aunt of our destiny she was so delighted with the prospect of a visit to boston that i too began to think it must be very pleasant and my dread of this straight mrs and her perpendicular niece gave place to indefinite of pleasure i shall at any rate see you sooner than if i remained here thank heaven the tune of your return approaches and now that it is so near i rejoice that your father has not been persuaded by those who seem to me to take a very is care of his private affairs to recall you sooner on this firm as he has always said that he could not in with the last request of your mother aunt charges me with divers messages to you but i will not add a feather to this leaden letter which you will now have to read as i have written it by dear forget not thy loving friend and hope as hope had decline her aunt s messages the good lady them herself and here they follow to valued being much hurried in point of time i would fain have been myself excused from writings but miss e hope adding to her letter what i have in your last you mention being visited with the great cold which i take from your account of it to be the same as that with which we were all shaken soon after the of his present majesty god bless him i had then a given me for an remedy by the lady great aunt by the mother s side to la maid of honour to the queen i it for you it will greatly advantage you though hope that if the cold has not yet left you it will be a disease before this reaches in which case i would advise you to apply to old lady who hath in her family receipt book many renowned for i remember one in particular somewhere about the middle of the book which follows immediately after a rare for an every day i	6
doubt not that years have mended thee and that thou now condemn the folly and ignorance of thy childhood which made thee then the most sovereign hope i am sorry to say is as obstinate as ever and it was but yesterday when i wished her to take some for a latent fever that she reminded me of the time when she and you in one of your mischievous threw the tea out of the window and suffered me to believe that it had cured an thus is youth hope is to be sure notwithstanding her living entirely without medicine vol i p hope in indifferent good health her form is rather more than when you left ns as is becoming at seventeen but her cheek is as round and as ruddy as a i should not care so much about her on the score of medicine but that her stomach being in such perfect order now would bear every kind of and of this class are so simple that they can do no harm i believe it is true as old doctor used to say your thy people are always prejudiced against medicine i wish you would drop a hint on this subject in your next letter to her for the slightest hint from you goes farther than a lecture from me it was very thoughtful in you mr and what i once should not have expected to inquire so particularly after my health i am happy to say that at this present i am better than i have been years which is unaccountable to me as since the of our preparations for boston i have forgotten my at night and my in the morning i wish you to present many thanks to lady for assisting you in my the articles in general suited though the of the was too deep my gown was a trifle too dark but do not mention that to lady for i make no doubt she took due pains and only wanted a right understanding of the real hue called which between you and i mind my gown would not be called by any person skilled in uie colours of silk hope thought to me i was wrong by it with a dead leaf from the forest was not that peculiar of hope hope now mr i would not be an old woman before my time therefore i wi l have another silk of a brighter cast brown it must be but lively lively i will a lock of hope s hair which is precisely the hue i mean you will observe it has a golden tinge that makes it appear in all lights as if there were sunshine on it and yet it is a decided brown a colour to hit but by due inquiry and i am sure from the pains you were at to procure the articles i requested for hope will spare no trouble i think it may be obtained i am greatly to you for the you sent me it is a mighty convenient article and n uncommon pretty little attention mr your present to hope was a real beauty the only blue and the prettiest of any colour ever saw and such a marvellous match for her eyes that is when the light is full on them but you know they always had a trick with them i remember lady s once saying to me before we left england that my niece would yet do mischief with those laughing black eyes of hers i liked her sister s poor dear mary god help her the while better then they were the true blue but one word more of the your taste in it cannot be too much commended but then as i tell hope one does not want always to see the same thing and she doth wear it granted it keeps the curls out of her eyes and they do look lovely falling about it but she wears it week days and sun hope lis days feast days and fast days and she never yet has put on do remember a thousand thanks t y lady for the pattern the i made her like that worn by the queen the first night she appeared in the royal box i should like to have a little more with you mr now my pen has got so to speak warm in the harness but business before pleasure i beg you will remember me to all friends alas few in number now as most of my have died since i left england farewell mr these few lines are from your friend and well n b it is a great pleasure to me to think you are in a s family where you can t but steer clear of you know what peculiarities n b hope will have given you the particulars of poor master i y his mind was set a little by it but he appears to be mending n b the enclosed hath marvellous virtues in as well as in hope chapter ix a lad is my degree an few there be that ken me o but what care i how few they be i m welcome aye to o burns there are hints in miss s letter to that require some to be quite intelligible she looked upon herself as the though innocent cause of the old indian woman s misfortune and rash as generous she had resolved if possible to her with the warmth of youthful feeling she had before the grave and reverend declared her belief in s innocence and thereby implied a censure of their wisdom this was certainly an almost presumption in those times when youth was accounted inferiority but the very circumstance that in one light her fault in another it and her youth being admitted	6
hair so far from being permitted the freedom of growing long then deemed a feminine or being covered with a wig one of the that according to had brought on the country the of the war was with precision but though the stranger s apparel still there was a certain elegance about it which indicated that his taste had reluctantly yielded to his principles his garments were of vol l q is the finest materials and exactly fitted to a form of striking manly his hair it is true was but being thick and jet black it defined a forehead of uncommon whiteness and beauty in one particular he had departed from the letter of the law and instead of exposing his throat by the plain open linen collar usually worn he sheltered its ugly with a fine arranged in box in short though with the last exception a nice critic could not detect the most error in his apparel yet among the he looked much like a of the present day amid his sober suited brethren while the boat impelled by a tide and fair breeze glided rapidly towards the metropolis of the now colony the gentlemen fell into conversation with the pilot the elder stranger inquired if governor had been re elected yes god bless him replied the sailor the worthy gentleman has taken the once more has he asked the stranger eagerly declared for king or parliament ho i don t know much about their land tackle replied the seaman but to my mind the we have had all along when the king won the day and the when the parliament gained it was what you might call a declaration since you speak of it i do remember i heard the boys up in town saying that our at election did about the oath and concluded to leave out hope i that part which promises to bear true faith and to lord king charles so we have thrown his majesty overboard and are to sail under parliament colours v said the young gentleman well he continued this might have been predicted some five or six years for i remember there were then whether the king s should be spread there and he pointed to the on castle island past which the boat was at that moment gliding they scruple now about the oath then their against the red cross in the en which i member was called the pope s gift a of an sign c scruples of conscience are ever honourable said the elder i anger and doubtless your has good reason for not with the scripture rule render unto caesar the that are caesar s there is no doubt of it replied the seaman the governor god bless him knows the rules of the good book as well as i know the ropes of a ship and there is no better pilot than he for all as he shows by not joining in the hue and cry against the good creature tobacco fair winds through life and a pleasant harbour at last do i wish him for this piece of christian love at the same time he illustrated his by putting a portion of the favourite luxury in his mouth i am sorry said the young gentleman that our have volunteered a public expression of their feelings i their sympathies of course are the parliament party they broke the yoke of royal authority when they left their satire land and showed what value they set on liberty by sacrificing for it every good now they have a right to enjoy their liberty in peace peace said the elder gentleman emphatically thus it ever is with the natural man crying peace peace where there is no peace think you young man that if the king were to recover his power he would not resume all the privileges he has formerly granted to these people who thanks to him whose ar c with them i show themselves so ready to cast oflf their the king no doubt replied the young gentleman would like to resume both power and possession but still i we might retain our own on the principle that he had no right to give and in truth could not give what was not his and what we have acquired either by purchase of the natives or by lawful conquest which gives us the right to the i am happy to see said the elder gentleman slightly bowing and smiling that your principles at least are on the side of the my feelings and principles both sir but that does not render me insensible to the happiness of the adverse party or the wisdom of all parties which is peace the peace which the generous so earnestly every may desire peace if i may borrow a figure from our friend ths hope pilot here is a fair wind and a flood tide and x ar a storm that must v some and may wreck both friend and foe the young gentleman seemed tired of the conversation and turned away fixing his eager gaze on the shore tow ds which his heart bounded his companion however was not disposed to indulge him in silence this town sir he said appears to be familiar to you i alas am a stranger and a wanderer this was spoken in a tone of unaffected seriousness of such this is the natural home replied the young man regarding his companion for the first time with some interest for he had been by what seemed to him to of cant of which he had heard too much in the mother country i should be happy sir he said courteously to render my acquaintance with the town of any service to you the stranger bowed in acknowledgment of the civility i would gladly he said find entertainment with some family here is mr still teacher of the congregation no sir	6
if he were you might securely count on his hospitality as it was so notorious that come in you are heartily welcome was said to be the of his name but if he is gone the doors in boston are always open to the stranger mr cotton i believe is the present minister is he not pilot yes an please you sir but tm thinking he q hope added a that that butterfly will be an odd fish to harbour with any of our right ones the young gentleman followed the direction of the pilot s eye and for the first time observed a lad who sat on one side of the boat leaning over and himself with the waves with a fanciful walking stick he overheard the pilot s remark and raised his head as it appeared involuntarily for he immediately averted it again but not till he had exposed a face of beauty he looked about fifteen he had the full melting dark eye and rich complexion of southern j masses of curls parted on his forehead shaded his temples and neck and smooth as s was his lip it was obvious that it was his dress which had called forth the sailor s sarcasm the breast and sleeves of his were embroidered i a deep rich lace his neck if a neck round and smooth as could be and his head was covered with a little fantastic spanish hat decorated with feathers does that youth to you sir asked the young gentleman of the elder stranger yes he is a sort of a page of mine he replied with an embarrassed manner but in a moment recovering his self possession he added i infer firom the remarks of our very frank pilot and from the survey you have of the lad that you think his apparel extraordinary it might possibly replied the young man with a smile offend against certain laws of our colony and thus prove inconvenient to you hope do you hear said the master to the page who nodded his head without raising it thy finery boy as i have told thee must be then turning to his companion and lowering his voice to a confidential tone he added the lad hath lived on the continent and hath there these of which i hope in good time to reform him perhaps his youth hath with my indulgence in suffering them thus long the young gentleman courteously prevented any farther and as he thought unnecessary by saying that the offence was certainly a very one and if observed at all would be by the most scrupulous considered as in so young a lad he now again turned his ardent gaze to the shore ah there is the spire of the new meeting house he said and when i went away the good people assembled under a roof and within mud walls and i can remember aid the pilot for i was among the first comers to the wilderness when for weeks the congregation met under an oak tree and there was worship there gentlemen if there ever w on the ball a church standing where joy s are now was the only one then in boston the greater part of the houses were built in its vicinity just about the heart of the on whose striking and singular form its first they saw written of its future greatness some of its most prominent features have been softened by hope and others changed by the busy art of man whole streets and the noble granite market house a memorial to its founder than a arch now stand where the deep stretched its peaceful harbour between the two hills that stood like towers of defence at its that at the north rose to the height of fifty feet above the sea and on its level summit stood a towards the sea it presented an abrupt and was fortified at its base by a strong the eastern hill was higher than its sister by some thirty feet it descended kindly towards the town and was on that side planted with corn towards the sea its steep and ragged announced that nature had formed it for defence and accordingly our fathers soon fortified it with store of great and changed the first pastoral name of corn hill which they had given it to the more appropriate d of fort hill a third hill the town rising to the height of one hundred and thirty eight feet all three says johnson like towers a constant watch to foresee the approach of dangers being furnished with a and loud guns to give notice by their to all their sister a word expressing living fountains was the indian name of boston mountain its first english name and descriptive of hill which as we are told rose in three majestic and lofty the most eastern of these having on its brow three little its present and as hope we fondly believe immortal name was n with characteristic reverence in honour of one of its first mr cotton who came from boston in england but we from this to our which had nearly reached its a throng had gathered on the town dock in expectation of friends or news from friends in vain did the young stranger s eye explore the crowd for some familiar face he was obliged to check the greetings that rose to his lips and repress the of his heart time he said has wrought strange changes i fancied that even the stones in boston would know me but now i see not one look unless it be in those and rose bushes appear just as they did the last time i scrambled over hill they now landed at the foot of this hill and the g gentleman told his companion that he should go to his old home at governor s where he was sure of finding	6
friends to welcome him and if you will accompany me thither he said i am certain our kind governor will render you all the which as a stranger you may require this offer was of course accepted and the gentlemen proceeded like old acquaintances arm in arm together after a short consultation between the master and page the amount of which seemed to be that the boy should attend him and await without governor s door farther orders hope they had not gone far as they turned a comer two young ladies issued from the door of a house a little in advance and walked on without them the young gentleman quickened his steps it must be she he exclaimed in a most animated tone there is but one person in the world that has such and his eye rested on the bright golden that peeped from beneath a hat worn by one of the ladies that is not a rational conclusion of yours said his companion women have cunning devices by which to change the order of nature in the colouring of the hair i have seen many a court dame arrayed in the purchased locks of her serving maid besides you know it is the vain fashion of the day to make much use of coloured and that may all be but do you not see this s locks are as says of the colour god chooses it were better my friend if you explained your meaning without a profane quotation from a play a practice to which our are much but pardon my reproof age has privileges i do not know replied the young gentleman what degree of may confer this privilege if some half dozen years i submit to your right and the more readily as i am just now too happy to quarrel about anything but excuse me i must my pace to overtake this girl who it along as if she had s wings on those pretty feet ah tbat s a foot to leave its print in the memory said the elder gentleman in an animated and natural tone that eagerly as his was pressing on did not escape his observation they had now approached the parties they were pursuing near enough to hear their voices and catch a few words of their conversation you say it s and all that said the shortest of the two young ladies in reply to what seemed from the tone in which it was concluded to have been an and i dare say dear you are quite right for you are as wise as solomon and always in the right but for my part i confess i had infinitely rather beat home and for aunt hope by heaven e claimed the young man springing forward the young lady turned at the sound of her name uttered a scream of joy and under the impulse of strong affection and sudden de light threw her arms around the stranger s neck and was folded in the embrace of the next instant the consciousness that the street was an awkward place for such a demonstration of happiness or perhaps the thought that the elegant young man before her was no longer the of her childhood her neck and face with the deepest crimson and a sort of exclamation of i was so surprised burst from her lips and a smile even from s new acquaintance whose gravity had all the of hope for a moment eyes were to hope s face which he seemed to compare with the image in his memory yes he said as if thinking aloud the same face that i saw for the first time peeping through my curtains the day brought me home to how is dear father mrs the everybody all all but i must particulars till i have introduced you to my friend miss miss is it possible i exclaimed and a recognition followed which showed that though be had not before observed the lady had turned aside and was sheltered under the thick folds of a veil the parties were not to each other miss now drew her friend s arm within hers and as she did so she perceived she trembled excessively but considerate to remark ail agitation which it was obvious the lady did not mean to betray she did not appear to notice it and proceeded to give such particulars of his friends as he must be most impatient to hear she told him that his father was in boston and that in compliance with his son s wishes he had determined to fix his residence there was at this for gloomy recollections were in his mind always associated with and he was never happy when he thought of the dangers to which miss was exposed there my last letters from america he said informed me that you had as yet no tidings from your sister or my friend nor have we now still i cling to my belief my poor sister will some day be restored to me s promise is prophecy to me they had by this time reached s miss withdrew her arm from her friend with the intention of retiring to her own apartment but her steps faltered and she down in the first chair she could reach hoping to escape all observation in the bustle of joy occasioned by the unexpected arrival of and she did so excepting that her aunt called the colour to her cheek by saying my dear you have sadly fatigued yourself you are as pale as death and hope noticing that cast stolen glances of anxious inquiry at her friend made with the usual activity of a romantic imagination a thousand conjectures as to the nature of their acquaintance but there was nothing said or done to assist her speculations and while the governor was looking over a letter of introduction presented to him by chance	6
acquaintance who had announced himself by the name of sir philip the young ladies withdrew to their own apartment vol l r hope chapter x a pensive devout and pure sober steadfast and v ii when the two ladies were alone there were a few moments of embarrassed and silence a rare occurrence between two confidential young friends hope was the first to speak come my dear she said it is in vain for you to think of hiding your heart from me if you do not fairly conduct ine through its i shall make use of the you have dropped and find my own way through the hope what do you mean you should not trifle thus well then i will be as serious as you please and most solemnly demand why thou hast never hinted to the friend of thy bosom that thou seen in thine own country this youth of whom i have at divers times and sundry places most freely spoken to thee i never told you i had not seen him oh no but for a gracious maiden as thou art approved by our elders the pattern of our wives your actions as well as your language should be the gospel yea yea and nay nay this with a double hope sense as the poet has it better become a profane like myself if i have lacked sincerity i merit your reproach but i meant to have told you mr s arrival now was unexpected and you were t your nerves your disordered i thought so when i saw that burning blush that looked even through the folds of your veil as if it set it on fire but now your surprise is over why look so like the tragic muse raise up your eyes and look at me dear and do not let those long over your pale cheek like a weeping willow over marble oh hope if it were not sinful i could wish that marble might press the on my cold bosom hope was startled at the unaffected solemnity and deep distress of her friend every of her heart was audible and her lips which before were as pale as death became absolutely blue she threw her arms around her and kissed her tenderly dear she said forgive me for of thee i never will ask thee anything again never so long as i live you may look glad or sorry blush or do anything you please and i never will ask you for a reason you are very kind very generous hope but have you not already guessed the secret i have to hide you hesitate answer me truly why then if i must answer truly perhaps i hope replied hope looking in spite of herself as as the mischievous little god when he sees one of his own arrows trembling in the heart set a thief to catch a thief dear is an old and though i have never felt this nervous malady yet you know i am skilled in the books that describe the symptoms thanks to aunt s plentiful stock of and plays oh most skill but i have no right to reproach thee since what hath been but the sport of thy imagination is my experience whatever it may cost me you shall know all hope you have justly reproached me with i will at least my conscience of the burden of that sin hope s curiosity was on and notwithstanding her generous resolution not voluntarily to penetrate h r friend s mystery she was delighted with the dawn of a disclosure which she believed would amount to a simple confession of a tender sentiment she sincerely pitied miss s sufferings but it is perhaps impossible for a third person to fully with feelings of this nature now she said fancy me to be the priest and yourself the penitent confess freely daughter our holy church through ine her most unworthy servant doth offer thee full stop stop hope do not trifle with holy words and most rites but listen seriously and compassionate a weakness that can never be forgotten hope miss then proceeded to relate some of the following particulars but as her narrative confused by her emotions and as it is necessary our readers should for the sake of its illustration be possessed of some circumstances which were omitted by her we here give it more distinctly in our own language was the daughter of the husband of governor s sister so often mentioned by that gentleman in his journal as the faithful and useful friend of the whom he finally joined in new england was of a reserved tender and timid cast of and being bred in the school of the their doctrines and principles easily with the natural of her mind she could not have disputed the nice points of faith and justification with certain celebrated contemporary female but no one her in the practical part of her religion in the language of the times justification was witnessed both by word and work that young ladies were then indulged in a moderate degree of personal we learn from one of the pilgrim who that he was no to the due bravery of the true gentry and allows that a good text always deserves a fair miss was certainly a pure and beautiful text but her attire never varied from the gospel simplicity it is that she was fortified in this self denying virtue r by that lively little spirit that ever about a woman s toilet whispering in her ear that all the arts of the woman could not improve the be of her style she wore her hair which was of a sober brown hue parted on her forehead and confined behind in a that was so adjusted it may be accidentally as to perfectly define the graceful of her head her complexion was rather pale	6
but so exquisitely fair and transparent that it showed the faintest tinge of colour and set off to the greatest advantage features which if not striking bad the admitted beauty of perfect she was at least half a head taller than heroine or the de but as neither of these were standards with the no one who ventured to speak of the personal graces of ever their perfection spiritual graces were then in far higher estimation than external charms and miss who would have been a in our times was always by a religious epithet she was the or the gracious maiden she attained the age of nineteen without one wish beyond the bound of domestic duty and religious exercises but the course of youth and beauty never doth run smooth and the perils that commonly beset it now assailed the tender came to her father s to pass two months he bad then for some years resided in the family of his uncle a moderate hope t ho though he had not fit to the religious and political principles that had been planted in the mind of the boy had so tempered them that to confess the truth the man far below the standard of at first was rather shocked by the the freedom and the air of a man of society that distinguished from the few solemn young men of her acquaintance but there is an irresistible charm in ease simplicity and frankness when by the of education and there is a natural in youth even when there is no resemblance in the character arid who at first remained in presence but just as long as the duties of hospitality required soon found herself lingering in the parlour and strolling in the walks that were his favourite resort it seemed as if the sun had risen on her after a winter and cheerfulness and her pleasant train sprung up in a mind that had been chilled and by the absence of whatever the gay temper of youth but it w as after all but the growth of a summer she felt a change stealing over her new thoughts were in her heart and and happiness their theme she did not investigate the cause of this change but suffered the current of her feelings to flow till she was roused to reflection by her who said to her mistress one evening when she came in from a long moonlight walk with ever hope ell our worthy minister has been here to day and he asked me what kept you from the lecture room so oft of late i minded him it rained last night he said that in months past no tempest detained you from the place of worship i made no answer to that besides that it was not for me to the minister he stood as if meditating a minute and then he took up your book and as he did so a paper dropped with some verses written on it and he said with almost a smile ah then your young lady tries her hand sometimes at the words of the royal v did he look at the lines asked blushing deeply with the that they were but a profane sentimental yes my lady but he looked and said nothing more about them but turning to me and speaking as if he would ask a question he said it was your mistress wont to keep the wheel of prayer in perpetual motion i doubt not her private duty is still faithfully done v i answered to him that your honoured parents had been absent the last week and you had had company to entertain and were not quite as long at closet exercise as usual you were very ready with your excuses for me said her mistress after a moment s it must be a dumb dog indeed replied the girl that cannot bark for such a kind mistress as thou art hope often does an accident a casual word even serve as a key to feelings of the has been unconscious the conscientious girl was suddenly awakened from what appeared to her a sinful dream had she perceived on investigation a sentiment in would probably have permitted her feelings to flow in their natural channel but not mingling with his they were like a stream that being up flows back and desolation where it should have produced life and beauty the of the times did not require the of the tenderest human affections on the contrary there w s perhaps never a period when they were more frequently and perfectly illustrated how many delicate women whom the winds of heaven had never visited roughly with their lives to that beautiful declaration of affection from a tender and devoted wife your she said to her husband shall you ey ther by the furious waves of the great ocean or by the and horrible dangers of e i will surely you company there can be no to me so terrible nor any of so that shall not be much easier for me to than to live so separate from you but though human affections were permitted they were to be in manifest to religious devotion their were watched with a vigilance resembling the jealousy with which the hope defended from every profane footstep the holy circle around the ark of the living god it was this jealousy that now alarmed the fearful superstitious girl i and after some days of the most self condemnation by an indefinite feeling of disappointment she fell into a dangerous illness and in the of her fever she prayed fervently that her creator would resume the spirit which had been too weak to maintain its fidelity it seemed as if her prayer was to be granted she felt herself and was pronounced by her physician to be on the verge of the grave she then was inspired with a strong desire proceeding	6
as she believed from a divine intimation but which might possibly have sprung from natural feeling to open her heart to this disclosure followed by her dying would she hoped rescue him from the of youth she accordingly requested her mother to conduct him to her bedside and to leave them alone for a few moments and when her request was complied with she made to the youth in the simplicity and sincerity of hei heart a confession that in other circumstances the rack would not have at first fancied her reason was touched he soothed her and attempted to withdraw to call her attendants she interpreted his thoughts assured him he was mistaken and begged that he would not waste one moment of her life he then knelt at her bedside took her burning hand his and bathed it with tears of deep and ten der regret he promised to lay up her in his heart and cherish them as the law of his life but he did not intimate that he had ever felt a sentiment to hers there was that in the solemnity of the death bed in her purity and truth that would have the slightest however benevolent the feeling that dictated it this strange interview lasted but a few moments miss in the energy of her feeling raised herself on her elbow the effort exhausted her and she sunk back in a stupor which appeared to be the immediate of death her friends round her and retired to his own room filled with sorrowful concern at involuntary influence he had exercised on this sensitive being who seemed td him far better fitted for heaven than for earth but miss was not to be translated to a more congenial sphere her heart after its long struggles the original cause of her disease was lightened if not removed and the of a youthful constitution rose victorious over her malady she never mentioned but she heard incidentally that he bad remained at her father s till was pronounced out of danger and had then gone to his uncle s in the following autumn her father in compliance with a request of madam and in the hope that a voyage would benefit her health which was still delicate sent her to boston there he met s hope a bright gay spirit an to her they were unlike in everything that distinguished each and it w s therefore more probable judging experience that ihey would become m attached whatever the theory of the affections may be the fact was that they soon became inseparable and confidential friends hope sometimes ventured to rally on her over and miss often the laughing girl s but however their dispositions they melted into each other like light into shade each the beauty and effect of the other hope often spoke of for he was associated with all the most interesting recollections of her childhood and probably with her visions of the future y for what girl of seventeen has not a lord for her air built castles miss listened calmly to her description of the hero of her imagination but never by word or sign gave token that she knew aught of him other than was told her and the secret might have died with her had not her emotion at unexpected appearance half revealed the state of her heart to her quick sighted friend this revelation she finished by a full confession interrupted by tears of bitter mortification oh she concluded had i but known how to watch and rule my own spirit i should have been saved these pangs of remorse and shame my dear said hope brushing away the tears of sympathy that her eyes i assure you i am not crying because i consider it a crying case you people that dwell in the clouds have always a mist before you now i can see that your path is plain and sure the end thereof just give yourself up to my guidance who though not half so good and wise as you are am far more sure footed i do not doubt in the least feels all he ought to feel i defy anybody to know you and not love you and do you not see that if he had made any declaration at the time it might have seemed as if he were moved by pity or gratitude i he knew you were coming to new england and that he was to follow you and now he has anticipated his return by some weeks and why nobody knows and it must be because you are here don t you think so you will not speak but i know by your smile what you think as well as if you did arguments appear very sound that are fortified by our wishes and miss s face was assuming a more cheerful expression when our old friend came into the room to give the young ladies notice to prepare for dinner and to inform them that sir philip was to dine with them and a appearing man he is said as ever i laid my eyes on and it is a wonder to me that our mr should have fallen into such profitable company for i am sorry to see it and to say it he looks as gay as when he used to play his mad at when it was next to an impossibility to keep you and him miss hope vol i s hope from talking and laughing even on a sabbath day i think she continued glancing her eye at miss sober companions do neither of you any good and it is so strange mr should come home with his hair looking like one of those heathen pictures of your aunt s oh hush it would be a sin to crop those dark locks of mr a sin indeed miss that is the way you always turn	6
things wrong side out a sin to have his hair cut like his father s or the honourable or this sir philip s or any other christian man s well i wish it would come into your wise head that christian tongues were not made for railing as to my being serious to day that is entirely out of the question therefore you may spare yourself hint and and go to my aunt and ask her for my blue and but no she said stopping for she recollected that she had directed the blue because it matched her blue s gift and a secret voice told her she had best under existing circumstances lay that favourite aside ho bring me my pink and my obeyed but not without muttering as she left the room a remonstrance against the of dress was one of those persons in every class of life whose virtues are most conspicuous in sins they are not inclined to we ought perhaps to for so hope humble and disagreeable a personage upon our readers but the truth is she figured too much on the family record of the to be suppressed by their faithful historian those personages in the copious of modern times seem to be a necessary in life and like shoes and smoky rooms constitute a portion of its trials had first found favour with mrs from her religious exterior to employ none but servants was a rule of the and there were certain set phrases and modes of dress which produced no slight impression upon the minds of the to do justice she had many virtues and though her re was of the order and therefore particularly disagreeable to her spiritual mistress yet her household faculties were invaluable for then as now in the interior of new england a faithful servant was like the genius of a fairy tale no family could hope for more than one long possession s rights and increased her which were naturally most freely exercised on those members of the family who bad grown fi om youth to maturity under her eye in nothing was the sweetness of hope s temper more conspicuous than in the perfect good nature with which she bore the of this who like a cross cur was ready to bark at every by youth and beauty the labours of the toilet and our young friends though on this occasion hope about the in they e to make were not in themselves and when mrs presented herself to attend them to dinner they were her upon my word she said young ladies you have done honour to the occasion it is not every day we have two gentlemen fresh from old england to dine with us i am glad you have shown yourselves of the importance of the it is every woman s duty upon all occasions to look as well as she can and a duty so faithfully performed my dear aunt said hope that i fancy like other duties it becomes easy from habit easy replied with perfect m second nature my dear second nature i was taught from a child to determine the first thing in the morning what i should wear that day and now it is as natural to me as to open my eyes when i wake i should madam said that other and high thoughts were more fitting a rational creature preserved through the night watches hope was exquisitely susceptible to her aunt s but she would fain have sheltered them from the observation of others now my gentle she whispered to miss is not your and this is not lecture day on days slaves were set free you know and why should not follies be miss could not have failed to have made some sage reply to her friend s but the hope of a bell announced the dinner and the young ia arm in arm followed mrs to the dining room just as they entered hope whispered remember the day is sacred and may not be by a sad countenance this was a well timed caution it called a slight tinge to miss s cheeks and relieved her too ex met them at the door the light of his happiness seemed to every object he mrs on her appearance told her she had not in the least changed since he saw her an implied compliment always after a woman has passed a certain age he congratulated miss upon the very apparent effect of the climate on her health and then breaking through the embarrassment that slightly constrained him in addressing her he turned to hope and they talked of the past the present and the future with spontaneous animation their feelings according and as naturally as the music of the stars when they sang together s i b ue chapter xi our new england shall tell and boast of her a as patient as but not admitting any of his criminal as devout as but not liable to any of his a governor in whom the of christianity made a most improving addition unto the virtues f wherein even without those he would have made a parallel for the great men of or of rome which the pen of a has r the governor s house stood in the main street washington street on the ground now occupied by south row there was a little court in of it on one side a fine garden on the other a beautiful lawn or as it was called green extending to the corner on which the old south church now stands and an ample yard and offices in the rear the mighty master of fiction has but to wave his to present the past to his readers with all the and distinctness of the present but we who follow him at an distance we who have no s wherewith we can imitate the miracles	6
wrought by the rod of the prophet we must ourselves to the compass and the rule and set forth our description as and exactly as if we were making out an fi r a in obedience to this necessity we offer the detailed description hope of economy of a pi grim mansion not on any authority but quoted from an record of the times in the principal houses was a great hall with pictures a great lantern velvet cushions in the window seat to look into the garden on either side a great parlour a little parlour or study furnished with great looking glasses turkey carpets window curtains and picture and a map a brass clock red leather back chairs a great pair of brass the chambers well furnished with feather beds warming and every other elegance and comfort the well filled with substantial fare and wine silver and wine cups not uncommon if any are incredulous as to the of the above extract we assure them that its truth is confirmed by t e of the pilgrim still standing in boston and occupied by their descendants these were not nor ruined mr himself had an estate in worth seven hundred pounds per some of his associates came from halls and many of them brought wealth as well as virtue to the colony the of the climate and the incident to their condition often reduced the in their earliest period to the wants of extreme poverty but their sufferings had the dignity and merit of being voluntary and are now as the hope lie garments of the saints are to the sacred in the eyes of their posterity our humble history has little to do with the public life of governor which is so well known to have been illustrated by the rare virtue of disinterested patriotism and by such even and paternal goodness that a contemporary witty could not find it in his heart to give him a name than sir john his figure if we may trust to the fidelity of his painter was tall and spare his eye dark blue and mild in its expression he had the brow which is said to be of a religious disposition his hair and his beard which he long were black on the whole we must confess the external man presents the solemn and forbidding aspect of the times in which he flourished though we know him to have been a model of private virtue gracious and gentle in his manners and exact in the of all gentlemanly courtesy his was admirably qualified for the station occupied she recognised and continually taught to matron and maiden the duty of obedience from the wife to the husband her ap pointed lord and master a duty that it was left to modern to dispute and which our pious fathers or even mothers were so far from that the only divine right to govern which they acknowledged was that in the husband over the wife madam s matrimonial virtue never into the of fear or the hope of if and approved by principle it vas prompted by feeling and if we may be allowed a coarse comparison like a horse easy on the bit she was guided by the slight est intimation from him who held the rein indeed to pursue our illustration still farther it sometimes appeared as if the were dropped and the inferior animal were left to the guidance of her own sagacity without ever the limits of feminine propriety madam enjoyed the dignity of her official station and felt that if the governor were the greater she was the lesser light there was a slight tinge of official importance in her manner of her and her counsel but she seemed rather to intend to the value of the gift than the merit of the possessed the of a numerous of but as they were in no way associated with the personages of our story we have not thought fit to it with any details concerning them we return firom our long to the party we left in governor s parlour the tables were arranged for dinner tables we say for a side table was spread but in a manner so inferior to the principal board which was with silver and rich china as to indicate that it was destined for inferior guests this indication was soon for on a servant sent to announce dinner to hope who was understood to be occupied with some of the natives on state business that gentleman appeared attended by four indians the young and noble chief of the two of his and an hope turned to to remark on the graceful gestures by which they expressed their to the company heavens she exclaimed what you for she saw that he was as pale as death nothing nothing said wishing to avoid observation and turning towards the window be then added in explanation to hope who followed him these are the first indians i have seen since my return and they brought too vividly to mind my dear mother s death governor to his indian guests to take their seats at the side table and the rest of the company including the elder and surrounded the dinner table and serving men and all reverently folded their arms and bowed their heads while the grace or prayer was after all the rest had taken their seats the indians remained standing and although the governor politely signified to the that their delay wronged the smoking they remained motionless the chief drawn aside from the rest his eye cast down his brow lowering and his whole aspect of id displeasure the governor rose and demanded of the interpret er the meaning of their too evident hope my bids me say replied the savage that be expects such treatment from the english more as the english receive in the of be chief he says that when the	6
english stranger visits him he sits on his mat and eats from bis dish tell your chief replied the governor who bad urgent state reasons for that i pray him to overlook the wrong i have done him he is right be deserves the place of honour i have heard of his hospitable deeds and that be doth give more than even ground to bis guests for our friend informed us that he bath known him with bis family to sleep abroad to make room in his for english governor added the last circumstance partly as a full confession of his fault and partly as an apology to bis who looked a good deal disconcerted by the of her dinner however she proceeded to give the necessary orders the table was a sufficient addition made and the haughty chief his countenance to an expression of grave satisfaction took bis seat at the governor s right hand his associates being properly at the table the rest of the company resumed their stations cast bis eye around on the various which covered the hospitable board times have mended he said to madam in my absence i remember once sitting down with my father to a good man s table on which was nothing but a sorry dish of but our made up for the defect of bis by the excess of his gratitude for as i remember be gave thanks that we were permitted to eat of the abundance of the seas and of treasures hid in the sand hope understood so well the temper of the company she was in that she instantly perceived a slight depression of their at what appeared to them a tone of levity in she interposed her shield what may we expect from the future she said if now it seems strange to us that ten years ago the best in the colony were reduced to living upon muscles and ground nuts and that our governor having shared his flour and meat with the poorest in the land had his last of bread in the oven when the ship with arrived the lion or the blessing of the bay which was it master for it was you who told me the story she added bending towards who sat opposite to her who always felt at the least notice from hope an emotion to that of a pious catholic when he fancies the image of the saint he to bend towards dropped his knife and fork and his body with one of those sudden characteristic of awkward men he hit the elbow of a servant who was just placing a boat on the table and brought the down on his little brown wig whence it found its way in many a over his face neck and it a murmur of sympathy and suppressed laughter ran around the table and while a servant at his mistress s bidding was applying to he seemed only intent upon replying to miss it was the lion miss hope ha indeed a wonderful memory yes yes it was the lion the of the bay was the governor s own vessel that name said sir philip in a low tone to hope next whom he sat should i think have been reserved where names are cant for a more just he spoke in a tone of confidential gallantry so with his that the fair listener lost the matter in the manner and turning to him with one of those looks so to a man who means to speak but to on ear in the company what did you say she asked he said my dear said mrs who sat at the knight s left hand and who would have considered it worse to suppress a compliment than to conceal treason he said my dear that you should have been named the blessing of the bay sir philip a little at this flat version of bis compliment but he had other interests to sustain more important than his courtesy and he was just something to say wliich might secure him a safe passage past and when madam who was exclusively occupied with the duty of begged sir philip would change his plate and take a piece of wild turkey which she could recommend as vol l t n v ld hope and tender or a piece of the the she said was a present from the son of their good old friend and ally and she was sure it was of the best the knight declined the proffered he had already been tempted to excess by the s head and shoulders a to a european but said miss you will not dine on fish alone and on friday too why we shall suspect you of being a if there was anything in the unwonted blush that deepened the knight s complexion which might lead an observer to suspect that an dart had touched a point he averted suspicion by saying that he trusted and self denial were not confined to a corrupt and superstitious and that for himself he found much use in voluntary of appetite oft said who had been playing the part of a taking liberally of all of the various feast oft are an excellent thing for those who have grace for them and yours sir philip if one may judge from the of your complexion are wonderfully prosper ed the knight received the simple compliment with a silent bow turned to miss who sat on his right now miss you do wrong yourself there is that pigeon s wing just as i gave it to you hope looked up with a glance i as v she would have said heaven help my he never moves without treading on somebody s is not miss asked the elder who now for the first time noticed that she looked unusually pale and pensive perfectly well said indifferently well	6
