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the young kept their and pretty well out of the old man s sight and their mother to and them in his hearing the novelty and mild excitement of the visit appeared to act like a upon mrs for a time but at length her nature began to assert itself and her guest at the same time began to be restless and uneasy in his new quarters he made short a farmer about the and read the newspaper with unusual care but he was not used to seeing a daily paper and it was more reading than he really liked to undertake one of the neighbors sent it to him every day with great kindness but though he was in many ways well treated it seemed to him more and more that he could not bear any longer to be away from home he could not help thinking and worrying about the farm work he did not trust s judgment about the management of things and he watched the street every day anxiously in hope of seeing approach in quest of him he even lamented his impatience and took her part against himself but as the days went by and she did not appear his heart failed him for he had not thought they would have found it so easy to get on without him shut up in the hot and noisy little village and seeing every day so many people whom he did not know he longed for the farm house where he had spent all his life and he was for the wide outlook over the fields and and felt strangely lost and alone and old mary became and tiresome it would have made a to her if she had had hopes of gain and her father did not take long to discover that he was a burden to her as well as to se a farmer mrs had handed him the hill for town taxes and he had looked at her with a grieved surprise i have n t got the money to pay it if that s what you mean he said at length i m kept on short i tell you was dreadful put out one day because the dealer that takes the butter called and paid his month s account and i wanted part of it to pay the minister she said had seen to his and mine together and went round the kitchen the rest o the morning i told her t was the first week since i was out o my time that i had been without a dollar in my pocket cut considerable of a piece o pine growth this last winter but i never could find out what become of the money one time he had n t got settled up and the next time he began to about its taking every cent he could and scrape to keep the farm above water he flung at me about my doctor s bills once or twice ble farmer he is any way i have got a little money they don t know about in the north bank and i get you some of it quick s i get a chance to send but i ve nobody but and i never want to say nothing to him about it i thought t might get into a place than any i ve been in and i ve been holding on to it t ain t much but it do to bury me if they can t find the means a farmer there don t father you make my blood run cold said mary i m sure you can t doubt but what we shall do what s proper for you dead or alive i felt t was a mistake all the time that you should n t ha kept things in your own hands but talked all of us over at the time and well you should have thought more about it before you did it that s all i ve got to say i shall have to get rid of this place less the boys get to earning something pretty soon for it s more n i can to keep i m worse off than before i owned it having nobody to help along everything would have gone well if poor henry had only lived and she began to cry as if she meant to give a good deal of time to tears and her father took his hat and walked away it was his best hat and he often wished for the old one which he had left hanging on its nail at the he hoped that he might see somebody from home and looked at the and as they passed him until presently somebody hailed him with a cheerful well uncle you ve been and given the slip this year when the old man turned he found with delight that it was and declared that he was glad to see him it seemed as if he had n t seen any of the folks for a month it had a farmer been the longest week he had ever spent in his life in won t ye said the nephew affectionately why can t ye ride over to jack s with me i want to see him about doing a lot of for my running work i ve got three or four where i can t go no further with them and is sick and won t be able to work at for some weeks i want to take hold of these things right away i m about through with what little i do been a good hay year so far has n t it i don t know much about it sorrowfully confessed the old farmer climbing slowly into the wagon seems to me you are as quick as an to what you was a month ago said you	40
look about as well as ever you did good for ten years yet uncle and he started the horse at a good pace there never was a more contented pair of relatives the younger man had wished for just this chance to hear the particulars of the visit and the elder one was only too glad to fall in with a sympathetic companion who had always been kind to him and who seemed now to have belonged to his better days how d ye like it over here inquired turning round with a beaming smile to take a good look at his uncle a farmer well fairly answered mr without enthusiasm but old folks is better off at home seems to me mary does the best she knows how but the girls don t neither of em take after their mother somehow or i don t know why it is kept me feeling like a under a and seems as if i was in the way and sort of under foot to both houses i done just as they wanted me long in the winter and give the reins into their own hands but they don t like me none the better for it nor so well far s i can see and i don t know what to do i had n t been accustomed to sickness and when i was so afflicted in the cold weather and got down so low i thought i d got about through with things you know i d been and some months before i had the worst spell come on they never treated me so clever as they did the time when i was give over and old dr banks said there wa n t no help for me but i ve come up considerable more n ever i expected and i ve had times of feeling just like myself of late and i see how the land lays and between you and me i wish it was different i ve had my day though and i don t want to stand in the way of nobody else s chance where s do you get any news from a farmer him asked giving the horse a with his whip putting it quickly in its and taking a firm hold of the reins he knew that his uncle was fond of a good horse and he was very proud of this new one and wished it to be noticed and praised don t hurry the beast said the old man we ve got time enough and it kind of me to what it used to ride fast when i m after a likely such as this that can show a good pace i m satisfied as for i ain t heard from him for hard on to eight months he was n t prompt about writing and i ve been wanting the girls to set to work and find out about him goes into a dreadful frame o mind if i much as mention his name and mary s always going to do it the next day my s failed dreadfully it s better n it was but none too good i did scratch a few lines twice or three times and send them to the last place i knew him to be in and i directed once to the but he has made no answer yet so i keep a had his faults and perhaps i indulged him more than was good for him but he was more like his mother n any of em he and never got along i don t s pose she means it but she s got a dreadful way i did let him have a good deal o money and i don t a farmer know but it was foolish s got a quick temper same s his mother had but it ain t s kind she and all day long about a thing she don t like but knock ye down with one hand and pick ye right up again with the other they re always me that he was on steady and a disgrace to his folks but i have known many a man that has had his fling and settled down and been useful afterwards s got good natural ability and i guess he make his way yet if he gets the right chance i never could bear if i must say it growled he was himself the other day into henry s about being afraid all the time might turn up poor wandering he called him i d knocked him down if i d heard him i mean to see if i can t find where is there ain t a cousin i ve got that i ever set so much by spite of his in wrong directions we ve always been spite of his being so much younger you know it don t ye uncle and i ve always stood up for him i m going to see if he can t have his rights if you did sign that paper the old man s voice faltered as he tried to speak i do know where i could ask him to if i did send a farmer for him to come home now he said li i know anything about a this one is the you ever drove where did you pick her up not round here make a guess and the conversation bravely out into this most congenial subject to both at ten o clock that very morning s wife was bending over her board and away with her flat iron when somebody suddenly came outside the window and laid his arms on the sill and looked in at first he seemed to be a stranger and was chilled from head to foot with fear but she stared and stared again at the smiling face before she	40
spoke and finally she clapped her hands and said i give up if it ain t i want to know if that s you and this question of his identity having been decided the young man strolled round to the door and came in as if he had never been away how s all the folks he asked where s i looked in at the shop first but there was nobody there we did n t know but you was dead said who was much excited your father has been dreadful distressed about you i do think you ought a farmer to have wrote him but you can make up with him easy enough he be glad enough to see you the visitor had looked very solemn as he listened to the first mention of his father s name but his expression quickly changed to a look of wild astonishment do you mean to tell me father is n t dead he said rising to his feet dead no answered he had a long spell of sickness beginning in the fall of the year and we all supposed he was up and along m the first of the winter he had a very bad time when we give him up for certain and there was two days and a night when they thought he might be taken away any minute but he pulled through had seated himself again and did not seem to be listening to this account he had put his head on his arm down upon the board and was crying like a child felt as if this were a somewhat theatrical performance and a little unnecessary she was vaguely reminded of his being to drink and of the story of the prodigal son and then she noticed how broad his shoulders had grown and that his coat was made of a beautiful piece of cloth and that he was quite in appear ance a farmer don t take on so she begged him nervously after a few minutes for it made her very ill at ease and the unexpected guest lifted his head presently and wiped his eyes with a handsome bright colored silk handkerchief i never had anything come over me so in my life he said beginning to laugh in the midst of his tears i must go right up to the house and see him wrote me in the winter that they d give him up and he would n t be alive when i got