my dear you mean v said madam she added always like a bird but i never despair of a young lady they have all the gift of ing upon air will miss mend her appetite with wine asked young and allow me the honour of taking it with her exclaimed hope touching his elbow but not in time to check him my son said his father in a voice of rebuke mr exclaimed governor in a tone of surprise what have i done now asked of hope but hope was too much diverted with his mistake and honest consternation to reply you have done nothing my young friend said the governor for you probably did not know that the vain custom of drinking one to another has been at my table for ten years and that our general court this employment of the creature out of its natural use by their order in the year of our lord four years since so that the custom hath become quite with a hope us though it may be still ia practice among our er brethren of england with due deference i speak said to my elders and but it really appears to me to border on the of to make laws against so innocent a custom no vanity is innocent mr replied the governor as you will yourself after proper consideration confess tell me when but now you would have proffered wishes of health to my niece was it not an empty compliment and not meant by you for an argument of love which should always be the governor s proposition appeared to himself to be merely an abstract truth but to the younger part of his audience at least it conveyed much more than met the ear miss blushed deeply and attempted in to a reply hope perceived the pit and a safe passage over it she said shall not be our knight at or if he cannot use the lance your uncle has dropped at his feet are there not always in your heart arguments of love when you drink to the health of a fair lady before had time to reply except by a sparkling glance the governor said this is somewhat too light a discussion of a serious topic this rebuke at once the spark of hope had kindled and the never a prolonged meal in this pattern mansion was finished without any other conversation than that by the or of the table after the was ended the indian chief took his leave with much fainter of attachment than he had vouchsafed on a former visit as the governor had afterward occasion to remember the party dispersed in various directions and the governor withdrew with the elder to his study when there governor lighted his pipe a luxury in which he indulged and then looking over a packet of letters he selected one and handed it to mr saying there is an from brother which your son has brought to me read it yourself you will perceive that he has stated his views on a certain subject interesting to you and to us all and stated them directly without any of the and which a worldly minded man would have employed on a like occasion mr introduced the important topic of his which mr with the deepest attention by saying that junior returns to the colony a fit instrument as i trust to promote its welfare and honour he is gifted with divers and goodly talents and with sufficient learning i have often been sorely wounded at hearing the passed on our brother for having sent his son into the bosom of a family but i confidently believe the youth returns to his own country with his principles although it is ti true as our brethren often t hope that he has little of the outward man of a pilgrim indeed he is brother a high youth and on this account i feel as you doubtless will the of with a member of the congregation and one who may in all accomplish for him that precious promise of the tie the believing wife shall the husband i have already taken the first step towards about so an end by inviting the young man to my house where he spent two months of the summer i then favoured his intimate inter course with my well beloved daughter whose outward form i may say without is a fit temple for the spirit within mr then proceeded to state some circumstances already known to the reader and particularly dwelt on s at his house during his daughter s dangerous illness touched lightly on their hai had an interview very affecting to both parties and in regard to the particulars of which with the i natural to youth had been silent and finally set forth in strong terms the concern evinced by while s recovery was doubtful notwithstanding the letter proceeded to say these circumstances are so favourable to my wishes i have some apprehensions and therefore brother i your immediate in behalf of the future spiritual prosperity of this youth he bath been by miss s paternal and i have reason to believe they have him to marry her and bring her to england but without such the marriage is a probable one miss is reported here to be wanting in grace a want that i fear would not her in young s estimation maiden of rare a thing precious in the eyes of youth too apt to set a high price on that which is but dust and ashes the young lady is of great estate too but that i wiu not weigh with the young man for i a lofty spirit in him that would the yoke of nor do i think with some of our brethren that gold and grace did never yet agree yet there are some who would make this alliance a ground	6
of farther scandal our brother it is whispered that his worldly are not so prosperous as we could wish mark me brother my confidence in him is unmoved and i think and am sure that he would not permit his son to this maiden with the of a queen if thereby he his spiritual welfare but brother you in the new world are as a city set on a hill many lie in wait for your halting and all appearance of evil should be avoided on this account and many others brother and all of us should duly prize that medium and safe condition for which prayed one more reason i would suggest and then the business to thy guidance who art justly hope termed by friend and foe the moses of god s people in the wilderness it to me the motive of miss s mother in going with her offspring to the colony should be duly weighed and respected could her purpose in any other way be so certainly accomplished as by her daughter speedily with a and approved member of the congregation every sentence of this letter stung mr he repeatedly threw it down rose from his seat and after taking two or three turns across the study his courage to the sticking point and returned to it again governor s attention appeared to be to a paper he was till he could no longer from motives of delicacy to his friend affect to abstract his attention from him mr finished the letter and leaning over the table covered his face with his hands his emotion could not be hidden the veins in his temples and forehead swelled almost to bursting and his tears fell like rain drops on the table governor laid his hand on his friend s arm and by a gentle pressure expressed a sympathy that it would have been difficult to in words after a few moments struggle with his feelings mr subdued his emotion and turning to governor he said with dignity i have betrayed before you a weakness that i have never expressed but in that gracious presence where weakness is not degradation thus has it ever pleased him who knows the infirmity of my heart to try me hope from my my path hath been lip with earthly affections is it that i have myself the that bind me to the earth is it that i have given to the creature what i owed to the creator that one after another of my earthly delights is taken from me that i am thus bare oh it has been the thought that came to my nightly meditations and my daily that i might live to sec these children of two saints in heaven united this sweet child is the image of her blessed mother she was her precious to me and she hath been such a spirit of love and contentment in my lone dwelling that she hath herself with every fibre of my heart i this was natural said governor ay my friend and was it not inevitable i did think he continued after a momentary pause that in their childhood their affections as if instinct with their parents feelings mingled in natural union if their hearts retain this bent i think it were not right to put a force upon them certainly not replied his friend but the affections of youth are and may be turned from their natural bent by a skilful hand it is our known duty to direct them in taking ft care for the spiritual growth of our young people who are soon to stand in their father s places we do as we are bound most assuredly build up the interests of our i should ill deserve the honourable name my brethren have given me if i were not zealous over our youth in fearing any opposition a hope from the parties in question i thinks my worthy brother yon yourself in vain it from s letter that there hath been tender passages between your son and his daughter and even if hope hath fed her fancies with thoughts of yet i think she would be forward to advance her friend s happiness for notwithstanding she doth so differ from her in her gay carriage their hearts appear to be knit together you do my beloved child but justice what is duty to others hath ever seemed impulse in her and i have sometimes thought that the of works was to her a to of grace and that perhaps she would hate sin more for its if she did not hate it so much for its governor thought his friend went a little too far in the virtue of his favourite pardon he said the wounds inflicted by a friend they are faithful i have thought the child rests too much on performances and you must allow brother that she hath not i speak it tenderly that that next to is a woman s best virtue i should scarcely account replied mr a property of matter a virtue this was spoken in a tone of impatience that indicated truly that the speaker like an over fond parent could better endure any reproach cast on himself than the slightest on his favourite governor was not a man to shrink from inflict hope ing what he deemed a pain because his patient from his touch he therefore proceeded ih his partiality is dangerous as we see in the notable history of david and and elsewhere and perhaps it was your too great indulgence that the child to the daring deed of the law by the secret release of the condemned that rests upon suspicion not proof mr hastily nd why replied governor smiling j it permitted to rest on suspicion from respect our much suffering brother and consideration of the youth of the we have winked it the offence but we will	6
pass that i would be the last to lift the veil that hath fallen over it i only alluded to it to enforce the necessity of a over this lawless girl would it not be wise prudent to take my brother s counsel and her to some one who should add t affection the authority of a husband governor for a reply but receiving none he proceeded one of our most promising youth hath this day to me of hope and expressed a matrimonial intent towards her and who is this demanded mr william the youth who hath come with so much credit from our school at cambridge he is a discreet young man in learning and of approved ii these be cardinal points with us replied mr calmly but they are not like to commend him to a maiden of hope she not to men and is apt to vent her childish upon the ways of scholars thus our heroine by her peculiar taste lost at least the golden opportunity of herself by a union with the future historian of new england after a little consideration the governor resumed the conversation it is difficult he said to suit a maiden who hath more whim than reason what think you of sir philip sir philip a new comer of to day t and old enough to be the father of hope the guide for her youth besides brother you his age he is still on the best side of forty he is a man of good family who after having fought on the side where his birth naturally cast him hath been plucked as a brand from the burning by the preaching and of the mr and feeling as he declares a pious horror at the thought of his hands any farther in blood he hath come to cast his lot among us instead of joining our friends in england hath be to all these particulars governor coloured slightly at an that implied a deficiency of on his part and replied that he thought the gentleman scarcely needed other than he carried in his language and but that he had come with a letter of introduction satisfactory in all points from whom inquired mr from one who e himself as and sir philip says is a warm friend to us is he known to you no but i think have heard him mentioned as a well to our colony this was not perfectly satisfactory to mr but he to press the point farther and turned his attack to that part of the suggestion that appeared most he said you are over hasty in proposing to match hope with this stranger nay i meant not a formal i noted that sir philip was struck with hope s outward graces he is an uncommon man and hath that bearing that finds favour in maidens eyes and the thought came to me that he may have been sent here in good time to relieve all our and to confess the truth brother if i may use the sporting language of our youth i am impatient to put on this wild bird os yours while she is on our perch but to be serious and surely the sub doth enforce us to it i am satisfied that you will not oppose any means that may to secure the of our flock in the true fold i shall oppose nothing that will promote the spiritual prosperity of those dear to me as my own soul i have no reason to doubt my son s filial obedience he hath never been wanting and though vol l u both he and i have fallen under censure i see not that i in sending him from me i but complied with the last request of his mother and that compliance deprived me of the only child left of my little flock i speak not but let not who have remained in egypt condemn him who has drank of the bitterest waters of the wilderness mr finding himself yielding to irrepressible emotions rose and hastily left his more equal and less interested friend thus did these good men not content with their conflict with necessary evils involve themselves in superfluous trials whatever gratified the natural desires of the heart was questionable and almost everything that was difficult and painful assumed the form of duty as if the benevolent father of all had stretched over our heads a of clouds instead of the bright and its glorious host and beauty and had spread under our fe t a wilderness of bitter instead of every tree and plant yielding its good fruit but we would fix our eyes on the bright that encircled the pilgrim s head and not mark the dust that sometimes his garments chapter then crash even in their hour of birth the infant of love and tread his glowing fire to earth ere tis dark in clouds above the of the sabbath began with the as it still does with a great portion of their descendants on saturday night at the going down of the sun on saturday all affairs were suspended and so did our fathers maintain the letter as well as the spirit of the law that according to a vulgar tradition in no beer was in the latter part of the week lest it should presume to work on sunday it must be confessed that the tendency of the age is to and so rapidly is the wholesome of primitive times that should some fifty years hence in exploring his garret rubbish chance to cast his eye on our humble pages he may be surprised to learn that even now the sabbath is observed in the interior of new england with an almost on saturday afternoon an uncommon bustle is apparent the great class of are hurrying to and fro to complete the business of the week the good mothers like s matron	6
rather you would not she said decidedly and hurried away without any explanation of her preference what can have disturbed hope asked mr for both he and his son had observed that her cheek was flushed and her eye tearful i cannot imagine replied she left me not half an hour since all smiles and it is but the april temper of youth said the father hope is of a feeling make she often reminds me of the lands where the fruits spring forth before the waters have retired smiles are playing on her lips before the tear is dry on her cheek but this should be checked the dear child s feelings have too long been indulged and as long as they are all innocent sir why should they not be indulged because my son she must be hardened for the cross accidents and unkind events or rather i should say the wholesome of life she cannot we can none of us expect indulgence from the events of life mr paused for a moment looked around then shut the door and returned to his son he said you have ever been dutiful to me and ever shall be my dear father replied with frank confidence little thinking how soon the virtue might become difficult trust not my son to thine own strength it may soon be put to a test that will make thee feel it to be but weakness thou that hope loves thee even as she loved thee in thy childhood let her affection of this temper i charge thee as thou thy father s mid thine own honour and it were well if you fixed your eye on stop sir stop i you and tell me not because i have any thoughts any intentions i mean any formed purpose i would say but tell me i entreat you why this spoke with such earnestness and that his father could not refuse to answer him but his reasons seemed even to himself to lose half their force as they emerged from their of he acknowledged in the first place what his most cherished wishes had been in relation to hope and he then communicated the that had been thrown out that his views his son were laughed at the idea no one he said can so well afford such an as you sir whose whole life has been a practical of it and for my own part i am satisfied with the consciousness that i would not marry any woman with a fortune whom i would not marry if the case were reversed or even if we were both i believe this is not an empty boast my son but we have set ourselves up as a mark to the world and as brother has said and repeated to me we cannot be too to avoid all appearance of evil there are souls who on the hope slightest ground would suspect us ot pursuing our own worldly by ends and so sir to win the approbation or rather the good word of these souls we are to ourselves to their level and act as if we were capable of their mean passions my son you speak we are capable of all evil but we will that question at present our individual wishes must be surrendered to the public good we have laid the foundation of an edifice and our children must be so coupled together as to secure its progress and when the present are laid low and so my dear father a precious is to be in like a common brick wherever may best suit the purposes and views of the you are displeased sir perhaps i spoke somewhat hastily but once for all i entreat you not to dispose of us as if we were mere machines we owe you our love and reverence and obedience yes sir as far as can be manifested by not doing what you command us not to do have i then strained parental authority so far that you think it necessary thus to your duty no indeed my dear father and it is because your authority has ever been too gentle to be felt that i at the of a new yoke you will admit that my submission has not been less perfect for being voluntary trust me then for the future and i hope was perhaps saved from himself by the entrance of madam who inquired if the gentlemen were ready to attend her to the lecture come mr she said here is to show you the way than whom there can be no safer guide miss stood beside her aunt but i e shrunk back at approach hurt at what seemed to her a for his attention he perceived her instinctive movement but without appearing to notice it he offered his arm to madam saying as there is no skill in guiding one quite capable of self guidance i will not inflict myself on miss if you will allow me the honour of attending you madam submitted with the best grace to this cross purpose the elder his arm to miss and endeavoured to draw her into conversation but she was timid downcast and reserved and mentally comparing her with hope he felt how improbable it was that would ever prefer her the old even when grave and rigid are said to affect the young and gay on the same principle perhaps that a dim eye lights in bright colours is that s company asked pointing towards several prisoners who in the of a file of soldiers appeared to be going towards the yes replied madam j the govern fi or and our ruling elders have determined they are to be tried next m they shall have the benefit of all our public teaching in the mean time i should fear they would t us punishment before trial said they	6
did at first but on promised that if they had occasion to speak after sermon they should be permitted provided they only spoke the words of and truth they consented to come forth this whom calls a ous minister of had been brought with his from island by force of arms to be tried for certain civil and for which according to the most learned of our new world mr savage they were not to the of the prisoners were ushered into the church and placed before the ruling elders the governor then entered by his a ceremony with except on sunday and followed by his family walked slowly to his where miss was already seated between mrs sir philip she rose and contrived to exchange her for one next miss look she said in a whisper to her friend at that lad who stands in the comer of the gallery just beside the lamp i see him but what of him why just observe how he at me his e hi is like a burning glass it really me i wish the service were over do you think it will be long v it may be long but not tedious replied with a gravity which was the rebuke she could ever command oh it will be both said hope in a despairing tone for there is mr in the pulpit and he always talks of eternity till he forgets time my dear hope said in a voice of mingled surprise and the service presently began and hope endeavoured to assume a and job in singing the but her mind was soon abstracted and her voice died away the preacher had not proceeded far in bis discourse before all her patience was exhausted even those who are the most for the passive duties of the might have bestowed their pity on our heroine who had really serious cause for her feverish impatience obliged to sit while a young man accounted a universal scholar seemed determined like many to tell all he knew in that one discourse which was then called a aa he was not only on making root and branch work of poor s but on every from the spiritual field to hope he appeared to maintain one even pace straight forward like the mortal in the fairy tale to an eternal walk over a boundless plain vol i x do look at the candles she whispered j don t you think it must be nine o clock oh hush no not yet eight hope sighed audibly and once more resumed a listening attitude all human labours have their end and therefore had the preacher s but alas for our heroine when he had finished whose face for the last hour had expressed that he felt much like a criminal condemned to be before he is hung rose and under a sense of wrongs repeated all the points of the discourse and made points where there were none and attacked and proved to his own satisfaction that all ministers c were but men s invention silver of while this self professor of mysteries spoke hope was so much interested in his genuine enthusiasm and for he was the s of his day that she forgot her own secret subject of anxiety but when he had finished and half a dozen of the ruling elders rose at the same moment to prove the weapons of upon the arch she whispered to i can never bear this i must make an apology to madam and go home stay said do you not see mr cotton is getting up v mr cotton the regular rose to remind his brethren of the decree that private members should be very in their questions and observations hope le lis after sermons and to say that he should any farther discussion of the precious points before them as it near nine o clock after which it was not suitable for any christian family to be abroad hope how and many others instinctively rose in anticipation of the but mr cotton waved his hand for them to sit down till he could communicate to the congregation the decision to which the ruling elders and himself had come on the subject of the last sabbath sermon he would not repeat what he had before said upon that lust of costly apparel which was fast gaining ground and had already as was well known crept into families he was pleased that there were among them gracious women ready to turn at a rebuke as was manifested in many being left at home that were floating over the congregation like so many wings in the morning economy he justly observed was as well as simplicity a christian grace and therefore the rulers had determined that those persons who had run into the excess of and sleeves embroidered caps and gold and silver lace should be permitted to wear them out but new ones should be this announced the meeting was dismissed madam whispered to that she was going with his father to look in upon a neighbour and would thank him to see her home a glance at hope and di ly his a m hope hope intent only on one object was hurrying out of the in the of the crowd td escape alone but she was arrested by madam p s saying miss sir philip offers you his arm and at the same moment her aunt stooped forward to b her to wait a moment till she could send a message to s wife that she might wear her new gown with the sleeves the next day oh thought hope with indeed little of the spirit of a martyr she dared not speak aloud but she continued to whisper to mrs for pity s sake do leave mrs to take care of herself i am tired to death with staying here	6
mingled alarm and impatience j do you mean anything the boy looked about him and approaching his lips close to hope s ear he said in a whisper promise me you will not love my master do not believe him though he pledge the word of a true knight always to love you though he swear it on the holy do not believe it hope now began to think that the youth s senses were and more impatient than ever to escape from him she s d oh i can promise all that and as much more in the same way as you will ask of me but leave me now and come to me when you want a much more difficult service hope i i never want anything else lady he replied shaking his head mournfully i want nothing else but that you would pity me you for angels and i am sure you look like one pity me never speak of me and forget me he drop on his knee pressed her hand ta his lips rose to his feet and left her so hastily that she was scarce ly conscious of his departure till he was beyond her sight whatever matter for future reflection this interview might have afforded her hope had now no time to dwell on it and she hastened forward and a fence at the the burial ground entered the now the churchyard of the stone chapel the moon was high in the heavens masses of black clouds were driven by a spring gale over her bright producing startling changes from light to darkness and from darkness to that indefinite bright ness which gives to moonlight its dominion over the imagination at another time hope would have from going alone so late at night to this region of silence and sad thoughts and her fancy might have the shadows that flitted over the little of earth but she was now so engrossed by one expectation that she scarcely thought of the place where it was to be attained and she pressed on as if she were passing over common once indeed she paused as the moon shot forth a bright ray stooped down before a little hope pressed her brow to ihe green turf and raising her eyes to heaven and clasping her hands she exclaimed my mother if ever thy presence is permitted to me be with me now after this solemn she again rose to her feet and looked anxiously before her for some expected object but i cannot know she said till i have passed the thicket of that was the appointed spot she passed the thicket and at that moment the intensity of her feelings spread a mist before her eyes she faltered and leaned on one of the for support and there we must leave her for the present to the secrecy she sought j chapter there s nothing i hare done yet o my conscience deserves a corner all other men could speak this with as free a as i do henry while hope was deeply engaged in the object of her secret expedition s household was thrown into alarm at her absence was the only member of the family who did not admit that there was real cause of uneasiness miss hope she said was always like a body of moonlight nights there was never any keeping her within the four walls of a house but a moonlight night it soon ceased to be the clouds that had been over the heavens gathered in dark and terrific masses a spring storm ensued a storm to which winter and summer contribute all their power rain lightning wind and hail governor naturally concluded for all persons not deeply interested are apt to be rational that miss had taken refuge under some safe covert and he summoned his family to their evening both the excused themselves and the storm in quest of their lost treasure and even old in spite of mrs s repeated suggestions that he was a very useless person for such an enterprise forth but all returned in the space of an hour to bring their various reports of fruitless inquiry and search remained but long enough to learn that there were no tidings of hope and was again rushing out of the house when he met the object of his apprehensions at the hall door thank heaven he exclaimed on seeing her you are safe where have you been we were all in the most alarm about you hope had by this time advanced far enough into the entry for to perceive by the light of the lantern that she was muffled in sir philip s cloak his face had kindled with joy at her appearance all light now vanished from it and he stood hope with glances that spoke though his lips refused again to move while she without observing or suspecting his emotion did not reply to him and was only intent on herself from the cloak do help me she said impatiently and he endeavoured to the string that fastened it but in his agitation instead of he doubled the knot oh worse and worse she exclaimed and without any farther ceremony she broke the string and running back to the door gave the cloak to sir philip who stood awaiting it till then by in the shadows of the ev ell again looked at miss in the natural expectation of some explanation but she appeared only concerned to escape to her apartment without any inquiries from the family her face was hope extremely pale and her voice still affected by recent agitation trembled as she said to be kind enough to tell your father and all of them that i have come in with the rain and have gone to my own room that i am wearied and shall throw off my wet garments and get to bed as	6
tone that she trusted her uncle would harbour no displeasure against her friend she was sure that she had been on some errand of kindness for though she might sometimes indulge in a freedom of speech she had ever observed her to be strict in all duties and offices of mercy you are right right right miss cried rubbing his hands and then added in a lower tone a young woman miss said mrs i don t see anything so right in what miss says j it s what everybody knows who knows hope that she never did a wrong thing governor suppressed a smile and said to the good lady we should take heed my worthy friend not to lay too much stress on doing or not doing not to rest on duties and per for they be ground mrs might have thought if she had enough such ground to stand on it were to her but for once she had the discretion of silence y hope neither nor his father spoke probably because they felt more than all the rest and madam feeling the awkwardness of the scene mentioned the hour and proposed a general followed miss to the staircase one word miss he said turned her face towards him her pale face for that instant illuminated did you he asked in your apology for your friend speak from knowledge or from generous faith from faith she replied but not generous faith for it was founded on experience turned disappointed away faith he thought there might be without sight but faith against sight never trifles light as air are momentous matters to lovers had too noble a mind to indulge in that jealousy which is far more the result of an self love than love of another but he had cherished for hope a sentiment he had invested her with a which the most refined the purest and most elevated love throws around the object of its devotion on magic ground that castle and with many a were these to be dissolved by the light of truth why should one thought who seemed so pure that she might dwell in light so confiding and fearless why should she permit herself to be obscured by mystery if her hope meeting with sir philip was accidental why not say so but what right have i to her conduct what right to expect an explanation it is evident she feels nothing more for me than the familiar affection of her childhood how she talked to me this evening of i if she had a brother she would select her friend from all the world for his wife was not precise she was only discreet she was not formal but timid she sees i love her and thus delicately tries to give a different bent to my affections but that is impossible every hope every purpose has been concentrated in her my affections may be but they cannot be transferred perhaps it is true as some say that a woman s heart is fantastic and capricious this knight has scarcely turned his eyes from hope since he first saw her and i know he has addressed the most flattery to her perhaps she his pretensions i shrink even from his gazing upon her as if there were something in the glance of his eye and yet she the customs of the country she severe displeasure to walk alone with him with him she is insensible to a gathering storm he is incapable of loving her he is with her beauty he seeks her fortune her fortune i had forgotten that my father made that a bar between us fortune i never thought of anything so mean as wealth in with her i would as soon my soul as seek any woman for fortune and hope oh i should hope as soon think of the of a celestial spirit as of your being enriched by the of fortune these thoughts and many others that would naturally spring up in the mind of a young lover indicated the the enthusiasm the of s passion and the restless and fearful state into which he had been plunged by the events of the evening while he was pursuing this train of fancies m which some sweetness mingled with the bitter had followed hope to her apartment and having shut the door turned on her friend a look of speaking inquiry and expectation to which hope did not respond but continued in a hurried manner to herself throwing her shawl on one side and her wet dress on the other took a silver whistle from the toilet and was opening the door to summon with its shrill call when hope observing her intention cried out if you love me don t call tonight i wish at least to be spared her as you please replied quietly the door i thought had best come and take care of your apparel as if your mind was not otherwise occupied you would not choose to leave it in such disorder while spoke she stood by the toilet her and restoring it to the folds yes said hope i prefer any disorder to the din of s tongue i cannot i cannot always be precise hope precision i know is not interesting said with a slight of voice but if you had a little more of it hope it would save yourself and your friends a vast deal of trouble now do not you reproach me that is the drop too much said hope turning her face to the pillow to hide the tears that from her eyes i know i am vexed and cross but i did not mean that you were too precise i do not know what i meant i feel oppressed and i want sympathy and not reproof your heart then to me said kneeling by the	6
tbe ordinary concerns of life tbe consecrated not tbe bread a service for tbe temple and tbe grove its separate class of duties and pleasures but is tbe tbat tbe lump a spirit to be into tbe common affairs of life we fear mrs was not quite of fault believed all tbe bible bad long been a member of tbe in tbe town lived daily read tbe and daily offered sin prayers certainly tbe waters of tbe fountain from drank bad a influence tbey failed to all ber diseases was kind gentle and complaining and sustained witb admirable patience tbe growing and faults of ber to ber performed ber duties wisely and witb an zeal tbe result in part of uncommon maternal tenderness and in part of a painful consciousness of tbe faults of ber own and of a secret feeling bad left undone tbat to do mr after bis pecuniary were beyond tbe of maintained by tbe appearance of prosperity for some a violent fever ended bis struggle witb tbe tide of fortune tbat bad set a talk and consigned him to that place where there is no more work nor device his wife was left quite destitute with her child then an interesting little girl a little more than twelve years old a more energetic mind than mrs s might have been discouraged by the troubles which were now set before her in all their extent and with and she and sunk under them she had from nature a slender constitution her health declined and after lingering for some months she died with resignation but not without a heart pang at the thought of leaving her child poor helpless and little jane had nursed her mother with fidelity and tenderness and performed services for her to which her years seemed hardly adequate with an and that surprised all who were prepared to find her a delicately bred and indulged child she seemed to have inherited no thing from her father but his active mind from her mother she had derived a pure and gentle spirit but this would have been quite insufficient to produce the result of such a character as hers without the aid of her mother s and for the most part judicious training in the formation of her child s character she had been essentially aided by a faithful domestic who had lived with her for many years and jane in her infancy we know it is common to rail at our their i independence is certainly often inconvenient to their but as it is the result of the prosperous condition of all classes in our happy country it is not right nor wise to complain of it we believe there are many instances of intelligent and affectionate service that are rarely equalled where ignorance and mark the lower classes mary england was endowed with a mind of uncommon strength and an affectionate heart these were her jewels she had been brought up by a pious mother and early and em x the faith of the she had the virtues of her station in an eminent degree practical good sense ous efficient habits and handy ways she never presumed formally to offer her advice to mrs her instincts seemed to define the line of propriety to her but she had a way of suggesting hints of which mrs learnt the value by experience this good woman had been called to a distant place to attend her dying mother just before the death of mrs and thus jane was deprived of an able assistant and most tender friend and left to pass through the dismal scene of death without any other than occasional assistance from her compassionate neighbors on the day of mrs s a of people assembled to listen to the funeral sermon and to follow to the grave one who had been the object of the envy of some and of the respect and love of many three sisters of mr were assembled with their families mrs had come from a distant part of the country and had no relatives in i jane s relations wore the decent gravity that became the occasion but they were of a hard race and neither the wreck their brother had made nor the deep grief of the solitary little creature awakened their pity they even seemed to towards her the kindness of common sympathy lest it should be into an intention of taking charge of the orphan jane lost in the depths of her sufferings seemed insensible to all external things her countenance was of a and her features immovable in the course of new england tale the agreeably to the usage established in such cases the made a personal address to her as the nearest relative and chief she was utterly unable to rise as she should have done in compliance with custom and one of her shocked at the of what she considered an essential decorum took her by the arm and almost lifted her from her seat she stood like a statue her senses seeming to take no of anything not a tear escaped nor a sigh burst from her breaking heart the sorrow of childhood is usually noisy and this mute and motionless grief in a creature so young and one that had been so happy touched every heart when the services were over the clergyman supported the trembling frame of the poor child to the place of the coffin was slowly let down into the house appointed for all every one who has followed a dear friend to the grave remembers with shuddering the hollow sound of the first that are thrown on the coffin as they fell heavily poor jane shrieked oh mother and springing forward bent over the grave which to her seemed to contain all the world the used as he was to pursue his trade amidst the of saw something peculiar in the misery	6
of the lone child he dropped the and hastily brushing away the tears that blinded him with the sleeve of his coat why does not some one he said take away the child it beats all i her heart s broke i there was a general bustle in the crowd and two young ladies more considerate or perhaps more tender hearted than the rest kindly passed their arms around her and led her to her home the clergyman of was one of those who are more for sound doctrine than benevolent practice he had p chosen on that occasion for his text the wages of sin is new tale death and had preached a long sermon in the vain endeavour of the doctrine of original sin who i lose such opportunities of their people in the i of providence and the claims of humanity ought not i to wonder if they grow languid and selfish and careless of i their most obvious duties had this gentleman improved this occasion of the duty of sympathy by dwelling on the tenderness of our blessed lord when he wept with the sisters at the grave of had he the essence of those and diffused their gracious ence into his sermon bear ye one another s weep with those who weep inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of these ye have done it unto me had this preaching usually been in to the teaching of our could the scene have followed which as a part of jane s story must be told we fear there are many who think there is merit in believing certain who the true import of that text bj grace are ye saved quiet themselves with having once in their lives passed through what they deemed v conviction and and from thence believe their salvation is secure the house furniture and other property of mr had lain under an attachment for some time previous to mrs el ton s death but the sale had been delayed in consideration of her approaching dissolution it was now appointed for the next week and it therefore became necessary that some arrangement should be made for the destitute orphan the day after the funeral jane was sitting in her mother s room which in her eyes was consecrated by her sickness and death the three met at mr s house she heard the ladies approaching through the adjoining apartment and i a new england tale hastily taking up her bible which she had been trying to read she drew her little bench behind the curtain of her mother s bed there is an instinct in childhood that affection wherever it exists and from the coldness of calculating selfishness in all their neither jane nor her mother had ever been cheered by a glimmering of kindness from these relatives mrs had founded no expectations on them for her child but with her usual she had shrunk from preparing jane s mind for the that awaited her the three sisters were led in by a young woman who had offered to stay with jane till some arrangement was made for her in reply to their asking where she was the girl pointed to the bed there she said taking on a body would think added she that she had lost her and as well as her father and mother and she might as well she continued in a tone low enough not to be heard for any good they will do her the eldest sister began the conference by saying that she trusted it was not expected she should take jane upon her hands that she was not so well off as either of her sisters that to be sure she had no children but then mr and herself calculated to do a great deal for the foreign missionary society that no longer ago than that morning mr d and she had agreed to pay the expense of one of the young at the school at that there was a great work going on in the world and as long as they had the heart given them to help it they could not feel it their duty to withdraw any aid for a mere worldly purpose mrs the second sister said that she had not any religion and she did not mean to pretend to any that she had enough o spend her money without sending it to a new england tale or the foreign school that she and her husband had worked hard and saved all for their children and now they meant thej should make as good a figure as anybody s children in the country it took a great deal of money she said to pay the dancing master and the drawing master and the music master it was quite impossible for her sisters to think how much it took to dress a family of girls it was not now as it used to be when we were girls now girls must have and their winter hats and summer hats and shoes and silk stockings it was quite impossible to be decent without them besides she added as she did not live in the same place with jane it was not natural she should feel for her it was her decided opinion that jane had better be put out at once at place where she could do light work till she was a little used to it and she would advise too to her changing her name the child was so young she could not care about a name and she should be much to have it known in the town of that her daughters had a cousin that was a hired girl there was something in this harsh counsel which touched mrs s the younger sister s pride though it failed to awaken a sentiment of humanity she said she desired to be	6
thankful that she had been kept from any such sinful courses as sending her children to a dancing school nobody could say she had not done her duty by them the minister s not kept more strict than hers no said mrs and by all accounts is not more well that is not our fault mrs if we plant and water we cannot give the increase mrs should have remembered that ood does give a new england tale the increase to those that rightly plant and faithfully water but mrs a tongue was familiar with many that had never entered let understanding or her heart mrs continued sister i it to be my duty to warn you yon the daughter and grand daughter of worthy who all such sinful that you should own that you send your children to school and spirit do you know that mr c in the awakening in his parish that not of the girls that attended dancing school were among the whereas two who had engaged to attend it but had a remarkable warning in a dream were among the first and brightest i would as soon she continued follow one of my children to the grave as to see her in that broad road to which leads through a ball room it is easy enough replied mrs her sm rt mourning cap at the glass to run down sins we have do fancy for mrs s ready answer was prevented by the entrance of jane s humble friend who asked if the ladies had determined what was to be done with the little girl mrs in her had quite forgotten the object of their meeting but now brought back to it and by a feeling of superiority to mrs and a little by the excuses of mrs which she thought were meant as a boast of superior piety she said that as she had no to pay and had not t morning agreed to adopt a she could afford to take for a little while the child she said must not think of depending upon her for life for though she was a widow and could do what was a mind to her with her a new england tale own she could not justify herself in taking the children s meat and she would have added to throw it to the dogs but she was interrupted by a person who bj the ladies had taken her seat among them this was a middle aged woman whose mind had been unsettled in her youth by misfortunes having no mischievous she was allowed to indulge her inclinations in wandering from house to house and town to town her stimulated imagination furnishing continual amusement to the curious by her sagacious observations and ing mirth to the young and vulgar by the fanciful in which she arrayed her person there were some who noticed in her a quickness of feeling that indicated original sensibility which perhaps had been the cause of her sufferings the dogs of a surly master would sometimes bark at her because her dress resembled the livery of the beggar a class they had been taught to chase with but except when her timid nature was alarmed by the of dogs which she always called the devil s servants crazy bet found a welcome wherever she went it is common for persons in her unfortunate circumstances to seek every scene of excitement the sober manners of the new england people and the even tenor of their lives afford but few of those and these few are for the most part of a serious if not a gloomy character wherever there was an awakening or a camp meeting crazy bet was sure to be found she was often seen by moonlight wandering in the church yard the from the graves and the monuments with ground pine she would watch for whole nights by the side of a grave in her native village where twenty years before were deposited the remains of her lover who was drowned on the day before they were a ta to been married she would range ttie woods and climb to the very mountain a top to get sweet to scatter over the mound of earth marked his grave she would plant rose bushes and lilies there and when they k them up because she said their and the decay below she been seen when the sun came over the eastern mountain s brow and shot its first ray on the grave to clap her hands and heard to shout i see an angel in the sun be blessed and holy ia be that hath part in the first on such the death hath no but they shall be of god and of christ and shall reign with him a thousand years poor bet was sure to follow in funeral procession and sometimes she would thrust herself amidst the and say the dead could not rest in their graves if they were not followed there by one true she has been seen to spring forward when the men were carelessly placing the coffin in the grave with the head to the east and exclaim are ye that ye serve the dead thus know je not the lord in the east she always lingered behind after the crowd had dispersed and busily moved and removed the and many a time has she fallen asleep with her head resting on the new made grave for she said there was no sleep so quiet as where the wicked did not trouble the quick eye of bet through their thin guise the pride and and selfishness of the sisters she interrupted mrs as she was concluding her most quotation throw it to the dogs said she it is more like taking the the wolf she then rose singing in an under voice i a new england	6
tale oh i bo the law of love id every act and thought each angry passion far removed each selfish view forgot she the bed and withdrawing the curtain exposed the little sufferer to view she had laid the open bible on the pillow where she had often rested beside her mother and laying her cheek on it had fallen asleep it was open at the th chapter of john which she had so often read to her mother that she had turned instinctively to it the page was with her tears careless of the future which to her seemed to admit no light her exhausted nature had found relief in sleep at the very moment her were so deciding her fate her pale cheek still wet with her tears and the deep sadness of a face of uncommon sweetness would have warmed with compassion any breast that had not been by selfishness shame shame upon you said the has pride turned your hearts to stone that ye cannot shelter this poor little lamb in your fold ah ye may spread your branches like the green bay tree but the tempest will come and those who look for you shall not find you but this little frost bitten bud shall bloom in the paradise of god for ever and ever a piece of which she had wound around her throat for she was never without some of mourning she stooped and gently wiped the tears from jane s cheek saying in a low tone bottles full of which are the tears of saints then rising she carefully closed the curtains and busied herself for some minutes in them together she then softly and on returned to her seat and a new england tale ing some ivy from her broken bonnet began twisting it with the this said she is a weed for elder s hat he lost his wife yesterday and i to the very top of to get him a weed that shall last fresh as long as his grief see added she and she held it up laughing it has begun to wilt already it is a true token she then rose from her seat and with a quick step between running and walking left the room but returning as suddenly she said slowly and emphatically offend not this little one for her angel does stand before my father it were better that a mill stone were hanged about your neck then to the ground she left them bet s solemn and slow manner of this warning was so different from her usually hurried utterance that it struck a momentary chill to the hearts of the sisters mrs was the first to break the silence what does she mean said she has jane experienced religion experienced religion no replied mrs how should she she has not been to a meeting since her mother was first taken sick and no longer ago than the day after her mother s death when i talked to her of her corrupt state by nature and the opposition of her heart for i felt it to be my duty at this peculiar season to open to her the great truths of religion and i was faithful to her soul and did not scruple to declare the whole counsel she looked at ine as if she was in a dumb stupor i told her the judgments of an offended god were made manifest towards her in a remarkable manner and then i put it to her conscience whether if she was sure her mother had gone where the worm not and the fire is not she should be a new england tale to the character of god and be willing herself to pro his glory by suffering the like condemnation she did not reply one word or give the least symptom of a gracious understanding but when mrs entered just as i was concluding and passed her arm around jane and said to her my child god does not willingly grieve or you the child sobbed out oh no mrs so my mother told me and i am sure of it no no she added after a moment s hesitation this does not look as if jane had a hope but sister i wonder you should mind any thing crazy bet says she is possessed with as many devils as were sent out of mary i don t mind her mrs but i know some very h good people who say that many a thing she has foretold has come to pass and especially in seasons of affliction they say she is very busy with the devil i don t know how that may be replied mrs but as i mean to do my duty by this child i don t feel myself touched by bet s crazy mrs by her sister s hint rose and said that as she was going in the afternoon to attend a meeting in a distant part of the town for said she no one can bay that distance or weather ever keeps me from my duties she had no more time to waste mrs husband drove to the door in a smart and she took leave of her ers observing she was glad the child was going to be so well provided for as she drove away crazy bet who was standing by the gate apparently intently reading the destiny of a young girl in the palm of her hand fixed her eyes for a moment on mrs and a england tale to the girl all the good seed that fell on that ground was choked by thorns long ago mrs told jane s attendant sally to inform her she might come to her house the next day and stay there for the present a chapter n or with cares and too soon thou hast began to wander forth jane received the intelligence	6