the letter they did n t expect him to get through the afternoon i never heard any more from her and i ve mourned him as dead i wrote on to to tell me the particulars for after finding did n t write again i got mad with her and then i got mad with because he did n t write and i thought you were all together to kick me over he never got the letter said i hope to die if he ever did the last letter that ever came inside this house from you was one got saying you were going out into the country you know you ain t much of a hand to write nor neither but of course he would have answered such a letter as that and told you your father was living i don t know but he see him this morning the old gentleman went over to stop with mary for a while a farmer had been standing by the door for the last few minutes as if he were impatient to be off but he came back into the room again and after her remarks with well i may s well tell you first as last embarked upon a minute explanation of the state of affairs the young man seemed at last to be able to listen to no more he threw off his coat and sat by the window in his shirt sleeves and when he had kept quiet as long as was possible he indulged in some very strong language and expressed feelings toward his sister and that would have startled them a good deal if they had been within hearing he was outraged at their to get all the property into their own hands in his absence and at first he threatened them with such terrors of the law that began to shake in her shoes and became as afraid of his anger as if she had been only a in the mountain side which had started an downward on its path of destruction it was a solemn scene when met his sister early in the afternoon but by that time had become so used to of this kind her own explanations and the accompanying comments having been repeated after s return that she had a feeling of envy when she a farmer saw her husband and his cousin marching away toward the i don t know now what it was fetched me here was saying i made up my mind forty times that i never would set foot inside town limits again but i to be sure everything was right and proper in the burying lot and it seemed as if you would set some things straight that i could n t understand any way i looked at em and i wanted to let folks see i had n t quite run to seed s face was a picture of misery when she first caught sight of her brother she had had a long hard morning s work already and she felt guilty and on the losing side had passed through his storm of rage and had sailed into but very deep waters of contempt he said very little beyond remarking that not having heard anything after her last letter he had supposed that his father was dead he announced in the course of conversation that he had done well	40
ve always heard was an uncertain crop and don t you go throwing away your means till you know what you re about but you stick to the old gentleman a farmer if ever i pitied a man in my life it was him this summer it was soon observed how mr had improved in health and spirits since his son s return he resumed his place in society and entered upon such duties as fell to his share with pleased alacrity he was on his recovery and though some grumbling people who always chose to be on the oft side spoke with pity of the and expressed a sympathy for s having undertaken the farm only to be other people thought of them with scorn however worldly prosperity is one of the titles to respect and after it was known that had bought an interest in one of the shoe companies at s mills he was looked up to as much as he deserved at any rate and possibly more some people who knew him held him up as an example of its being worth while to save and be but and others of his way of thinking could not use hard enough language to suit themselves whenever his name was mentioned was much more popular in the village than her sister she dressed as she thought became her station and she took an active part in church matters being very a farmer efficient m the sewing society and the social relations of the parish she assented emphatically to all the doctrines and insisted upon the respectability of the christian virtues but it must be owned that she very few of them which related to the and comfort of other people she and and their boy drove out to the farm occasionally in a shiny top to see her father and such visits were outwardly successful and harmonious at the farm itself life went on smoothly mr had been troubled at first with many fears when he found that was really going to depart early in the fall after her brother s return and he could not forbear some expressions of wonder at her sudden change of feeling in regard to farming she constantly said that she had never liked it that it was a dog s life for any woman to do the on a large farm and her father only replied that her tune had changed a good deal within a year he took a long breath as he saw her go away in a heavily laden wagon which preceded the team in which her household goods were being moved to the mills she had waited until the last minute as if she feared that some treasures might be abstracted from the load she s about stripped the house said mr with a chuckle as he came back into the kitchen a farmer but we get along somehow i ve done the best i could by her i know that chuckled in his turn she s an awful said he i m hanged if i did n t catch her down cellar this morning fishing into the pork barrel she did n t hear me coming and she was started and let a piece drop and it sent the all up into her face and eyes it can t be possible that new barrel is so low as that said the old man i guess she had made a good haul before you come well i m glad i m sure i should n t want any child o mine to be without pork and there was times was right down clever and pleasant spoken i don t blame her for wanting to be where there is more going if she takes a notion to it as for he settled down on the old farm as many another new englishman has done after two or three voyages at sea or long journeys in quest of wealth to or or the western country he looked upon himself as being much more a man of the world than his neighbors and his consideration for his old father was most delightful the housekeeping went on well enough under the of a cousin a good a farmer ble woman who was set adrift just in good time for these two men by the death of her own father who had been for some years dependent on her care it was soon known however that the chief reason of young s contentment with so quiet a life was his attraction toward a pretty daughter of his neighbor who was only too ready to smile upon so pleasant and good looking a person while her father and mother were of his wealth so we leave the old farmer no longer feeling cast off and desolate to live out the rest of his days he forgot even the worst of his sorrows in that unhappy winter and summer it seemed as if most of them had been fanciful and connected with his illness was apt to be reminded oftener and oftener as he grew older of how impossible he found it to get on comfortably without his old secretary and she came to regret deeply that her love for gain had allowed her to part with it when the for old furniture reached s mills in its most form and a piece of furniture that could be called was a credit to its owner the old man often said that his illness had broken him down and that he had never been the same man since those of his neighbors who had known bis a farmer sorrows and pain which had been harder to bear than the long sickness itself were glad that this blessed indian summer had come to him to warm him through and through and smile upon him in the late autumn of his life s year heaven only knows the	40
dis to see him i don t know what he come for unless he wanted to look round his old haunts he me to go up to his father s place with him to set things to rights in the burying lot i told him i was n t much of a hand for such things now count of my but i d do what i could he was real friendly and free spoken and me right away him and me s about of an age sixty two in the month of january next and went slowly out to the and began to chop the large sticks of pine into with leisurely blows as if there were no hurry about either that or anything else well i do declare said miss i wonder what will happen next she longed to question further but she did not and later a new when the soup that she had heen warming for her own dinner was in readiness to be eaten she carried out a comfortable to him and set it down without a word now i call that real clever of ye said mr i was just i d better be getting home to my dinner which was a great lie since he had been the fragrance of the soup and expecting this provision eagerly for at least half an hour i suppose henry must have aged a good deal she asked lingering for a minute in the doorway not so much as you might suppose seeing he s been gone thirty five years no forty years it must be or rising forty it was the fall after his father died and henry was out of his time the spring before well he s got the looks he s for all the world like the old man i know it was forty years he died because that was the year we moved over to the place fork of the roads as you go to s mills the house is been gone this t while there your soup all get cold said miss impatiently and at once retreated to the kitchen fearing that the accounts of the changes of a new of the family might otherwise be continued all the rest of the afternoon liked nothing better than to tell long stories infinite and details to any audience he was able to muster that evening miss stood looking out of the window down the road noticing the lights in the houses she always had a fancy for sitting a while in the twilight after supper which came early at this time of year when the days were growing so short and before she lit her lamp she liked to take a survey of the neighborhood and of the sky the stars were bright and the weather was satisfactory but from one of the three houses which were in sight there was an unusual radiance and our friend saw at once to her surprise that there was a lamp in the best parlor nothing could be more amazing than this and at first miss thought that some member of the family had gone into the room on an errand it being used as to its closet for a treasure chamber i hope that old mr singer has n t been taken with one of his bad ill turns she said to herself anxiously i know they always keep some spirit in that closet but the light shone steadily on like a until there was no room for doubt that the singers had company to tea a new at last miss composed herself to her even ing s work of knitting and reading together and resolutely drew and bolted the close and lighted the lamp she was very fond of reading but there was only a small harvest of books to be in and she was just then working her way through a dull of an and unhappy man who had mistaken his calling and tried to preach the book was written by some one who ought to have by this sad example and miss who knew a good book when she saw it but would usually rather have a dull one than none at all soon read the less and the more until the leaves of the volume fluttered up and she lost her place without observing it she really had too much to think about herself to give her mind to other people s thoughts her and pleasures were like the that sheep find near the sea like those delicious close to the rocks which have a that no inland field can give to its plentiful grass blades henry liad come back he had once shown a great liking for her when they were boy and girl which she had and her family more than this which was a half forgotten memory at that very moment an unknown company was assembled under a new her neighbor s roof what dismal tale of a life that had made its failures through stupidity could her mind from such it was difficult to even guess at the reasons that had led to mr s return his history was little known to his old acquaintances except that at one time he had been very rich in south america and had afterwards failed in his business and after saying to the subject of the that he was an old if ever there was one miss gave herself up to reflection until she was s sleepy that she could hardly off to bed the lights were not out even then at the singers early the next morning mary ann singer came up the road with a little to borrow some and miss gave her a cordial welcome we re sort of this the visitor said for we had company last night i noticed the best room was lighted up said miss with the	40