of her destination without the slightest emotion the world was all before her and she cared not whither led her mournful way happily for her the humble friend mentioned in the beginning of her history mary returned on that day after having performed the last act of filial duty jane poured all her sorrows into mary s bosom and felt already a degree of relief that she had not believed her condition admitted such is the nature of childhood its moral like its physical constitution is subject to the most sudden changes mary having the wounds of her youthful friend with the of tender sympathy and just consolation undertook the painful but necessary task of exposing to jane the evils before her that she might her against them that as she said being fore she might be she did not soften the trials of dependence upon a sordid and harsh nature she told her what demands would be made on her integrity her patience and her a new england tale but my child cried she do not be there has one taken you up who will not leave you nor you the fires may be about you but they will not on you make the bible your you will always find some good word there that will be a light to you in the darkest night and do not forget the daily sacrifice of prayer for as the priests under the old were nourished by a part of that which they offered so when the sacrifice of praise is sent upward by the broken and heart there is a strength back upon our own souls blessed be his name it is what the world cannot give mary s advice fell upon a good and honest heart and we shall see that it brought forth much fruit the evening was spent in packing jane s wardrobe which had been well by her and indulgent parents mary had been told too that the of mr would not touch the wearing apparel of his wife this was therefore carefully packed and prepared for removal and mary who with her stock of heavenly wisdom had some worldly prudence hinted to jane that she had better keep ber things out of the sight of her craving cousins jane took up her mother s bible and asked mary with a trembling voice if she thought she might be permitted to take that certainly replied mary no one will dispute your right to it it is not like worldly goods we will not touch the spoils though we were tempted by more than the goodly garment the two hundred of silver and the of gold that made to sin in obedience to the of honesty mary from permitting her zeal for jane s interest to the letter of the law she was so scrupulous that she a england talk would not use a family trunk but took a large chest of her own to pack the in while they were busily occupied with these preparations jane received a note from her aunt saying that she advised her to secure some small articles which would never be missed some of the table linen her mother s ivory work box c o the note concluded as i have undertaken the charge of you for the present it is but right you should take my advice there is no doubt my brother s have cheated him a hundred fold the amount of these things for poor man with all his faults he was so generous any body could take him in besides though these things might help to pay the expense i must be at in keeping you they will be a mere nothing divided among so many i should be the last child to advise to any thing poor woman said mary to whom jane had handed the note and then checking the expression of her disgust at what to her upright mind seemed plain she merely added we ll keep on the sure side jane clean hands make light hearts the next morning arrived and mary arose before the dawn in order to remove jane early and save her the pain of witnessing the preparations for the jane under stood her kind friend s design and silently in it for she had too much good sense to expose herself to any unnecessary suffering but when every thing was in readiness and the moment of departure arrived she shrunk back from mary s offered arm and sinking into a chair yielded involuntarily to the torrent of her feelings she looked around upon the room and its furniture as if they were her friends it has been said by one who well understands the a new england of feeling that objects which are silent every where else have a voice in the home of our childhood jane looked for the last time at the bed where she had often about her mother and rejoiced in her tender caresses at the curtains stamped with illustrations of the history which had often employed and wearied her ingenuity in their at the on which she had sat beside her mother and the old family clock whose stroke twas heaven to hear when soft it spoke a promised pleasure her eye turned to the glass which now sent back her image and she thought of the time but a little while past when elated with that promised pleasure near she had there surveyed her form arrayed in her prettiest dress now the rainbow tints had faded into the dark cloud she rose and walked to the open window about which she had trained a beautiful honey the sun had just risen and the dew drops on its leaves sparkled in his rays oh mary said she even my honey seems to weep for me a robin had built its nest on the vine and often as she	6
and she sought to her child s mind with christian principles she the seed and looked with faith for the promised blessing i must soon sleep she would say to mary but the seed is already springing up i am sure it will not lack the of heaven and you mary may live to see though i shall not first the blade then the ear and after that the full corn in the ear mary had mrs s efforts she looked upon herself as an humble instrument but she was a most efficient one she had a rare and remarkable at applying so that her life might be called a on the of the gospel mary s practical religion had sometimes conveyed a reproach the only reproach a may indulge in to mrs who herself by remarking that mary was indulging in that soul destroy ing e me tho p iq and then she would add her foot a motion that with her always indicated a mental parallel the result of which was i am than thou there is no error so fatal as resting in the duties of the second table mrs had not learned that the duties of the second table cannot be done if the others are left undone the branches must be sustained by a new england tale the trunk for he from whose wisdom there is no appeal said if ye love me ye will keep my happily for our little friend mary was not to be removed far from her an agreeable situation was unexpectedly offered to her grateful acceptance a england chapter m now spring but not to me returns the year my better days have known dim in my breast dying and all the joys of life with health are flown a few weeks before the death of mrs a mr a who was travelling with his wife and infant child for the benefit of mrs s health had stopped at the inn in mrs was rapidly declining with on this day she had as is not in the of this disease felt unusually well her cough was by the motion of the carriage and she had requested her husband to permit her to ride further than his prudence would have dictated the heat and unusual exertion proved too much for her in the evening she was seized with a which reduced her so much as to render it to move her she faded away quietly and fell into the arms of death as gently as a leaf from its stem her spirit in faith to him who gave it an extraordinary attachment between mr and mrs which had its foundation in the of a new england tale their characters education views and pursuits and had been nourished by the circumstances that had drawn and kept them together three years after their marriage mrs gave birth to a girl this event filled up the measure of their joy a few weeks after its birth as mr took the infant from its mother s bosom and pressed it fondly to his own he said the promise is to us and our children the lord grant that we may train his gift in his and thou dear robert god grant it mournfully replied but the way is closed up to me do not shudder thus but prepare thy mind for the will of the lord i could have wished to have lived for thy sake and my little one but i will not rebel for i know all is right mr hoped his wife was alarmed but he found from her physician that immediately after the birth of the child some alarming symptoms had appeared which indicate a mrs had begged they might be concealed from her husband from the generous purpose of saving him as long as possible useless anxiety the disease however had taken certain hold and that morning after a conversation with her physician during which her courage had surprised him she resolved to begin the difficult task of her husband for the approaching calamity spring came on and its sweet influences penetrated to the sick room of her health seemed and her spirits refreshed and when mr proposed that they should travel she cheerfully consented bat she her husband not to be flattered by an apparent for said she though my disease may be into a little it will not spare me a new tale as she her sufferings were but it was bat too manifest that no permanent was to be expected the disease made very slow progress one would have thought it shrunk from so young and so fair a work her spirit too enjoyed the freedom and beauty of the country as they passed up the fertile shores of the s benevolent heart glowed with gratitude to the father of all at the spectacle of so many of her fellow creatures enjoying the rich treasures of providence cast into a state of society the happiest for their moral improvement where they had neither the miseries of poverty nor the temptations of riches she would raise her eyes to the clear heaven would look on the misty mountain s top and then on the rich meadows through which they were passing and which were now with the summer s fulness and would say dear robert is there any heart so cold that it does not melt in this vision of the power and the of the lord of heaven and earth do not sorrow for me when i am going to a more perfect communion with him for i shall see him as he is from the they passed by the romantic road that leads through the plains of west o there is no part of our country abundant as it is in the charms of nature more adorned with romantic scenery the carriage slowly traced its way on the side of a mountain from which	6
the imprisoned road had with difficulty been won a noisy stream dashed along at their left and as they ascended the mountain they still heard it before them leaping from rock to rock now almost losing itself in the deep pathway it had made and then rushing with increased violence over its stony bed this young stream said mr reminds one of a new england tale the of childhood i can hardly believe it to be the same we admired so leisurely winding its peace ful way into the bo om of the thou the of maturity replied but i confess that there is something delightful to my imagination in the elastic bound of this infant stream it reminds me of the joy of spirits and strength the travellers attention was withdrawn from the wild scene before them to the appearance of the heavens by their coachman who observed that never in his days had he seen clouds make so fast it was not he said five minutes since the first speck rose above the hill before them and now there was not enough blue sky for a man to swear by but added he looking with a to what he thought an interminable hill before them the lightning will be saved the trouble of coming down to us for if my poor beasts ever get us to the top we may reach up and take it having reached the top of the next they perceived by the roadside a log hut over the door was a with a rude and mysterious painting which had been meant for a foaming can and a plate of explained underneath by cake and beer for sale this did not look very inviting but it promised a better shelter from the rain for the invalid than the carriage could afford mr opened the door and lifted his wife over a which actually ran between the sill of the house and the that had not originally been long enough for the dimensions of the apartment the mistress of the mansion a fat middle aged woman who sat with a baby in her arms at a round table at which there were four other children eating from a dish placed in the middle rose and having the eldest boy a new england from a chair by a very slap offered it to mrs and resumed her seat quietly finishing her meal her husband a ruddy good natured hardy looking had had the misfortune by some accident in his childhood to lose the use of both his legs which were now folded into the same chair on which he sat he turned to the coachman who having secured his horses had just entered and smiling at his consternation said why friend you look scare t pretty weather to be sure but then we don t mind it up here then turning to the child next him who in gazing at the strangers had dropped half the food she was conveying to her mouth he said don t scatter the so but last week he continued his address to the coachman there was the most tedious spell of weather i have sen the week before last when my wife and i went down into the lower part of to hear s funeral don t you remember that musical fellow that was there i don t see says he the use of the minister preaching up so much about hell fire says he it is a very good doctrine says he to preach down on but says he i should not think it would frighten any body in such a cold place as a bright flash that seemed to fire the heavens succeeded by a tremendous clap of thunder which made the tremble terrified all the group except the fearless speaker a pretty smart flash to be sure but as i was saying it is nothing to that storm we had last week pull that hat out of the window so the gentleman can see there sir said he just look at that big tree that was blown down if it had come one yard nearer my house it would have crushed it to ah this is a nice place a new england tale as you will find any where he continued for he saw mr was listening attentively to him to bring up boys it makes them hardy and spirited to live here with the wind roaring about them and the thunder rattling right over their heads why they don t mind it any more than my woman s spinning wheel which to be sure makes a dumb noise sometimes our travellers were not a little amused with the humour of this man who had a natural philosophy that a might have envied friend said mr you have a singular fancy about names what may be the name of that little girl who is playing with my wife s fan yes sir i am a little about names that girl sir i call and that lazy little dog that stands by her is and this baby said mr kindly giving the astonished little fellow his watch chain to play with this must be or no sir no i met with a disappointment about that boy s name what you may call a slip between the cup and the lip when he was born the women asked me what i meant to call him i told them i did not mean to be in any hurry for you must know sir the way i get my names i buy a book of one of them that are going over the mountain with tin ware and and books and and one notion and another that is i don t buy out and out but we make a they take some of my wooden dishes and let me have the in books	6
for you must know i am a great reader and mean all my children shall have too though it is pretty tough scratching for it well sir as i was saying about this boy i found a name just to hit my fancy for i can pretty generally suit myself a new england tale the name was but just about that time as the deuce would have it mj wife s father died and the gin had been a very gin man to us and so to compliment the old gentleman i concluded to call him solomon mr smiled and throwing a dollar into the baby s lap said there is something my little fellow to make up for your loss the sight and the gift of a silver dollar produced a considerable sensation among the the children gathered round the baby to examine the splendid favour the mother said the child was not old enough to make its manners to the gentleman but he was as much to him as if he the father only seemed insensible and contented himself with remarking with his usual happy that he guessed it was easier getting money down country than it was up on the hills very true my friend replied mr and i should like to know how you support your family here you do not appear to have any farm no sir replied the man laughing it would puzzle me with my legs to take care of a farm but then i always say that as long as a man has his wits he has something to work with this is a pretty cold soil up here but we make out to raise all our and enough besides to fat a couple of pigs on j then sir as you see my woman and i keep a stock of cake and beer and a nice trade for a cold stomach there is considerable travel on the road and people get considerable dry by the time they get up here and we find it a good business and then i turn wooden and dishes and go out once or twice a year and there is not an old woman ox a young one either is a common u e for vegetables in new a new england tale for the matter of that but i can them to buy a dish or two i take my pay in provisions or clothing all the cash i get is by the beer and cake and now sir though i say it that may be should not say it there is not a more independent man in the town of than i am though there is them that s more but i pay my minister s tax and my school tax as lar as any of them mr admired the ingenuity and contentment of this man his enjoyment of the privilege the glorious privilege of every new england man of being independent but his pleasure was somewhat by an appearance of a want of neatness and order which would have contributed so much to the comfort of the family and which being a he deemed essential to it he looked at the little stream of water we have mentioned and which the rain had already swollen so much that it seemed to threaten an of the house and observing that neither the complexion of the floor nor of the children seemed to have been by its he remarked to the man that he should think a person of his ingenuity would have contrived some mode of turning the stream why yes sir said the man i suppose i might for i have got a book that treats upon and them things but i m calculating to build in the fall and so i think we may as well along till then to build l do explain to me how that is to be done why sir said he taking a box from the shelf behind him which had a hole in the centre of the top through which the money was passed in but afforded no facility for withdrawing it my woman and i agreed to save all the cash we could get for two years and i should not be a aid a england tale to there is thirty dollars there sir the neighbors in these parts are very kind to a poor man one will draw the timber and another will saw the boards and they will all come to raising and bring their own spirits into the bargain oh sir it must be a poor that can t make a turn to get a house over his head mr took ten dollars from his pocket book and slipping it into the gap said is a small sum my friend and i wish it may be so expended as to give to thy new dwelling such as will enable thy wife to keep it neat it will help on the trade too for depend upon it there is nothing makes a house look so inviting to a traveller as cleanliness and order our s indifference was by so valuable a you are the most gin man sir said he that ever this way and if i don t remember your advice you may say there is no such thing as gratitude upon earth by this time the rain had subsided the clouds were rolling over the merry notes of the birds from their welcomed the returning rays of the sun and the deep in the west promised a delightful afternoon the travellers took a kind leave of the grateful and as they drove away said the husband if the days of miracles weren t quite entirely gone by i should think we had entertained angels unawares i think you might better say replied the good woman that the angels have entertained us any how that sick lady will be an angel	6
ready to do every thing that is wanted of you jane was resolution to reply when both her and her attention was called to a rustling at the window and crazy bet thrust her head in go on said she and fill up the measure of your load her with heavy and grievous to be borne and do not touch them with one of your fingers there jane said she throwing her a bunch of i have just come from the meeting and i stopped as i came past your house and picked these for i thought their bright colors would be a temptation to the and i thought too said she laughing there should be something to send up a sweet smelling from the altar where there are no deeds of mercy laid out of my yard instantly you dirty beggar i said mrs bet turned but not her step and went away singing glory glory aunt said jane do not mind the poor creature she does not mean to offend you i believe she feels for me for she has been sheltered many a time from the cold and the storms in our house don t give yourself the least uneasiness miss i am not to be disturbed by a crazy woman but i do not see what occasion there is for her feeling for you you have not yet answered me i have no answer to make ma am replied jane meekly but that i shall do my best to content you i am very a new tale young and not much used to work and i may have been too kindly dealt with but that is all oyer now do you mean miss to say that i shan t treat you kindly no aunt but i meant excuse me if i meant any thing wrong i did expect miss to hear some expressed i do ma am feel grateful tiiat i have a shelter over my head what more i have to be grateful for time must determine there was a dignity in jane s manner that with the spirit of the reply taught mrs that she had in her niece a very different subject to deal with from her own wilful and children well miss jane i shall expect no haughty airs in my house and you will please now to tell the girls to be ready to go with me to the afternoon conference and prepare yourself to go also one more thing i have to say to you you must never look to me for any that cunning mary has packed away enough to last you fifty years with all her i will trust her to feather your nest and her own too alas thought jane as she went to execute her aunt s commission what good does it do my poor aunt to go to conference perhaps this question would not have occurred to many girls of thirteen but jane had been accustomed to the motives of her conduct and to watch for the fruit the aid extended to our helpless orphan by her aunt reminds us of the right of asylum afforded by the to the who were allowed to take shelter in the temples of their gods and suffered to perish there she found the girls very much to the afternoon meeting for on topics a new england tale meeting said she would not go to hear s everlasting prayers she had heard so many of them she knew them all by heart had just got possession by of a new novel that species of reading being absolutely in mrs s house she had crept up to the garret and was promising herself a long afternoon of stolen pleasure oh jane said she why can t you go down and tell mother you can t find me just tell her you guess i have gone down to miss banker s to inquire whether the tracts have come that s a good thought and she was her book when seeing jane did not move she added i ll do as much for you any time i shall never wish you to do as much for me i do not think it is so very much just to go down stairs besides jane she added mother says you must do whatever we ask you to was so to deceit that it never occurred to her that the falsehood was the difficult part of the errand to jane and when jane said cousin i will do whatever is reasonable for you and no more any thing that is true i will tell your mother for you laughed in jane you have brought your strict notions to a poor market it was easy enough to get along with the truth with your mother because she would let you have your own way on all occasions but i can tell you are the only wear in our camp i shall not use them i should dread their being stripped off oh not at all mother seldom takes the trouble to inquire into it and if she does now and then by accident a new england tale detect it the storm soon over she has caught me in many a white lie and black one too and she has not been half so angry as when i have torn my frock or lost a glove why child if you are going to fight your battles with mother with plain truth you will find yourself without shield or ah replied jane smiling that b no battle ev ry body knows where one side only gives the blows that s true enough jane well if you will not help me off from the conference i must go sweet said she kissing her book and carefully hiding it in a dark comer of the garret must i part with thee one would think said jane you were	6
parting with your lover i am my dear i always fancy when i read a novel that i am the heroine and the hero is one of my and then i realize it all and it appears so natural was not at heart an ill natured girl but having a weak understanding and rather a fearful temper she had driven by her mother s mode of treatment into the practice of deceit and she being the weaker party used in her warfare as many arts as a savage towards a civilized enemy a small stock of original invention may be worked up into a vast deal of cunning had been sent one quarter to a distant boarding school where her name had attracted a young lady whose head had been turned by love stories they had formed a league of eternal friendship which might have a six months duration and had returned to her home at the age of sixteen with a of romance to her home bred a new england tale was two years older than her sister and more like her mother violent and self willed she openly resisted her mother s authority whenever it opposed her wishes from such companions jane soon found she had nothing to expect of improvement or pleasure but though it may seem quite incredible to some she was not unhappy the very labour her aunt imposed on her was converted into a blessing for it occupied her mind and saved her from brooding on the happy past or the unhappy present she now found exercise for the domestic talents mary had so cultivated even the mrs was once heard to say with some apparent pleasure that jane was gifted at all sorts of work her hand was often put in by her idle and cousins and their favour was sometimes won by her kind offices but more than all and above all as a source of contentment and cheerfulness better far than ever was boasted of springs or cups of immortality was jane s habit of her daily life by the sacred rules of our blessed lord she would steal from her bed at the dawn of day when the songs of the birds were the stillness of nature and beauty and fragrance breathing incense to the maker and join her to the praise at this hour she studied the word of truth and life and a holy beam of light fell from it on her path through the day her pleasures at this social period of her life were almost all solitary except when she was indulged in a visit to mary whose eye was continually watching over her with maternal kindness the of her childhood had been so sadly checked by the change of her fortunes that her countenance had taken rather a serious and reserved cast mr s benevolent feelings were awakened by her appearance and mary a new england tale chief was in on the character of her favourite took care to confirm his favourable impressions by setting in the light her former felicity her present trials and her patience in mary had orders to leave the furniture in a little room that had formerly been assigned to jane precisely as she left it and to tell jane that it was still called and should be considered her room and that beautiful jane said mr to her which thy hand has so carefully trained about the window is still thine these and many other of delicate attention from mr saved her from the feeling of that she might otherwise have suffered a england tale chapter v i am for other than for dancing measures as tou like it a few months after jane entered her aunt s family an commotion had been produced in the village of by an event of rare occurrence this was no less than the arrival of a dancing master and the issuing of proposals for a dancing this was regarded by some very zealous persons as a de g of the old adversary which if not successfully opposed would end in the establishment of his kingdom the plan of the of was to establish a chain of schools from one extremity of the country to the other and this was looked upon as a mine which would be sprung to the certain destruction of every thing that was virtuous and of good report some the impending sin from their one said that he had searched the bible from to and as he could not find a text that expressly that he was confirmed in a previous opinion that it was included in all general of sin he said that dancing was a new england one of the most of all the rites of those savage nations that were under the immediate and visible government of the prince of this world and finally he referred them to the church documents those precious records of the piety and wisdom and of their ancestors and they would there find a rule which any church member from or being present at a ball or dance or or any such assembly of satan and they would moreover find that such had been repeatedly punished by from the church and from all christian some of this gentleman s brethren contented themselves by using their influence in private advice and remonstrance and a few said they could not see the sin nor the danger of the people s indulging with moderation in a exercise and innocent adapted to their season of life that what the moral and pious had and the excellent approved it did not become them to frown upon but they should use their efforts in the young people within the bounds of moderation the result was that our dancing master obtained a few schools and one in the village which enjoyed the privilege of mrs s light she filled with alarm lifted up her voice	6
and spared not some of her warmest admirers thought her had more of in it than discretion notwithstanding the violence of the opposition and perhaps aided by it the dancing school was at length fairly established and some of the elderly of the village who had considered dances as the of satan were heard to confess that when properly regulated they might furnish an amusement not altogether to youth and that they did not in point of propriety suffer by a comparison a new england tale with the and cushion dances of their younger days at mrs s instance two new weekly meetings were appointed on the same evenings with the dancing school the one to be a conference in the presence of the young people and the other a lecture for them these her daughters were compelled to attend in spite of the bold and turbulent opposition of and the well of expressed her surprise at jane s patience under the new to be sure jane she said you have not the trial that i have about the dancing school for a poor girl can t expect such accomplishments i do so long to dance it was in the dance edward first fell in love with but then these odious these hateful meetings oh i have certainly a to them you do not always have to attend them mother is ready enough to let you off when there is any hard job to be done in the family well much as i hate work i had rather work than go to meeting tell me honestly jane would not you like to learn to dance if you were not obliged to wear deep mourning and could afford to pay for it jane all used as she was to the of her cousins would sometimes feel the colour come to her cheeks and she felt them glow as she replied i learned to dance during the year i spent at mrs s la is it possible i never heard you say a word about it no said jane many things have happened to mo that you never heard me say a word about oh i dare say miss jane every body knows your a new england tale cold reserved disposition my sensibility would destroy me if i did not permit it to flow out into a bosom but now jane said she shutting the door and lowering her voice i have hit upon a capital plan to cheat mother there is to be a little ball to night after the school and i have promised edward to go with him to it for once jane be generous and lend me a helping hand in the first place to get rid of the meeting i am to put a flannel round my throat to tell my mother it is very sore and i have a head ache and then i shall go to bed but as soon as she is well out of the house i shall get up and dress me and wind that pretty wreath of yours which i m sure you will lend me around my head and meet just at the tree at the end of the garden then as to the return you know you told mother you could not to meeting because you was going to stay with old and i just heard the doctor say he did not believe she would live the night through this is clear luck what mother would call at any rate you know if she should not be any worse you can sit up till o clock and i will just tap at s bed room window and you won t refuse jane to slip the bolt of the outside door for me jane told her she could not take part in her projects but trusting to the impulse of her cousin s good nature to her plan mrs was not on this occasion so keen eyed as usual she had that very day received proposals of marriage from a broken merchant and though she had no idea of her estates and liberty she was a good deal fluttered with what she would fain have believed to be a compliment to her personal charms every thing succeeded to s most sanguine expectations her mother went to the a new england tale conference arrayed in all the finery her own wardrobe supplied and crowned with jane s wreath went off to meet her expecting gallant leaving jane by the bedside of and there the sweet girl kindly watched alone till after the return of the family from the conference till after the bell had summoned the household to the evening prayer and till after the last lingering sound of doors windows c had died away the poor old invalid was really in the last extremity her breathing grew shorter and more interrupted her eyes assumed a fearful stare and jane s fortitude her and she ventured to call her aunt who had but just entered the room when the poor creature expired in the last struggle she grasped jane s hand and as her fingers released their hold and the arm fell beside her jane raised it up and gently laying it across her body and retaining the hand for a moment in her own she said poor how much hard work you have done with this hand and how many for me your troubles are all over now you take upon you to say a great deal jane replied her aunt did not give me satisfying evidence of a saving faith but said jane as if she did not quite comprehend the import of her aunt s remark was very faithful over her little that s nothing to the purpose jane answered mrs jane made no reply unless the tear she dropped on her old friend might be deemed one and mrs added now child	6
you must get the things together to lay her out then saying that s sickness had been a bill oi a tale cost to her and quite overlooking her long life of patient and profitable service she gave the most sordid directions as to the selection of provisions for the last wants of the poor jane went out of the room to execute her orders she had scarcely gone when mrs heard the window carefully raised and some one said here i am jane go softly and slip the bolt of the west door and don t for the world wake the old lady by any brighter light than the dim night lamp that was burning on the hearth could not have mistaken her dark harsh mother for her fair cousin a single glance revealed the truth to mrs the were playing on the wreath of flowers and edward who was known as the of the ball stood beside she smothered her rage for a few moments and creeping softly to the passage opened the door and admitted the rebel who followed her to s room saying oh jane you are a dear good soul for once i have had an time never try to persuade me not to play off a good trick on mother by this time they had arrived at s room where jane had just entered with a candle in her hand mrs turned to her child who stood confounded with the sudden detection i have caught you said she almost bursting with rage caught you both then seizing the wreath of flowers which she seemed to look upon as the hoisted flag of successful rebellion she threw it on the floor and crushing it with her foot she grasped the terrified girl and pushed her so violently that she fell on the cold body of the lifeless woman and you i continued the furious creature turning to jane is this my reward for warming you in my bosom you with your smooth face teaching my child to deceive and abuse me but you shall a new tale have your reward you shall see whether i am to be by a dependent child in my own house jane had often seen her aunt angry but she had never witnessed such passion as this and she was for a moment confounded but like a delicate plant that to the ground before a sudden gust of wind and then is as erect as ever she turned to mrs and said ma am i have never deceived or aided others to deceive you i verily believe you lie i replied her aunt in a tone of fury jane looked to her cousin who had from the cold body of and sat in sullen silence on a trunk at the foot of the bed said she you will do me the justice to tell your mother i had no part in your deception but well pleased to have any portion of the storm averted from her own head had not generosity enough to the truth she therefore with her conscience and merely said jane knew i was going i was sure of it i was sure of it i always knew she was an artful still waters run deep but she shall be exposed the mask shall be stripped from the aunt said jane in a voice so sweet so composed that it sounded like the breath of music following the of an enraged animal aunt we are in the chamber of death and in a little time you and i and all of us shall be as this poor creature as you will then wish your soul to be lightened of all injustice spare the innocent now you know i never deceived you knows it i am willing to bear any thing it pleases god to lay upon me but i cannot have my good name taken it is all that remains to me this appeal checked mrs for a moment she would have replied but she was interrupted by two colored a new women whom she had sent for to the last offices for she restrained her passion gave them the necessary directions and withdrew to her own room where we doubt not she was followed by the of her conscience for however neglected and stifled its still small will be heard in darkness and solitude it may seem strange that mrs should have manifested such anxiety to throw the blame of this affair on jane but however a parent may seek by every flattering vanity can devise to the truth the of a child will convey a reproach and reflect on the author of its existence jane and crept to their beds without exchanging a single word felt some shame at her own meanness but levity and selfishness always prevailed in her mind and she soon lost all consciousness of realities and visions of dances and music and moonlight floated in her brain sometimes a change came o er the spirit of her dream and she shrunk from a violent grasp and felt the icy touch of death and wherever she turned a ray from her cousin s mild blue eye fell upon her and she could not escape from its silent reproach the mother and the daughter might both have envied the repose of the solitary abused orphan who possessed a peace they could not trouble she soon lost all memory of her aunt s rage and her cousin s injustice and sunk into quiet in her dream she saw her mother tenderly smiling on her and heard again and again the last words of the old woman the lord bless you miss jane i the lord will bless you for your kindness to old if mrs had not been blinded by self love she might have an invaluable lesson from the melancholy results of her own government but she preferred a new	6
england tale ring every evil to the of one of the of power her children denied the appropriate pleasures of youth were driven to sins of a much deeper than those which mrs sought to avoid could have had even in her eyes for surely the very worst that ever were attributed to dancing or to romance reading cannot equal the secret dislike of a parent s authority the of the heart against a parent s tyranny and the falsehood and meanness that weakness always will employ in the of power and than which nothing will more certainly taint every thing that is pure in the character the cool reflection of the morning pointed out to mrs as the most discreet the very line of conduct justice would have dictated she knew she could not accuse jane without exposing and besides she did not care to have it known that her sagacity had been by these children therefore though she appeared at breakfast more sulky and unreasonable than usual she took no notice of the transactions of the preceding night and they remained secret to all but the actors in them except that we have reason to believe from mr s increased attention to jane shortly after that they had been faithfully to him by mary the of whose sympathy it cannot be deemed wonderful our little solitary should seek a new england tale chapter vi these are fine but what bird were tbey from there is nothing in new england so eagerly sought for or so highly by all classes of people as the advantages of education a farmer and his wife will deny themselves all other benefits that might result from the gains that have to them from a summer of self denial and toil to give their children the privilege of a grammar school during the winter the public or as they are called the town are open to the child of the poorest as knowledge is one of the best helps and most certain to virtue we doubtless owe a great portion of the morality of this blessed region where there are no dark corners of ignorance to these wise institutions of our pious ancestors in the fall subsequent to the events we have recorded a school had been opened in the village of of a higher and more expensive order than is common in a country town every mouth was filled with praises of the new teacher and with promises and expectations of the knowledge to be derived from this newly opened fountain all was bustle and preparation among the young companions of and for the school for though beyond the usual a new england tale age was to complete her education at the new the dancing school had passed without a sigh of regret from jane but now she felt severely her her watchful friend mary remarked the melancholy look that was at her aunt s and she inquired of jane why she was so downcast ah mary she replied it is a long time since i have felt the merry spirit which the wise man says is medicine to the heart that s true jane but then there s nobody that is there s nobody that has so little reason for it as you have that has a more cheerful look i have great reason to be cheerful mary in token of gratitude for my kind friends here and added she taking mr s infant who extended her arms to her you and i are too young to be very sad the child felt the tear that the cheek to which she was pressed and looking into jane s face with instinctive sympathy burst into tears mr entered at this moment and jane hastily the child in mary s lap and tying on her hat bade them farewell mr asked for some explanation mary believed nothing particular had happened but she said the poor girl s spirit with the life she leads it s a to live with mrs a great change from a home and mother to such a work house and such a task woman mr had often regretted that it was so little in his power to benefit jane the school occurred to him and as nothing was more improbable than that mrs would herself the expense of jane s attendance he consulted with mary as to the best mode of doing it himself without a new provoking mrs s opposition or offending her pride a few days after when the agent for the school presented the list to mrs for her signature she saw there to her utter astonishment jane s name the agent handed her an note from mr in which he said that as it had been customary to send one person from t e house he now occupied to the school he had taken the liberty to continue the custom he hoped the measure would meet with mrs s tion without which it could not go into effect mrs at first said it was impossible she could not spare jane but afterwards she consented to take it into consideration the moment the man had shut the door she turned to and misunderstanding the flush of pleasure that brightened her usually pale face she exclaimed and so miss this is one of your plans to slip your neck out of the yoke of duty said she had nothing to do with the plan but she trusted her aunt would not oblige her to lose such a golden opportunity of advantage mrs made various objections and jane them all at last she said there would be a piece of linen to make up for david and that put it quite out of the question for said she i shall not take the girls from their studies and even you miss jane will probably have the grace to think my time more precious than yours well aunt said	6
jane with a smile so sweet that even mrs could not entirely resist its influence if i will get the linen made by witch or fairy may i go why yes replied her aunt as you cannot get it made without or i may safely say you may jane s reliance was on kindness more potent than a new tale and that very with the light bounding step of hope went to her friend mary s where after made her to mr with the grace of earnestness and sincerity she revealed to mary the only obstacle that now opposed her wishes mary at once as jane expected offered to make the linen for her and jane affectionately thanking her said she was sure her aunt would be satisfied for she had often heard her say mary was the best in the county mrs had seen jane so uniformly and to her wilful administration and in matters she deemed of vastly more consequence than six months that she was all astonishment to behold her now so in her resolution to accomplish her purpose but jane s and mrs s estimate of the importance of any given object was very different the same fortitude that enabled jane to bear silently and patiently the s wrong her courage in the of a good end mrs had no longer any pretence to oppose jane s wishes and the following day she took her place with her cousins at mr s school her education had been very much advanced for her years so that though four years younger than she was after a very careful examination by the teacher with her this was a severe mortification to s pride she seemed to feel her cousin s equality an insult to herself and when she reported the circumstance to her mother she said she believed it was all owing to jane s soft answers and pretty face or may be the who takes such a mighty fancy to jane has mr very likely very likely answered her mother it seems as if every body took that child s part against us a new england tale jane once more placed on even ground with her companions was like a spring relieved from a pressure she entered on her new pursuits with a vigor that baffled the mean attempts of the family at home to or hinder her course she was not a genius but she had that eager that patient attention to which the greatest of philosophers attributed the success which has been the envy and admiration of the world there was a perpetual sunshine in her face that delighted her patron he had thought nothing could bo more interesting than jane s pensive dejected expression but he now felt that it was beautiful as well as natural for the young plant to its leaves to the bright rays of the sun and to rejoice in its beams mary was heard to say quite as often as the beauty of the expression would justify the lord be thanked jane once more wears the cheerfulness of countenance that a heart in prosperity double duties were laid on jane at home but she won her way through them the strict rule of her aunt s house did not allow her to watch with the but she made acquaintance with the gray dawn and learnt by them well the mode recommended by elizabeth smith the value of minutes as well as hours the bad envied her progress the stupid were amazed at it and the generous delighted with it she went rejoicing on her way far before her cousins who stung by her manifest superiority made unwonted exertions and might have fairly with her for the that were to be given had she not often been confused and by the of her temper the winter and the spring winged their rapid flight the end of the term which was to close with an exhibition ap a new england tale the note of busy preparation was heard in every dwelling in the village of we doubt if the expectation of the at de la excited a greater sensation among knights lords and saxon than the anticipation of the exhibition produced upon the young people of labor and skill were employed and exhausted in preparations for the event one day was allotted for the examination of the scholars and the distribution of for the exhibition during which the young men and boys were to display those powers that were developing for the pulpit and the bar and the political the young ladies were with obvious and singular propriety excluded from any part in the exhibition except that on the first drawing aside for they did not know enough of the art to draw up the curtain the prize composition was to be read by the writer of it the old and the young seemed alike interested in the glories of the day the part of a king from one of miss s sacred was to be and there was a general assembly of the girls of the village to fit his royal a purple shawl was converted by a little girl of ready invention into a royal robe of the crown blazed with which to too curious scrutiny appeared to be not diamonds but not gold but gold leaf and gold beads of which fashionable new england as tradition goes there were not less than sixty strings lent for the occasion by the kind old ladies of the village an who had once flourished in the capital completed the of the crown by four nodding whose bend did certainly awe the world of there might have been some want of in the v a new england tale but this was not marked by the of as not one of the republican audience had ever seen a real crown a meeting was called of the of the school and i the meeting	6
house for thus in the land of the the churches are still named was assigned as the place of exhibition in order not to the seriousness of the the pieces to be spoken were all to be of a moral or religious character music notwithstanding the of independence in the same holy place were pleaded as a precedent was forbidden the arrangements were made according to these from which there was no appeal and neither as usually happens with inevitable evils was there much dissatisfaction one of the boys remarked that he wondered the three of the were did not stop the birds from singing and the sun from shining and all such gay sounds and sights oh that those who throw a pall over the innocent pleasures of life and give in the eye of the young to religion a dark and gloomy aspect would learn some lessons of from the joyous light of the sun and the merry of the birds a floor was laid over the tops of the which was covered by a carpet lent by the kind mr a chair a present from queen anne to the first missionary to the indians and which like some other royal gifts had cost more than it came to in its journey from the coast to the interior furnished a very respectable throne less than some that have been filled by real kings for it remained a in the middle of the stage while kings were and curtains of divers colors and figures wore drawn in a devised manner from one end of the church to the other a new england tale the day of examination came and our deserving young heroine was crowned with honours which she so well and bore so meekly that she had the sympathy of the whole school except that for the truth must be told of her cousins when the for grammar geography history and philosophy were one after another in obedience to the of the to jane by her gratified master burst into tears of spite and mortification and whispered to the young lady next her she may have her triumph now but i will have one worth a hundred k morrow for i am sure that my composition will be preferred to hers to add the zest of curiosity and surprise to the exhibition it had been determined that the writer of the successful piece should not be known till the withdrawing of the curtain disclosed the secret the long expected day arrived one would have thought from the and that poured in from the neighbouring towns that a cattle show or a hanging or some such merry making matter was going on in the village of the church was filled at an early hour and and galleries crowded as we have seen a less holy place at the first appearance of a foreign actor the teacher and the clergyman were in the pulpit the scholars ranged on benches at the opposite of the stage the crowd was hushed into stillness while the clergyman commenced the exercises of the day by an appropriate prayer the curtains were hardly closed before they were again withdrawn and the eager eyes of the assembly fell on a shadow of disappointment might have been seen flitting across mr s face at this moment while mary who sat in a corner of the gallery half rose from her seat sat down again tied and her bon b a england and in short manifested signs of disappointment and vexation signs that in more charitable eyes than mrs s certainly would have gone against the doctrine of perfection was seated on the throne arrayed in a bright scarlet frock and a white thrown over her shoulders her hair in imitation of some favourite heroine flowed in over her neck excepting a single with which as she fancied d la she had her brow and to add to this confusion of the classical and the pastoral orders instead of the of in the model she had bound her with blue glass beads who is that who is that was whispered from one to another the rich widow s daughter the strangers were answered mrs whose maternal pride was swollen by the consciousness of triumph over jane nodded and whispered to all within her hearing my daughter sir my daughter ma am you see by the bill the prize composition is to be spoken by the writer of it rose and advanced she had requested that she might speak instead of reading her piece and she it with all the airs and graces of a self elected heroine when she dropped her courtesy and returned to her companions her usually high colour was heightened by the pride of success and the pleasure of display some were heard to say she is a beauty while others shook their heads and observed the young lady must have great talents to write such a piece but she looked too bold to please them before the busy hum of comment had died away an old a england tale man with a bald head a keen eye and a yery good face rose and said he would make bold to speak a word was suitable to youth but was not necessary to gray hairs he was kind o to spoil a young body s pleasure but he must own he did not like to see so much flourish in borrowed that if he read the notice right the young woman was to speak a piece of her own he had no fault to find with the speaking she spoke as smart as a lawyer but he knew them words as well as the and if the or the minister would please to walk to his house which was hard by they might read them out of an old boston newspaper that his woman who had been dead ten years come independence had	6
up by the side of his bed to keep off the the old man sat down and mr who had all along been a little suspicious of foul play begged the patience of the audience while he himself could make the necessary comparison mrs conscious of the possession of a file of old boston papers and well knowing the was but too probable from one side of the to the other and the conscience stricken girl on the pretence of being seized with a violent left the church the teacher soon returned and was yery sorry to bo obliged to say that the result of the had been to the young lady s integrity as the piece had undoubtedly been copied from e original essay in the boston paper he hoped his school would suffer no from the fault of an he should now though the young lady had remonstrated against being brought forward under such circumstances insist on the composition being read which had been pronounced next best to miss s and a new england he could assure the audience was unquestionably original the curtain was once more withdrawn and jane seated on the throne looking like the meek reluctant to receive the greatness that was thrust upon her she presented a striking contrast to the sovereign she was dressed in a plain black silk frock and a neatly muslin her rich light brown hair was parted on her forehead and confined by a handsome comb around which one of her young friends had twisted an od of sweet summer she advanced with so embarrassed an air that even mary thought her triumph cost more than it was worth as she the she held in her hand she ventured once to raise her eyes she saw but one face among all the the encouraging smile of her kind patron met her timid glance and her to proceed which she did in a low and faltering voice that certainly lent no grace but the grace of modesty to the composition the subject was gratitude and the remarks made on the virtue were such as could only come from one whose heart was warmed by its glow mr felt the delicate praise mrs affected to appropriate it to herself she whispered to her next neighbour it is easy to write about gratitude but i am sure her conduct is enough as jane returned to her seat her face brightened with the relief of having got through edward exclaimed to the young man next him by jove it is the most elegant composition i ever heard from a girl jane has grown very handsome yes replied his friend i always thought her pretty but you prefer her cousin i did prefer her cousin answered j but i a new england noticed jane before she is but a child and she has always looked so pale and so sad since the change in her family you know i have no fancy for solemn looks is certainly handsome very handsome she is a little devil but for all that she is gay and spirited and amusing it is enough to make one give one s self to little and to live with such a stem woman as mrs the girl has infinite ingenuity in her mother and her pretty face covers a multitude of faults so i should think replied his friend from the character you have given her you will hardly the that have led to the disgrace of this morning oh no answered but i am sorry for her mortification the exhibition proceeded but as our heroine had no further concern with it neither have we except to say that it was equally honourable to the and pupils the of the king was exceedingly admired and some were heard to observe very justly that they did not believe solomon in all his glory was arrayed like him jane s situation at her aunt s was rendered more painful than ever from the events of the school and the exhibition mrs treated her with every species of in vain jane tried by her usefulness to her aunt to win her favour and by the most patient obedience to her unreasonable commands by silent submission to soothe her into kindness it was all in vain her aunt was oppressive than ever more rude and more it was not hearing her called the just that provoked their hatred but it was the keen and most disagreeable feeling of self reproach that stung them when the light of her goodness fell upon their evil deeds it was the daily beauty of her life that made them ugly a new talk chapter m the cause in s equal scales whose beam stands sure henry vl jane hoped for some favourable change in her condition or some slight of it from the visit of david who had just arrived from college to pass a six weeks with his family at first he seemed to admire his cousin and partly to gratify a passing fancy and partly from opposition to his mother and sisters he treated her with particular attention jane was grateful and returned his kindness with frankness and affection but she was soon obliged by the freedom of his manners to treat him with reserve his pride was wounded and he joined the family league against her he was a youth of eighteen his passions had been by the authority of his mother but never tamed and now that he was beyond her reach he was continually falling into some excess almost always in disgrace at college and never in favour mr was made acquainted with the in jane s condition by mary he would have rejoiced to have offered jane a home but he had no right to interfere he was a stranger and he well knew that mrs would a new england tale consent to any arrangement that would deprive her of jane	6
s ill such services as money could not purchase it was too about this period that mr went for the first time to visit philadelphia jane had passed a day of unusual exertion and just at the close of it she obtained her aunt s reluctant leave to pay a visit to mary it was a soft summer evening the valley in deep shadow the sun was sinking behind the western mountains the light clouds with a smiling farewell ray and his last beams lingering on the of the eastern mountain as if parting were sweet sorrow jane s spirits rose elastic as she breathed the open air she felt like one who has just issued from a close pent up sick room and the fresh pure breath of morning she was along sending an involuntary response to the last notes of the birds that were on bush and when edward joined her she had often seen him at her aunt s but regarding him as the companion of her cousins she had scarcely noticed him or had been noticed by him he joined her saying it is almost too late to be abroad without a companion i amused replied jane to be without a companion and i do not need one but i hope you do not object to one it would be one of the miseries of human life to see such a girl as jane walking alone and not be permitted to join her sir said jane confounded by edward s unexpected gallantry abashed by her simplicity he replied that he was going to walk and should be very happy to attend her jane felt kindness though she knew not how to receive a new england tale gallantry she thanked him and they walked on together when edward parted from her he wondered he had never noticed before how very interesting she was and what a sweet expression she has when she smiles and oh i added he with a rapture quite in a young man of twenty her eye is in itself a soul jane said mary to her as she entered her room you look as bright as a may morning and i have that to tell you that will make you yet brighter mr has been here inquiring for mr i had my that it was something about you and though mr was gone i was determined to find out and so i made bold to break the ice and say something about the exhibition and how mr was pleased with the school c c and then he said he was quite disappointed to find mr gone he wanted to consult him about a matter of great importance to himself and to you mr was so kind he said and had shown such an interest in the school that he did not like to take any important stop without consulting him and then he spoke very handsomely of those elegant that mr presented to the school he said his was so much enlarged that he must engage an assistant but as he wished to purchase some maps he must get one who could furnish at least one hundred his sick wife and large family he said consumed nearly all his profits and last and best of all jane he said that you was the person he should prefer of all others for an assistant me exclaimed jane my dear child you i told him you was not quite fifteen but he said you knew more than most young wo a england men of twenty and almost all tlie school loved and respected you but mary mary and the bright flush of pleasure died away as she spoke where am i to get a hundred dollars v mr answered mary i know would furnish it no mary replied jane after a few moments consideration i never can consent to that but why said mary mr all his money in doing good jane could not tell why but she felt that it was not delicate to such an obligation she merely said mr s means are well employed if any man he certainly will hear those blessed words i was hungry and ye fed me naked and ye clothed me sick an in prison and ye visited me i do not eat the bread of idleness mary i think i earn all my aunt gives me and i am not very unhappy there indeed i am seldom unhappy i cannot tell how it it but i am used to their ways i am always busy and have not time to dwell on their it passes me like the tempest from which i am sheltered and when i feel my temper rising i remember who it is that has placed me in the fiery furnace and i feel mary strengthened and peaceful as if an angel were really beside me surely said mary as if but thinking aloud the kingdom is come in this dear child s heart both were silent for a few moments jane was making a strong mental to subdue that longing after liberty that in every heart habitual discipline had rendered it comparatively easy for her to restrain her wishes after a short struggle she said with a smile i am sure of one thing a new england tale my dear kind mary i shall never lose an of advantage while i have such a watchful friend as you are on the look out for me oh how much have i to be grateful for i i had no reason to expect such favor from mr every one out of my aunt s family is kind to me i have no right to at the trials i have there they are no doubt necessary to me mary i sometimes feel the rising of a pride in my heart that i am sure needs all these lessons of humility and sometimes i	6
feel that i might be easily tempted to do wrong to indulge an indolent disposition for which you often me but i am compelled to exertion by necessity as well as a sense of duty it is good for me to bear this yoke in my youth no doubt no doubt my dear child but then you know if there is a way of escape opened to you it would be but a tempting of providence not to avail yourself of it it is right to endure necessary evils with patience but i know no rule that your getting rid of them if you can mary was not a woman to leave any stone when she had a certain benefit in view for her favourite now dear jane said she i have one more plan to propose to you and though it will cost you some pain i think you will finally see it in the same light that i do i always thought it was not for nothing providence moved the hearts of the to spare you all your dear mother s clothes seeing she had a good many that could not be called necessary nor was it a blind chance that raised you up such a friend as mr in a stranger now if you will consent to it i will undertake to dispose of the articles mr sent to you and your mother s lace and and all the little nick she left it shall go hard but i will raise a hundred dollars but mary said jane wishing perhaps to conceal from a new england tale herself even the reluctance she felt to the proposal aunt will never consent to it the consent that is not asked replied mary cannot be refused it is but speaking to mr and he will keep our counsel for he is not a talking body and when all is ready it will be time enough not to ask mrs s leave but to tell her your plans you owe her nothing my child unless it be for keeping the furnace hot that the gold i would not make you discontented with your situation but i cannot bear to see your mind as well as your body in slavery mary s long had given jane a moment for reflection and she now saw the obvious benefits to result from the of her judicious friend s plan the real sorrows that had shaded her short life had taught her not to waste her sensibility on trifles she doubtless felt it to be very painful to part with any of her mother but the moment she was convinced it was right and best she should do so she consented and cheerfully to the arrangement mary entered immediately upon the execution of her plan those who have been accustomed to use and to waste thousands will smile with contempt at the difficulty of raising a hundred dollars but let those persons be reduced to want so mean a sum and they will cease to laugh at the obstacles in the way of getting it certain it is that mary anxious and spent four weeks in industrious application to those whom she thought most likely to be in the confined market of the necessity of secrecy increased the difficulty of the transaction but finally zeal and perseverance mastered every obstacle and mary with sparkling eyes and a face that smiled all over in spite of its habitual put jane in possession the hundred dollars new england tale this is indeed in the wilderness said jane as she received it but dear mary i am not the less thankful to you for your exertions for me my child you are right replied mary thanks should first ascend to heaven and then they are very apt to descend in heavenly grace upon the feeble instrument but something seems to trouble you i am troubled answered jane i fear mary this sum cannot all have come from the articles you sold you have added some of your no my dear child some and all of my would i gladly give to you but you know my poor blind sister takes all i can earn while god me with health she shall never want the town has to take her off my hands as they call it but this would be a crying shame to me and besides she added smiling i can t spare her for it is more pleasant working for her than for myself thanks to mr she is now placed in a better situation than i could afford for her no jane the money is all yours i have told mr and you are to enter the school on monday and i have engaged a place for you at mrs s who will be as kind as a mother to you between now and monday you will have time to your aunt with the fortune you have come to and to shed all the tears that are necessary on this occasion i jane had now nothing to do but to communicate these arrangements but so much did she dread the tempest she knew the intelligence would produce that she suffered the day to wear away without opening her lips on the subject the next day arrived the time of was so near she felt her spirits rise equal to the disagreeable task the family were assembled in the dwelling room mrs was england tale engaged in casting np with her son david some of his college accounts a kind of business that never increased her good humour and were seated at a window in a warm about the piece of work on which they were sewing the point of seemed to be to which the mother had assigned the task of finishing it the two younger children were fitting on little chairs near their mother learning a long lesson in the	6
assembly s and every now and then crying out please to speak to david ma am he is me david pulled my hair ma am the either received no notice or an angry rebuke from the mother jane was quietly sewing and mentally that she would speak on the dreaded subject the moment her aunt had finished the business at which she was engaged mrs s temper became so much ruffled that she could not understand the accounts so shuffling the papers altogether into her desk and turning the key she said angrily to her son her eldest hope you will please to bear in mind sir that all these extravagant bills are charged to you and shall come out of your portion not a cent of them will i ever pay this did not seem to be a very moment for jane s communication but she dreaded it so much that she felt impatient to have it off her mind and laying down her work she was fearfully beginning when she was interrupted by a gentle tap at the door a mean looking woman entered who bore the marks of poverty and sorrow and sickness she had a pale half starved infant in her arms and two other little ragged children with her that she had very left at the outer door she very humbly to the lady of the house hoped no offence she had a little business with miss she believed miss had a new e forgotten her it was no wonder she did not blame her sickness and trouble made great changes mrs either did not or affected not to recognize her she was aware that old acquaintance might create a claim upon her charity and she did not seem well pleased when jane who sat near pushed a chair forward for the poor woman into which sunk as it appeared from utter inability to stand who do you say you are said mrs after embarrassing the woman by an stare i did not say ma am for i thought may be when yoa looked at me so severe you would know me let me take your baby while you rest a little said jane oh miss he is not fit for you to take he has had a dreadful spell with the cough and the and they have left him kind o sore and he has not looked so as he does to day since we left jane persisted in her kind offer and the woman turned again to mrs can t you call to mind ma am that lived five years at your brother squire s yes yes i recollect you now but you married and went away and people should get their where they do their work i did not come to beg replied the woman that maybe said mrs but it is a very poor calculation for the people that move into the new countries to come back upon us as soon as they meet with any trouble i wonder our select men don t take it in hand ah ma am said the woman i guess you was never among strangers never knew what it was to long to see your own people oh it is a heart sickness that seems to wear away life i a england tale whether i was or was not i don t know what that to you i should be glad to know what your business is with me if you have any which i very much doubt i am afraid ma am you will not see fit to make it your business said the poor woman and she sighed deeply and hesitated as if she was discouraged from proceeding but the piteous condition of her children stimulated her courage well ma am to begin with the beginning of my troubles as i was saying i lived five years with your brother troubles exclaimed mrs you had an easy life enough of it there you was always as plump as a and your cheeks as red as a rose i had nothing to complain of but that i could never get my pay when i wanted it there never was a woman than miss i believe she saved my life once when i bad the ti us fever but then every body knew she never had the use of much money she never seemed to care any thing about it when she had any i could always get it i hope no offence but every body knows the squire was always a and seldom had the money ready to pay his just debts i am afraid the child you miss she continued turning to jane who had walked to the window to hide the emotion the woman s remarks produced no replied jane i had rather keep it and the woman proceeded it lacked but six weeks of the five years i had lived at the squire s when i was married to when came to a settlement with the squire there was a hundred dollars owing to me we were expecting to move off at a great distance beyond the and pressed very hard for the payment the squire put him off from time to time was a man and did not a new england want to go to law and so the of it was the persuaded him to to take his note that s a very likely story said mrs impatiently interrupting the narrative i don t believe one word of it well ma am replied mrs i have that which must convince you and she took from an old a small piece of paper and handed it to mrs is the identical note ma am you can your self jane cast her eye on the slip of paper in her aunt s hand it was but too plainly	6
written in her father s large and singular character mrs coldly returned it saying in a moderate tone it is as good to you now as a piece of white paper then i have nothing in this world said the poor woman bursting into tears but my poor sick destitute children how came you in such a destitute condition inquired mrs who now that she saw the woman had no direct claim on her was willing to hear her story oh answered the poor creature it seemed as if every thing went cross with us there was never a couple went into the new countries with fairer prospects had every way to save enough to buy him a small farm when we got to we struck down south and settled just on the edge of lake we had a yoke of oxen but one of them was pretty much beat out on the road and died the very day after we got to our journey s end there was a among the cattle the next winter and we lost the other ox and our cow in the spring took the long working out in the ground in wet weather and j a new england tale that held him fifteen months bat he had made some and we worried through and for three years we seemed to be getting along ahead a little then we both took the lake fever we had neither doctor nor nurse our neighbors were two miles off they were more than we and kind but it was not much they could do for they had a large sick family of their own the fever threw my poor husband into a slow consumption and he died ma am the th of last january and that poor baby was born the next week after he died it seemed as if nothing could kill me though i have a weakness in my bones by the fever and distress of mind that i expect to carry to my grave with me sometimes my children and i would almost starve to death but providence always sent some relief once there was a missionary put up with us he looked like a poor body but he left me two dollars and once a roman catholic priest that was passing over into canada gave me a gold piece and that i saved till i started on my journey while my husband was sick he had great upon his mind about squire s note we had heard like that he had broke but nor i could not believe but what there would be enough to pay the note out of all his grandeur and so left it in strict charge with me to come back as soon as i could after the spring opened and ma am as soon as the roads were a little settled i pulled up and came off my good christian neighbours helped me up to i have been nine weeks getting from there though i was favoured with a great many rides here mrs interrupted the unfortunate saying i cannot see what occasion there was for you to be nine weeks on the road i have known persons to go from boston th falls and back again in three weeks a new england tale ah ma am replied the woman there is a sight of difference between a gentleman riding the country for pleasure with plenty of money in his pocket and a poor sickly creature begging a ride now and then of a few miles and then walking for miles with four little children and one a baby four i your story grows i thought you had but three i have but three ma am i buried my only girl the twin to the second boy at she never was hearty and the travelling quite her the afflicted woman wiped away the fast gathering tears with a corner of her apron and went on believe i should have out but there was a tender hearted gentleman from the eastward going on to see the falls and he paid for my passage and all my children s in a return stage quite to this was a great relief to my spirits and to the children s feet and so after that we came on pretty well and met with a great deal of kindness but oh i ma am tis a wearisome journey and here you are said mrs and i suppose the town must take care of you i did not mean to be a burden to the town replied the woman if it pleased the lord to restore my health and if i could have got the hundred dollars i would not have been a burden to any body i calculated to hire me a little place bought a loom and turned my hand to weaving i am a master ma am i am sorry for you good woman said mrs here said she after her pocket and taking out a reluctant nine pence here is a widow s for you i can t give you the least encouragement about my brother s england tale s debt he left nothing bat a destitute child that i have had to support ever since his death is that little jane exclaimed the woman for the first time recalling to mind the features of our heroine well added she surveying her delicate person with a mingled expression of and simplicity i think it can t have cost you much to support her ma am i wonder i did not know you she continued when you took my baby so kindly it was just like you i used to set a great store by you but you have grown so tall and so handsome as to the matter of that you was always just like a on doll jane replaced the child in the mother	6
no mary we must deal justly while we have it in our power is it not your great mr who says it is safe to our pleasures hut never to delay our duties it seems to me jane replied mary you pick fruit from every good tree no matter whose it grows in well i believe you have done right but i shall tell the story to mr and mrs with a heavy heart tell them nothing said jane but that i had an unexpected call for the money and beg them to mention nothing of the past for i will not provoke aunt jane said mary earnestly you must not deny me the satisfaction of telling how you have laid out the money no replied jane you cannot have that pleasure without telling why i was obliged thus to lay it out oh added she with more emotion than she had yet shown i have never blamed my father that he left me had he left me the of a good name i would not have exchanged it for all the world can give i new england tale mary consoled her friend as well as she was able and then reluctantly parted from her to perform her disagreeable duty mr was exceedingly disappointed he said he had an offer of a very good assistant who could furnish more money than he expected from jane he had preferred jane for no sum could her for the station he wished her to fill he was obliged to her for so promptly informing him of her determination as he had not yet sent a refusal to the person who had ted the place mrs not content with which she did sincerely that she could not have jane for an wondered what upon earth she could have done with a hundred dollars and concluded that it would be just like jane though it would not be like any body else in the world to pay one of her father s old debts with it will not our readers pardon mary if mrs inferred from the smile of pleasure that brightened her face that she had guessed the truth let that be as it may all parties promised and what is much more extraordinary preserved secrecy and all that was left of jane s hopes and plans was the consciousness of having acted right from right motives could any one have seen the of her heart he would have pronounced that consciousness a treasure that has no equivalent thus our placed in circumstances which would have made some desperate and most discontented by keeping her heart with all diligence proved that out of it are the issues of life she was first resigned and then happy she was on an eminence of virtue to which the and of her aunt s family did not reach a england tale chapter it may be said of that hath him o the shoulder but i warrant him heart whole as tou it more than two years glided away without the occurrence of any incident in the life of our heroine that would be deemed worthy of record by any persons less interested in her history than mary or the writer pf her simple annals the reader shall therefore be allowed to pass oyer this interval with merely a remark that jane had improved in mortal and immortal graces that the development of her character seemed to interest and delight mr almost as much as the progress of his own child and that her uniform patience had acquired for her some influence over the bad passions of her aunt whose rough points seemed to be a little worn by the continual dropping of jane s virtues in this interval had made a stolen with a tavern keeper from a neighbouring village and had removed from her mother s house to display her character on a new stage and in a worse light at eighteen was much the same as at sixteen except that the of her spirits was somewhat checked by the apprehension that seemed to have grown of late that a england tale edward s affections which had heen for some time between her and her cousin would finally in jane s favour it may appear singular that the same person should admire both the cousins but it must be remembered that edward was not as our readers are admitted behind the scenes and it must be confessed that he had net so nice a moral sense as we hope they possess he neither estimated the purity of jane s character as it deserved to be estimated nor felt for the faults of the dislike they edward belonged to one of the best families in the county of his parents had lost several children in their infancy and this boy alone remained to them to become the sole object of their cares and he was naturally what is called good hearted which we believe means kind and generous flattery and unlimited indulgence made him vain selfish and indolent these qualities were however somewhat modified by a frank and easy temper and sheltered by an uncommonly handsome exterior some of his college companions thought him a genius for though he was seldom caught in the act of studying he passed through college without disgrace j this for he certainly was neither a genius nor a might be attributed in part to an at learning and an excellent memory but chiefly to an extraordinary facility at to himself the results of the labours of others he through the prescribed course of law studies and entered upon his professional career with considerable he had a rich and powerful voice and it might be said of him as of the chosen king of that from the shoulders upwards he was taller and fairer than any of his brethren these are never by the vulgar and which	6
are said to be pass a england ports to ladies favour he bad too for we would do him ample justice uncommon talents but not such as we think would justify the remark often made of him that the young squire was the man in the country in short he belonged to that large class of persons who are generous but not just affectionate but not constant and often kind though it would puzzle a to to their motives their just proportions of vanity and benevolence he had recently by the death of his parents come into the possession of a handsome estate and he was accounted the first match in the county of mrs could not be insensible to the advantages that she believed might be grasped by and she determined to the strict rule of her house and to join her to her daughter s arts in order to secure the prize she was almost as much embarrassed in her as the famous of the fox the and the com if she opened her doors to young to display her daughter jane must be seen too and though she was sufficiently ingenious in ways and means of jane and securing a clear field for with the impatience and of a spoiled child set a double value on the pleasure that was denied him the affairs of mrs s household were in this train when the following conversation occurred between the if there is a party made to morrow to escort the bride do you expect to join it jane said to her cousin with an expression of anxiety that was quite as intelligible as her question i should like to do so replied jane a new england tale ab that of course answered but i did not ask what you would like but what you expect you know i am not sure of obtaining your mother s permission for once in your life jane do be content to speak less like an and tell me in plain english whether you expect to go if you can obtain mother s permission in plain english then yes replied jane smiling tou seem very sure of an invitation answered jane s deep blush revealed the truth to her suspicious cousin which she did not wish to confess or and continued i was sure i overheard edward say something to you about the ride last night when you parted on the steps she paused and then added her eyes flashing fire jane edward preferred me once and in spite of your arts he shall prefer me again miss the fate of lady jane replied good i do remember her but if her proud and artful character suits me the poverty and helplessness of my condition bears a striking resemblance to the forlorn s i trust however that my fate will resemble neither of your for you cannot expect me on account of the honour of being your rival to be dashed from a precipice to point the moral of your story and i am very certain of not marrying a lord yes for there is no lord in this vulgar country to marry but with all your affectation of modesty you to the highest station within your reach jane made no reply and poured out her in which neither her own ill humour nor disturbed her cousin s she was determined to new england tale compass her purposes and in order to do so she imparted her conjectures to her mother who had become as faithful as she was a powerful in the evening they were all assembled in the parlour edward entered and his entrance produced a visible sensation in every member of the little circle mrs dropped half a of on her knitting work and gave it to jane to take them up jane seemed to find the task very difficult for a little girl who sat by the working stand observed miss jane i could take up the better than you do you miss them half give me my spectacles i ll do it myself said mrs some people are very easily it was a warm evening in the latter part of september the window was open jane retreated to it and busied herself in pulling the leaves off a rose bush brought matters to a crisis by saying i called mrs to ask of you the favour of miss s company to morrow on the escort i am sorry replied mrs that any young woman s manners who is brought up in my house should a gentleman to believe she will of course ride with him if asked i beg your pardon madam replied edward for he at least had no fear of the mrs i have been so happy as to obtain miss s consent subject to yours is it possible answered mrs quite an for deference from miss not unnecessary however for she probably recollected that to morrow is lecture day and indifferent as she is to the privilege a new england tale of going to meeting she knows that no pleasures ever prevent my going no madam replied the pleasures of others weigh very light against your duties before mrs had made up her mind whether or not to resent the sarcasm rose and joining jane at the window whispered to her your spirit for heaven s sake do not submit to such mean tyranny jane had recovered her self possession and she replied smiling it is my duty to subdue not rouse my spirit exclaimed leave all that ridiculous cant for your aunt i it i have your promise and your promise to me is surely as binding as your duty to your aunt that promise was replied jane and it is no longer in my power to perform it nor in your inclination miss v jane was not well pleased that should at the risk of her with	6
her aunt and to avoid his and her aunt s displeasure she left the room the girl wants spirit said mentally she is very tame it is quite absurd for a girl of seventeen to talk about duties he was about to take leave when mrs who knew none of the skilful of accomplished though her clumsy were often as irresistible said don t be in such haste mr may go with you edward s first impulse was to decline the offer but he paused was sitting by her mother and she turned upon him a look of appeal and admiration his vanity which had been by jane was soothed by this tribute and a new england tale he said if miss is inclined to the party i will call for her to morrow miss confessed her inclination with a glow of pleasure that consoled him for his disappointment made the most of the advantage she had gained mrs had of late though the effort cost her many a groan indulged s passion for dress in the hope that the glittering of the bait would attract the prey in this calculation she was not mistaken for though affected a contempt for the distinctions of dress he had been too much flattered for his personal charms to permit him to be insensible to them and when he handed into his he noticed with pleasure that she was the best dressed and most looking girl in the party his vanity was still further gratified when he overheard his servant say to one of his fellows by g they are a most noble looking pair such is the appetite of vanity never satisfied with the quantity and never nice as to the quality of the food it had penetration enough to detect the points in the fortress she had to and so and successfully did she her arts on this triumphant day that scarcely thought of jane and we fear not once with regret poor jane remained at home that edward went without her and vexed with herself that she was to avoid seeing the party on their return she went out to walk and was whither to direct her steps when she met her friend mr ah jane said he i just came on an errand from my little girl she has succeeded for the first time to day in words together so as to make quite an intelligible sentence and she is so much b ti f l i a tale ill u elated that she bid me tell thee she cannot go to sleep dear jane has heard her read jane replied she should be glad to hear her but with none of the animation with which she usually entered into the pleasures of her little friend mr was disappointed but he thought she had been suffering some domestic and they walked on silently after a few moments he said as i am i do not like a silent meeting though i should be used to it for except that i must answer the questions of my and am expected by thy friend mary to reply to her praises of thee i have not much more occasion for the gift of speech than the brothers of la you forget replied jane who felt her silence gently reproached that besides all the use you have for that precious faculty in persuading the stupid and the obstinate to adopt your benevolent plans of reform you sometimes to employ it in behalf of a very humble young friend but that young friend must lay aside her humility so far as to flatter me with the appearance of listening jane was a little disconcerted and mr did not seem quite free from embarrassment but as he had roused her from her he began to on the approach of evening the charms of that hour when the din of toil has ceased and no sound is heard but the sweet sounds of twilight breathing the music of nature s evening hymn he turned his eye to the heavens which in their far blue arch disclosed star after star and then the in their brightness he spoke of the power that formed and the wisdom that directed them jane was affected by his devotion it was a touch that a soul a new england tale into all nature she listened with delight and before they reached the house her tranquillity was quite restored and the child and father were both entirely satisfied with the pleasure she manifested in the of her little favourite but her trials were not over after the lesson was past dear jane said why did not thee go witb the party to day i saw them all go past here and mr and were laughing and i looked out sharp for thee would not any body take thee jane jane did what of all other things she would least have wished to have done she burst into tears the sweet child whose had taken her by surprise crept up into her lap and putting her arms around her neck said affectionately i am sorry for thee dear jane don t cry father would have asked thee if he had gone poor jane hid her and her tears on the bosom of her kind but she felt the necessity of saying something but she could not make and she never made mr saw and pitied her confusion he rose and tenderly placing his hand on her head he said my dear young friend thou hast wisely and safely guided thy little bark thus far down the stream of life be still and prudent and thou wilt glide through the dangers that alarm thee he then relieved jane from his presence saying i am going to my library and will send mary to thee home jane could not have borne a statement	6
of her case and though it was very clear that mr had detected the lurking weakness of her heart yet she was soothed by his mode of his knowledge and his persons of genuine sensibility possess a a england tale that them to touch delicate subjects without giving pain this touch as much from a rude and grasp as does the management of a fine instrument in the hands of a skilful surgeon from the and of a vulgar mr had heard the village gossip of edward ers s divided attentions to the cousins nothing that concerned jane was uninteresting to him and he had watched with eager anxiety the character and conduct of he had never liked the young man but he thought that he had probably done him injustice and he had too fair a mind to harbour a prejudice perhaps he said to himself i have judged him hardly i am apt to carry my strait coat habits into every thing the young man s extravagant way of talking his sacrifices to popularity and his and love of pleasure may all have been exaggerated in my eyes by their opposition to the strict sober ways in which i have been bred at any rate i will look upon the bright side jane pure excellent as she is cannot love such a man as edward appears to me to be and she is too noble i am sure to regard the advantages which excite the of her vulgar aunt the result of mr s was not favourable to still his faults were so that they were often mistaken for virtues and virtues he had though none there was nothing in his character or history as far as mr could ascertain it that would give him a right to interfere with his advice to jane but still he felt as if she was on the brink of a precipice and he had no right to warn her of her danger perhaps this was a false delicacy considering the amount of the risk but there are few persons of principle and refinement who do not shrink a new england tale from with affairs of the heart mr hoped believed that jane would not marry edward hut he did not allow enough for the of youth for the of a young lady of seventeen to fall in love for the faith that hopes all things and believes all things it wishes to believe the fall the winter and the spring wore away and a yet no certain indication appeared of the issue of this to our villagers momentous affair edward certainly preferred jane and yet he was more at his ease with he could not but perceive the decided superiority of jane but made him always think more and better of himself and this most agreeable effect of her and reflected a charm on her jane was never less satisfied with herself than during this period of her life a new set of feelings were springing up in her heart over which she felt that she had little control at times her confidence in ed ward was strong and then suddenly a hasty expression or an action revealed a trait that the fair proportions of the hero of her imagination s con projects and busy provoked at last a spirit of competition which was certainly natural though wrong but alas our heroine had who is without them in the beginning of the month of june david came from college involved in debt and in disgrace his youthful follies had into vices and hb mother had no patience no forbearance for the faults which she might have traced to her own but from which she found a source that relieved her from responsibility the following was the close of an noisy and bitter be this mother and son i am ruined utterly ruined if you refuse me the money told me you received a a large yesterday and tis but one hundred dollars that i ask for and i wonder you can have the heart to ask replied mrs sobbing with passion not grief you have no feeling you never had any for my it is but two months yesterday since died and i have no reason to hope for her she died without repentance ha replied david told me that she confessed to her husband her abuse of his children her love of the bottle which by the by every body knew before and a parcel of stuff that for our i think she might have kept to herself tes yes she did die in a terrible uproar of mind about some things of that kind but she had no feeling of her lost state by nature oh the devil grumbled the hopeful son and brother if i had nothing to worry my conscience but my state by nature i might get one good night s sleep instead of lying from night till morning like a under a this comment was either unheard or by the mother and she went on david your extravagance is more than i can bear i have been wonderfully supported under my other trials if my children though they are my flesh and blood are not elected the lord is justified in their destruction and i am still i have done my duty and i know not why his chariot wheels it is an easy thing ma am said david interrupting his mother to be reconciled to everlasting destruction but if your mind is not equally resigned to the ruin of a child you must lend me the money lend it you have already spent more than your a new tion in living and i cannot in conscience give yoa any thing mrs thus put a sudden conclusion to the j and retreated from the field like a skilful general having exhausted all her as she closed the door david muttered curses on her	6
to its highest pitch she passed hastily through the passage and on opening her aunt s door she beheld a scene of the greatest confusion the bed clothes had been hastily stripped from the bed and on the floor and bet stood at the open window with the bed in her right hand she had by a sudden exertion of her strength made an enormous rent in the well home made and was now quite leisurely shaking out the few feathers that still to it in her left hand she held a which she to defend herself from the interference of the colored servant girl who stood panic struck and motionless her dread of her mistress s vengeance her forward and her fear of the moody upon her powers like a influence her conflicting fears had not entirely changed her skin but they had her colour in till she looked like robin hood s willow why did you not stop her exclaimed jane hastily passing the girl stop her the land s sake i could as easy stop a flash of lightning must think me a creature respecting me to hold back such a at jane s approach bet dropped the and threw the empty bed at poor who shook it off not however till her head was completely powdered with the now screamed bet with a wild peal of mt a new england tale laughter look in the glass and you ll see how white be in heaven the black will all be washed out there i but bet said jane where are the feathers where child she replied smiling with the most provoking indifference where are last year s where is yesterday s sunshine or the morning s fog why did you do this bet do you ask a reason of me she replied with a in which sorrow and anger were equally mingled and then putting her finger to her forehead she added the space is empty it should be jane quite empty and sometime aching i jane felt that the poor woman was not a subject of reproach and turning away she said aunt will be very angry yes replied bet she will weep and howl but she should thank me for some of the witnesses witnesses bet yes child witnesses are not eaten garments and riches witnesses against the rich the hard hearted and close handed she should not have denied a bed to my aching head and weary body she should not have told me that the bare ground and hard boards were soft and easy enough for a beggar the recollection of the promise she had given to john now occurred to jane and she was whether or not to speak to bet about it when mrs who had been absent on a visit to one of her neighbors came in in her passage through the kitchen had hinted to her her loss and she hastened on to ascertain its extent inquiries were superfluous the empty was lying where had a new england tale left it and the feathers which it had contained were not mrs darted forwards towards bet on whom she would have her hasty vengeance but bet aware of her intention sprang through the window quick as thought and so rapid and seemingly spiritual was her flight that a minute had scarcely passed when the shrill tones of her voice were heard rising in the distance and they were just able to distinguish the familiar words of her favorite hymn stand a i saints are rejoicing mrs turned to jane and with that disposition which such persons have when any evil them to lay the blame on somebody she would have her spite on her but it was too evident that the only part jane had had in the misfortune was an ineffectual effort to it and the good lady was deprived of even that of her calamity this scene at which in spite of her aunt s awful presence jane had laughed heartily was not at all adapted to inspire her with confidence in the guide whose wild and fantastic she knew it to be impossible for any one to control her resolution was a little shaken but after all she thought it is possible i may find the house without her i know the course i should take at any rate i should be miserable if any evil should come of my neglect of old john s request there can be no real dangers and i will not imagine any still after the family were all hushed in repose and jane had stolen from her bed and dressed herself for her secret expedition she shrunk involuntarily from the task before her i do not like this mystery said she mentally i wish i had told my aunt and asked david to go with me or a new tale i have told mary there could have been no in that but it is now too late john said i might save life and i will think of nothing else she rose from the bed where she had seated herself to for the last time upon the difficulties before her crept softly down stairs passed her aunt s room and got clear of the house except by a slight growl from the house dog whose dreams she had broken but at h r well known kindly patting and lie down lie down he quietly resumed his sleeping posture her courage was stimulated by having surmounted one obstacle the moon had risen and shed its mild lustre over the peaceful scene now thought jane that i have stirred up my thoughts with a manly spirit i wonder what i have been afraid of anxious to ascertain whether she was to have the doubtful aid of crazy bet s conduct or trust solely to her own she pressed onward to her way to s grave and to avoid	6