full expectation of hearing all about it you see just before tea we saw a drive up and a stranger come in and asked to see the folks i thought he was an agent or something but it was a mr who used to live here when he was a boy he has been most all over the world and he s a new back to see the old place i just wish you could have beard him talk it was splendid he says he don t know but he may settle here for at any rate his health s broke down being in hot and he said two or three times he did n t mean to do any more business i guess he s rich he looked as if he had means he inquired for you and said he was going to call and see you much obliged to him said miss he s stopping over to s tavern said mary ann i never saw anything better than the clothes he had on and everything about him spoke of wealth he said he had been to see the minister and he meant to do something for the church on ac count of his mother s being a member more n ever his father was said miss i ain t going to say anything henry without having seen him these forty years but he wa n t much thought of as a young fellow and his father cheated my poor old grandfather out of about all he had except this place i don t like the breed but then as i say i ain t going to run a man down i don t know he seemed to be religious said mary ann who was unwilling to have the glory of her guest a new in this way and miss responded that religion ought to make some difference if it was the real kind after which young and inexperienced miss singer went away with the somewhat guess they must be going to sunday if they have n t got their bread a going yet thought miss i d a put it to rise after he went off last night if it had been me but i suppose they were all so they did n t know which end they was on i should think it would be a lesson to em to air out that south setting room once or twice a month between being scared of the dust in the summer and not using it after the cold weather comes the air don t get changed three times a year and come to heat it up with an air tight stove the next day being sunday and the weather being fair there was an unusually large congregation in the church and the news of the stranger s coming having flown far and wide all eyes were ready to follow him as he walked up the aisle behind the minister to the the minister s wife betrayed a consciousness of being in society and when the guest and the parson both waited to her into the it was most to and almost fall over the on a the way to her seat her face was very red as she picked herself up and even the children all looked that way as they heard the loud and sudden noise mr listened intently to the sermon he was a good looking man but he had a difficulty in looking you straight in the eyes and he was dressed in a way that his former could not fail to admire and when the service was over and the sunday school was assembled mr the minister called upon brother to lead in prayer and brother prayed long and greatly to the approval of his hearers it was really very pleasant to find that a man so distinguished in his appearance had so good a memory for his old friends he seemed to remember everybody who remembered him and was always ready to remind his old acquaintances of things that had happened before he went away while he spoke of the departed members of the parish to their living connections with much interest and sympathy on that first sunday there was a great about and hand shaking in fact there was not the usual hurry to get the horses and to start for home miss said to herself often in those first days that she could understand the young folks running after him but she should think the old ones a new that bad known him root and branch would rather wait a while she could not explain even to herself the feeling of that rushed over her at the first sight of him she all the deference and that were shown him and yet she was obliged to acknowledge that he deserved consideration and that he was fine looking and had a good manner a way with him most of the people said he seemed disposed to be very friendly and generous the young people admired him a good deal and from the very first he received great attention and hospitality mr was more delighted with this new than any one else for he saw in him the promise of help for some of his cherished projects his had been an old school parson preaching sound and harmless sermons twice on every sunday exchanging with his brother ministers with due regularity and suitable old mr had been much loved and respected the joys and sorrows of his congregation rarely were from him for he was a cheerful soul most and kind and was not instinctively set aside entirely to the performance of rites and ceremonies under his care the church and parish existed in a most comfortable fashion and the a new hi age of things was kept up year after year it was somewhat of a shock to the to	40
he ain t got the mean look out of his face if he has got rich and pious i thought t was right to go to by their works ye shall know em suggested with considerable spirit but he was doomed to have his loyalty for miss retorted a new that he had better be meditating on that verse for his own good but i ought to be ashamed of you or throwing on anybody said the good woman and i tell you honesty i wish i had a more christian feeling about that man i know folks says it s jealousy and that i ain t able to forget his father s my grandfather but if i d liked him and believed he was a straightforward man i never would have thought of keeping any old there ain t any of us but has lived down some of our old sins we re ashamed to think of now and it s fair to look at a man as he is and not go up old matters it seems to me as if he was kind of buying his way into heaven out of his pocket and as if he liked to be king of his company and the big man of the place now he s come back to it i don t like the looks of him but as for the good he does that stay after him you always do have good judgment said i can t say i got the measure of him the first time i see him he had a kind of cast o countenance though you can t tell by the looks of a how far he jump but when you come to see how he his money right and left and the good he does with it and hear how he leads in prayer i don t a new see how can speak a n him miss said it fetched the tears right out o her eyes to hear him his sins as he does in the evening meeting as if he was the man there perhaps he s only telling the truth said miss and rose in indignation i don t see bow you can talk so on christian he said but there he added in a tone we all have our s about such things and i do know but what it s as well to be honest about em could not help being of miss s kindness and generosity and patience which had lasted year in and year out for his slender fortunes would be still without her assistance he and his mother a very old and almost helpless woman lived in a house that was one of the most ancient and kept of any in that region and hardly ever descended the hill toward it from miss s without some plate or basket of food or other help to the housekeeping beside this lame man and the woman of nearly ninety years there was a little orphan niece of s who was growing up under that cheerless roof there were so few really poor people in that great capital was made of these and the sewing society for them and the church of a new which old mrs had been a somewhat unsatisfactory member paid their rent and some bills beside miss did not believe in making and of them she insisted that people should work when they could and be paid for it and unless rendered her some service she had nothing to give him though he hung round and rubbed his knee with no end of devotion and apparent distraction of pain as the cold weather came on it was told sadly from one to another that mr s health was failing and he really did look feeble and old the people with whom he made his home gave dismal accounts of his sufferings from bad attacks of pain and every sunday when he took his seat in church pitying eyes followed him the stories of his still went on he met the child going home from school one november day and took her into his wagon and drove her to the store where he bought her a hood and and some cloth for a dress and a big shawl which never could be folded small enough for her or so that the corner of it would not trail on the ground and gather little sticks he gave the minister an and a new winter overcoat and the a new sunday school library was promised and was to be mr s christmas present to the sunday school the old who had been for many years chief authorities in parish matters without whose slow consent nothing had heretofore been done found themselves ignored and completely set aside was to be done as mr and the minister saw fit the no doubt felt a certain sorrow at their degradation but they could only swim with the stream and express their for the zeal of the brother who had come among them everybody drifted with this current but miss and at last her feeling became a cause of great sorrow to her she searched her heart for the sin of envy and malice but with all her prayer and penance she could cultivate no better charity toward her neighbor it was curious that in spite of wind and rain the crooked little still clung to her kitchen window sill and looked in at her every morning as she opened the it seemed as if it held a and wretched soul within its ragged bark and our friend connected it in her thoughts she could not tell why with the stranger and his coming she felt that she ought to be charitable and that it was wicked to hate without cause but mr was still outside the pale of her a new tions and the that looked like	40