the possibility of observation she soon left the public road and walked along under the shadow of a low hill which had formerly been the bank of the river but from which it had and left an interval of beautiful meadow between the hill and its present bed the deep of the meadow sparkled with of fire flies that seemed in this their hour to be keeping their merry by the music of the passing stream the way was as yet perfectly familiar to jane after walking some distance in a straight line she crossed the meadow by a direct path to a large tree which had been in part by k and which now lay across the river and supplied a rude passage to the adventurous the of some of its roots still retaining it firmly in the bank fortunately the stream was unusually a new england tale low and when onr heroine reached the farther extremity of the fallen trunk she sprang without difficulty over the few feet of water between her and the dry sand of the shore that s well done i exclaimed crazy bet starting up from a mound in the form of a grave strong of heart and light of foot you are a fit for one that hates the broad and beaten road and loves the narrow straight way and the high rock sit down and rest you she continued for jane was out of breath from ascending the deep bank to where crazy bet stood sit down child you may sit quiet it is not time for her to rise yet oh bet said jane if you love me take those off your head they make you look so wild a heart than jane s would have at bet s appearance she had taken off her old bonnet and tied it on a branch of the tree that shaded the grave and twisted around her head a full vine by which she had confined of wild flowers that drooped around her pale brow and haggard face her long hair was streaming over her shoulders her little black mantle thrown back leaving her throat and neck bare the excitement of the scene the purpose of the expedition and the moonlight gave to her large black eyes an unusual brightness to jane s earnest entreaty she replied child you know not what you ask take off these indeed every leaf of them is a prayer there is a charm in every one of them there is not an of the evil one that dares to touch me while i wear them the with his glistening eye springs far from me and the big snake away from me but said jane in a tone of more timid what have i to guard me bet r f i a new england tale you i and as she spoke she jane s hair back from her pure smooth brow have not you innocence and know you not that is god s seal in the forehead to keep you from all harm i have had but innocence is stronger than a regiment of them i foolish girl sit down i say she will not rise yet jane obeyed her command and her spirits replied no bet i am not afraid she will rise i believe the dead lie very quiet in their graves yes those may that die in their beds and are buried by the of the bell and lie with company about them in the churchyard but i tell you those that row themselves over the dark river never have a quiet night s rest in their cold beds come said jane impatiently rising for mercy s sake let us go i cannot stir from this spot replied bet till the moon gets above that tree and so be quiet while i tell you s story why child i set here watching by her many a night till her hour comes and then i always go away for the dead don t love to be seen rising from their beds well bet tell me s story and then i hope you will not keep me any longer here and you need not tell me much for you know i have heard it a thousand times ah but you did not see her as i did when s men went out and she followed them and begged them on her knees for the love of god not to fire upon the prisoners for the story had come that s men would cover their front with the and you did not see her when he was brought to her shot through the heart and dead as she see note at the end a new england is now she did not speak a word she fell upon his neck and she clasped her arms round him they to cut them off it was so hard to get them loose and when they took her from him and the laid her hand on jane s head she was all gone here the very day they put him under the green sod she drowned herself in that deep place under the mourning willow that the boys call s well and they buried her here for the and the found it against law and gospel too to give her christian burial bet told all these circumstances with an expression and action that showed she was living the scene over while her mind dwelt on them jane was deeply interested and when bet concluded she said poor i never felt so much for her that s right child now we will go on but first let that tear drop that in the fall on the grave it helps to keep the grass green and the dead like to be cried for she added mournfully they now proceeded crazy bet leading the way with long and hasty strides in a course	6
still ascending the hill till she plunged into a deep wood so richly clothed with foliage as to be to the moon beams and so with that jane found it very difficult to keep up with her they soon however emerged into an open space completely surrounded and enclosed by lofty trees crazy bet had not spoken since they began their walk she now stopped and turning abruptly to jane do you know said she who are the that meet in this temple the spirits that were sometime but since he went and preached to them they came out from a new england tale prison house and worship in the open air and under the light of the blessed heavens it is a beautiful spot said jane i should think all obedient spirits might worship in this temple say you so then worship with me the fell on her knees jane knelt beside her she had caught a spark of her companion s enthusiasm the of her situation the beauty of the night the novelty of the place on which the moon now riding high in the heavens poured a flood of silver light all to give a high tone to ber feelings it is not strange she should have thought she never heard any thing so sublime as the prayer of her conductor who raised her arms and poured out her soul in passages of scripture the most sublime and striking woven together by her own glowing language she concluded suddenly and springing on her feet said to jane now follow me fear not and not for you know what the fearful and jane assured her she had no fear but that of being too late you need not think of that the spirit never till i come they now turned into the wood by a narrow pathway whose entrance laid under the shadow of two young beach trees crazy bet paused see ye these child said she pointing to the trees i know two who grew up thus on the same spot of earth so lovingly they grew and she pointed to the of the branches young and beautiful but the was laid to the root of one and the other and she pressed both her hands on her head and screamed wildly died here a burst of tears afforded her a sudden relief poor broken hearted creature murmured jane no child when she then the band is loosened s a england for added she drawing closer to jane and whispering they put an iron band around her head and when she is in darkness it presses till she thinks she is in the place of the by the light of the moon it s loosened you cannot see it but it is there always there jane began now to be alarmed at the excitement of bet s imagination and turning from her abruptly entered the path which after they had proceeded a few yards seemed to be leading them into a wild region where are we going bet she exclaimed through a pass child that none knows but the wild bird and the wild woman have you never heard of the of the mountain yes replied jane but i had rather not go through them to night cannot we go some other way nay there is no other way follow me and fear not jane had often heard of the pass called the mountain and she believed it had only been penetrated by a few rash youths of daring and adventurous spirit she was appalled at the thought of entering it in the dead of night and with such a conductor she paused but she could see no way of escape and all her resolution she followed bet who took no note of her scruples they now entered a which apparently had been made by some tremendous of nature that had rent the mountain asunder and piled rock on rock in the deep abyss the breadth of the passage which was walled in by the perpendicular sides of the mountain was not in any place more than twenty feet and sometimes so narrow that jane thought she might have ex tho and lovers of nature s beauties have multiplied a new england tale was written the of the mountain or in our rustic phrase the ice hole is now well known to the visitors of as tho c a new england tale tended her arms quite across it but she had no leisure for critical accuracy her guide pressed on heedless of the difficulties of the way she would pass between huge rocks that had rolled so near together as to leave but a very narrow passage between them then grasping the tangled roots that projected from the side of the mountain and placing her feet in the of the rocks or in the little channels that had been worn by the continual dropping from the mountain she would glide over swiftly and safely as if she had been on the beaten highway they were sometimes compelled in the depths of the to prostrate themselves and creep through narrow between the rocks it was impossible to and jane felt that she was passing over masses of ice the perhaps of a hundred she was fleet and and inspired with almost supernatural courage she though a woman natural ly born to fears followed on resolutely till they came to an immense rock whose and giant form rested on broken masses below that on every side were this mighty monarch of the scene for the first time crazy bet seemed to remember she had a companion and to give a thought to her safety jane said she go carefully over this lower ledge there is a narrow there let not your foot slip on the wet leaves or the soft moss i am in the spirit and i must	6
mount to the summit jane obeyed her directions and when without much trouble she had attained the farther side of the rock she looked back for crazy bet and saw her standing between heaven and earth on the very point of the high rock she on the branch of a tree she had broken off in her to reach that lofty station the moon had declined a england tale a little from the her rays did not penetrate the depths where jane stood bat fell in their fall brightness on the face of her above her head as we have noticed was dressed with vines and flowers her eyes were in a fine frenzy rolling from earth to heaven and heaven to earth she looked like the wild genius of the savage scene and she seemed to breathe its spirit when after a moment s silence she sang with a powerful and thrilling voice which the sleeping echoes of the mountain the following tell them i am to moses while earth heard in dread smitten to the heart at above beneath around all nature without voice or sound oh lord thou art in vain jane called upon her in vain she entreated her to descend she seemed wrapped in some heavenly vision and she stood mute again and motionless till a bird that had been scared from its nest in a of the rock by the wild sounds fluttered over her and lighted on the branch she still held in her hand oh exclaimed she messenger of love and mercy i am content f and she swiftly descended the sloping side of the rock which she hardly seemed to touch now said jane soothingly you are rested let us go on rested yes my body is rested but my spirit has been the way of the eagle in the air you cannot bear the now child come on and do your earthly work they walked on for a few yards when bet suddenly turned to the left and ascended the mountain which was a new england tale there less steep and than at any place they had passed at a short distance before her jane perceived glimmering through the trees a faint light heaven be praised i said she that must be john s cottage as they came nearer the dog and the old man coming out of the door signed to jane to sit down on a log which answered the purpose of a rude door step and then speaking to crazy bet in a voice of authority which to jane s utter rise she meekly obeyed take oflf said he you mad fool them from your head and stroke your hair back like a decent christian woman get into the house but mind you say not a word to her crazy bet entered the house and john turning to jane said you are an angel of goodness for coming here to night though i am afraid it will do no good but since you are here you shall see her see her see what john interrupted jane that s what i must tell you miss but it is a piercing story to tell to one that looks like you it s telling the deeds of the pit to the angels above he then went on to state that a few days before he had been searching the mountains for some roots when his attention was suddenly arrested by a low moaning sound and on going in the direction from which it came he found a very young looking creature with a new born infant wrapped in a shawl and lying in her arms he spoke to the mother but she made no reply and seemed quite unconscious of every thing till he attempted to take the child from her she then grasped it so firmly that he found it difficult to remove it he called his wife to his assistance and placed the infant in her arms pity for so young a sufferer the old man with unwonted strength and enabled him to bear the mother to his hut a new england tale there he used the simple his skill dictated bat nothing produced any effect till the child with whom the old woman had taken pains revived and cried the sound he said seemed to life in a dead body the mother extended her arms as if to feel for her child and they gently laid it in them she felt the touch of its face and burst into a flood of tears which seemed greatly to relieve her for after that she took a little nourishment and fell into a sweet sleep from which she awoke in a state to make some explanations to her curious but as the account she gave of herself was of necessity interrupted and feet we shall take the liberty to avail ourselves of our knowledge of her history and offer our readers ft slight sketch of it a new england tale chapter x death lies on her like an frost upon the sweetest flower of all the and the name of the stranger was mary her parents had gone out to the west indies where at the opening of flattering prospects they both died victims to the fever of the climate which seldom a northern constitution mary then in her infancy had been sent home to her who nursed this only of their unfortunate children with fondness they were in humble life and they denied themselves every comfort that they might gratify every wish reasonable and unreasonable of their darling child she affectionate and ardent in her nature grew up impetuous and instead of the cradle of age she made the s of her old parents resemble a fitful april day sunshine and cloud succeeding each other in rapid she loved the old people passionately when she had just received a favour from them but like	6
other spoiled children she never that love by her will to theirs or suffering their wisdom to govern her inclinations she grew up a england fair as the form that in fancy a loom in light y round the s head most unhappily for her was a college in tlie town she lived and she very early became the favourite of the young whose attentions she received with delight in spite of the and entreaties of her who were well aware that a young and beautiful creature could not with propriety or safety receive the of her in station attracted by her personal charms david more artful more than any of his companions addressed her with the most extravagant flattery and on her costly giddy and poor mary was a victim to his he soothed her with hopes and promises till in consequence of the fear of detection in another transaction where detection would have been dangerous he left and returned to his mother s without giving mary the slightest intimation of his departure she took the desperate resolution of following him she felt certain she should not survive her confinement and hoped to secure the protection of for her infant her tenderness we believe more than her pride induced her to conceal her miseries from her only true friends she thought any thing would be easier for them to bear than a knowledge of her and for the few days she remained under their roof and while she was preparing a disguise for her perilous journey she a slight sickness and they were alarmed and anxious and insisted on making a bed for her in their room this somewhat embarrassed her proceedings but on the night of her escape she told them with a determined manner that she could only sleep in her own bed and alone in her own room they did resist a new england tale her they never had mary kissed them when she bade them good night with unusual tenderness they went to their beds she wrote a few lines addressed to them praying for their forgiveness expressing her gratitude and her love and telling them that life before her seemed a long and a dark road and she did not wish to go any farther in it and begging them not to search for her for in one hour the waves would roll over her she placed the on the table crept out of her window and left for ever the protecting roof of her kind old parents when they awoke to a knowledge of their loss they were overwhelmed with grief their neighbours about them to offer their assistance and consolation and though some of the most penetrating among them suspected the cause of the poor desperation more and kind than persons usually are in such circumstances they spared the old people the light of their conjectures poor mary in her and miserable journey which was rendered much longer by her fearfully the public road she obtained a kind shelter at the farmers houses at night where she always contrived to satisfy their curiosity by some plausible account of herself at the end of a week she arrived wearied and exhausted in the neighbourhood of she watched for him in the evening near his mother s house and succeeded in obtaining an interview with him he was enraged that she had followed him and said that it was impossible for him to do any thing for her she told him she asked nothing for herself but she entreated him not to add to his guilt the crime of suffering their unhappy offspring to die with neglect utterly selfish and hard hearted the wretch turned from her without one word of kindness and then that if she was a new england tale discovered he be in farther troubles he and gave her a direction which she believed enable her to find john s cottage on the mountain if she gets there thought he as he left her whether she lives or dies she will be far out of the way for the present and the future must take care of itself mary with a faint heart followed his direction and the next day she was discovered by old john in the situation we have mentioned perhaps there are some who cannot believe that any being should be so utterly as david but let them remember that he began with a nature more inclined to evil than to good that his mother s had increased every thing that was bad in him and extinguished every thing that was good that the continual of his mother s professions and life had led him to an entire of the truths of religion as well as a contempt of its after the old man had finished mary s story or rather so much of it as he had been able to gather from her jane asked him why she had been sent for why miss he replied after the poor thing had come to herself all her trouble seemed to be about her baby and i did not know what to advise her my woman and i might have done for it for the present but our sun is almost set and we could do but for a little while i proposed to her to go for and i am sure the sight of her might have softened a heart of flint but she shivered at the bare mention of it she said no no i cannot see that cruel face upon my then i thought of you and i told her if there was any body could bring him to a sense of right it was you and that at any rate you might think of some comfort for her for i told her every body in the village a new england tale knew jou for the wisest and and at first she and	6
then the sight of her baby seemed to her and she bade me go but she gave me a strict charge that no one should come with you for she said she wished her memory buried with her in the grave when i left her to go to you i hoped you might speak some words of comfort to her that would be better than medicine for her and heal the body as well as the mind but when i came back there was a dreadful change the poor little one had gone into a fit and she would take it from my wife into her arms and there it died more than an hour ago and she sits up in the bed holding it yet and she has not spoken a word nor turned her eyes from it her cheeks look as if there was a living fire her oh miss jane it is awful to look upon such a fallen star now you are prepared come in may be the sight of you will rouse her jane followed john into his little habitation the old couple had kindly resigned their only bed to the sufferer she was sitting as john had described her fixed ad a statue her beautiful black glossy curls which had been so often admired and envied were and clustered in rich masses over her temples and neck a tear that had started from the fountain of feeling now sealed for ever hung on the dark rich eye lash that fringed her downcast eye jane wondered that any thing so wretched could look so lovely crazy bet was kneeling at the foot of the bed and apparently absorbed in prayer for her eyes were closed and her lips moved though they no sound the old woman sat in the corner of the fire place smoking a broken pipe to soothe the agitation she felt jane advanced towards the bed speak to her said john jane stooped and laid her hand gently on mary s a new england tale she raised her eyes for the first time and turned them on jane with a look of earnest inquiry and then shaking her head she said in a low mournful voice no no we cannot be parted you mean to take her to heaven and you say i am guilty and must not go they told me you were coming you need not hide your wings i know you there is none but an angel would look upon me with pity oh exclaimed jane can nothing be done for her at least let us take away thb dead child it is growing cold in her arms she attempted to take the child and mary relaxed her hold but as she did so she uttered a faint scream the of death her face and she fell back on the pillow ah she is gone exclaimed john crazy bet sprang on her feet and raised her hand hush said she i heard a voice saying her sins are forgiven she is one come out of great there were a few moments of as perfect stillness as if they had all been made dumb and motionless by the stroke of death jane was the first to break silence did she she inquired of the old man express any any hope john shook his head them things did not seem to lay on her mind and i did not think it worth while to disturb her about them ah miss the great thing is how we live not how we die jane felt the anxiety so natural to obtain some religious expression that should indicate preparation in the mind of the departed surely said she it is never too late to repent to beg forgiveness no miss replied john who seemed to have religious notions of his own especially when there has been such a m a new england tale short account as this poor child had but the work must be all between the creature and the creator and for m j part i don t place much dependence on what people say on a i have lived a long life miss jane and many a one have i seen and heard too when sickness and distress were heavy upon them and death staring them in the face and they could not sin any more they would seem to repent and talk as beautiful as any saint but if the lord took his hand from them and they got well again they went right back into the old track no miss jane it is the life it is the life we must look to this child he added going to the bed and laying his brown and hand upon her fair young brow now chill and this child was but sixteen she told me so the lord only knows what temptations she has had he it is miss jane that has put that in our hearts that makes us feel sorry for her now and can you think that he is less pitiful than we are i think she will be beaten with few but he continued solemnly covering his face with his hands we are poor ignorant creatures it is all a mystery after this world we know nothing about it yes said jane we do know john that all will be right true he replied and it is that should make us lay our fingers on our mouths and be still jane had been so much absorbed in the mournful scene that the necessity of her return before the breaking of day had not occurred to her mind and would not perhaps if john had not after a few moments pause reminded her of it by saying i am sorry miss jane you have had such a walk for	6
nor loaded but that he had provided himself with it for which might occur in the desperate career in which he had engaged he had been concerned with two ingenious in changing the of bank bills his had been detected and imprisoned and they were now money from him by threatening to disclose his agency in the transaction always careless of himself in guilt and on by the fear of the state prison he resolved without hesitation on this robbery which would not only give him the means of present relief but would supply him with a store for future demands which he had every reason to expect from the character of his comrades a new england tale chapter xi there is no terror in your threats for i am arm d so strong in honesty that they pass by me as the idle wind which i respect not jane exhausted by the of the night contrary to her usual custom remained in bed much longer than the other members of the family and did not awake from deep and till the bell called the household to prayers mrs was scrupulous in the attendance of every member of her family at her morning and evening with this jane and cheerfully complied as she did with all those that did not require a of principle but still she had often occasion secretly to lament that where there was so much of the form of worship there was so little of its spirit and truth and she sometimes felt an involuntary self reproach that her body should be in the attitude of devotion while her mind was following her aunt through earth sea and skies or pausing to wonder at the remarkable of her prayers to the condition and wants of humanity in general and especially to their particular in her own family a new england tale mrs was fond of the bold and highly language of the and often identified herself with the in his exultation over his enemies in his and in his appeals for vengeance we leave to to decide whether these expressions from the king of are meant for the enemies of the church or whether they are to be to the dim light which the best enjoyed under the at any rate such as come to us in so questionable a shape ought not to be employed as the medium of a christian s prayer when jane entered the room she found her aunt had begun her which were evidently more confused than usual and when she said her voice wrought up to the highest pitch lo thine enemies lord lo thine enemies shall perish all the workers of shall be scattered but my horn shalt thou like the horn of a i shall be with fresh oil mine eye also shall see my desire on my enemies and my ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me jane perceived from her unusual emotion that she must allude to something that touched her own and she that she had already discovered the robbery her conjectures were strengthened when she observed that during the breakfast her aunt seemed very much agitated but she was at a loss to account for the look she darted on her when one of the children said how your hair looks jane this is the first time i ever saw you come to breakfast without it jane replied that she had you look more said as if you had been watching all night and crying too i should imagine from the of your eyes and no i think of it she added regard a england tale less of jane s embarrassment i am sure i heard your door in the night and you walking about your room jane was more confused by the expression of her aunt s face than by her cousin s observations what thought she can i have done to provoke her i certainly have done nothing but there is never a storm in the family without my some of its pitiless after breakfast the family dispersed as usual excepting mrs david and jane who remained to assist her aunt in removing the breakfast apparatus mrs neither wishing nor able any longer to restrain her wrath went up to her desk and taking hold of a pocket handkerchief which appeared to lie on the top of it but which as she stretched it out showed one end caught and fastened in the desk do you know this handkerchief jane she said in a voice choking with passion yes ma am replied jane turning pale it is mine she ventured as she spoke to look at david his eyes were fixed on a newspaper he seemed to be reading not a muscle of his face moved nor was there the slightest trace of emotion yours said mrs that you not deny for your name is at full length on it i and when did you have it last last night ma am and who has robbed me of five hundred dollars can you answer to that jane made no reply she saw that her aunt s suspicions rested on her and she perceived at once the cruel in which she had involved herself by her promise to david answer me that repeated mrs violently that i cannot answer you ma am a england tale and you mean to deny that you have taken it yourself certainly i do ma am replied jane firmly for she had now recovered her self possession i am perfectly innocent and i am sure that whatever appearances there may be against me you cannot believe me guilty you do not and do you think to face me down in this way i have evidence enough to satisfy any court of justice was not you heard up in the night your guilty face told the story at	6
breakfast than words could tell it david she con to her son who had thrown down the paper and walked to the window where he stood with his back to his mother affecting to whistle to a dog without david i call you to witness this handkerchief and what has now been said and remember she does not deny that she left it here one honest feeling had a momentary in david s bosom and he had risen from his seat with the determination to disclose the truth but he was checked by the recollection that he should be compelled to restore the money which he had not yet disposed of he thought too that his mother knew in her heart who had taken the money that she would not dare to disclose her loss and if she did it would be time enough for him to when jane should be in danger of suffering otherwise than in the opinion of his mother whose opinion he thought not worth caring for therefore when called upon by his mother he made no reply but turning round and facing the and the accused he looked as composed as any spectator mrs proceeded restore me my money or abide the consequences the consequences i must abide and i do not fear them a new england tale nor shrink from them for i am innocent and god will protect me at this moment they were interrupted by the entrance of edward and our poor heroine though the instant before she had felt assured and tranquil in her divine burst into tears and left the room she could not endure the thought of degradation in s esteem and she was very sure that her aunt would not lose such an opportunity of her of his good opinion she did not mistake mrs closed the door after jane and herself all unused as she was to the melting mood gave way to a passion of tears and sobs which were as we think a sincere tribute to the loss she had experienced for heaven s sake tell me what is the matter said to young for his e for an explanation became irrepressible not on account of the old woman s emotion for she might have wept till she was like all tears without provoking an inquiry but jane s distress had excited his anxiety the lord knows replied david there is always a storm in this house and he flung out of the room without a more explicit answer turned to mrs can you tell me madam what has disturbed miss mrs was provoked that he did not ask what had disturbed her and she determined he should not remain another moment without the communication which she had been turning over in her mind to get it in the most efficient form oh mr she said with the abject of a oh i my trial is more than i can endure i could bear they should me and lay waste my dwelling a new england tale place i could be supported under that but it is a grief too for me to reveal to you the sin and the disgrace and the of one that i have brought up as my own who has fed upon my children s bread madam interrupted you may spare yourself and me any more words i ask for the cause of all this excitement mrs would have replied angrily to what she thought s impertinence but remembering that it was her business to not offend him she after again almost his patience by of the hardship of being obliged to the crimes of her relation of the affliction she suffered in doing her duty c c told him with every that emphasis and could lend to them the particulars of her discovery with unusual self command he heard her through and though he was unable to account for the suspicious circumstances he instinctively the conclusion mrs drew from them her astonishment that he neither expressed horror nor indignation nor resentment towards the was not at all when he only replied by a request to speak alone with miss mrs thought he might intend the gathering storm should burst on jane s head or perhaps he would advise her to fly at any rate it was not her cue to lay a straw in his way at present she even went herself and gave the request to jane adding to it a remark that as she was not very fond of keeping out of s way she could hardly refuse to come when asked i have no wish to refuse replied jane who ashamed of having betrayed so much emotion had quite recovered her a new england tale self possession and stood calm in conscious integrity but hear me ma am said she to her aunt who had turned and was leaving the room all connection between us is dissolved for ever i shall not remain another night beneath a roof where i have received little kindness and where i now fer the of a crime of which i am certain you do not believe me guilty mrs was for a moment by the power of innocence i know not where i shall go i know not whether your will follow me but i am not nor fearful she passed by her aunt and descended to the parlour no thought altered her cheek her countenance was very serious but the peace of virtue was there her voice did not in the least when she said to edward as he closed the door on her entrance into the parlour mr you have no doubt requested to see me in the expectation that i would contradict the statement my aunt must have made to you i cannot for it is all true edward interrupted her i do not wish it jane i believe you are	6
was that mrs recognized this bill the moment she saw it as one of the parcel she had received the day before and which she had marked at the time for she was eagle eyed in the detection of a bill there is nothing a new england tale more subtle more than a habit of self deception it was not to the world alone that mrs played the but before the of her own conscience she appeared with hollow arguments and false from the moment she had discovered her loss in the morning she had at bottom believed david guilty she recollected the threats of the preceding day and her first impulse was to charge him with the and to demand the money but then she thought he was violent and determined and that without exposing him even mrs shrunk from the consequences of exposure to her son she could not regain her money she was at a loss how to account for the appearance of jane s handkerchief but neither that nor jane s subsequent emotion at the breakfast table nor her refusal to make any explanation of the suspicious circumstances enabled mrs to believe that jane had borne any part in the of the transaction such was the involuntary tribute she paid to the tried steadfast virtue of this excellent being still she could not restrain the of her passion and it burst as we have seen upon jane she was at a loss to account for jane s refusal to herself it was impossible for her to conceive of the reasons that controlled jane she could not see up to such an elevation she felt so fearful at first that any investigation would lead to the discovery of the real criminal that she had not communicated the fact of the handkerchief to any one even to whose discretion indeed she never trusted but after she found that jane was in a from which she would not herself by any explanations she thought herself the mistress of her niece s fate and the moment she saw she determined to extract good out of the evil that had come upon her to dim the lustre of jane s good a england tale name that more immediate jewel of her soul and thus to secure for her daughter the prize but mrs it seems was destined to experience on this day how very hard is the way of the her niece s fortunes were suddenly placed beyond her control or reach and nothing remained of all her tyranny and plots but the pitiful and malignant pleasure of believing that jane thought herself in some measure in her power though she knew that she was not after the confirmation of her conjecture at the shop she saw that secrecy was absolutely necessary and she was too discreet to indulge herself with telling any of the particulars about which she had been so to the young lovers perhaps few ladies old or young were ever less with baggage than jane and yet so confused was she with the events of the night and morning that the labour of packing up which at another time she would have despatched in twenty minutes seemed to have no more tendency to a termination than such labours usually have in dreams in the midst of her one of the children entered and said mr wished to speak to her she was on the point of sending him an excuse for she felt an involuntary to meet his penetrating eye at this moment when how much she owed to his constant tender friendship she subdued her reluctance and obeyed his summons when she entered the room i am come said he jane to ask thee to walk with me i am an and have nothing to do and thou art o industrious thou hast time to do every thing come get thy hat it is treason against nature sullenly to to enjoy so beautiful a day as this jane made no reply he saw she was agitated and leading a new england tale her gently to a chair said i fear thou art not well or what is much worse not happy jane would have replied i am not but she checked the words for she felt as if the sentiment they expressed was a breach of fidelity to and instead of them she said hesitatingly i ought not to be perfectly happy till my best i should say one of my best friends knows and what i have done this morning what hast thou done jane exclaimed mr from her extraordinary embarrassment and awkwardness the communication she was about to make hast thou engaged to she faltered out yes mr made no reply he rose and walked up and down the room agitated and apparently distressed jane was alarmed she could not account for his emotion she feared he had some ground for an ill opinion of edward that she was ignorant of you do not like edward said she you think i have done wrong the power of man is not limited in the moral as in the natural world habitual discipline had given mr such dominion over his feelings that he was able now to say to their stormy wave thus far shalt thou come and no farther by a strong and sudden he recovered himself and turning to jane he took her hand with a expression my dear jane thy own heart must answer that question dost thou remember a favourite of thine treasures nor pleasures could make us happy l ng the heart aye s the part aye that makes us right or a new england jane imagined that mr felt a distrust of her motives ah i she replied the integrity of my heart will fail to make me happy if i have fallen under your suspicion if you knew the the of s conduct you would be more just	6
little disappointed that in spite of his earnest to the contrary she firmly persisted in the plan of the school and we fear he was surprised perhaps slightly that she showed no more joy at having secured a hand and a station to which he knew so many had a new england tale chapter the world is still with ornament in law what plea so and corrupt bat being with a gracious voice the show of evil of jane entered upon the duties of her new with more energy and interest than could have been reasonably expected from a young lady who had so recently entered into an engagement of marriage and one which opened upon her the most flattering prospects she already felt the benefits from the severe discipline she had suffered in her aunt s family she had a rare habit of putting e aside j of her own inclinations to the will and interests and inclinations of others a superficial survey of the human mind in all its of conditions will convince us that it may be trained to any thing else how shall we account for the proud exultation of a savage amidst the his triumphant enemy can inflict or for any of the wonderful phenomena of enterprise of fortitude of patience in beings whose physical natures are so constituted that they instinctively shrink from suffering our fair young readers if any of that class condescend a new england tale to read this tale will smile at the idea that jane had any farther occasion for the virtues of but she was far from being happy she had not that firm confidence in the character of her lover that could alone have inspired the joy of hope and secured a quiet spirit since her engagement and even beforehand ever since she had been interested in she had not dared to sound the depths of her heart though quite a in the experience of love she would have been able to detect its she would have been able to ascertain the nature and amount of her affection for had she not been driven by his apparent and tke oppression of her relations to a sudden decision we appeal then once more to our fair young readers and trust their justice will to our heroine some praise for her spirited and patient performance of her duties to her young pupils who were very far from imagining that their kind and gentle teacher had any thing in the world to trouble her or to engage her mind but their wants and pursuits her did not escape the quickened vision of her friend mr he observed the shadows of anxiety settling on her usually bright and cheerful countenance but even he had no conception of the extent of her busy apprehensions and secret week after week passed away and there seemed to be no prospect that any thing would occur to free jane from the very unpleasant situation in which her aunt s had placed her became restless and impatient all jane s arguments in favor of their marriage and finally affected to distrust her affection for him if the and sentiment which was in jane s heart of youthful preference and gratitude was not a new england tale jane believed it was and she at last yielded a reluctant consent that the marriage should take place at the end of three months even though nothing should occur to release her from her aunt s power it was a few days after this promise had been given that as she was one day returning from her school joined her four friend robert said he has taken a mighty fancy to me of late i cannot conceive what is the reason of it jane blushed for she thought he might have guessed the reason i am glad of it she replied for he seems to have withdrawn from me and you are the only person edward to whom i should be willing to any portion of mr s regard ah jane you need not be alarmed he and i should never mix any more than oil and i am sorry for that but which is the oil and which is the oh he is the oil soft rather while i you know have a character of my own am positive am but perhaps it would not be quite modest for me to finish the parallel to confess the truth to you jane i have always had an aversion to they are a very depend upon it pretending sly that s a harsh judgment replied jane with some warmth and a prejudice i think is not mr the only you know why ye yes the only one i know much of and does he justify your opinion i don t know it takes a great while to find them out and even if should be what he would seem the a new england tale exception only proves the rule i haye always disliked i remember a story my father used to tell when i was a child about his being in a most ingenious practised manner by one of the sly boots as he called the whole race it was not an affair of any great moment but no man likes to be in a bargain and my father used to say it gave him an to the very name of a i think your father was in fault replied jane so carelessly to a prejudice which as it seems to have had very slight ground i trust has not taken such deep root that it cannot he there is more reason in my judgment than you give me credit for replied edward if they are an upright frank people why is the world kept in ignorance of their belief the have no creed and though i have no great faith in the	6
professors of any yet they ought to let you know what they do think it is fair and above board you may depend upon it jane the are a people have you ever read any of their books inquired jane i read them i he replied laughing why my dear girl do you take me for a i never read the books of any and books i believe there are not books he continued still laughing no no i shall never myself to divinity till ann writes sermons and tom hymns jane did not join in his laugh but replied there is a book edward that contains the creed of the a creed to which they have never presumed to add any thing nor have they taken any thing from it the only creed to which they think it right to require the assent of man and a new england tale from which no rational man can that book is the bible and she continued earnestly their faith in this creed is shown by their works my dear edward examine their history for their that i need not while their cause has so fair a champion spare me your edward and let me entreat you to look at the life of their wise and excellent see him patiently and firmly enduring persecution and and oppression at home giving up his time his fortune his liberty to the cause of suffering humanity in every mode of its appeal to his benevolence follow him with his colony to the wilderness and see him the only one of all the leaders i grieve that i cannot except our fathers the the only one who treated the natives of the land with justice and mercy our fathers edward refused to acknowledge the image of god in the poor indian they affected to believe they were the children of the evil one and hunted them like beasts of prey calling them worse than wolves while and his peaceful people won their confidence their devotion by treating them with even handed justice with kindness and they had their reward they lived among them without since this edition was put to press a friend been good enough to us with the following of a mistake for which we are much indebted to him and which we gladly the assertion that was the only one of the leaders who treated the and mercy should be qualified the lands of the natives were not seized but purchased in every part of new england and i believe on more favorable terms here than in the greatest part of our leaders treated the natives with in particular and but above all thomas and a new england tale without a weapon of defence is it not the friends that have been foremost and most active in efforts for the of slavery among what people do we find most of the of the poor and the oppressed most of those who remember the forgotten and attend to the neglected who into the depths of and plunge into the of v there was a mingled expression of and admiration in edward s smile as he replied my dear jane you are almost fit to speak in meeting all that your defence wants in is made up by the eloquence of your eye and your glowing cheek i think friendship is a stronger feeling in your heart than love jane he continued with a penetrating look that certainly did not the ot ber cheek if i and all my ancestors had gone on and the spirit would not have moved you to such enthusiasm in our cause as you manifest for the straight brethren ot friend edward have you yet to learn of me that i speak least of what i feel most the gentleness of jane s manner and the tenderness of her voice soothed her lover and he replied forgive me dear jane a little jealousy you know jealousy love to confess to you the honest truth i felt a little more than usual this evening on the subject of i had just parted with mr and he has been earnestly to me to undertake a reform in our by which he thinks that we should rid ourselves of the burden of supporting many who are not necessarily dependent on us and improve the condition of those who are the plan seems to me to be good and nd wh t then provoked your displeasure j a new england tale why he wished me to take the whole of it he preferred that the plan should appear to with me that i should head a petition to the and if we succeeded that i shall the execution of the plan still dear edward i see any thing but offence in all this because your eye sight is a little by your partiality do you believe jane that any man would be willing to transfer to another all the merit and praise of a scheme which if it succeed will be a most important benefit to the community will be felt and noticed and applauded by every body no there is some design lurking under this garb of only exists in the visions of poets or the dreams of youth or perhaps embodied in the fine person of a hero of romance oh my dear edward it does exist it is the principle the spirit of the christian far example of your aunt and of sundry other professors i could mention who if the balance it b never right adjusted is it fair replied jane to condemn a whole class because some of its members are and a commander does but a corps and you the whole from your confidence because a few are treacherous i allow continued jane there are a few very few who are perfectly disinterested but every christian in proportion to his fidelity	6
to the and a new england tale pie of his master will be moved and governed by this principle perhaps edward felt a passing conviction of the truth of jane s at any rate he made no reply and afterwards he the subject and even jane seemed to shrink om it as one upon which they had no common feeling the day before entering on the duties of her second school term jane determined to indulge herself in a solitary walk to the cottage of old john of the mountain she had purchased some comforts for the old people with a part of her small and she knew if she carried them herself she should double their value she found the way without difficulty for her night walk had impressed it on ber memory on her approach to the cottage and as she emerged from the wood she perceived just on its verge a slight rising in the form of a grave a wild rose bush grew beside it jane paused for a moment and one of the flowers she said fragrant and transient thou art a fit emblem of the flower below as she turned from the grave she perceived that a change had been wrought upon john s hut instead of a scarcely dwelling of decayed logs filled in with mud she saw a neat little framed house with a fence around it and a small garden to it with a post and rail fence of neat construction jane hastened forward and entered the cottage with the light step of one who goes on an errand of kindness who would have thought said the good dame as she a chair and handed it to jane of your coming all this way to see whether we were above ground yet ah said john there are some in this world a pre a new england tale few who remember those that every body else forgets i could not forget you my good friends replied jane though john does not come any more to put me in mind of you why miss jane said john i grow old and i have been but twice to the village since that mournful night you was here and then i was in such a worrying matter that i did not think even of you what have you had to disturb you inquired jane i hoped from finding you in this nice new house that all had gone well since i saw you ah replied john i have been greatly favoured but the storm came before the calm miss jane did you never hear of my law suit the whole town was alive with it jane assured john that she had never heard a word of it that she had a little school to take care of and that she saw very few persons and heard little village news even when it was as important as his law suit then miss jane said john if you have time and patience to hear an old man s story i will tell you mine it is fifty years since my old woman and i settled down in these woods like all our fellow creatures we have had our portion of storms and sunshine it has pleased the lord to off all our branches to cut down the little that grew up at our feet and leave us two lonely and bare trunks to feel and resist the winds of heaven as we may two old he continued with a melancholy smile that flourish when every thing has faded about them yes fifty years i have seen the sun come over that mountain every morning and there is not a tree in all these thick woods but it seems like an old friend to me here mj sons a new england tale and daughters have been born to me and here i have buried them all but poor who you know was lost at sea they died when they were but little children and nobody remembers them but us but they are as fresh in our minds as if it was but yesterday they were playing about us with their laughing eyes and rosy cheeks this has not much to do with my continued john after a pause and clearing his voice only that i shall want some excuse for loving the old spot so well before i get through with my story i hired this bit of land of a man that s been dead twenty years and it has changed hands many a time since but i have always been able to satisfy for the rent it was but a trifle for no one but i would fancy the place lately it s come into the hands of the two young by the death of the their father they are two hard favoured wild young miss jane that think all the world was made for them and their pleasure if my memory serves me it was just one week after you was here that they were up hunting in these woods with young squire john the eldest took aim at a robin that was singing on the tree just before my door it had built its nest there early in the summer we had fed it with from our table and it was as tame as a chicken i told this to them and begged the little innocent s life so earnestly that the boys laughed but said let the old man have his way they said it was nonsense to give up to my and told me to take away my hand for i had raised it up to protect the nest or they would fire through it i did take it away and the nest with it and brought it into the house they came swearing in and demanded the bird i refused to give it up they grew more and more angry	6
were independent and then you know what the town gives is neither given or taken with a good will well as i said i thought i was alone in the room but i heard a slight noise behind me and there was one who had not followed the multitude he had a clear open face and that look i can t justly describe it miss jane but it seems as if it was the light of good deeds sent back again or may be the seal the a new england tale lord puts upon his own children and pity and kindness seemed writ in every line of his face do you know who i mean mr she replied in a scarcely voice yes yes any body that had ever seen him would guess he beckoned to me to shut the door and me if i had any particular attachment to this spot and i owned to him as i have to you my about it and he smiled and said he was afraid i was too old to be cured of it and then asked if i believed i could persuade the young men to sell as much of the land as i should want i was sure i could for i know they are and for money and besides they had had their own will and the land was of no use to them and then he told me miss jane that he would give me the money for the land if i could make a bargain with the and enough besides to build me a comfortable little house i could not thank him i tried but i could not and so he just squeezed my hand and said he understood me and charged me to keep it a secret where i got help and i have minded him till this day but i could not keep it from you you d better stop now john said the old woman for the long walk and the long story have quite miss jane she looks tired out and pale and red in a minute jane was obliged to own she did not feel well but after drinking some water she made an effort to compose herself and asked the old man what reason he had to think the and were intimate friends why did you never hear miss that it was that got john clear when him for breach of promise i was summoned to court as a witness it was a terrible black business but made it all smooth and after the trial was past i overheard these a new tale flattering till they made him believe he was more than mortal at any rate they put such a mist before his eyes that he not see to choose good from evil else he never would have chosen them for his companions he never would have been led to spend night after night with them at the gambling club at the gambling club john i what do you mean and poor jane clasped her hands together and looked at him with an expression of such wretchedness that the old man turned his eyes from her to his wife and back again to jane as if he would but not inquire the reason of her emotion i have done wrong he stammered out old fool that i was is friend miss jane the lord forgive me he added rising and walking to the door jane had risen also and with a trembling hand was tying on her hat and the lord help thee child he continued turning again towards her and keep thee from every well well i i never should have thought it jane felt by the old man s sympathy and yet it was too sincere too kindly felt to be repressed she was hastening away when said you have forgotten your bundle miss it is for you my good friend she replied and without awaiting their thanks she bade them farewell and was soon out of sight of the old man whose eye followed her quick footsteps till she was hid by the adjoining wood he then turned from the door and raised his hands and his faded eyes glistening with the gathering tears to heaven oh lord he exclaimed have mercy on thy young servant suffer not this child of light to be to a child of darkness we believe that in all classes and conditions women are new england tale more inclined than men to look on the bright side of marriage in this case after a little consideration said i m thinking john you take on too much you are trouble for miss jane she is a wise discreet young body and she may cure mr of his faults besides if he does go astray a little that s no uncommon thing for a young man he is not wicked and hard hearted like the no no he an t so bad as the but he has been a spoilt child from the beginning he is a comely man to look to and he has a tongue in his head but he is all for self all for self you might as well undertake to make the stiff branches of that old oak tender and as the of the that grows beside it as to expect miss jane can alter no he alone can do it with whom all things are possible we have no right to expect a miracle she has no call to walk upon the sea and we cannot hope a hand will be stretched out to keep her from sinking it is the beauty has caught him and when that is gone and it is a quickly fading flower she will haye no hold whatever on him we know not how long the old man indulged in his reflections	6
for he was not again interrupted by whose deference for her husband s superior sagacity seems to have been more habitual than her s of old our unhappy heroine pursued her way home her mind filled with thick coming and bitter fancies revolving over and over again the circumstances of john s narrative he had thrown a new light on the character of her lover and she blamed herself that faults had seemed so dim to her which were now so glaring she was not far from coming to the result which we trust our readers have expected from the new england tale integrity purity of her character if i had remained ignorant of his faults she thought i should have had some excuse i might then have hoped for assistance and blessing in my attempts to reform him it would be presumption to trust now in any efforts i could make and what right have i with my eyes open to rush into a situation where my own weak virtues may be subdued by trials must be assailed by temptation oh when i heard him speak lightly of religion how could i hope he would submit to its and i started at the first thought that he was and yet i have always known there was no immovable basis for principle but religion selfish vain how could i love him and yet and she looked at the other side of the picture his preference of me was purely disinterested an orphan destitute almost an outcast liable to degradation and he has exposed himself to all the i may suffer and does he not deserve the devotion of my life a moment before she would have answered her self in the negative but now she seemed losing herself in a of opposing duties she thought that she ought not to place reliance in john s statements he might have exaggerated s faults in his situation it was natural he should but he had such a calm sober way with him every word bore the impress of truth the story of the gambling club had the scale but john might have been thus after all her jane re entered her home without having come to any decision though we believe the opinion of a great is against us we doubt if decision of character belongs to the most virtuous a england talk chapter it is religion that doth make vows kept bnt hast sworn against religion therefore thy latter vow against thy first la in rebellion to and better conquest never thou make than arm thy constant and thy nobler parts against these busy loose suggestions john as jane entered mrs s door she met her kind hostess just returning from a walk her face flashed with recent pleasure where upon earth have you been v she exclaimed ah i if you had gone with me you would not haye come home with such a wo face not a word i well nothing for nothing is my rule my dear and so you need not expect to hear where i have been and what superb papers come from new york for the front rooms and beautiful china and chairs and carpets and a fine work table for an industrious little lady that shall be nameless all quite too grand for a sullen silent deaf and dumb school mistress she added if our cousin had been out in such a shower of gold we should have been favoured with sweet smiles and sweet talk for one year at least but there comes he that will make the bird sing when it won t sing to a any one else and so my dear to escape a s atmosphere or being melted in it i shall make my escape jane would gladly have followed her but she sat still after hastily throwing aside her hat and seizing the first book that she could lay her hands upon to shelter her embarrassment she sat with her back to the door edward entered and walking up to her looked oyer her shoulder as if to see what book had so her attention it chanced to be s fruits of solitude curse on all and i said he seizing the book rudely and throwing it across the room i go i am crossed by them he walked about and angry jane rose to him for now she thought was not the time to come to an explanation but was not in a humour to be opposed in any thing he placed his back against the door and said no jane you shall not me now i haye much to tell you forgive my violence there is a point beyond which no rational creature can keep his temper i have been urged to that point and thank heaven i have not learnt that smooth faced that can seem what it is not jane trembled excessively had touched the electric chain she sunk into a chair and burst into tears i was right he exclaimed it is by your authority and at your that i am dogged from place to place by that impertinent fellow you have entered into a league but know miss there is a tradition in our family that no was ever ruled by his wife and the sooner the lady who is destined to be mine not to interfere in my affairs the more agreeable it will be to me and ihe more safe for herself a new england tale jane s indignation was roused by this strange and her composure she said if you mean that i shall understand you you must explain yourself for i am ignorant and innocent of any thing you may suspect me of thank i replied i believe you jane you know in the worst of times i have believed you and it	6
was natural to be offended that you should distrust you shall know the head and front of my offending the sins that have stirred up such a missionary zeal in that saint will weigh very light in the scales of love perhaps said jane gravely i hold a more impartial balance than you expect then you do not love me jane for love is and ought to be blind but i am willing to make the trial i will never have it repeated to me that if you knew all you would withdraw your affections from me no one shall say that you have not loved me with all my youthful follies on my head i know you are a little but that is natural to one who has had so much to make her miserable the unhappy are driven to religion but you are young and if you can be rescued from this influence edward still rattled on and seemed a little to dread making the promised communication but at last from jane s seriousness that she was anxious and impatient himself to have it over he went on to tell her that from the beginning of their engagement mr had undertaken the of his morals that certainly he had been very civil to him and possibly if he had not been fortified by his to he should have surrendered his confidence to him no gentleman he said no man of honourable feeling no man of proper sensibility would submit to the i a new england tale of a stranger a man not much older than himself in matters that concerned himself alone it was an intolerable outrage if jane were capable of a fair judgment she would allow that it was so jane mildly replied that she could only judge from the facts as yet she had heard nothing but said he liad imagined he was stating his case in a court of love and not of law but he had no objection since his judge was as sternly just as an old roman father to state facts he could pardon mr his eagerness to make him adopt his plans of improvement in the natural and moral world to the first he might have been led by his taste for which he believed was unaffected and to the second he was pledged by the laws of still he said none but a would have thought of into the affairs of people who were strangers to him however that might be as he said before he supposed every was bound to bear his testimony that he believed was their cant term for their impertinence but my sweet judge you do not look continued after this misty from which jane could gather nothing but that his prejudices and pride had thrown a dark shadow over all the virtues of mr i cannot look on your against the principles of my excellent friend perhaps replied his practise will be equally in your eyes and now jane i you for once to forget that mr is your excellent friend a man who bestowed some trifling on your childhood and remember the rights of one to whom you at least owe your though he would neither accept that nor your gratitude as a debt a new england tale jane assured bim she was ready to hear thing and every thing that he would tell her he replied that he detested that he wished her to enter into his loves and his hates without asking a reason for them but since he continued you must have the reason i will not withhold it as i told you i submitted to a thousand little he is plausible and gentlemanly in his manners so there was nothing i could resent till after a contemptible affair between john and the old basket maker and the in which i used my humble professional skill to my friends who had been perhaps a little hasty in the impertinence of the foolish old man was present at the trial before the justice i fancied from the expression of his face that he wished my friends to be and this stung me and stimulated my faculties i succeeded in winning my cause in spite of law and for they were both against me and this you know is rather flattering to one s talents the s overwhelmed me with praises and gratitude i felt sorry for the silly old man whom they had very and i proposed a small to enable him to pay the bill of costs c which was his only receipt from the i headed it and it was soon made up but the old fellow declined it with as much dignity as if he had been a king in disguise it was an affair of no moment and i should probably never have thought of it again if had not the next day made it the text upon which he preached as long a sermon as i would hear upon the characters of the he even went so far as to presume to with me upon my connection with them painted their conduct on various occasions in the colours spoke of their pulling down the old which a new england tale had in fact been a mere of the ground for twenty ears as an act of oppression and cruelty said their habits were all bad their pursuits all either foolish or dangerous i restrained myself as long as possible and then i told him that i should not submit to hear any against my friends friends who were devoted to me who would go to to serve me if they had they were those that belonged to open generous natures they were and open hearted and had not smothered their passions till they were quite extinguished i told him they were honourable young men not by the fear	6
the follies of youth as if they were give me a few months i will do any thing you require abandon the club give up my jane paused for a moment but there was no wavering in her resolution no mr we must part now if i loved you i could not resist the of my heart entreated promised every thing till convinced that jane did not deceive him or herself his vanity and pride and wounded came to his relief and changed his entreaties to he said the that would every human feeling would fit her to be the elect lady of the society he assured her that he would her i am no replied jane and the tears from her eyes oh i would make any exertions any sacrifices to render you what i once thought you i a new england would watch and toil to win you to virtue to heaven if i believed you loved me i could still hope for i know that affection is self and may overcome all things edward she continued with trembling voice there is one subject and that nearest to my heart on which i discovered soon after our engagement we were at utter when i first heard you trifle with the obligations of religion and express a distrust of its truths i felt my heart chill i reproached myself bitterly for having looked on your on this subject as the common carelessness of a gay young man to be expected and forgiven and easily cured these few short months have taught me much have taught me not that religion is the only sure foundation of virtue that i knew before but they have aught me that religion alone can produce unity of spirit alone can resist the cares the disappointments the of life that it is the only bond for when the silver is this bond becomes immortal i have felt that my most sacred pleasures and hopes must be solitary made no reply he felt the presence of a spirit you now know all the circumstances you have told me this evening i partly knew before from said edward he then knew as he why your colour had faded you do him wrong he has never mentioned your name since the morning i left my aunt s i heard them by accident from john it is in truth time we should part when you can give your ear to every idle rumour he snatched his hat and was going jane laid her hand on his arm yes it is time she said that we should part but not in anger let us exchange a new england tale forgiveness edward turned and wept bitterly for a few gracious moments his pride his self love all melted away and he felt the value the surpassing excellence of the blessing he had he pressed the hand jane had given him to his lips fervently oh jane he said you are an angel forget my follies and think of me with kindness i shall remember nothing of the past she said with a look that had less of earth in it than heaven but your goodness to me god bless yon edward god bless you she repeated and they separated for ever for a few hours thought only of the loss of jane s affections every pure every virtuous feeling he possessed joined in a tribute to her excellence and in a sentence of self condemnation that could not be silenced but edward was habitually under the dominion of self love and every other emotion soon gave place to the dread of being looked upon as a rejected man he had not courage to risk the laugh of his associates or what would be much more trying their affected pity and to escape it all he ordered his servant to pack his clothes and make the necessary preparations for leaving the village in the morning in the mail stage for new york he was urged to this step too by another motive arising from a disagreeable affair in which he had been engaged the affair which had induced mr to make a second attempt to withdraw him from his vicious associates at a recent meeting of the club the younger had introduced a gentleman who pretended to be a mr from virginia had met him at springs they were kindred spirits and forming a sudden friendship promised that after he had exhausted the pleasures of the springs y a new england tale he would come to and pass a few days with him before his return to virginia was a t companion for his new friend to a score of vices gambling high and out drinking out swearing and out his comrades edward was certainly far better than any other member of this precious association he was from the first disgusted with the stranger with his gross manners and not a little with the manifest to pay to him the deference he was accustomed to receive from the rest of the company the club sat later than usual s passions became by the liquor he had drank a dispute arose about the play and john were partners accused of unfair play edward defended his partner a violent ensued between them the lie was given and retorted in so direct a form as to afford ample ground for an honourable of the dispute said if he had to deal with a a man of honour the quarrel might be settled in a gentlemanly way but a cowardly yankee had no honour to defend edward was provoked to challenge him and arrangements were made for the meeting at daylight in the morning in a neighbouring wood which had never been disturbed by sound than a s gun the brothers were to act as seconds the parties were all punctual to their appointment	6
the morning of which they were going to make so a use was a most beautiful one the mist took a poet s liberty and played with realities the place of was on a hill side below it the valley appeared a lake over which floated a tremulous veil of it here and there were green of branches of sugar v a new england tale with its massive foliage and widely spreading boughs of the drooping elm that queen of beauty day stood tip toe on the summit of monument brightened the green hill tops and shone all along the outline of the mountains but this lovely aspect of nature was and unnoticed by these rash young men her sacred volume is a sealed book to those who are by passion or degraded by vice the ground was marked out the usual distance prescribed by the seconds and the were just about to take their stations when they were interrupted by mr who in returning from his morning walk passed through this wood which was within a short distance of his house on emerging from the thick wood into the open space selected by the young men they were directly before him so that it was impossible for him to mistake the design of their meeting confusion i exclaimed edward that mr of all men living should have witnessed this scene and then turning to him to what sir said he do we owe the favour of your company purely to accident mr or i should say to providence if i may be so happy as to prevent a rash of the laws of god and man stand off sir said edward determined now to brave mr s opposition and witness if you will for you shall not prevent our brave encounter mr had interposed himself between edward and his adversary and he did not move from his station a brave encounter truly he replied pointing with a smile of contempt at who was aa if he had an a e i l b g n an a and trembling limbs a new tale do not promise the merit of bravery to your encounter mr the devil take the impertinent fellow exclaimed the elder edward s second proceed to your business gentlemen placed himself in an attitude to fire and raised his arm mr remained firm and immovable do you mean to take my fire sir asked if you continue to stand there the peril be upon yourself the fault rests with you i shall risk taking the fire if thou dare risk giving it replied mr coolly curse him said he thinks you are afraid to fire this speech had the intended effect upon give as the signal he said hastily the signal was given and edward discharged his pistol the ball mr s arm and passed off without any other injury it was bravely done said he with a contemptuous coolness that increased if any thing could increase the shame felt the moment he had his passion by the rash and violent act we have been singularly fortunate he continued considering thou hast all the firing to and two fair marks poor fellow he added turning to so broad a shield as i furnished for thee i should have hoped would have saved some of this fright john had perceived that his friend s courage which the preceding evening had been stimulated by the liquor had vanished with the fog that clouded his reason and ever since they came on the battle ground he had been vainly endeavouring to screw him up to the sticking point a new tale j suggesting in low whispers such motives as he thought might operate upon him but all his efforts were ineffectual was to use a vulgar expression literally scared out of his wits when the signal was given for firing he had to raise his arm but it was all by fear and he could not move it the sound of s pistol completed his dismay he dropped his pistol said he was willing to own he was no gentleman he would beg mr s pardon and all the gentlemen s pardon he would do any thing almost the gentlemen would say john felt his own reputation by his principal s cowardice and passionate and reckless he seized the pistol and would have discharged the contents at but mr seeing his intention caught hold of his arm the pistol from him fired it in the air and threw it from him shame on thee young man p he exclaimed does the spirit of murder so possess thee that it matters not whether thy arm is raised against friend or foe he is no friend of mine replied vainly endeavouring to himself from mr s manly grasp he is a coward and by my life and sacred honour oh mr sir interrupted i am your friend sir and all the gentlemen s friend sir i am much obliged to you sir turning to mr who could not help laughing at the eagerness of his cowardice i am sorry for the disturbance gentlemen and i wish you all a good morning gentlemen i and so saying he walked off the ground as fast as his trembling limbs could take him mr now released young from his hold and winding his handkerchief around his arm which was slightly bleeding he said i perceive there is no further occasion for my i think the experience of this a new england tale morning will not tempt jou to repeat this singular disturbance of the peace of this community the party were all too thoroughly to attempt a reply and they separated felt a most humiliating consciousness of his disgrace but he had not sufficient to confess it nor even to express a regret that he had wounded a man who exposed his life to him from committing a crime the were deprived of	6
the pitiful pleasure of at mr s want of courage the younger brother s arm still ached from his experience of mr s physical strength and they all felt the inferiority of their passionate and reckless to the collected disinterested courage of a peaceful man who had risked his life in their quarrel to fill up the measure of their mortification had not left the village two hours before several persons arrived there in pursuit of him they informed his new friends that he was not a a name that passes among our northern as with high noble daring c c but that he was a of their own a celebrated who had lived by his wits ascending by regular through the professions of dancing master and actor and that having lately by cleverness in managing the arts of his possessed himself of a large sum of money he had made his as gentleman at the springs after the events of the morning mr felt more anxiety than ever on jane s account and never weary in well doing he determined to make one more effort to rescue from the society and influence of the he an interview with him and without alluding to the events of the morning he remonstrated a new england tale warmly and kindly against an intimacy of which the degradation and the danger were too evident to need pointing out he trusted himself to speak of jane of her innocence her purity her affection her her dependence at any other time we cannot think edward would have been unmoved by the eloquence of his appeal but now he was exasperated by the of the morning and when mr said if jane knew all would she not withdraw her affections from thee he replied angrily she shall know all i have a right to expect she will overlook a few such as belong to every young man of spirit she owes me at least so much indulgence she is bound to me by ties that cannot be broken that she certainly cannot break he burst away from mr and went to mrs s where the explanation we have related ensued and put a final termination to their unequal alliance the speculations of villagers are never at rest till they know the wherefore of the slightest movements of the prominent personages that figure on their theatre happily for our heroine who was for a little while to be sheltered from the scrutiny and remarks of her neighbours the affair of the soon became public and sufficiently accounted for s abrupt departure jane would have communicated to mary her kind constant friend mary the issue of her engagement but it so happened that she was at this time absent on a visit to her blind sister she felt it to be just that she should mr with the result of an affair in which he had so benevolent and a care for her happiness perhaps she felt a natural wish that he should know his confidence in her had not been she could not a new england tale speak to him on the subject for their intercourse had been suspended of late and besides she was habitually reserved about speaking of herself she sat down to address a note to him and after writing a dozen each of which offended her in some point either betrayed a want of delicacy towards or a sentiment of self complacency either expressed too much or two little she threw them all into the fire and determined to leave the communication to accident new england talk chapter xiv ob r tho us to as others us t it a free ns and foolish notion what airs in dress an gait e us and e en devotion i a few days after s departure mrs entered jane s room hastily our village she exclaimed is the most extraordinary place in the world wonders cease to be wonderful among us what has happened now inquired jane i know not from your face whether to expect good or evil oh evil my dear evil enough to grieve and frighten you your wretched cousin david has got himself into a scrape at last from which all the arts of all his family cannot him you know she continued that we saw an account in the new york paper of last week of a robbery committed on the mail stage the robbers have been detected and taken and who it seems had assumed a feigned name is among them and the punishment is death said jane in a tone of sorrow and alarm a new england tale yes so mr says by the laws of the united states against which he has offended mr has been here to request that you dear jane will go to your aunt and say to her that he is ready to render her any services in his power you know he is acquainted in philadelphia where david is imprisoned and he may be of essential use to him my poor aunt and what misery is this for them said jane instinctively her own feelings into their for your aunt it may be replied mrs for i think nothing can quite root out the mother but as for i believe she is too much absorbed in her own affairs to think of david s body or soul i will go immediately to my aunt but what has happened to why it seems during her visit to the west met with an french dancing master who became violently of her and who did not sigh or hope in vain she probably knew his would be an obstacle to her seeing him at home and so between them they a scheme to that difficulty by introducing him to mrs as a french physician from paris who should his services to cure her which it is said has lately	6
become more troublesome than ever by way of a he was to go upon the usual practice of no cure no pay and this exclaimed jane is the sick physician we heard was at my aunt s yes poor fellow and sick enough he has been he arrived just at twilight last week on monday and having tied his horse he was tempted by seeing the door of the a new england tale chaise house half open to go in there to arrange his dress previous to making his appearance before miss he had hardly entered before old jacob coming along saw the door open and giving the careless boys whom he supposed in fault a reversed blessing he shut and fastened it it was chilly weather you know but there the poor fellow was obliged to stay the live long night and till jacob forth to do his morning discovered him half starved and half frozen but said mrs you are prepared to go to your aunt and i am you you may ask the of oh no let me hear the rest of it only be short dear mrs for if any thing is to be done for that wretched young man not a moment should be lost my dear i will be as short as possible but my words will not all run out of my mouth at once as they melted out of s horn well this poor french doctor or whatever he is effected an interview with before he was seen by the mother and though no doubt she was shocked by his involuntary she overlooked it and succeeded in off on the old lady as a foreign physician who had performed sundry marvellous in his western progress mrs submitted her disease to his in the meanwhile he poor wretch as if a judgment had come upon him for his sins has been really and seriously sick in consequence of the exposure to the of a september night in his and has been watching and nursing him according to the best and most approved to be found in and is it possible asked jane that aunt should be a new england tale imposed on for so long a time is ingenious and ready but she is not a match for her quick sighted mother no so it has proved in this case the doctor became better and the patient worse his have had a dreadful effect upon the and as the pain increased your aunt became irritable and suspicious last evening she overhead a conversation between the hopeful lovers which revealed the whole truth to her and what has she done what could she do my dear but turn the good fellow out of doors and her wrath upon the dreadful news she received from david late last evening must have driven even this provoking affair out of her troubled mind but said mrs rising and going to the window who is that coming through our gate as i live what can she be after here my aunt has probably sent for me replied jane and she hastened t open the door for her cousin who entered evidently in a flutter i was just going to your mother s said jane stay a moment said i must speak with you into your room and she hastened forward to jane s apartment she paused a moment on seeing mrs and then begged she would allow her to speak with her cousin alone mrs left the apartment and turned to jane and was beginning with great eagerness to say something but she paused her shawl took it off and then put it on again and then asked jane if she had heard from and without waiting a reply which did not seem to be very ready she continued how glad i was ho fought that it was so spirited i wish my lover would a new england tale fight a it would have been delightful if he had only been wounded jane stared at her cousin as if she had been smitten with distraction she said with more displeasure than was often from her you are an t how is it possible that at this time you can waste a thought upon or his oh my spirits run away with me dear jane but i do feel very miserable she replied affecting to wipe away the tears from her dry eyes poor david i am wretched about him he has disgraced us all i suppose you have heard too about every body has heard of mother s cruelty to him and to me oh jane he is the sweetest creature the most interesting being replied jane coldly i do not like to reproach you in your present affliction but you strangely forget all that is due to your sex by keeping up such an intercourse with a stranger by in this way about a wandering dancing master a foreigner a foreigner indeed as if that was against him why my dear foreigners are much more genteel than americans and besides is a count in disguise oh if you could only hear him speak french it is as soft as an harp now jane darling don t be angry with me i am sure there never was any body so persecuted and unfortunate as i am nobody feels for me it is impossible to feel for those who have no feeling for themselves oh jane you are very cruel replied i have crying ever since i received poor david s letter and it was about that i came hero but you do a new england tale not seem to have any compassion for our sorrows and i am afraid to ask for what i came for i cannot afford to waste any compassion on or imaginary sorrows the real and most horrible calamity that has fallen upon you requires all	6
the exertions and feelings of your friends that s spoken like yourself dear blessed jane said brightening j now i am sure you will not refuse me you are always so generous and kind i have small means to be generous replied jane but let me know at once what it is you want for i am in haste to go to your mother you are a darling jane you always was what is it you wish inquired jane again aware that s were always to be interpreted as a to the asking of a favour i wish dear jane she replied all her resolution to her aid i wish you to lend me twenty dollars if you had seen david s piteous letter to me you could not refuse it is enough to make any body s heart ache he is down in a dark disagreeable with nothing to eat from morning to night but bread and water he for a little money so earnestly it would make your heart to read his letter mother declares she will not send him a dollar how do you intend sending the money to him asked jane rising and going to her oh replied watching jane s movements you are a dear soul it is easy enough getting the money to him i heard this morning that mr is going on to the south he starts this afternoon i shall not mind walking to his house though it is four miles from here i shall a new england tale go immediately and i shall charge him to deliver the money himself it will be such a relief and comfort to my unfortunate brother there seemed to be something in s eagerness to serve her brother and in her newly awakened tenderness for him that excited jane s suspicions for she paused in the midst of counting the money turned round and fixed a penetrating look upon her cousin without appearing to notice any thing peculiar in her expression said advancing towards her do be quick dear jane it is a great way to mr s i am afraid i shall be late jane had finished counting the money twenty dollars is it dear said hastily and with a flutter of joy seizing it there are five dollars more she continued looking at a single bill jane had laid aside let me have that too dear it will not be too much for david i cannot replied jane is all i have in the world and that i owe to mrs la jane what matter is that you can have as much money as you want of and besides you need not be afraid of losing it i shall soon be of age and then i shall pay you for mother can t keep my portion from me one ay after that then i will have a cottage says we can have no idea in this country how beautiful a cottage is d la jf do dearest let me have the other five no said jane disgusted with s and levity and the note in her drawer i have given you all i possess in the world and you must be content with it saw that she should obtain no more she hastily kissed jane and after saying good bye my dear go to a new england tale mother s and stay till i flew out of the that her false had won so much from her cousin at a short distance from mrs s she joined her lover according to a previous arrangement between them had procured a chaise from a neighbouring farmer which was principally devoted to the of its worthy proprietor and the partner of his joys to and from the meeting house on sundays and lecture days but was occasionally hired out to oblige such persons as might stand in need of such an accommodation and could afford to pay what was consistent for it done said the dancing philosopher to his horse after and turning to her he pressed one of her hands to his lips saying adding as he it la nature pointed out the road leading to the dwelling of a justice of peace a few miles below the line which the state of from that of n w they arrived at this temple of and of petty about eleven in the morning the justice was at work on his farm a messenger was for him with whom he returned in about thirty minutes which seemed as many hours to our anxious lovers say said i le but in i it is very the justice took aside and inquired whether there were any objections to the marriage on the part of the lady s friends objection said it is the most grand to every body you cannot conceive on being further confessed that a new tale they came from and being asked why they were not married at the place of the lady s residence he said that some without may wait but for and me it is impossible being examined apart in like manner declared that her intended husband s impatience and her own dislike to the formality of a had led them to avoid the usual mode and forms of marriage the justice who derived the chief profits of his office from matches and who had made these inquiries more because it was a common tom than from any scruples of conscience or sense of official duty was perfectly satisfied and after requiring from bridegroom the usual promise to love and cherish and from the bride to love cherish and obey pronounced them man and wife and recorded the marriage in a book containing a record of similar official acts and of divers suits and the proceedings therein the bride and bridegroom immediately set out for the north river intending to there for new york these things do manage themselves	6
better in france les n qui se the marriages you make here are as solemn la as to bury le a if de little god was paint here they would make him work as de justice eh said he after a pause a son without some there should not be some de some of de elegant arts et les you would not be mon you would not be madame was so occupied with the change in her condition and the prospect before her that she did not observe the direction in which they were travelling and by mistake they a new tale the road leading back through a in the mountain towards a village in the vicinity of the one they had left as they ascended the top of a hill their began to his ears at the distant sound of a drum and which the soon perceived to be part of the pride pomp and circumstance of a training the village tavern was in full view and within a short distance and the company was performing some marching a little beyond an election of captain had just taken place and the of the citizen soldiers had fallen upon a popular favourite who had taken his station as commanding officer and was show his familiarity with the and counter of s manual he ha een just promoted from the rank of first lieutenant and previous to the dismissal of his men which was about to take place he drew them up in front of the village store when according to custom and with due regard to economy which made the store a more eligible place for his purposes than the tavern he his gratitude for the honour which had been done him by copious of cherry rum and of st which was or not according to the taste of each individual the men soon began to grow merry and some of them swore that they would not scruple to vote for the captain for major general if they had the choosing of that officer the of felt the influence of the good fellowship and generosity which the captain had set in motion a market for a considerable portion of their was soon furnished by the stimulated of the men and a portion was distributed by the more gallant among them to some spectators of the softer sex who were collected upon the occasion the happy pair in the mean time had arrived at the tavern s attention had not been sufficiently awakened a new england tale bj any thing but the of her husband to notice where she was until she was called to a sense of her embarrassing situation by the landlord s sign as it was gently swinging in the wind between two high posts and exhibited a successful specimen of village sign painting the distinguished name of the host and the age of his establishment directed the frenchman to stop and turn his horse which he did immediately without understanding the object eh said he hia eyes still fixed on the young soldiers ii me i shall tell you he went on to signify that he would immediately offer to teach the art of and of using the broad sword that he would instruct them part a la mode de napoleon and that after giving a few lessons he would make a in which he would let them see among other things how conquered the world how the cavalry could down flying and how the in such circumstances could defend themselves and that he would in this way make himself during all this time was collecting her wits to know what the emergency required and as soon as s ceased she begged him to return again thinking she might best avoid observation by seeking shelter in the tavern till dark they immediately alighted and after showing his bride to her apartment descended to give some orders about his horse when to his astonishment he was by the jolly landlord whose name was thomas ha i guess you are the man who staid with me a fortnight two years ago when t kept house in york state and borrowed my chaise to go a and told me to take care a england tale of your trunk that had nothing but a big stone in it till you came back i got my horse and chaise again continued he seizing the astounded professor of the dancing and military arts by the collar and now i ll take my out of your skin if i can t get it any other way at this moment the new captain and a considerable number of his merry men entered the house after they had learned the circumstances of the case from what passed between and the landlord one of them cried out bide him on a rail let him take his steps in the air he ought to dance on nothing with a rope round his neck said thomas no no said a third he has taken steps enough that jacket had better be for one of tar and feathers said je i am very sorry ii mon it was my to not pay thomas and it was his not to be paid i shall show you my when i shall get de i ii se de honesty of every body depend upon what can do i am sure every body is gentleman in dis country g est un beau pays by this time one of the had set a of tar on the fire and another by the direction of the lieutenant who seemed to take upon himself the command of the party had brought a pillow from a bed in an adjoining room the pillow was very and a sufficient rent made in the the astonished stood aghast as his bewildered mind caught a fain notion of the purpose of these preparations he his tones	6
of to those of anger tes des i he exclaimed a new england tale you are you do not merit to have some to teach la in dis country he ll like a blue said the by the time we get the feathers on him they are hen s feathers said the lieutenant but they ll do now get on to the table and you hand him the of tar you mr le or whatever your name is stand alongside of the table believed his destiny to be fixed oh mon i he exclaimed le est c est a you do is tar tar nothing but tar stand up to the table was the reply put sur ma t te on my head et sur habits my clothes habits de my fine clothes for de marriage oh de grace you will spoil all my clothes blast your clothes i said the pull them off je you gentlemen and he very deliberately himself of a light blue coat and embroidered silk a and an under of fabric he prolonged the operation as much as possible making continued efforts to the compassion of his which only added to their merriment at last all for delay were over every voice was hushed the began to the fatal when all composure of mind the bridegroom and he uttered a loud shriek favoured by the general stillness distinctly heard his voice and knew at once that it the extremity of she rushed to the rescue screaming for mercy the men fell back leaving their a new england tale trembling victim in the centre of the room ah ma i he exclaimed with a that produced a peal of laughter one of the men threw him his coat another his while the set down the saying if it had not been for his i d have given him a wedding suit but we rather think would have been released without the of his distressed bride for a mob is good natured and the merry men had in the landlord s cause for the sake of a joke rather than with the intention of pain after the ludicrous adventure was over ludicrous to the jolly but sad enough to the fugitive pair deemed it expedient to press their retreat brought the chaise to the door and they drove away amidst the loud and merry of the jovial company a new chapter xv even handed justice the of our to our own lips david not long after the affair of the robbery of his mother s desk went to new york in order to see his comrades who were imprisoned there and if possible to ther demands on his purse he succeeded in doing this but having fallen in attracted doubtless by natural with other companions as wicked and more desperate he soon spent in that city which affords remarkable for men of their money all that remained of the five hundred dollars he on others for a little time as he had been their prey and finally reduced to extreme want he joined two of his new associates in an attempt on the southern mail which ended in his detection and commit ment to jail in philadelphia where he was now awaiting a capital trial a particular account of the whole affair accompanied with letters from her son was to mrs who seemed now to be visited on every side with the natural and terrible of her maternal sins after s departure with all the profits of her little a new england tale school jane did not delay another moment to go to her aunt s in order to communicate to her mr s kind offer of assistance and to extend to her any aid or consolation in her own power she found mrs alone but not in a frame of mind that indicated any just feelings she received her niece coldly after a silence of a few moments which jane wished but knew not how to break she inquired of mrs whether she had any more information respecting david than was public her aunt replied she had not she understood the particulars were all in the paper even to his name she thought that might have been omitted but people always seemed to delight in every one s misfortunes jane asked if the letters expressed any doubt that david would be convicted none mrs said to be sure she added i have a letter from david in which he me to employ counsel for him so i suppose he thinks it possible that he might be cleared but a drowning man catches at do you know inquired jane the names of the eminent lawyers in philadelphia mr will be best able to inform you whom to select among them i will go to him immediately no no child i have made up my mind upon that subject it would be a great expense there is no conscience in city lawyers they would all my substance and do me no good after all no i shall leave david entirely in the hands of providence and can you aunt said jane in your son s being cut off in the spring of life without an effort to save a new england tale him without an e fort to procure him a space for repentance and do not presume jane replied mrs to me in my duties a space for repentance i a day an hour a moment is as good as an eternity for the operations of the spirit many at the foot of the gallows have repented and have died in their pardon and hope yes replied jane and there hare been many who have thus repented and rejoiced and then been u and have they then shown the only proof of genuine a renewed spirit have they kept the for by this shall	6