a man still clung outside the window in the cold she could not throw it away but she wished every morning that it might have blown away in the night and so have freed her from its haunting she had not believed before that she was superstitious and altogether this was a troubled time in her life but the days grew shorter and shorter the stones for the foundation of the went crawling up the long hill load after load and she filled her cellar fuller of provisions than ever and set her face resolutely toward getting through another long hard winter it was curious that mr seemed eager to be friendly with miss he treated her with great respect and deference and appeared to take no notice of her abrupt and manner toward him though many of the on accused her of disgraceful she said to herself many times that she would treat him but she did not always succeed and she became conscious that the new was anxious to gain her good will in spite of it his manner toward her was called long and really christian by his admirers and if the truth must be told miss became with her neighbors and felt herself to be a new alone on the losing side a most unhappy of one she would not have believed that some of the people who had always been her friends could have thrown off the old ties so easily and it hurt her pride not a little for she had always been a person of great consequence and influence and had been faithful and dutiful to the very utmost she was often and set aside in these autumn days and her opinions were seldom sought or listened to she would have been more than human if she had not remembered how well she had served her towns folk in their hours of need and had carried a kind heart and ready hand to help in their days of year after year she felt very sorry when the thought came to her that her friends were suspecting her of jealousy mr had been very friendly and when he had called upon miss soon after he came to and she had received him with more show of interest than she was able to muster afterward he did not repeat the visit until one afternoon in the middle of december when with much surprise she saw him drive up to the fence and after his horse cover him up carefully as if he meant to make a long call luckily the was well warmed already from the kitchen and miss had time to touch a match to the pine a new of the fire that was laid in the stove and by the time she had somewhat stiffly ushered in her guest he could have thought the fire was already half an hour old they talked about the weather and how the snow kept off and about an old person in the neighborhood who was near death and with whom miss had been watching and at last there fell an awkward silence and the longer it continued the harder it became to say anything i have been much pained at discovering that my father was much in fault toward your family said mr at last with a good deal of effort i wish i had known it sooner but you will easily understand that leaving home early in life as i did and forming new associations i knew nothing of it i am anxious now to make i should have done so years ago if i had known i cannot say how deeply i regret the disgrace and the visitor looked pained and troubled and as he seemed to feel so keenly the shadow that rested on his name miss s kind heart came to his rescue i should let be if i was you she said and your mother you know was a most excellent woman as good a neighbor as there was in yes your father got my grandfather to a new sign for him and made promises to him that he knew was lies it was very hard on the poor old gentleman but i don t put it down against you and i don t want you to think there s any account between us i ve got enough to carry me through unless something extra should happen you ve been doing for the good of the parish and so we say no more about it but mr met this generous speech generous in other ways than in its refusal of the payment of a debt in a cold hearted way you are very kind he said but i shall insist upon paying you the amount of the principal the original sum that your grandfather lost i should be glad to include the interest also but i fear i am not able at this time without some good work that i have hoped to do he was about to add in other directions but checked himself in time i will make to you so far as i can and the visitor leaned his head on his hand and gave a heavy sigh it was very still in the little the fire had passed the of its youth and the pine and crow sticks having snapped and away up the chimney the sound and sticks were now burning lazily but steadily the picture of old parson looked down a new from the wall and for a minute his felt inadequate to the occasion if it is to satisfy your own feelings and conscience she said at last i shall put no bar in your way but i see no use in it and no need of it i will tell people that you offered to do it and that i refused to take it and i care	40
nothing for the praise of men the guest flushed and was somewhat at this and miss felt that she had spoken in her frankness she did not know how to soften her speech and said nothing wishing more and more that mr would end this business call and go away she took a good look at him and was shocked to see how much he was changed and how ill he looked her long experience in taking care of sick people had made her eyes quick to see the signs of disease and she felt a thrill of pity for him and shame for her own and spoke again more kindly than before i want you should let be mr you are most considerate he answered but i came prepared to give you my note for the six thou sand dollars with six per cent interest from date a new if i am living i will pay it within a year if not you will look to my and with a most impressive and solemn manner he drew a folded paper from his pocket miss looked at him and looked at the paper she did not know whether to laugh or cry she urged him to stay to tea when after a few minutes he rose from his chair and made ready to go he looked about the room and appeared to be struck by its old fashioned comfort and warm plain you have a most home he said in a way that instantly suggested his being only a in and a sick man at that miss stood by the kitchen window and watched him climb with a good deal of effort into his carriage and afterward watched the wagon far down the hill and out of sight then she sat down and looked at the note which she been holding fast in her hand lord forgive me for my wickedness she said but i can t like that man and i never want to touch his money she went into the front room and laid the bit of paper on the table and sat down again and looked at it he lied when he said he did n t know about it she told herself indignantly he was a boy of sixteen or seventeen when it happened and nobody talked of anything else but she a new thought for the time that if he were a cheat somebody ought to have him beside herself and after all what had he done but good since he came to for the next day or two it must be confessed that miss s heart was greatly softened toward the new she thought of him a great deal as she went about her work and she kept herself awake nearly the whole of one night a thing which seldom happened in connection with her own affairs though she had lost many a night s rest in the interest of other people she said to herself over over and again that she had no right to sit in judgment and that she was simply finding fault with the man for being himself and doing things in his own way i might as well blame the cat because she is n t a dog she told herself i ought to wait any way until henry does one piece of mischief here in and little by little in spite of her instinct which continued its quiet warning she persuaded herself first into and then into pity and interest for would not she be very well off as to money since this late of a debt had changed her carefully managed provision into a comfortable property and was not henry the cause of the difference she had been richer than a new many of her but she had often been anxious lest the end of the year might find her m debt and the off years of the apple orchard and the that lessened her hay crop forced her to self and most trying to her generous nature then the thought of the man s illness and failing health would haunt her and she wished she had a chance to suggest some simple that would be likely to make him more comfortable his loneliness appealed to her sympathy for she knew the hardships of it only too well though the fact remained that nothing had ever tempted her to invite another solitary woman to share her home on the second day while the note still lay untouched on the sitting room table and when she felt more shaken and tired than was usual with her even at her seasons she stood late in the morning at the kitchen door the day was uncommonly mild for the season and the house had seemed a little lonely for a wonder none of the neighbors had been in not even had strayed along and she had not spoken to any one all the day before indeed since she had parted from mr himself she leaned against the door and looked up and down the road she would really have liked to see somebody coming with whom she could exchange a new greetings but nobody was in sight up the hill or down and she gave a little sigh and then bestowed her attention upon the bits of leaves and little sticks that the wind of the night before had swept off the grass to the and had piled against the she thought it looked and briskly went in again to get her with which to set the to rights it was time to take something out of the oven and this made a little delay and when she returned to the outer world she saw a wagon approaching and saw also that its driver was mr her first impulse was to dart back into the kitchen but it was quite too late for that and she returned the	40