ye know that they are the of christ no they have returned to their old sins and been worse than at first i tell you said mrs impatiently you are ignorant child you are still in the bond of you cannot discern there is more hope and that is the opinion of some of our greatest of an open outrageous than of one of a moral life then replied jane there is more hope of a harvest from a hard bound neglected field than from that which the owner has carefully and and prepared for the sun and the rains of heaven the kingdom of grace is very different from the king of nature answered mrs the natural man can do towards his own salvation every act he and every prayer he offers but more and more the wrath of the almighty jane made no reply but she raised her hands and eyes as if she so a doctrine and mrs went on do not think my children are worse than others a new england tale you jane are as much a child of wrath and so is every son and daughter of adam as he is all totally totally corrupt you may have been under more restraint and not acted out your sins but no thanks to you and she continued fixing her large gray eyes on jane are beside my son who would not seem better if they had not friends to keep their secrets for them mr had for very good reasons never before alluded to the robbery of her desk since t e morning it was committed but she was now provoked to foul means to support her argument tottering under the assault of facts jane did not condescend to notice the she felt too sincere a pity for the miserable self woman but still anxious that some effort should be made for david she said to mrs is there then nothing to be done for your unhappy son nothing child nothing he has gone out from me and he is not of me his blood be upon his own head i am clear of it my foot on an even place my case is not an uncommon one she continued as if she would by this vain silence the voice within the saints of old david and samuel and were afflicted as i am with rebellious children i have planted and i have watered and if it is the lord s will to withhold the increase i must submit oh aunt i exclaimed jane interrupting and advancing towards her do not do not for your soul s sake indulge any longer this horrible delusion you have more children she continued falling on her knees and taking one of her aunt s hands in both hers and looking like a messenger from heaven be pitiful to them be merciful to a new england tale your own soul you yourself you may deceive others but god is not mrs was conscience stricken she sat as motionless aa a statue and jane went on with the courage of an to in their true colours her character and conduct she made her realize for a few moments at least the peril of her soul she made her feel that her sound faith her prayers her her meeting were nothing far worse than nothing in the sight of him who cannot be deceived by the daring the the of lies of his creatures she described the spiritual of s and then presented to mrs so true an image of her selfishness her pride her domestic tyranny and her love of money that she could not but see that it was her very self there was that n jane s looks and voice and words that was not to be resisted by the wretched woman and like the guilty king when he saw the record on the wall her countenance was changed her thoughts were troubled and her knees smote one against the other at this moment they were interrupted by the entrance of mr jane rose embarrassed for her aunt and her self and walked to the window mrs attempted to speak to rise she could do neither and she sunk back on her chair with misery and passion mr her agitation for the natural of a mother and with instinctive benevolence he advanced to her and said be composed i pray i have intelligence that will comfort thee what is it inquired jane eager to f x she had raised mrs w wi b unable to speak a new england tale thy son has escaped mrs and is before this beyond the reach of his country s laws here is a letter addressed to thee which came in one to me mr laid the letter on mrs s lap but she was unable to open it or even to hold it her eyes were fixed her hands firmly closed and she continued to shiver with emotion she is quite unconscious he said she does not hear a word i say to her jane flew to her assistance spoke to her entreated her to answer bathed her temples and her hands but all without effect oh she exclaimed terrified and dismayed i have killed her do not be so alarmed said mr there is no occasion for it the violence of her emotion has overcome her it is the voice of nature let us convey her to her bed jane called assistance and they removed her to her own room and placed her on her bed see whispered mr to jane after a few moments she is becoming composed already leave her for a little time with this domestic i have much to say to thee jane followed him to the parlour he took both her hands and said his face radiant with joy jane many daughters have done but thou them	6
all nay do not tremble unless it be for the sin of having kept from me so long the blessed intelligence of this morning poor jane tried to out an apology for her re serve but mr interrupted her by saying i understand it all i am too old too stern too to be a young lady s oh say not so exclaimed jane gathering courage from hb kindness you have been my benefactor my guardian a new england tale hi j kindest friend forgive mj silence i feel it all i have always felt it perhaps most when i seemed most insensible mr looked gratified beyond expression it cost him an rt to interrupt her but he said nay my sweet friend it will be my turn next if thou dost not stop and i too shall be as the french name my brethren a i have a great deal to tell thee our joys have clustered what thou jane to another walk to old john s with as strange and a more welcome guide than crazy bet i have no time to lose in our were brought by a sailor a fine good natured hardy looking fellow who came c to my house this morning i was wondering what he could be doing so far from his element when mary who returned to us yesterday opened the door for him and exclaimed with a ludicrous mixture of terror and joy the lord have mercy on us is it you or your ghost v the sailor gave her a truly professional and most and replied between crying and laughing i am no ghost mary as you may see but excuse me mary for mary had stepped back a little embarrassed by the involuntary freedom of her friend i was so glad i could not help it no no mary i am no ghost but a prodigal that s come back thanks to the lord i a little better than i went james who is indeed the long lost son of our good friend john of the mountain went on to detail his experiences to mary who by turns raised her hands and eyes in wonder and devout the amount of it is for their joy all of reserve he left this place ten years ago in despair because mary would not marry him and sailed to the the poor fellow was taken by the and after suffering almost for six years he was so happy as to procure hia freedom along with some english after his release a new england tale h said he could not endure the thought of coming to his father and mother quite destitute for as he said to though he was a wild lad and had a fancy to follow the sea her cruelty would not have driven him to leave them if e had not hoped to get something to comfort their old age with he wrote them an account of his sufferings and of an engagement he had made to go to in the service of an english the letters it seems never reached them he went to india many circumstances occurred to advance him in the favour of his employer his integrity which he said the tears streaming from his eyes was all owing to the and examples of his good old parents and his intelligence thanks to his country which took care to give the poor man learning occasioned his being employed in the company s service and sent with some others into the interior of india on business of great hazard and importance the success of which his attributed to him and rewarded him most liberally all these facts came out inevitably in the course of his narrative for he spoke not but with simplicity and gratitude he has returned with enough to purchase a farm and give to his parents all that they want c of this world and what our friend mary thinks best of all he has come home a having been made one by a missionary of that zealous in india if i have not mary s glistening eye this fact will cost me my housekeeper dear dear mary exclaimed jane brushing away the tears of sympathy and joy that mr s narrative had brought to her eyes and john and old oh it is as beautiful a conclusion of their lives as if it had been up by a poet ah jane replied mr there are realities in the a new tale kind dispositions of providence more blessed than a poet can s dream of and th re are virtues in real life he continued smiling that might lend a grace to the page of a it is of those i must now speak not now said jane hastily rising i must go to my aunt at least then take these letters with thee the levity of one will give thee some pain in the other the wretched son has done thee late justice now go my blessed friend to thy aunt would that thou minister to her mind distracted by these terrible events oh that power might be given to thy voice to awaken her conscience from its deep sleep it was a remarkable proof of mr s habitual grace that he did not forget at this moment that jane could not work miracles without supernatural assistance there is not a happier moment of existence than that which a benevolent being when he knows that the object of his solicitude and love has passed safely through trial is victorious over temptation and has overcome the world this was the joy that now a thousand fold mr for all his sufferings in the cause of our heroine would mr have been equally happy in the proved of his favourite if hope had not brightened his dim future with her sweetest visions certainly not he who hath wonderfully made us	6
hath in wisdom the principle of self love in our and let the as he will it is j neither the work of grace nor of discipline to it v but it may and if we would be good it must be modified controlled and made to the benefit and happiness of others mr had no very definite plans for the future but a new england tale his horizon was with a coming day and without vanity or presumption he trusted all would be well jane returned to her aunt s apartment and found her in a sullen stupor did not seem to notice at any she made no reply to jane s kind inquiries and she after drawing the curtains and the attendant sat down to the perusal of the letters mr had given to her the first she read was from to mr and as it was not long and was rather characteristic we shall take the liberty to it for the benefit of our readers dear in returning to my lodgings late last evening i was by a man muffled in a cloak i recognised his voice at once it was our unfortunate he has succeeded d in an ingenious plan of escape from and sails in the morning for one of the west india islands where he will no doubt make his as or in some other character for which his training has equally qualified him a precious rascal he is indeed but allow mo a phrase of your sir i had no light to give him up to justice after he had trusted to me and more than that for he me that he had since his confinement written to the to engage me as counsel and through them he learnt the fact of my being in this city this bound me in some sort to look upon the poor devil as my and as it would have been my duty to get him out of the of the law it would have been most to have put him into them you know since his own cleverness instead of mine has him he has explained to me and he me has communicated to you for he says he cannot trust his mother to make them public the particulars of the a new england tale of the old woman s money i think miss never imparted to you the event that led to the sudden engagement from which she has chosen to me and you have yet to learn that there is generosity in the world that may rival the virtue which under the of the broad brim but your pardon i have wiped out all scores the reception i have met with in this finest of cities has been such as to make me look upon the incidents of an obscure village as mere not worthy of a sigh from one who can in the broad sunshine of ladies favour and fortune s gifts one word more en of s explanations i rejoice in it sincerely on miss s account she deserved to have suffered a little for her in holding herself bound by an promise for having put herself in a situation in which her guilt would have seemed apparent to any one but a poor dog whom love had pro she is too young and too beautiful a victim for the altar of conscience however i forgive her her scruples her and her and wish her all happiness in this world and the next her not to turn here for the sake of advancement there i know not when i shall return to the village life stale flat and this gay metropolis has cured me of my rural tastes and as i flatter myself fashion s hand has quite my by a lucky chance i met the son of your john yesterday the poor dog s will make the villagers stare all unused as they are to the marvellous i told him by way of a welcome to his country i should pay his expenses home this i hope you sir will accept in of all my sins against the old basket maker a new many that yoa may find a new and more subject for your genius i remain sir your most obedient humble servant e n b my regards to miss tell her i look at the windows of our print shops every day in the expectation of seeing among their gay show her lovely figure chosen by one of the sons of to the stem lady justice whom few seek and none love her scales in solitary dignity and is this the man thought jane as she folded the letter that i have loved that i fancied loved me and her heart rose in devout for the escape she had made from an utter wreck of her happiness she next read s letter to mr it began with the particulars of his late escape which seemed to possess his mind more than any thing else he then said that being about to enter on a new voyage he wished to his soul of as much of its present cargo as possible he stated and we believe with sincerity that he had intended if it ever became necessary to assert jane s innocence but that as long as no one believed her guilty he had thought it fair to slip his neck out of the yoke and now that every body might know how good she was he wished mr to make known all the particulars of the transaction he then went on to detail as much as he knew of her visit to the mountain which had led to her subsequent he expressed no remorse for the past no hope of the future his wish to ex jane had arisen from a deep feeling of her excellence a new england tale and seemed to be the last ray	6
there seems to be a curious spiritual in the utterance of these words for we cannot say that those who use them mean to in a double sense but they are too often spoken and as the evidence of a hopeful state professions and have crept in among the to take the place of the and of the ancient church so prone are men to find some easier way to heaven than the path of obedience i i a new chapter god maker of all marriages combine your hearts in one v we have anticipated our story tempted by a natural desire to conclude the history of mrs that its deep shade might not interfere with the bright lights that are falling on the destiny of onr heroine after the dissolution of her engagement with jane continued her humble of for some months had from the beginning been one of her pupils and a favourite among them and so did the child love her that mr often thought impulse was as sure a guide for her affections as reason for his jane s care of his child furnished him occasion and an excuse when ho needed it for frequent intercourse with her and in this intercourse there were none of those mysterious mysterious because inexplicable to all but the parties that so often check the progress of affection jane released from the in which she had been bound to was as happy as a captive her tastes and her views were similar to mr s and she found in his society a delight a new england tale ful exchange and a rich compensation for the solitude to which her mind and affections had been condemned we are ignorant perhaps jane was of the precise moment when gratitude melted into love and friendship resigned the reins to his more dominion but it was not long after this nor quite a year and a day the period of mourning usually allotted to a faithful husband after her separation from that as she was sitting with mrs in her little parlour mr entered with his child after the customary greetings mrs suddenly recollected that some domestic duties demanded her presence and saying with an arch smile to mr that she hoped he would overlook her absence she left the room little was sitting on her father s knee she took from his bosom a miniature of her mother which he always wore there and seemed intently studying the lovely face which the artist had truly do the angels look like my mother she asked why my child i thought father they might look like her she looks so bright and so good she kissed the picture and after a moment s pause added jane looks like mother all but the cap dost not thee think father jane would look pretty in a cap mr kissed his little girl and said nothing s eyes followed the direction of her father s oh jane she exclaimed thou dost not look like mother now thy cheeks are as red as my new doll s the child s observation of her treacherous cheek had certainly no tendency to lessen poor jane s colour she would have been glad to hide her face any where but it was broad daylight and there was now no escape from the declaration which had been hovering on mr s lips for some weeks a new england and which was now made in spite of s presence it cannot be denied in deference to the opinion of some yery fastidious ladies that jane was prepared for it for though the marks of love are not quite as obvious as the lively describes them yet we believe that except in the case of very wary lovers cautious they are first observed by the objects of the passion we are warned from attempting to describe the scene to which our little had led the way by the fine remark of a who the language of lovers to the most delicate fruits of a warm climate very delicious where they grow but not capable of the result of the interview was perfectly satisfactory to both parties and as this was one of the occasions when all the sands of time are diamond sparks it is impossible to say when it would have come to a conclusion had it not been for little who seemed to over the of that day her father had interpreted his conversation with jane to his child and had succeeded in rendering the object and the result of it level to her comprehension and she had her joy in loud exclamations and tender caresses till finding she was no longer noticed she had withdrawn to a window and was amusing herself with gazing at the passengers in the street when suddenly turned to jane and raising the window at the same moment she said oh there goes mary to lecture may i call her and tell her at this moment the sweet child might have asked any thing without the chance of a refusal and ready assent was no sooner granted than she screamed and beckoned to mary who immediately obeyed the summons mary entered and closing the door after her a new england tale i thee will not want to go to lecture to day mary for i haye a most beautiful secret to tell thee hold down thy ear and promise to tell as long as thy name is mary and then unable any longer to subdue her voice to a whisper she jumped up and clapped her hands and shouted joy joy joy mary jane is coming to with us all the days of her life and is going to be my own mother mary looked to mr and then to jane and read in their faces the confirmation of the happy tidings and to s utter amazement the tears streamed from her eyes	6
oh mary said she turning disappointed away now i am ashamed of thee i thought thee would be as glad as i am but mr and jane knew how to understand this expression of her feelings they to her and her their hands she joined them the lord hath heard my prayer she said i thank thee mary replied mr god grant i may thy confidence if she has prayed for it what then does she cry for v said who stood beside her father watching mary s inexplicable emotion and trying to get some clue to it with me my child and i will replied her father and ho very led out the child and left jane with her faithful friend the moment he had closed the door mary said smiling through her tears of joy it has taken me by surprise at last but for all that i am not quite so blind as you may think do you remember jane telling me one day when laid your book down to listen to mr who was a new england tale talking to that since mother s voice had been silent you had never heard one so sweet as mr s i thought to myself then you seemed to feel just as i do when i hear the sound of james s voice not that i mean to com myself to you or james to mr but it is the nature of the ai is the same in the high and the low the rich and the poor was that all the ground of your suspicion asked jane smiling at her friend s boasted sagacity no not quite all james has been very impatient for our marriage and from time to time i have told mr i wished he would look out for some one to take charge of his house and i advised him not to get a very young person for says i they are apt to be i never saw one that was not but jane he smiled and blushed and asked me what made me think that you were so much above the rest of your sex and so i told him and he never seemed to weary with talking about you i am rejoiced replied jane that your partiality to me you to the in our ages oh that is nothing that is in your case it is nothing let us see eleven years in most cases it would be too much to be sure there is just four years between james and i that is just right i think and then dear jane you are so different other people you need not go by com mon rules the overflowing of mary s heart was checked by the entrance of some company as she parted with jane she whispered i shall not think of leaving mr till you are married be it sooner or later when i see you in your own home it will be time enough to think of my affairs there still remained a delicate point to mr v a new england tale liad been brought up a and he had seen no reason to depart from the faith or mode of worship which had come down to him from his ancestors and for which he felt on that account as who does not an attachment and veneration he rarely if ever entered into discussion upon religious subjects and probably did not feel much zeal for some of the peculiarities of his he was not disposed to question their utility in their ordinary operation upon common character he knew how were the of discipline upon the mass of men and he considered the discipline of habits and opinions infinitely more than the direct and coarse interference of power he or thought he perceived that as a body of men the friends were upon the whole more happy and prosperous than any other no ever came among them this circumstance mr ascribed in a considerable degree to the of their opinions habits and lives and to their custom of their family within the limits of their own mr regarded with complacency most of the characteristics of his own religious society and those which he could not wholly approve he was yet disposed to regard in the most favourable light but he was no his understanding was too much elevated and his affections were too diffused to be confined within the bounds of such ties not bind such a spirit if any peculiarities had interfered to restrain him in the exercise of his duty or while acting under the strong impulses of his generous nature he would have shaken them off like dew drops from a lion s mane from the society would have been painful to him for many reasons but the fear of it could not occasion a moment s hesitation in his offering his hand to a woman whom a tale he loved and valued and whose whole life he saw animated by the spirit of christianity he determined now to inform his society of his choice and to submit to the censure and from that must follow but mr was saved the painful necessity of breaking ties which were so strong that they might be called natural bonds jane had been early led to inquire into the particular of religion professed by her benefactor and respect for him had probably lent additional weight to every argument in its favour this was natural and it was natural too that after her judgment her early preference she should from motives of delicacy have hesitated to declare it if it cannot be denied that this was won by the virtues of mr it is to be presumed that no christian will deny the power of such an argument if the reader is not disposed to allow that jane s choice of the religion of her friend was the result of the purity	6
and simplicity of her character the preference she always gave to the spirit over the letter to the practice over the profession she must call to her aid the decision of the poet who says that minds ore for of kinds as are formed for different seed not a word had passed between mr and jane on the subject of the mental and of each when a few days after their engagement jane said to him i have a mind to improve the fatal hint of my little mischievous friend and see how becoming i can make a cap a new england what dost thou mean jane inquired mr who seemed a little puzzled by the gravity of her face which was not quite in keeping with the of her words seriously she replied with your consent and approbation i mean to be a member by request of your society of friends shall my people be thy people exclaimed mr with great animation this indeed to pure gold the only circumstance that my happiness but do not imagine dear jane that i think it of the least consequence by what name the different members of the christian family are called but you think it right and orderly she replied smiling that the wife should take the name of the husband i think it mo t happy certainly there remained now no reason for the marriage longer than was rendered necessary by the attending the admission of a new member into the friends society it was a beautiful morning in the beginning of may the mist had rolled away from the valley and with silvery clouds the sides and of the mountains the air was sweet with the herald blossoms of spring and nature rising from her wintry bed was throwing on her woods and fields her of tender green when a carriage containing mr mary and little stopped at mrs s door jane arrayed for a journey stood awaiting it on the old john the basket maker was beside her leaning on his cane and good mrs was giving jane s baggage to james who carried it to the carriage farewell dear jane said mrs affectionately kissing her now go but do not forget there are other friends in the world beside return to us soon a new england we are all impatient to see you the happy mistress of the house in which you was born john followed her to the carriage and respectfully taking her hand and mr s you ve been my best friends said he take an old man s blessing whose sun thanks to the lord who brought back is setting without a cloud god grant you both he added joining their hands a long and a happy day truly says the good book light is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart james was the only person that did not seem to have his portion of the common gladness he had with a poor grace consented to his till mary s return from philadelphia he did not mind the time he said five or six weeks would not break his heart though he had waited almost as long as jacob now and he was not of a make but it was a long way to philadelphia and the lord only knew what might happen but nothing did happen at least nothing to justify our constant lover s jane was received with cordiality into the friends society and their hands were joined whose hearts were knit together the travellers returned in a few weeks to happy in each other and themselves to the good and happiness of the human family their good works shone before men and seeing them their father in heaven we dare not presume upon the good nature of our readers so far as to give the detail of mary s wedding at which our little friend was the happy mistress of ceremonies there yet remains something to be told of one of the persons of our humble history whom our readers may have forgotten but to whom mr extended his kind regards a new england tale the poor lunatic crazy bet he believed that her reason might be restored by skilful management by confinement to one place and one set of objects and by the influence of gentle manners and regular habits in her attendants he induced mary in whose and zeal he placed confidence to undertake the execution of his plan but after a faithful experiment of a few months they were obliged to all hope of restoring the mind to its right balance mary said when the weather was dull she was as quiet as any body but if the sun shone out suddenly it seemed as if its bright beams touched her brain a thunder storm or a clear moonlight would throw her back into her wild ways the poor thing mary added had such a tender heart that there seemed to be no way to it if she sees a lamb die or hears a mournful note from a bird when she has her low feelings she ll weep more than some mothers at the loss of a child no cure could be effected but mary s house continued to be the favourite resort of the interesting her visits there became more frequent and longer protracted mary observed that the excitement of her mind was her life without bet s seeming conscious of decay of strength or any species of suffering the last time mary saw her was a brilliant night during the full harvest moon she came to her house late in the evening the of her eye was tempered with an affecting softness her cheek was brightened with the flush that looks like mockery of the tomb mary observed her to tremble and perceived that there was an alarming fluttering in	6
her pulse you are not well said she no i am not well bet replied in a low plaintive tone a new england but i shall be soon here said she placing mary s hand on her heart do not you feel it struggling to be free mary was startled the beating was so irregular it seemed that every must be the last oh she exclaimed poor creature let me put you in bed you are not fit to be sitting here oh no bet replied in the same feeble mournful tone i cannot stay here the spirits are out by the light of the moon hark do you not hear them mary and she sung so low that her sounded like distant music sister spirit come away i and do you not see their white robes she added pointing through the window to the that curled along the margin of the river and floated on the bosom of the meadow mary called to her husband and whispered the poor thing is near death let us get her on the bed bet overheard her no do not touch me she exclaimed the spirit cannot rise here she suddenly sprang on her feet as if she had caught a new inspiration and darted towards the door mary s infant sleeping in the cradle arrested her eye she knelt for a moment beside it and folded her hands on her breast then rising she said to mary the prayer of the dying the door was open and she passed through it so suddenly that they hardly suspected her intention before she was gone the next morning she was discovered in the church yard her head resting on the grassy mound that covered the remains of her lover her spirit had passed to its eternal rest m note to page the had that men would cover their front the occasioned in bj her to the contest in which her were at equal to those of any other state and the taxes which at the close of the war were imposed upon the citizens by the state were the principal causes of the in which are now talked of bj some of the older inhabitants and particularly in the western part of the as the war it was so called from daniel one of the principal and now a citizen and in the western part of the state of new york this rebellion is certainly a stain upon the character of almost the only one it may to exhibit in a light the humane and orderly character of her inhabitants if there were no wrongs to be there were sufferings and tions to be borne the of the war had not and the and of all the to be by glorious liberty had passed away the people found that they had liberty indeed but it was not what they had painted to their fancies they enjoyed a republican but with it came increased and toil their means were rather than enlarged from the embarrassment and confusion of the times debts had multiplied and accumulated courts were established and the laws enforced a n w england tale hie organization of and the collection of debts formed one of the principal grounds of discontent the court houses were attacked and their sometimes prevented the party in favour of the state and of course of the support of the laws was commonly called ihe court party an englishman might smile at such an application of the term the spirit was very throughout the common wealth and it might be said that the western were in the possession of the against it endured however but for a few months and was chiefly put down by the voluntary and spirited exertions of the inhabitants while it lasted there waa of course a considerable degree of license and occasional for it could hardly be called plunder but there was little destruction of property and no cruelty sometimes a few individuals of the court party and sometimes a few were made prisoners and in such cases they were shut up in rooms during the stay of the conquering party and occasionally marched off with them on their retreat it is probable that about fifteen or twenty perished in during the war not one by the sentence of a civil magistrate the most severe engagement which occurred during the contest took place in on the th of february the government party was composed of from and in number about eighty men and commanded by colonel john of this hearing that the had appeared in force in where they had committed some and taken several prisoners pursued them for some time without success and did not fall in with them until their return to to which place the had marched by a different route the were more numerous but possessed less confidence than the government party this circumstance was every where during the contest upon this occasion as the most effectual protection they placed their prisoners in fi ont of their line and between themselves and their they probably expected a and that the parties would separate without this had sometimes happened before from the great reluctance which all felt to proceed to against their neighbours and acquaintances but colonel was a man of determined spirit and fully a england tale that energetic measures had he ordered liis men to fire thej knew their and remonstrated the colonel exclaimed god have on their souls but pour in your fire i they did so and after an engagement of about six minutes the fled their loss was two men killed and about thirty their captain wounded the loss of the government party was two men killed and one wounded of the former number one was a prisoner who had been forced into the front of the rebel line if the remembrance of this commotion had not been preserved by	6
the classical pen of its tradition would probably in one or two generations this is the only civil war which has ever been in our try unless the war of the revolution can be so called a an old friend described to me the following scene of which in his early boyhood he was an eye witness and desired me to record it he is even now but slightly bent under the weight of more than eighty years he has a strong voice a hearty laugh a sound memory and other physical attributes that as accompanying four score will be as incredible to the descendants of the present generation as is the of the to our my friend belonged to one of the aristocratic families of people then dared to boast that distinction and even now he may claim a of nobility that none will dispute for he bears a name illustrated by a who when he wrote had no rival and even now has no superior upon that topic on which he exercised his marvellous intellect it was on a sabbath day i dare not in this relation use other than a term late in april in that an bustle occurred in one of the villages of the stern long winter of our hill country a tradition had just passed away the of a winter were beginning in our political world a winter whose storm was to drive out all old customs relations and to be followed by a spring of vigorous life suited to our young country the genial of the long afternoon played on the few framed houses of the village and on the indian huts scattered among them which seemed to be rooted there as were the affections of their doomed masters and did ever savage or civilized man dwell in that sweet valley who did not cling to it as if it were in truth their mother earth times are changed there now hideous telegraph poles its street and the whistle of the shrieks from its but then as now even late in april winter lingered on the wet cold dull coloured the forest trees were yet brown and naked but oh how fresh and bright was the grass in the meadows how deep coloured the just turned up for the corn planting how rich the green of the winter wheat fields how sparkling the musical stream that in the early spring time seemed to sing of nothing but its freedom and then as my friend said the where we cut our sticks along the looked as if they had been dipped in melted gold the were flushed with their red the air at our windows was so inviting with the young of the the girls were longing to go out to pick and by the brook side the were the birds singing the could not stop them but we children had to stay silent and sad in doors and study our and watch which we did more than study tho shadows as they crept how slowly over the valley and up and up the and not till the last purple ray had faded from th a tradition very crest of the mountains were we permitted to sally forth with the setting of the sun ended holy time the sun was in our eyes a mortal enemy so tedious was the long holy time to us god our parents that it was so on the afternoon we are my friend then a of seven or eight years was sitting with the other children of the household near a window which afforded a tempting view of the different avenues that to the village green which village green was a dangerous with the westminster shorter for their bright eyes the eyes had wandered oh how pleasant the green looks said the boy i wish the moon would shine as bright as the sun does then we could see to play ball after sunset don t you wish so was a pattern child faithful and without raising her eyes she went on committing to memory her appointed task which at that moment happened to be the tremendous answer to the question in the shorter westminster the child s spiritual bread and meat of that day what is the misery of that estate man fell resumed her brother do you believe were ever boys and girls like we are all mankind by their fall lost communion with god are under his wrath and curse and so made liable to all the miseries of this life to death itself and to the pains of hell for ever murmured i called out her brother again i declare there is squire coming out of his house and out of his look a tradition bat was all mankind by their fall she continued why see there is captain and mr too what can it mean was as firm as and so made liable to all the miseries of this life to death itself and to the pains of hell for ever c she it was worthy of observation that these familiar words of eternal doom made no more impression on the serene child than if she were repeating dock or any other of mother goose s resumed her brother i never saw any one like you why don t you look there comes and lee they have both got guns what will say by this time s attention was completely aroused she closed her little blue book and the children all clustered together to observe the scene which was soon interpreted to them by their excellent mother who came from her nursery with her infant child in her arms beautiful then as tradition has it beautiful still as all can testify who are acquainted with that majestic form fresh cheek beaming eye and most serene aspect the gathering on	6
the sabbath so to the children was occasioned by the ai rival of an express bringing news of the battle of an association called minute men from the fact that they held themselves ready to go forth in their country s service at a minute s warning had been formed throughout the towns of each man in the village had been to meet instantly on the green the inhabitants were few but every man ca a tradition of bearing arms minute men and others not thus came old and young each with a comprehension of the sacred principles for which he was to contend and for which he was willing to leave his home and peril his life these principles had been in saxon minds from the days of king john and the and they were now into the glorious truths proclaimed in our declaration of independence our men were ready and eager for their work but not one among them probably had the faintest imagination that the of the world hung upon the issue of the contest on which they were entering there were not with the minute men and the purpose of the gathering was to decide who should be permitted to go and who should perform the duty of remaining at home to take care of the women and children and keep the indians in order i have not fired a gun these ten years said but i guess i can do it as well as my neighbours one lad another whispering did not i tell you the had for all if mrs is willing said her husband the captain there s no man nor happier to go than i am he could afford to to his help meet for the little world of s knew their wills were one i ask no woman s leave to do my duty said little the well known tyrant of his household i go that is doubtful yet said william to whom the command of the minute men of s was assigned every one cannot have the privilege and we must take only as can be serviceable william a was a stout tall well made six feet two inches without his shoes some forty two or three years old in the prime of manhood a living man in the sense of that term beloved and respected in the little community of s as no other man was most of the men were zealous eager for the service the selection made by met with unanimous acquiescence few wished to dispute it and none dared to the astonishment of all however was among the picked men this he explained to a friend saying will be a among us i know and i fear a coward your at home for the most part are but to tell you the truth it was an opportunity to relieve his women folks and i could not neglect it the dispositions for the march were promptly made there was no time to be lost they were to depart that evening some among them never to return some to homes how changed i some themselves mournfully changed i one solemn office remained before their the children of the were not men to in a serious enterprise without appealing to the great of events and now the children s wonder was again excited by seeing the descending the long straight road from the hill overhanging the village where his house like a watch tower on stood he was attended by a young friend who was then with him he was himself then still young though he had already been ten years on a which he was destined to continue in that favoured place in seal and purity for more than sixty years why mother exclaimed little mr west is not going to fight is he a minister and such a little man too little exclaimed her brother i guess he is as tall a tradition alexander for master day says alexander was not taller than he is i don t know my child but don t my son let your mind ran upon heathen people attend to what is going on i guess mr will go don t you whispered the child to his sister he is so tall and beautiful and has such black eyes he is something like a soldier i whether mr would have gone or not had the opportunity been offered him we cannot say for the was already made up perhaps he was glad to the necessity of a choice for though the colony was the land of his birth and to be his future residence more than half his life had been passed in england and it was natural that his affections should be divided that they leaned to the wrong side the villagers all thought and as he approached there were whispers among them he is a friend of mr west or we would give him a piece of our mind this is no time for no nor for fine gentlemen with gloves and we must handle things without now a days hush boys said william who stood a little apart with this knot of free don t be to mr he is my friend as well as the minister s he is something more than a fine gentleman a man and none the worse for not wanting to fight his cousins and friends whose bread and salt he has eaten on the other side you have come in good time sir he added advancing and giving his hand to the every thing is settled the men are ready to march and we wait only for you to ask the lord s blessing on our the twilight was near the deepening shadows stealing over the valley the dark passage through which the a tradition people were to pass the sun beams on the eastern hills	6
the light beyond it the men leaning on their guns and arranged themselves in a circle around the minister a group of indian men and women had gathered and stood on one side listening reverently the minister prayed and wept to the last of his long good life he was marked by a sensibility that forth in sympathy for all his people the just and unjust saints and all shared a heart wide enough for all the boy of whom we have spoken was permitted by his mother to go out and listen to the service no wonder the scene never passed from his memory that war was thus begun in the self devotion and self sacrifice of thoughtful fathers faithful husbands brothers and sons and by the prayers of holy men which was for self government an equality of rights and privileges the freedom and happiness of all the battle was fought on their mother earth about their own on the other side the soldiers were a good part and from the household for which they fought and for the most part ignorant and men a home scene i have no time to give any directions said william to his sister a tall gaunt elderly woman you know full as well as i how to take care of every thing the horses cattle pigs and you ll give them all plenty to eat for that s your nature and that s the main chance ben will be a boys always are but he being a tradition you won t feel it so much don t humour him too much don t go out as you did last winter in the snow and feed the horses that he went to bed and forgot take care i don t tie up the yet i want to put this in what is it brother asked who kept her head averted that her brother might not see the tears that were pouring down her cheeks well its s that cut for me last week it is only an outline but i can fill it up with blue eye and round cheeks and a sweet little fair child s face you think i am foolish i more than forty i no no brother don t i set by her almost as much as you poor little dove yes and that is a comfort to me now if it tore my heart in two to leave and i should go but now i go cheerfully for i know you will always consider for them i confide them to you and go in peace is a helpless little thing but it is my fault she was so young when we married that she has always seemed to me like a child oh never mind brother it is easy to care for her truly the pleasure and comfort of my life i have no words to thank you but words are nothing between you and i i have bid her good bye it has taken the strength out of me it makes me feel like a poor soldier and he wiped away his tears as he added this little woman makes such a child of me i left her with on her lap both sobbing i hear them now by the way i have forgotten to tell you that i have engaged to teach will to teach brother is but six i have a heard that mr is a finished scholar sorely he is not a suitable teacher for maybe not but is halting about his profession he is fallen under suspicion as a tory and he would like to stay quietly here and mind his books so i offered him his board for teaching but if it will be a trouble to you to me what trouble can it be to me to get for four instead of three no truly i am glad he is coming he will be company for poor little dove i a wagon drove to the door william threw in his turned and looked around for the last time every object was on his heart he kissed his sister s coarse cheek as fervently as if she were the loveliest woman in creation and knocking with his iron on his wife s bed room door he said in a cheering tone god bless you dear dearest little dashed off his tears and departed as our story has little to do with the military career of the commander of the little from l but is confined to the domestic incidents of his life we must take william s body mind and heart were in that state which in our present phrase would be called normal capricious nature no this is but vulgar nature is but another name for the great creator of perfect works not nature then but the wrongs done to her so often effect such combination as a heart of infinite in a half developed body a gigantic intellect like pope s napoleon s or alexander s a in a almost frame that when the world has assurance of a man in the highest intellectual and moral attributes with their fitting majestic he receives as william did the tribute of trust and love and reverence was of a good old english stock but the branch in this country had bj adverse accidents been reduced to an humble condition of life and william and his sister four or five years older than himself were left at an early age with no inheritance but a farm on the cold sea shore of this they for one in better position and condition in a lovely valley in the most western county of the same state this by the joint management of brother and sister improved rapidly in value and as it was the good custom of those times for	6
old linen in the house into and sister will forward as you desire by first conveyance p s again mr sends his kindest remembrance i read to him what you said about him a faithful friend is a strong defence he looked up in a startled way as if he had never heard that precious scripture miss to colonel and respected brother your letter was duly received two weeks after date i thank you for its words also for your profitable advice concerning the farm stock and so forth which shall the lord willing be attended to but truly brother you are the faithful one to fan as well as country if your head work and band work in camp your heart is in your own hon e and mine seems as if it wo ld i read r loving words to f n a tradition and to me but i ain t one tbat talks about feeling so i proceed to outside things i have found the great of turning round the shed to front south it has i believe saved the lives of the young stock this winter its been a winter but the it is the i grow and truly brother the older i grow the lighter every thing seems as it were that i can do for you and yours the lord hath greatly blessed me in this that when i do good i know to whom i do it the wool has turned out remarkable partly owing to there being no waste having myself the finest i selected for your new suit and i would not give it for the best woven in old england has a gown from the same and which i before pulling a deep crimson with a of old s and she looks like a bird in it i could not help saving off a sunday suit for the boy that ever lived the the best the rest of the wool i have done with as you desired and the rolls of flannel cloth are to be forwarded by the committee to your poor soldiers that you say shiver with cold and never with fear the lord help them through as soon as the spring opens the committee will see to sending off the potatoes beans c of which we a plentiful lot to some part where they will be of use to the army i shall send also to you a box of good cotton i made the same for mr s use he often reading late at night to and thereby trying his eyes he is a kind man faithful to i greatly fear be will never do much for himself some weeks he will be a lawyer and then when peace comes he will go back to england and the church and then he will give himself up to a wandering life and go to egypt and the far east and so he a talks as as a weather cock it was a pity they spoilt him in england if he had been brought up to work he might have been made a man of but i don t know i am his is in the bone you can t make strong cloth out of rotten but any how it s a fine to have such a man to teach our and to be company to our little and read poetry to her and such kind of cakes and and keep her content as it were and cheerful while you are away but a man should be a man and on his sword for one side or the other or in these times handle the axe and reap the field and hate not laborious work which the most high hath ordained but he is a beautiful young man for all pleasant spoken and we are as happy a family as we can be when the noble chief and head is gone so dear brother i remain faithfully yours till death the above letters slightly from those preserved in the family indicate sufficiently the condition of things in william s family in the third year of his absence they satisfied his heart amid all the trials struggles and of his military life his affections settled in peace over his home it seemed to him a little kingdom of his own where the sun always shone an into whose rest he should enter as soon as his work for his country was over his his boldness and perhaps more than these qualities that belong to physical health and strength his eminent good sense his charming good humour and his humanity won the love of his companions in arms drew confidence and from the highest quarters v v career was a most active and successful one t a tradition the only time he was ever known to lose his self command and with it as he afterwards confessed a portion of his self respect was on occasion of a visit from after his from s had attained the place of in the army an office admirably adapted to his taste and genius had often detected and corrected s petty and but had never lost his temper and the had no fear of exciting his anger why colonel you don t ask after your folks said no i have letters from them yes but letters don t tell every thing they tell me all i wish to hear and just what i wish it s pretty judicious to be satisfied with them may be there was something in s manner that conveyed more than met the ear have you bad news speak don t hesitate speak i command you why colonel we ain t on duty tell me what you know what have you heard is my wife sick my	6
and dreadful low spirited so on and so on from month to month but what was more to a tradition colonel was that his son whose letters had been pervaded with notices of his mother now never mentioned her and that he in his silence even after his father again and again reproached him with it alas for the poor boy at last and at last came to the happy colonel the power to his command for a short time and having obtained leave of absence he joyfully set his ce homeward he had till now as well as he could turned aside thoughts of home now permitted they overpowered and possessed his whole being happiness is the health of the spirit and in his sound nature the tendencies were so strong to it that anxieties and fears fled from him as from daylight to his happy his home was the home he had left his appearance would at once restore his wife and all would be as it had been with the added joy of meeting his return had been so sudden to himself that he had not announced or even intimated it to his family but when within a few miles of home it occurred to him that his unexpected appearance might be too much for his little nervous wife and he sent forward a with a note to his sister the man was with the country he took a wrong road and the colonel driving rapidly and eagerly forward arrived before him he turned up to his own gate his horses were in the next to his garden he did not see them ben grown from boyhood to manhood turned his oxen who were drawing home a load of hay to let the colonel pass and grinned joyfully at his master but the colonel did not speak to him so full was his heart of the dear people within he entered through the kitchen there was no one there but every thing was just a tradition he had left it and he paused for an instant with a feeling that the long gap of absence was closed it was but an instant and his heart swelling and his strong hand trembling he opened the dwelling room door there too was and silence for the first time an apprehension entered the colonel s mind like the sudden coming of a cloud in the clear sky a fear an dread he paused listened he heard no sound his wife s bed room was beyond and opened out of the dwelling room his old dog was lying at the door he opened his eyes and evidently recognized his master for he vehemently his tail but without moving or making the slightest noise not even my dog moves to meet me flashed through the colonel s mind who could comprehend explain or limit the feelings of that poor old animal who at that moment blended servant and friend the colonel him aside with his foot and opened wide the door it was the middle of a july afternoon the room was darkened one of the window blinds being left just open enough to admit the necessary light the colonel s wife was stretched on the bed covered only with a sheet and white as the sheet her eyes were closed her beautiful curling hair lay in tangled masses on the pillow her arms were outstretched and her hands tight clasped over her head this was the only indication that life was still there their boy sat close to the bedside of his mother with his back to the door hush doctor he rather breathed than said mother is sleeping and then turning round and seeing it was not the doctor and was his father for he instantly recognized him he sprang into his arms buried his face in his father s bosom and tried but alas tried in vain to suppress his sobs one other object a tradition had caught william eye and he who had at the cannon s mouth now shook like a smitten woman his sister was sitting at the farthest extremity of the room with a new horn on her lap her eyes once met her brother s then fell and she remained silent and motionless the whole story was told the iron entered the husband s father s soul he and involuntarily grasped the post of the his wife awoke opened her eyes and fixed them on him this him she gazed intently for half a minute her glance seemed to bum into his very soul she uttered a loud prolonged shriek the blood rushed into her cheeks and springing up in the bed she clasped her arms tight around his neck it was a dream a dream a horrid dream a nightmare she screamed you are here my husband my honoured dear husband it was a dream my arms are around you and you don t me you don t call me that dreadful name i oh i how they rung it in my ears it a dream i see you i see you i i was not false bad i couldn t be i loved you i do love you i it was a horrid dream f she paused she still hung around his neck but she let her head fall back and gazed intently in her husband s face why she said in her own natural low subdued tone but lower than ever why don t you kiss your little and then starting away from him as if a had her and flashing her eye around the room she pointed to the baby and shrieked there there there it was a shriek that seemed to comprehend all human woe a t it was not a dream it was not a dream	6
she screamed and sinking down she covered her face oh hide me hide me bury me deep ground he has seen me he hates me oh god of mercy i strike me dead why can t i die colonel didn t speak he stood motionless beside the bed gloom and misery had settled on his noble countenance his son threw himself beside his mother he tore the sheet from her face laid his cheek to hers and said dear dear mother don t father will speak to you in a minute he will this apparently soothed her she was quiet for a moment but the tide flowed back and swept every thing before it she pushed her boy aside threw back the of hair that she had gathered over her face raised up leaning on her elbow looked at her husband at the infant at her boy and broke out into of laughter colonel fled from the room oh mother dear mother don t poor laid down the baby and rushed to the bedside in her effort to suppress her feelings and her words at her brother s sudden appearance she had bitten through her lip and the blood had down over her white loose gown the blood caught s eye did you kill her she asked with that sudden change of countenance and flash of intelligence common in madness did you sister oh i how could you well i don t know that i am sorry it s all for the best she was innocent poor little thing i tou are sure she is quite quite dead oh no dear child she is not dead she is not i will take care of her i will a tradition will you will you tell him she is innocent ask him beg him pray him to let her stay with him i am going where all bad women go going f her utterance became and confused and from that time though her mind was filled with visions she had rarely and at long intervals any memory or even faint of the realities of her own existence and its dreadful calamity colonel went to his room shut and locked the door his sister went often to the entry that communicated with his apartment and signified by her footsteps that she was there but there was no response to her and she understood her brother too well to force herself upon him evening came said don t you think aunt that my father will come down before bed time i think not but he has eaten no dinner and no supper i think he does not miss them go to bed child go to bed you can go to sleep i cannot i feel as if i never should go to sleep again the little fellow crept up stairs and laid himself down by his father s door and there he lay a weary hour listening to the low sad sounds within and then the blessing of childhood fell upon him and he slept till the sun rose he then made a movement that indicated his and his father opened the door and drew him into the room he put his arms fondly over the boy it was kind of you my child to lie down there it comforted me did it sir i am glad you have grown i a tradition why yes sir i was only a child when went away a slight shiver passed over colonel it is a great while four years the d of last april ton have not changed otherwise than being taller and more manly you are the same kind hearted boy you love your little mother there was an trembling of his voice on the last words lover her father i i love her better than any one in the world i can t help loving her can you sir his eyes fell no tell me my boy why you never mention ed your mother all the spring and winter in your letters she begged me not to sir and she used to say over and over again i am not your mother i am not your father s wife i could not think what she meant and she cried so i couldn t do what she asked me not to do i do not blame you my boy and now we stand together and the world sha n t move us go down stairs and ask your aunt to send ben to me with my and water and and ask your aunt to come to me in half an hour will you not come to breakfast sir if i can my son i am not hungry now but father you have not eaten since yesterday morning you will be sick don t fear that my boy you know i am a soldier and used to go now if one so sick at heart could have been sick in body it would have been an infinite relief miss counted the minutes and in half an precisely was in her brother s room the colonel had gone a tradition through the of washing and and he was in his manner but his ghastly a general and his dull sick showed how the strong man had been taken down sit down my good sister he said her brother s composure seemed to it awed her she sank into a chair and said without addressing him for she seemed to speak unconsciously my knees are weak i wonder what me said her brother we haye a task to do and we must set to shoulder you haye been the friend that is the medicine of life to me and so you will continue to be it seems to me that i haye ages and ages since i opened	6
that door yesterday it has been a sorrowful night he paused and wept like a child i didn t mean this should be again he continued nature will haye her way light has broken upon me i think the good ood has answered my prayer and me wisdom to direct my steps aright i haye laid out my course and with his help i will maintain it how is she this ing just so lost entirely lost but not did she sleep yes a sort of sleep brother the doctor her her sleep was full of groans and sobs and confused talk me in brief the history of the past week go no farther back i haye made out the fatal story i speak of it now for the first and last time let no friend speak to me on the subject if an enemy does i shall know how to answer him i remember when it was you said she had a a tradition falling out with with his choked with the last of he left here her life since has been one of remorse and misery tell me now what i asked of you yes brother but i must go farther back than last week i didn t tell you all in my letters maybe i was wrong but says i to myself brother can t leave his duty and what s the use of distressing him it was weeks and weeks before her was known to the neighbours she was always a little house body you know no hand for visiting and so after you went away we seldom saw the neighbours and i am a still body at best it was enough to tell the work folks that mrs was not well and so it went on for weeks till one day mr west called and after telling me that he had heard that had got safe into new york he asked to see her i could not refuse him so i led him right into the dwelling room she started and turned pale for she had got so nervous then she could not bear any thing mr west soon saw how low she was and he thought it was on account of your long absence and anxiety and so on and the good man s tears ran down his face he is a dreadful feeling man you know but he told her she ought to submit and remember she was a professor yes yes she said it was the first word she spoke a professor and a but my dear young friend he said you surely have not lost your hope v i have i have she cried for ever and for ever i he talked long and handled her as if she had been a little child you know brother how from the very first she had that about her that made every one gentle with her but a tradition then mr west out of the range of doctrine and down the stairs is gentle to every one well he talked she not answering a word but looking down he told her the church and he had been well satisfied with her experience at her examination and that many a saint had low times but that final perseverance was sure he said that he had known others who in trying circumstances or poor health were tempted by satan to give up their precious hope she answered not a word he told her he would send her his work on the and he did so and other writings of learned on the perseverance of saints and so on she never opened them and she begged me never to bring mr west into her room again and wrought me to promise i would not she said the evil spirit most tormented her when a good spirit was near but she said little there were days and days she saw no face but mine for she said she could not even bear s presence and then again she could not bear to have him move from her side she never opened one of your letters she would not even touch them she said she was not worthy she had them put in a basket on the t ble beside which he sat and said many a time she would bend her head over it and the tears would fall like rain tou may see them now all with her tears poor little dear merciful exclaimed colonel starting from his seat with emotion he was soon again calm proceed he said well brother so it went on i saw she did not get thin or pale and i kept hoping that when the time for the singing of birds came and the woods and the grass sprung and the blossoms came out she would rise but no she who had loved all such pretty things never seemed to a desire any of now day and night i considered about writing to you but i knew bow tbe country needed all your strength and how you were harassed and i much doubted if this were a case that even you could help not that i ever for an instant the truth you know brother i am not much acquainted with woman s business and i am not one of the suspicious or observing kind and truly truly i should as soon have evil of one of the angels that stand before the heavenly throne as of our poor little dear i always went into her room before i went to bed to see if there were any thing to be done and night before last as i was leaving the room i heard a groan i turned and looked at her you are	6
in distress i said i am always in distress she answered but says i this is something more than common it is it is she says and both her hands she told me what was coming i shall die she says i know i shall die for i have prayed and prayed for that i have asked nothing else god is merciful and he will grant me that i would rather go now to the fire prepared for me than meet your brother s altered eye she never called you husband poor little dear from the time her spirits first failed i was calm brother the shock was too great for words or tears her sufferings increased beyond account i had never been in such a situation before and though she begged me to let her die alone with me i dared not so i roused ben and sent for doctor he said not one word when i told him but he felt well the child was born towards morning doctor was doctor nurse and every thing for i knew no more than you would brother what to do i think a be tradition she wandered a little from the moment the child was bom she would see she would not be denied doctor said it was not safe to refuse her i told him might be relied on the doctor went out and talked to himself i don t know what he said but i the p or boy knows enough what it all means doctor said says he miss keep your doors shut and locked the spirit of gossip is awake in the village says he but if possible it shall not be gratified this time for the present take the best care you can you know how to keep so do l we will consider for the future perhaps i will myself go to the colonel but we leave that sufficient to the day is the evil thereof we will shelter her if we can she is a million times better than those that are ready and glad to believe in her and foul beasts says he oh that it should be earth and ashes as we all are groaned colonel had finished her mournful story and she was not to any comments least of all at this time was she like to offend in this way after a few moments silence colonel said thank you my good sister i believe you have done all for the best there is much wisdom in a good and feeling heart tell dr i kindly thank him i cannot speak even to him on the subject but do you tell him i wish to have no no false shows no acting lies no say not that last to him he is an honest man and meant no wrong i have my own view of the matter i wish to shape our life for the equal eye of god and not with any respect to the hard judgment with which man and woman too judge their own frail fellow creatures no i have a be k bi s tradition laid oat mj coarse and with god s help and blessing i will follow it i have no blame to throw my poor little wife if she were herself i would go upon mj knees and ask her it is not that i take blame for marrying one so much younger than myself you know our love filled up that chasm i but how could i deemed a prudent man arrived at the age of cool and discretion a man an idle man with all the qualities pleasing in the eye of a young woman in the intimacy with my wife i who was her earthly providence should have preserved her from temptation and not thrust her into it i look back and see that repentance and remorse followed close on surely if a mortal s can sin she has washed hers out by months of continual tears by days and nights of misery my life henceforth shall be devoted to her if she lives if she dies and i think she will die not one thought will turn to the time since we parted but i will lay her down in tlie grave lovingly and in the hope of a joyful re union brother i thought you would feel so i know your but but what you forget the law brother the law of church and state you forget echoed colonel she has herself us broken for ever our marriage bond but what law can prevent mj her as a child loving her as a child we have a wide land if she lives we will take her beyond the reach of the laws she has offended we will live where god who will alone take of us we will all go together the baby brother v a tradition i have there i cannot see how it is right to cast out from us the only perfectly innocent one among ns and yet to take it with us a perpetual and reproach i i leave that i trust to have strength for my duty when the time comes for the present find a nurse and let the poor little heir of shame and sorrow be well cared for but you must leave us brother and return to duty no i never will leave my home again others can as well perform my public duty none other can do it here there is my letter to the commanding officer he laid under her eye an letter read the few words following which were all it contained my dear sir family compel me to resign my commission with ardent prayers for my country all i can now	6
give her i remain respectfully yours o the of colonel s house was soon known through the little community of s the weak had their pleasure in the mean i told you so the wicked the hard hearted thought the colonel should be dealt with for at sin the pitiful dropped a tear over their sister and said nothing there were a few minds that with the divine qualities of colonel and felt how much greater was the husband who could hold an even scale who could forgive and than he who and mercy is thrice blessed pride is hateful before god and man man god as the projects and disappointments of every day show colonel took his breakfast with his sister and son ben and a small servant a tradition girl as was the of the time even with most of our new england gentry sitting at one end of the table the colonel was calm and self possessed he commended miss s bread he had never seen as good he said since he had left his own home the making of good bread was one of the first of duties but few he said and there was a faint but smile on his face as he looked to his sister in saying it but few performed it he thanked the zealous little girl who had been out ia the field to pick the for his breakfast he asked ben about the planting the stock the storm had swept over him but it had left him lord of himself you praise every thing but you don t eat father said poor who watched him intently don t be anxious my dear little boy i am a strong man and can bear a long fast in a day or two i shall do my part he could not with all his resolution and effort do it now and he hastily left the table and joined dr who he knew was awaiting him in his wife s apartment she was awake she turned her eyes glancing on him and they followed him as he passed round to the foot of the bed she was quiet but it was a fearful calm an absence of the sense from which emotion and passion spring colonel came round to the side of the bed he took her hand it was passive in his he her hair from off her brow as he had been used to do when she waa a little girl not a muscle moved dear little he said she made no reply no movement he bent over her and his hot tears fell on her white cheek she didn t feel them he started away from her and paced up and down the room she raised her head and leaned on her elbow her eyes still a tradition intently fixed on him knit bis mind to the are her senses utterly gone doctor he asked i cannot tell you my dear sir it looks so i confess but i think not utterly she has spoken to me she seems to be possessed with one idea mrs do you know who you are looking at i know what i am looking at she answered speaking in her natural voice but with an monotony but you do not doctor shadow cannot see another i excuse you sir but you need not talk about it i am a real being and talking rather me pass this way pass this way she her hand to her husband and he came again to the bedside there it is just so doctor they are all gone there s nothing but sha left and so it seemed to her this one idea had taken possession of her mind god had dealt with her the great facts of her life were stricken from her memory the faculty was not utterly lost for several days following she continued to call the doctor and by name always maintaining they were mere shadows doctor laid the baby on her arm hoping the intense feeling connected with its existence might her mind to more rational action but it failed of this effect she only said in the same tone it is but a little shadow but it makes me cold it away if you please one after another was lost from her memory her husband lived alone there if that could be called life which to her was but the shadow of life day after day weeks months years passed on and there was no change the only feeling she manifested was a preference of her husband s to all other shadows as she called them she made little a tradition demonstration even of this she had a desire as most people under a nervous have to be in the open air and she was permitted to walk in the fields behind the house no one but colonel could induce her to return to it he had but to join her and turn towards the house she followed often repeating that shadow draws me after it i the only food she tasted was that he brought her his patience and tenderness never it was wonderful to see a man in the vigour of his manhood a man who had commanded a regiment in perilous and times who had won in many battles become the gentle nurse his life and power and fame and all that most men most love most eagerly pursue he built an apartment for her with a southern aspect hoping as he said that the sun and moon would be god s ministers to her he bought sweet singing birds and put them in by her window he planted and roses the only things then in about her window and he trained around	6
it a monthly honey obtained at much pains thus the flower angel was ever near her the of that modem who says it is to teach us not to slight them that are in the darkness of sin and the decay of that god sends to refresh the withered hour a coarse jest at the expense of colonel might have passed round in the congregation of vulgar men at the village bar room and there might have been whispers from some female of a tea drinking but for the most part men women and children united in a sentiment of reverence for the taking into account what human nature is we must at a tradition tribute a portion of this to the natural dignity and commanding presence of colonel to his reputation and to the purity of a life without reproach which latter with it a stronger than the divinity that doth hedge about a king there was a single exception to this general current of respect returned to his home at the close of the war one of the few enriched by its employment and puffed up and in his shame the very day after his return he met col at the village post office mail day was then once a week some great news was expected and the little room was crowded with men and lads from all the districts of the town had not been long enough at home to take an observation to borrow a seaman s phrase that is in our village he had not ascertained the mind of the street and obedient to his own low instinct he ventured to the colonel a reference to the warning he had given him colonel said nothing but sent a glance through which a said put him in mind of the promise i will give unto you power to tread on and there was a general cry of shame and was round the room and kicked out the door and that very evening a brilliant moonlight one the lads of the village rode him on a rail a species of law then much in fashion we have but one more incident to relate before we close this sad but we hope not quite useless story soon after the peace an english packet was to colonel by official hands he was alone with his sister when he received it and pleased and curious as one is at receiving an important looking he turned it first on one side and then on the other examined the and the hand a tradition writing and said why one would think i was still somebody colonel at the head of a regiment open it brother open it said impatiently foreign secretary of murmured the colonel still reading the impressions what can this mean open the letter brother open it that is the shortest way to find what is in it the colonel smiled and broke the seal and first read the envelope which was merely a of the of the he broke the second seal and read as follows my dear sir i have just succeeded to the possession of an immense fortune and hasten to offer you the only in my power for a wrong deeply regretted by yours with sentiments of respect within this letter was a for ten thousand pounds sterling colonel threw the letter across the table to his sister without speaking a word how dare he she exclaimed as she finished reading ii regretted v what a word for one who has no right all his life to talk or think of any thing but and ashes how will you answer it brother there is but one way i shall return his letter and through the hands that forwarded it my handwriting of ttie will be explanation enough to him by an inexplicable coincidence marked of life seem to fall together miss went habitually early to mrs s room and washed and dressed her as when bad first come to live with her and she was as a tradition and gentle in her hands now as in childhood she had always found her out of bed and usually pacing up and down the room for with the that her ended with the first ray of daylight on the day after the receipt of s letter on going to perform her morning office she found still in bed miss approached the bed and sat down for she found to her surprise that her patient was as she still sleeping and as she looked nearer she thought much changed there was a slight knitting of the brow which had been smooth from the blue veins showed a quick and irregular beating of the heart soon she perceived a movement of the through the almost transparent and a of the and in a few moments closed as they were one tear stole after another over her pale cheek gently wiped them away thank you dear good sister said in the lowest whisper but don t speak to me now sit still by me obeyed every minute seemed an age but in a few minutes she again spoke call your brother she said and and lay my baby on my pillow i will call them but your baby dear little your baby is in heaven she lived but a year a year she opened her eyes wide and spoke with great increase of force why i thought it was but yesterday sister a year i how strange but she is in you say god is good and merciful call them communicated the change to her brother and nephew now a charming lad of fifteen they hastened with throbbing hearts and suppressed emotion to the bed of tho a tradition dying wife and mother they both bent and kissed	6
her and then knelt beside her colonel wore his hair long over his temples it was but it still retained the softness and of his youth she put up her little hand and held it off his brow and looked calmly and intently into his eyes till her arm dropped from weakness my friend father husband she faintly may i call you husband oh dear wife i yes i you have forgiven me forgiven don speak that word you are dearer to me than my own soul don t he said speaking with per feet calmness for he feared a breath might hurry away her fluttering spirit don t speak of the past don t think of it dearest child i must speak for i am going away from you all and i have much to say how long is it since you came home and stood there at the foot of the bed and looked at me oh my heart be still one minute she laid her hand on her throbbing heart and was there where he is now and sat by the table with my poor baby how long four years yesterday four years four years how strange strange i thought it was yesterday morning i remember nothing since but a strange dream of shadows and a long long walk with you my husband up through the field and being so tired and a feeling that you loved me and pitied me and that you all would love me if you were any thing but you seemed all but shadows you took care of my baby dear husband god received it and you i know did not cast it out i did not my child took it to her own a tradition and we got a wet nurse for it and they told me it but at the end of the year it pleased suddenly to take it i did what i could for it i never saw it drew a deep sigh perfectly right she said what a long dream i have had four years i from it early this morning it seemed to me this was not my room no dear child it is a room i built for you how strange i got out of bed and crept i was too weak to walk to the window i opened the the clouds were rose coloured i had a feeling i should soon be beyond them there was the sweetest scent came into the windows it seemed to me the breath of an angel i tried to think i could not think but the past came back one thing after another as we see objects as the light of day and i had no distress no distress it seemed to me you all loved me all were at sweet peace with me i recalled that hour of darkness and distress when you came home my honoured husband i seemed again to see your look of pity and compassion and forgiveness and it was that gave me a sense of god s infinite mercy yes peace fell upon me s peace and all the world cannot take it away she spoke in the lowest audible tone and audible only in profound silence and to senses made most acute by intense feeling stand up dear she said oh how tall it is four years put your cheek down to mine dear when you are a man you will not blush at your mother s name the sin that has been repented in tears and misery not to be told as mine has that god and man has forgiven you will not blush for my son oh dear mother no never i resumed the dying woman i have not breath a to thank you how long and slow to anger you were oh dear little said the faithful creature don t waste your on me i did nothing i could not do any thing for you but love you that i did a faint smile played over s pale beautiful lips yes and doing that you could do did do all the rest she said i have a message for mr west give my respectful love to that good man and tell him god has taught me better than when i cried in my despair that my hope was gone for ever and for ever tell him that i returned to him who and not and fell asleep in my heavenly father s arms she then again kissed him aside and drew her husband to her my husband she said dearest best we are again united yes my wife he answered for ever and for ever a gleam of joy shot through lier eyes a heavenly brightness her whole face it came and went like a flash of lightning but it left an impression on those faithful ones who saw it to them it was a light a visible token of god s presence two days after the neighbours assembled to perform the last services when mr west rose to make the prayer he repeated with a trembling voice and overflowing eyes the message of the departed to him it was his only allusion to any thing peculiar in the circumstances of their friends the good man s mind glowing with a sense of god s infinite love kindled with divine life spirits lower than his own was tenderly and reverently borne to her grave and when the were laid upon it human for once reached heavenly there was more joy on earth as in a b tradition heaven over one that than over ninety and nine that had not gone astray colonel returned to life not	6
with a bowed head and faint heart but with that cheerful that springs from an assured faith in god and love to man the only indication that he had suffered more than others appeared in pity for the and earnest efforts to them and in sympathy with every form of sorrow it was said of him that not a day passed over his head without some good and done the prosperity of his outward life the more barren condition of his neighbours his son grew up to place and honour in the state he kept his promise to his mother her name was to his children a dear familiar honoured household word and when he laid his father after a serene and sound old age in a grave beside her in our village burial ground it was with a peace that understanding the token the white be and fear not let all the ends thou aim st at be thy country s thy god s and truth s then if thou thou ll st a blessed martyr the reign of charles the sixth is one of the most periods of the french history which in its centuries of absolute kings and subjects presents us a most melancholy picture of the degradation of man and of the of the infancy of society nature had given charles but an hereditary monarch s portion of brains and that portion had not been strengthened or by education or exercise of any sort passions he had not he rose to the dignity of passion but his were strong and they impelled him to every species of indulgence his brought on fits of madness which exposed his kingdom to the and of the princes of the blood fortunately for the subsequent integrity of france these men were marked by the general and as it would seem constitutional weakness of and were besides too much to pleasure to the token political independence or renown in arms the common passions of the powerful and high born instead of the feeble ties that bound them to their and raising their to the independence of the crown they at paris then as now the paradise of the to pleasure and surrendered themselves as their express it to et every species of diversion varied by an occasional an or an the talent that is now employed upon the arts of life in new machines and new was then exhausted in new games of cards and the revival of dramatic date from the period of our story the beginning of the century there shone at charles s court one of those stars that occasionally cross the of whose brilliancy obscured the splendour of the hereditary nobility the lights that according to opinion are set in the to rule the day and night of the world in the month of september of the year a stranger attended by a servant with a small travelling sack knocked at the gate of a magnificent in paris he was answered by a porter who cast on him a glance of inquiry as keen as a bank clerk s upon the face of an unknown bank note and seeing neither livery nor other of rank he was him when the stranger said softly my friend present this letter to the grand master and tell him the bearer his pleasure throw the sack down within the gate he added to his attendant and come again at twelve and without more he took his station within the court a movement in which the porter ao the white f seeing that in the free bearing of the stranger and in the flashing of his dark eye which indicated it were wise not to question an authority that had nature s seal on one side of the court was a fountain and on the other a group of rudely carved in wood of were then unknown in france the art was just and the ancient models still lay buried under ruins two appeared conducting in front of the immense flight of steps that led up to the h four horses for their two for females as was indicated by the form of the and the gay silk knots that the one of them being studded with precious stones at the same moment there issued from the grand entrance a gentleman and a lady who had the comely her uncertain certain age she called her companion mon and he assisted her to mount with that air which indicate that gallantry had long been in their intercourse the interest the wife did not excite was directed to another quarter mon s eye was constantly to the door with an expression of eager expectation surely said the lady has had time to find my let us go my husband we are losing the freshness of the morning she may follow with go you ma replied her husband mount and attend your mistress my wants i ll follow presently how slow she rides a plague on old women s fears i he muttered as she ofi ah there you are my morning star he cried addressing a young girl who darted through the door and appeared well to warrant a comparison to the most beautiful of the celestial lights she wore a spanish riding cap a cloth dress the waist neatly b the token fitted to person and much in the fashion of the riding costume of the present day save that it was shorter hj some half yard and thus showed to advantage a rich and the prettiest feet in the world in boots is my lady gone she exclaimed dropping her veil over her face yes your lady is gone but your lord is waiting for my lady s come mistress of my heart here is my hand for your stepping stone he then threw his arm around her waist under the pretext	6
of assisting her to mount but she darted away like a butterfly from a s grasp and the rein from the groom s hand and saying my lord i am country bred and neither need nor like your she led the horse to the platform on which the were placed and for the first time seeing the stranger who stood partly obscured by them looking curiously upon this little scene she blushed and he involuntarily bowed it was an instinctive homage and she it with a look as different from that which she returned to the gaze of the count as the reflection in a mirror of two such faces the one and the other pure and would have been herself of the slight elevation of the platform she sprang into the saddle and set off at a speed that in de s eye contrasted with her mistress s cautious movement who are you and what do you here he said turning to the stranger my name replied the stranger without to notice the insolent manner of the question is and i am here on business with the grand master did ye not exchange glances with that girl the white i looked on her and the saints reward her she looked on me far f i stand not here to be questioned i ne er saw the lady before but heaven s kind leave i shall see her again take are the girl is my wife s the property of the house ye shall be watched muttered de and mounting his horse he rode off just as the porter reappeared attended by a de place whose address indicated that a flattering reception awaited was conducted up a long flight of steps and through a corridor to an audience room whose walls were hung with and its windows with the richest oriental silk silver of solid gold and various costly furniture were displayed with dangerous profusion offering a tempting spoil to the secret enemies of their proprietor there were already many persons of rank assembled and others entering stood apart by their half insolent half curious glances he had nothing to ask and therefore feared nothing he felt among these men notorious for their ignorance and their merely animal lives the conscious superiority of an enlightened man that raised him far above the mere hereditary distinction by a proud as the accident of an accident was an italian and proudly measured the eminence from which his instructed countrymen looked down upon their french neighbours as he surveyed the insolent he at the which de the grand master of the palace had maintained over them for nearly half a century the token the son of a humble of paris he had been by king john had been the prime trusted favourite of three successive had maintained through all his capricious changes the favour of charles had allied his children to and kings had expended riches that the of them all did not possess had encouraged and defended the classes and was not known to have an enemy save the fearful the to the grand master had assembled early as it was his custom to receive those who had pressing business before breakfast it being his policy not to keep his in attendance he knew his position even while it seemed to be an uncertain one and he practised those arts which smooth down the irritable surface of men s passions and lull to sleep the vanity the grand master is true as the dial said a person standing near the clock is on the stroke of nine mark me as it the last stroke he will appear fixed his eyes on the grand entrance to the saloon expecting that when the doors wide open flew he should see that nature had put the stamp of her nobility on the who kept these lawless lords in the remained closed there was no of trumpets but at a low side door gently opened and shut entered a man of low stature and so slender and that it would seem nature and time had combined to him within the limits of the human frame his features were small his chin and the few locks that hung like silver fringe around his head were soft and curling as an infant s he wore a silk dressing gown over a s simple under dress and his tread was so light his manner so and that would the white scarcely have looked at him a second time if he had not perceived eye directed towards him and certain tokens of deference to those and that are seen in the when its sovereign steps forth among his subdued rivals but when he did look again he saw the fire glowing in a restless eye that seemed to see and read all at a glance an eye that no man carrying a secret in his bosom could meet without your grace believes said the grand master to the duke of who had been vehemently him in a low voice that these mysteries are a kind of that will minister to our sovereign s returning health so says the learned and we all know they are the our brother loves then be assured your poor servant will honour the on his master s treasury though it be well nigh drained by the of the late marriages the king s poor subjects starve that his rich ones may feast and children scarce out of leading strings are married that their fathers and mothers may have for dances and said the count de the ally and messenger of the grand master s example is broad enough to shelter what seems in comparison of the late gorgeous festival within these walls but the of the within these walls are paid with coin from our own poor replied the grand master not drawn from the king s treasury and	6
with the sweat and tears of his subjects but what have we here he passed his eye over a petition to the king from sundry whose houses had been stripped of their by the the token of these the common usage of justification of this summary process tell our good friends he said it shall he my first to present this to our gracious but in the mean time let them draw on me for the amount of their losses i can better afford the s patient waiting than our poor friends who after their day s hard toil should lie securely on their own beds at night ah my lords why do ye not like our neighbours of england make the poor man s cottage his castle after various with the different groups in which whether he denied or granted it was always with the same gracious manner the same air of self he drew near to de who stood apart from the rest with an air of indifference and apparent of the master s presence or approach till asked in a low and tone what answer his grace of b b b b b had a infirmity which beset him when he was most anxious to appear he lowered his voice at every fresh effort to pronounce the name and this confidential tone gave a more startling effect to the loud rough voice in which the party addressed pronounced his grace bids me say that for some diseases blood letting is the only remedy tell replied the grand master now speaking without the slightest faltering and in allusion to the recent alliance of his own with the royal family tell that the stream that with the becomes a portion of holy water and that blood letting is dangerous when ye approach the royal ah i he continued turning suddenly to grasping his hand and his usual tone you i think are the son of welcome to paris tou must stay to breakfast with me the white i haye to ask my old friend it is one and twenty years since your mother my finger in your mouth to feel your first tooth bless me what goodly rows are there now so time passes and where it were once safe to thrust your finger it might now be bitten off ha de growled when there are wolves abroad we take care of our fingers coolly replied these and significant were afterwards remembered as are the to an earthquake after the catastrophe has interpreted them the assembly broke up bidding his young friend to take a stroll in the garden and him at the ringing of the breakfast bell when that sounded a appeared and conducted to a breakfast room where game cakes and fruit were served on plate and the richest wine sparkled in cups that old might fain have with his verse i had forgotten said that a boy of two and twenty needs no to his appetite but sit ye down and we will dull its edge ah here you are de we have a guest to season our fare this morning the son of my old de bowed and returned the salutation as it was given why comes not to breakfast asked of the count de who was the husband of his eldest daughter she likes not strangers god forgive her is no stranger the son of her father s first and best friend of the of his boyhood of the founder of his fortunes a stranger i thought you had your own fortunes sir the token so haye i and with them some rotten threads think not de i do not notice or that noticing i care for your allusion to my father s craft hither de s son a boy of seven came and stood at his knee when you are grown a man remember that when your father s fathers were burning cottages bearing off poor men s daughters their cattle and down their harvest fields doing the work of hereditary my child your mother s ancestors were employed in planting in making bread and wine plenty and adding to the number of happy homes in their country but i won t remember the wicked ones that stole and did such horrid deeds ah you will be a lord then and learn in phrase to call stealing go boy and eat your breakfast ood forgive me i have worked hard to get my posterity into the ranks of robbers i at another moment would have listened with infinite interest to all these hints as so many to the history and mind of a man who was the wonder of his times but now something more to the imagination of two and twenty than the philosophy of any old man s history occupied him and he was wondering why no inquiry was made about the companion of the and whether that creature who seemed to him only fit to be with the was really a in the house of this s son your father resumed the grand master writes with a that pleases me i thank him it shall not be my fault if every window in my sovereign s palace is not with the firom his and if it were not that my the white son s have drained my i you the order on instant for the re of my h but another season will come and then we shall be in heart again your father does not write in vein he says that amid his quiet and obedient subjects who toil and spin for him while he sleeps he not my uncertain influence over a monarch and dominion over uncertain st peter what think ye da may not a man who has allied one daughter to your noble house another to the de and another to and now has his	6
only son to the d doubly cousin to the king may not he throw his glove in dame fortune s face v yes my lord and dame fortune may throw it back again he only his weakness who himself on every side weakness i have not an enemy save and he who has needs none other you are this morning de but come wherewith shall we entertain our young friend we have no pictures no statues our gardens are a wilderness to your paradise of italy but i have one piece of that i think would even the masters of your land he called the servant in waiting and whispered an order to him in a few moments the door re opened and a young girl appeared bearing a silver basket of grapes her hair was golden and parted in front and confined on her temples with a silver thread fell over her shoulders a mass of curls her head was gracefully bent over the basket she carried showing in its most beautiful position a swan like neck her features were all and her mouth had that perfection of outline that art can imitate and that obedient to the motion of soul in nature is her dress was of rich materials cut in the form prescribed to her rank the were fond of their own generosity or their rivals by the rich of their train while they maintained every of the of rank her dress was much in the fashion of a peasant girl of the present times her of a fine light blue cloth was full and short exposing a foot and ankle that a queen might have envied her the power to show and which she however modestly sheltered with the rich silver fringe that bordered her skirt her white silk was with a silver cord and her short full sleeves were with and of the same material can ye match this girl in italy whispered the old man to in italy nay my lord not in the world is there such another model of perfection replied who changed as she was by her dress had at a glance recognized his acquaintance of the morning thank you said are these grapes from your own bower they are my lord then they must needs be sweeter than old s for they have been by your bright eyes and sunny smiles ah but grandfather interposed little did not say that when i asked her for her grapes she said they would only taste good to her father for whom she reared them and that i should love s better and why did you not thus answer me you asked for them my lord the master s request is law to the servant god forgive me if i be such a master take away the and send them with what else ye will from the white the to the nay no thanks my pretty child or if you will for all thanks let me your cheek stooped and offered her beautiful cheek with to s lips the old have marvellous privileges i muttered de the same thought was expressed in s glance when his eye as turned encountered hers she involuntarily as she recognized the gallant of the court a very suitable greeting for a stranger said the grand master but this youth must have a kinder welcome from my household it is my friend s son give him a fitting welcome my child and princes she replied in a voice that set her words to music have for your friends my lord but such as a poor rustic can offer she gives with all her heart she took from her basket of grapes a half blown rose will ye take this she said it offers ye nature s sweet welcome kissed the rose and placed it in his bosom as devoutly as if it had dropped from the hand of his patron saint he then opened the small sack which his had brought to the h and which at his request had been laid on a side table it contained specimens of the most beautiful in his father s in in italy while these were spread out and displayed to the admiration of the grand master he took from among them a white silk embroidered in silver with lilies of the valley and throwing it over s shoulders he asked if she would grace and reward their arts of industry by wearing it if it were fitting one to whom it is prescribed the token what bravery to wear and bow to wear it she replied looking timidly and doubtfully at the grand master it is not fitting interposed de and pray ye sir why not asked we do not here allow that are for those alone who are bom to them beneath our roof tree the is the keep it my pretty it well becomes thee dropped on her knee kissed the grand master s hand and casting a look at worth in his estimation all the words of thanks in the french language she disappeared insisted that during the time his young friend s with the silk of paris detained him there he should remain an of his family and nothing was to accept a hospitality which afforded for every day seeing his affairs were protracted day after day he found some plausible pretext if pretext he had needed for his departure but by his intelligence his various information and his engaging qualities he had made such rapid advances in s favour that he rather wanted potent reasons to reconcile him to their parting if such had been the progress of their friendship we need not be surprised that one little month to mature a more tender sentiment a sentiment that in the young of southern and itself with the rapidity of the delicious fruits of a tropical sun daily and almost	6

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