a new often treated to such cooking as that she went the front room and took up the bit of paper which he had given her and smoothed it out and looked at the regular writing with interest i dare say he would have to go to new york and round on business she told herself and then thought with awe and satisfaction of his wealth i always did think i should like she said and then was so angry with herself that if had appeared at that moment it would have cruelly hard with him but a little later in the day the tide of her feeling turned for came bravely in to offer his congratulations for her good fortune miss had not spoken of mr s of the old debt to any one she had known that it would be right and just and had been up her strength to the somebody else had been before her and it must have been none other than her benefactor himself it will easily be imagined how the story of this great piece of generosity flew from house to house and said that everybody knew of it all over town in answer to miss s startled inquiry this spoiled everything and the new growth of interest was crushed and the world was seen to be the same world as before only more in shadow a new than ever while our friend hardly knew why she was so provoked and disappointed she said to herself that it was no use to go against your nature and she knew what sort of a man he was the first time she set eyes on him if other folks did n t the worst was their own but she went about the house and who was promptly dismissed though he was sure she wished him to fill a certain water from the orchard spring reported at the next neighbor s that miss was taking her prosperity dreadful hard for his part he whether she was kind of or whether she was scared to stay alone with so much money in the house it was a great relief on the next day which was sunday that there was so deep a fall of snow that even so constant and devoted a church as our heroine was obliged to stay at home though she was glad of this excuse from her neighbors they felt it to be a loss of entertainment and perhaps it was for the satisfaction of these deferred hopes of seeing her come into church that the wednesday evening meeting was uncommonly well attended it was a clear bright night and the sunday s snow was trodden into capital and as good walking as can ever be in country roads it was a long while since the moon had had to light so a new people to the wednesday meeting and it was for anything but to say their prayers together the new sat in his accustomed seat near the pulpit and miss sat in her old family which was on the side and faced the congregation she would not have sat anywhere else for gold and she made so much effort to look that her cheeks were red with and her hands shook when she held the hymn book mr spoke with great feeling of his pleasure at meeting so large a congregation and mr prayed and two women made an use of their pocket handkerchiefs for several minutes afterward the old followed in their turn the hymns were sung and the meeting was possessed of a good deal more than usual mr had read a few verses from the book of the revelation and was explaining them earnestly miss had felt as if this meeting were to be in some way personal and of herself but as the hour went on she quite recovered her self possession and the horrors of her position as regarded society became much less at the last of the evening while mr himself was speaking she heard the door of the church open and looking around she saw two men come a new quickly in and seat themselves in the nearest the door from her own at the side of the church she could look up and down the aisle and she saw these strangers give a little nod at each other and look amused as they listened to the speaker she in her for a few minutes after the meeting was over as was her habit and spoke to one and another of her friends as usual she had a great anxiety not to do anything uncommon and when she was half way down the aisle she felt herself to have regained her old mrs who was waiting by the stove for the to get his horse ready and bring him round from the rail to the church door caught at her sleeve as she went by and after speaking about the meeting and some general matters added well you can t say anything against mr now i m sure he has done handsome by you i ve never meant to say anything against him answered miss but i think he was foolish to do what he has i tried to persuade him out of it i m sure and just at this moment mr and the minister came by when miss who had for a few moments forgotten the two strangers noticed with surprise that they were still in the next the door a new one of them stepped forward aud spoke to mr who looked disturbed and shocked he leaned back against the wall and acted as if he were much in despair the two men watched him and seemed to be waiting and it was only a minute before he turned to mr and said miss being so near that she heard every word i find i must take a	40
long cold journey to night my presence is needed in new york and i must go at once to catch the train at mr expressed his sorrow for this his friend being so feeble and sensitive to cold he said a good deal in trying to urge him to wait until morning but after one look at the grim messengers mr politely the arguments and up his overcoat and went out into the moonlight night one of the strangers got into the with him and the other followed alone and that was the last that was seen of the new and last of his illustrious reign in my conscience said one day early in the spring when he made his first appearance at miss s after a long illness how come you to see through that cheat when all the rest of us was so taken in i don t know s mr a new ham is ever going to over it we all took him to be spending money by the and most of it was nothing but his note and saying charge it to me as if he was the great lord nobody had any kind of doubt but what his pockets was lined with money not but what it wa n t a kind of dreadful thing that he should ha died all alone in his bed over there to i s pose t was that long ride in the cold and his being upset by the officers on to him so right in the meeting house he did spend some honest money though i can think o four or five hundred dollars he left in one place and another whilst he was here miss said nothing and after reflecting a while went on he was gifted in prayer more than most now was n t he i think being a sick man and knowing it after he down south there he thought he would be as religious as he could while he had time he must have felt as safe here as anywhere they pronounced his name down south you know they called it and somebody was telling me folks thought it was likely he d been going under another name any way land there s all that foundation stone for the laying up there on the house yard i wonder when a new tbey re going to and the parish s got to pay for that new library he gave it for a christmas present run an awful did n t he i was surprised when they told me his wife had left him stead of her being dead as we thought all along i ve sometimes thought he was a little sprung how he did about and all the women made everything of him but you said trying to turn a pretty compliment to miss s discretion i wonder who paid the bills for his funeral nobody seemed to know at the time it was just as well if they did n t said looking a little conscious now we ve both got work to do and lives to live and that poor creature s gone to his last account we have n t any business with him as i know of he could n t help being a and the sins he could help he s had a chance to be ashamed of before this for my part i don t want to hear another thing about him but i do thank my stars i never made a fool of myself and i wish others for their could say as much i guess i had trouble o mind enough to last me one while i don t know as some folks knows what honesty is you might as well blame a black and white cat for not being a good a new how s that little gray cat turned out you started to raise along in the winter interrupted earnestly and miss replied not without a smile that she seemed to be a likely any way folks thinks a sight of your opinion said again and mother she sticks to it you did me a sight more good than the doctor she says i never should ha pulled through if it had n t been for the time you spent a watching of me and them things you recommended i guess everybody has to allow that in the long run you ve done more good than and grateful mr rubbed his eyes with his coat sleeve i told the minister so last time he come to see me rising sixty year says i she s been doing of good works i but at this miss looked displeased he s dreadful ashamed now about having took up with so talk s cheap says i to mr and was great on talk now said miss there was nobody who kept round henry any closer than you did tou always were telling me how rich he was and how much he gave away and everything he d been doing and what an addition he was to the place it did look like it for a time said humbly a new even you would ha liked him if you could but your good judgment would n t allow seems dreadful dull since i got about again not hearing anything about his goin s on singer was telling of me as i come up the hill he called me in to get me to try a bar l of they d just tapped for spring use he said there wa n t an apple in it but what was sound and it did go to the right spot i tell ye was telling of me that a bill come from some south only yesterday i wonder what he d v done if he bad n t died they all say he had n t	40
much money by him miss felt a sense of to the edge of a precipice she often remembered in these days that she had taken at least one step in a most dangerous direction she had called herself names all winter long and felt like a when people her on her superior discretion it is a most humiliating thing to lose one s self respect and she never could forget that for a few hours she had been in peril of defeat and of being bought over like the rest she had allowed herself to glance at the temptation and she could make no excuse for herself the lord had made her a woman to be sure but she need not have been a silly one went on with his reflections i can t be a new but what he d done better if he d had a chance he was a great hand for a meeting and he seemed to want to do well by everybody but they say he d l ad to clear out from three or four places running and some thinks he may have got the money he spent here by gambling it s no kind of use to make a man out worse than he is said miss angrily and for my part i am sick to death of hearing about henry i hoped it had blown over a little but i suppose it s natural you should want to take your turn at it first folks was all at me because i would n t bow down and worship him and dow they want me to throw rocks at his tomb stone they go just like a pack of sheep over a stone wall one gets her nose over and all the rest think they ve got to die if they don t follow he s gone to his last account and we d better let him alone it was easy enough to say this but the subject continued to be an interesting one and provoked frequent for many months afterward in that neighborhood it was some time before the of surrounding towns could resist asking such people as ventured to stray away from home what had become of the great man they used to have over there or if they had moved into the new yet a new as for the at the window the outer blind got loose one windy winter night and struck against it and set it free and it was blown along the frozen snow far down the hill and out of sight and in the morning miss felt lighter hearted because she missed it from its place it seemed to her that she was growing old and she had felt as young as ever until that winter for her had been a dutiful and quiet one it was fortunate that she found so much to do inside her house and out and everybody said that her front yard was the in that summer the flowers in great splendor and her two best china from the parlor mantel piece were filled for the of the pulpit sunday after sunday even did not suspect as he toiled in her company that sad thoughts often assailed her and could not be driven away either by a double diligence in her solitary housekeeping or by her care that the garden and lilies should be by weeds an only son it was growing more and more uncomfortable in the room where price had spent the greater part of a hot july morning the sun did not shine in for it was now directly overhead but the glare of its reflection from the dusty village street and the white house opposite was blinding to the eyes at least one of the three of who were assembled in solemn looked up several times at the tops of the windows and thought they had better see about getting some curtains there was more business than usual but most of it belonged to the familiar detail of the office there were bills to pay for the support of the town s poor and the district schools and afterward some discussion arose about a new piece of road which had been projected by a few citizens who were as violently opposed by others the were agreed upon this question but they proposed to speak in private with the county who were expected to an only bon the region of the new highway the next week this however had heen well at their last meeting and they had reached no new conclusions since so presently the conversation a little and price upon the ink with his long fingers and john the miller rose impatiently and to the small window where he stood with eyes looking down into the street his well rounded figure made a pleasant shadow in that part of the room but it seemed to grow every moment captain stone left his chair impatiently and taking his went down the short of stairs that led to the street knocking his thick shuffling boots by the way he reached the and looked up and down the street but nobody was coming so he turned to ball the who was standing in his shop door business is n t brisk i take it inquired the captain and mr ball replied that he didn t do much more than tend shop nowadays folks would keep on buying cheap shoes and thinking they saved more money on two pair a year for five dollars than when he used to make em one pair for four but i make better pay than i used to working at my trade and i ain t going to fret said with a an only son significant glance at a modest pile of empty boxes and the captain laughed a little and took a at a piece of tobacco which he had found with much	40
difficulty in one of his deep coat pockets he had followed the sea in his early life but had returned to the small stony farm which had been the home of his childhood perhaps fifteen years before this story begins he had taken as kindly to inland life as if he had never been even with sea water and had been instantly given the position in town affairs which his wealth and character he still retained a good deal of his way of looking at things one would say that to judge by his appearance he had been well rubbed with tar and salt and it was supposed by his neighbors that his old sea were of much money he was by some of them as being worth fifteen thousand dollars with the farm thrown in he was considered very peculiar because he liked to live in the somewhat little and some of his attempts at the soil were the occasion of much amusement he had made a large scrap book during his long sea voyages of all sorts of hints and suggestions for the of the ground from books and newspapers and and nobody knows where else he had these an only son in or copied them in his stiff careful handwriting and had pleased himself by watching his collection grow while he was looking forward through the long storm tossed years to his quiet among the hills he was a single man and though a never had trod the quarter deck from motives of wisest policy he seldom opposed his will to that of widow who had consented to do him the great favor of keeping his house a long to day seems to me observed the with little appearance of the curiosity which he really felt there was a good many p to be looked over answered captain stone becoming aware that he had secrets to guard and looking impenetrable and it s worked into a long just as i said i never took note of a sky don t seem now as if we ever should get a out of it but i suppose we shall and he turned with a sigh to the door and disappeared again tip the narrow the three horses which were tied to adjacent posts in the full blaze of the sun all hung their ancient heads wearily and their disappointment as best they might they had felt certain when the captain appeared that the s meeting was over if they had been better acquainted an only son with politics they might have wished that there could he a rising of the opposition so that their masters would go out of office for as many years as they had come in the captain s companions looked up at him eagerly as if they were sure that he was the herald of the expected tax who was to pay a large sum of money to them of which the town treasury was in need it was close upon twelve o clock and only a very great emergency would detain them beyond that time they were growing very hungry and when the captain after a grave shake of his head had settled into his chair again they all felt more or less though price showed it by looking sad one would have thought that he was waiting with reluctance to see some punishment descend upon the head of the official well mis will be waiting for me and she never likes that said captain stone at last and just at that minute was heard the sound of wheels perhaps it s my mare stepping about she s dreadful in fly time suggested mr and at once put his head out of the window but when he took it in again it was to tell his fellow officers that was coming and then they all sat solemnly in their chairs with as much dignity as the an only son situation of things allowed their and authority was plainly depicted in their expression on ordinary occasions they were not remarkable except as excellent old fashioned country men but when they represented to the world the personality and character of the town of they would not have looked out of place seated in that stately company which has painted in the reception of the english it was ton that was to give audience th t summer day in the dusty bare room as in the picture they heard a man speak to his horse and leap to the ground heavily and then listened eagerly to the and which represented the tying of the and then there were sounds of steps upon the the voice of mr ball was heard but it did not seem to have attracted much attention and presently the long waited for messenger was in the room he was dusty and sun burnt and looked at his hosts they greeted him enough and after he had put his worn red handkerchief away he took a leather from his pocket and looking at a little roll of bills almost reluctantly turned them over with lingering fingers and passed them to mr who sat nearest him saying that he believed it was just right an only son there was little else said and after the money had again been counted the meeting was over there had indeed been a hurried arrangement as to who should guard the treasury but when price had acknowledged that he meant to go to south ton next morning he was at once to carry the to the bank there where the town s funds and many of its papers already the said slowly that he did n t know as he cared about keeping so much money in the house but he was not relieved by either of his and so these honest men separated and returned to private life again their homes were at some distance from	40
each other but for a half mile or so price followed captain stone and a cloud of dust followed them both then the captain turned to the left up toward the hills but price kept on for some distance through the level lands and at last went down a long lane except here and there where some ambitious fence had succeeded in changing selves into slender willow trees in the spring the sides of the lane had been wet and were full of green things growing as fast as they could but now these had been for some time dried up the lane was bordered with dusty and three deep were worn through the turf where the an only son wheels and the horse s patient feet had back and forward so many years the house stood at the end looking toward the main road as if it wished it were there it was a low white house with faded green blinds the had tried to hurry his slow horse still more after he caught sight of another horse and wagon standing in the wide he had entirely forgotten until that moment that his niece and housekeeper had made a final announcement in the that she was going to start early that afternoon for the next town to help a golden wedding poor had been somewhat because even this uncommon season of high festival failed to excite her uncle s love for society she had made him run the as usual on such occasions by telling him that he took no interest in nobody and nothing and that she was sure she should n t know what to say when people asked where he was that it looked real and cold hearted and he could n t expect folks to show any interest in him these arguments with many others had been brought forward on previous occasions until the knew them all by heart and he had listened to them that morning only observing cautiously to his son that an only son must go through with just so much but he had promised to come back early from the village since and the cousin who was to call for her meant to start soon after twelve it was a long drive and they wished to be in good season for the gathering of the he left the horse standing in the yard and went into the house feeling carefully at his inner coat pocket as he did so had been watching for him but the minute he came in sight she had left the window and begun to about in the the did not stop to speak to her but went directly to his bedroom and after a moment s thought placed the precious deep under the pillows this act was followed by another moment s reflection and as the old man turned his son stood before him in the doorway neither spoke there was a feeling of embarrassment which was not uncommon between them but presently the young man said s been waiting for you to have your dinner she s in a great hurry to get off be in just as quick as i take care of the horse you let her be i put her up myself said the a little i guess be there soon enough i should n t think she d want to start to ride way over there right in the middle of an only son the day at another time he would have been pleased with s offer of aid for that young man s bent was not in what we are pleased to call a practical direction as he left the kitchen he noticed for the first time mrs who sat by the farther window dressed in her best and evidently over with impatience price was a hospitable man and stopped to shake hands with her kindly and to explain that he had been delayed by some business that had come before the he was politely assured that the delay was not of the least consequence for mrs was going to drive the and could make up the lost time on the road as they stood talking s footsteps were heard behind them and with out turning or to enter into any conversation with his niece the went out into the bright sunlight again had preceded him after all and was one of the traces and his father the other without a word you go in and have your dinner why won t you father the young man looking up you need n t be afraid but i do this all right i declare i was grieved when i saw as i come np the lane that you had n t mended up the fence an only son there where i told you this i had to be off and there s the two right into the garden piece and i don t know what works they ve been and done it does seem too bad the son had worn a pleased and almost triumphant look as if he had good news to tell but now his face fell and he turned crimson with shame and anger i would ij t have forgot that for anything he stammered i ve been hurrying as fast as i could with something t ve been doing i m going off but his father had already stepped inside the barn door with the hungry horse and it was no use to say any more presently the went into the house and ate his dinner and after the few dishes had been washed and had told him about the bread and a piece of cold boiled beef and a row of and the sheet of which she had provided for the family s in her absence she added that she might not be back until early wednesday morning and then she drove	40
away in triumph with cousin it was the first the good woman had had for more than a year except for half a day or so and the wished her with real affection and sympathy having already asked if she had everything she wanted to carry over and finally he desired his respects to be given to the an only son folks he stood at the comer of the house and watched her all the way down the lane until she turned into the main road and herself was much pleased as she caught sight of him she waved her hand gallantly to which he responded by an almost inclination of the head and at once turned away there ain t a better man alive said cousin the elderly he s as set as anybody i ever see in his own ways but he s real good hearted i don t know anybody i d look to quicker than him if i got into misfortune he s aged a good deal this last year don t you think he has sometimes i feel sure that s odd notions wears on him more than we think course they do said throwing back the shawl which she had felt obliged to put on at first out of respect to the occasion his father s of every hour in the day he is getting more and more helpless and and uncle s growing feeble and he ain t able either to hire help or to do the farm work himself sometimes takes real good but it ain t often and there he sets up in that room he s fixed over the wood house and all day long last winter he used to be there till late at night he took out one o the window panes and set a out through and used to an only son keep a fire going and a bright light up there till one or two o clock in the morning his father never slept a wink i don t believe he looks like a man of hard on to eighty and he wa n t but sixty seven his last birthday i guess s him out of about all the bank money he had long ago there i used to get interested myself in s notions about his machines but now i can t bear to hear him begin and i go right into the and rattle round as if i was drove to pieces i suppose his father has indulged him more seeing that he was so much younger than all the rest of his children and they being dead anyway i declare i never see such a beautiful as s mother was i always thought she was kind of here t was a place to me always and i never counted on its being healthy the s begun to look kind o and i don t think it s all worry o mind it s kind of low land and it s always been called f every cousin was apt to look on the dark side of things you can t always see the marks o trouble she went on there was old john that lost three children in one day with scarlet fever the fall after his wife died then his house got and the bank failed where his property job himself could n t be an only son no worse off and he took on dreadful as one thing after another come upon him but there wa n t a younger appearing man of his age anywhere at the time he died he seemed to spring right up again like a bent i always thought it was a kind of a pity that the did n t push right off while he was young he kept him to home trying to make a farm boy of him till he was a grown man used to him dreadfully to let him go off when i first come over to live said he had a great notion of working in some kind of a machine shop and they said that there wa n t so smart a workman there as he was but he got a notion that he could improve on one of the machines and he lost his interest in his trade and the end of it was that he spent a sight o money to get a patent and found somebody had stepped in with another just the week before it was an awful mean thing too for some thought it was his notion that had been stole from him there was a fellow that where he did to that left all of a sudden and they thought he took the plan being always free and pleasant with him and then let somebody else have part of it to get the patent through anyway it was n t called for in any name they knew wi u an only son dreadful discouraged ut it and was set against folks knowing so don t you never say nothing that i said about it i think he s kind of about machinery and i don t believe he knows what he s about more than half the time he never give me a word i say that for him but it s getting to be a melancholy habitation if ever i see one said mournfully and after this the conversation turned to more hopeful relating to the golden wedding the had sighed as he turned away he had wondered if they would make the twelve mile journey in safety and smiled in spite of himself as he remembered an old story he wished he had reminded them of those two old women who were from to and forgot where they came from and what their names where and where they were going after this hidden spring of humor had to the	40
surface a little too late for anybody s enjoyment but his own he into his usual plaintive gravity and bringing a hammer and nails and some from the wood house he went out to mend the broken fence it had been patched and propped before and now seemed hardly to be repaired the boards and posts had away and the had forced a wide an only son breach in so weak a wall it was a half afternoon s work and the day was hot but the tired old man set about it and took no rest until he had given the rail a shake and assured himself that it would last through his day he had brought more tools and pieces of board and he put these together to be replaced just as he had begun his work he had caught sight of his son walking quickly away far beyond the house across the pastures the had given a heavy sigh and as he had and and built his fence again there had been more than one sigh to follow it for had not this only son grown more helpless and useless than ever there seemed little to look forward to in life the garden was being sadly treated and by the the and were only half grown and the old bed seemed to have given up the fight altogether in one place there had once been a flower bed which belonged to s mother but it was almost wholly covered with grass had no fondness for s and the two men usually were unconscious that there were such things in the world but this afternoon the was glad to see a solitary of london pride which stood out in bold relief against the gray an only son post by the little garden gate it sent a bright ray of encouragement into the shadow of his thoughts and he went on his way cheerfully he told himself that now he would attend to the wagon wheels because he should need to start early in the morning in order to get home before the heat of the day it was a hot piece of road from here to the south village he wondered idly where had gone he was glad he had not asked for money that day but he had done questioning his son about his plans or even the reason of his occasional the side door which led into the kitchen was shaded now and a slight breeze seemed to be coming across the level fields so the sat down on the to rest the old cat came out as if she wished for company and rubbed against his arm and without making any noticeable sound she put her fore feet on the old man s knee and looked eagerly in his face and again and her master laughed and wondered what she wanted i suppose the cellar door is locked and bolted and you want to go down said the that s it ain t it i should ha thought would have about them should n t you and pleasing himself with the creature s companionship he rose and entered the house the cat trotted an only son alongside and disappeared quickly down the stair way and moved by some strange impulse price went into his bedroom to make sure that the was safe under the pillow he did not reach it at first and he again thinking that he had forgotten he pushed it so far under but although he eagerly threw off the clothes and the pillows and shook them twice over and got down on his hands and knees and crept under the bed and felt an odd singing noise grow louder and louder in his head and at last became dizzy and dropped into the nearest chair there was no to be found at last he crept out into the empty kitchen where the only sound was made by a fly that in a spider s web the air was close and hot in the house and as the old man stood in the doorway it seemed as if there had some change come over his whole familiar world he felt puzzled and weak and at first started to go out to the wagon with the vain hope of finding the lost purse it might be that he but there was no use in that he had done anything but put it carefully under the pillow that his son had stood in the doorway as he lifted his head and that the money was gone it was no use to deceive himself or to hunt through the house he had always before his eyes the picture of the pasture an only son slope with the well known figure of his son following across it the path that led to the nearest railroad station a mile or two away the daylight slowly and the heat of the sun lingered late into the night poor john price went through with his usual duties mechanically but with perfect care and he made the doing of his work last as long as he could the pig and the chickens and the horse were fed then there were the cows to bring in from pasture and to be and at last the poor man even remembered the cat and gave her a of milk for her supper but still it would not grow dark and still the shame and sorrow weighed him down in his restlessness he went through the lower rooms of the house and opened the front door and shut it again and looked into the stiff little best room and felt as if he were following the country custom so familiar to him of watching with the dead he did not get much sleep either in the uncomfortable bed which he had tried to put into some sort of order before he lay down	40
once he prayed aloud that the lord would him a miracle and that he might find his trust again and what was still more precious his confidence in his only son for some reason he could not bear the sound of his own voice and the thought of his time honored office in an only son the church pained him for was it not disgraced and made a reproach little by little the first of the shock wore away and he tried to think what was to be done the thought seized him that his son might have left some explanation of his going away and he rose and took a candle and went to the little there was less than the usual litter of and springs and but somehow in the hot little room a feeling of and almost of hope took possession of him it might be that s hopes would not be disappointed that he might be able to repay the stolen sum that he had only it and would return later and give it back for the poor assured himself over and over that he would talk about the boy s affairs with him and try again to aid him and to put him into a likely way at last even if he had to the farm but in the morning if there was still no sign of the lad what could be done the money which had owed the town as tax and paid at last that very day that seven hundred dollars the five hundred dollar bill and the two that stood for a hundred each and some smaller bills which were to pay the interest how should they be replaced he had no ready money of any an only son amount nor would have until the pay came for some hay or unless he could persuade a neighbor whose were honest but slow to take up a note given for a piece of sold the winter before all through that long summer night he worried and waited for the morning and sometimes told himself that his only son had robbed him and sometimes said that would never serve him like that and when he came home it would be all made right the were singing about the house and one even came to perch on the kitchen and make its cry the moon rose late and made a solemn red light in the east and shone straight in at the little bedroom window as if it were a distant fire on the hills a little dog kept up a fierce barking by the next far away across the fields and at last the tired man was ready to think his miserable was the fault of the cur yes he had given all the money he could he had meant well by the boy and surely now unless the poor fellow had gone mad there would be some way out of all this trouble at any rate he would not let other people have a chance to call his son a thief until there was no help for it an only son the morning after a short uneasy sleep from which the had a sad he ate some breakfast at the shelves and the old horse and set out on a day s journey of which he hardly knew the end he shut the door of the house and locked it and gave a look of lingering affection at the old place even stopping the horse for a minute in the lane that he might turn to survey it again most carefully he felt as if he were going to do it wrong and as if it were a conscious thing the old weather beaten dwelling that had sheltered him all his life and those who had been dearest to him it had no great attractions for a stranger it was a representative house for that somewhat primitive farming region though it had fallen out of repair and wore a and aspect the appearance of a man s home is exactly characteristic of himself human nature is more powerful than its surroundings and shapes them inevitably to itself it was still very early in the morning and few persons were stirring in fact price met nobody on the road except a sleepy boy following his cows to pasture and he did not feel like looking even him in the face but gave a pull at the reins to hurry the horse and pass by the quicker he took a cross road that was cool and shady at that hour and while an only son he slowly up the rough by way he let the horse choose its own course without guidance some birds were crying and calling in the woods close by as if it were altogether a day of ill omen and disaster john price felt more and more as if his world was coming to an end and everything was going to pieces he never had understood his son very well there are some people who are like the moon always with one side hidden and turned away and was only half familiar to his father the old man had been at first inclined to treat his bright boy with a sort of respect and reverence but in later years this had changed little by little to impatience and suspicion it had been a great mortification that he had been obliged to maintain him and once when somebody perhaps had been upon a certain crop of wild which a neighboring lad had arranged for his the was heard to better them than no crop at all yet he had never suffered his acquaintances to comment upon his son s behavior his own treatment of him in public had insisted upon the rendering of respect from other people but he had not acknowledged to himself until this last sad night that	40
was no practical result to be hoped for from s gifts and graces this might have been borne and they an only son might have struggled on together somehow or other but for the terrible blow of the of the town s money which had left a debt and sorrow on the old man s shoulders almost too heavy to be borne in a short time the woods were passed and the road led out to a pleasant country of quite a different character from the neighborhood left behind there were gently sloping hills and long lines of elms and the farms looked more prosperous one farm only on this road was and it was partly the fault of art and partly of nature for this was the of captain stone a better sailor than farmer its pastures were gathering places for the and its fields had been made by many springs it seemed to be the waste corner of that region for all unused and materials of farming land but while there was every requisite there was a and primitive arrangement or yet the captain had settled down here in content as a of the soil and while he might have bought the best farm in the county he congratulated himself upon his rare privileges here and would have found more level and kindly acres as uninteresting as being in seas he worked his farm as he had sailed his ships by using tact and discretion and with true s an only bon he never fretted he waited for the wind to change or the tide of spring to flow or of winter to ebb for he had long ago learned there was no hurrying nature and to hear him talk of one of his small plots of thin hay or slow growing potatoes you would have thought it an intelligent creature which existed mainly on his benevolent encouragement and by some persons the captain was laughed at and by others he was condemned the trouble was that he had a shrewd insight into human nature and was so impossible to deceive or to persuade against his will that he had made many enemies who bad hoped to grow rich by the good old man s pockets it was to this friend that price had turned in his extremity but as he drew nearer that morning to the red house on the his heart began to fail him for what if he should be refused there seemed no other resource in such a case but to make the sad occurrence known or to go away in search of himself he could put the deeds of his farm those worn deeds that had come down from father to son generation after generation into the hands of the other who would be sure to stand his friends and keep the secret for a time had looked discouraged and pale and desperate in the last months and his father an only son suddenly remembered this and groaned aloud as he wished that the boy had come to him and that he had made it possible instead of coldly and him day after day such a mixture of wrath and shame and compassion has seldom been in a father s heart the captain was abroad early and the saw him first about at the foot of the slope on which his house and buildings stood he seemed to be examining the soil and greeted his guest with a hearty satisfaction the slowly alighted and leaving his to the fence or among the bushes as she chose went into the field he walked feebly and when he met the captain he could hardly find words to tell his errand men of his kind are apt to be made silent by any great oc they have rarely anything but a limited power of expression and their language only serves them for common use those who have lived close to nature understand each other without speech as dogs or horses do and the elder generations of new knew less of society and human companionship and association than we can comprehend the captain had watched his visitor as he came toward him and when they met he gave one quick an only son final look and then proceeded to make use of his usual forms of greeting as if he had no idea that anything was the matter i ve taken a notion to set out some another year he announced i never made a voyage to sea without aboard if i could help myself they last well and taste when other things is begun to lose i don t cut any hay to speak of in this piece i ve been meaning to tackle it somehow see here pushing it with his great foot it s all coming up and i do know s you want to be standing about it is master for good grass land and t would be a great expense to drain it off i s pose i m too old to try any of these new notions but they sort of divert me we re having a bad spell o ain t we t is all tops of rocks about here and we re pretty brown the captain more briskly than was his wont it would have been impossible to mistake that he was a sailor for indeed that business its followers with an unmistakable brand they had ventured upon a spot than usual and when the pulled up his foot from the mire underneath with a his host proposed that they should seek the higher ground an only son pretty smart at home asked the captain presently to end a season of strange silence and the replied at first somewhat sorrowfully that they were but explained directly that was away for a couple o nights and too it cost a great effort to speak the young	40
man s name oh yes i growled the captain you spoke about the golden i should thought you d ha gone too along with such ain t to be had every day i must say i wish something or other would happen to take mis s attention off of me dropping his voice cautiously as they came nearer to the house she s had a dreadful time of it this week past and looked homely enough to stop a clock i used to be concerned along in the first of it when i come off the sea but i found it did n t do no hurt and so i let her work and first thing you know the wind is round again handsome and off we go the tried to laugh at this they had seated themselves on the off side of the under the shade of a great choke tree they had mounted the block which was a stout elm log standing on six legs so that it looked like some stupid creature of not altogether harmless disposition the two old men were quite at its mercy an only son if it should away suddenly but they talked for some minutes on ordinary subjects and even left their position to go to inspect the pigs and returned again before the arrived at an explanation of his errand it was a hard thing to do and the captain turned and looked at him narrowly i ve got to use the money right away as soon as i can have it i want to see to some business this you know i ve been latin to go to the south to day anyway i did n t know for certain i should have to see about this or i would n t have given you such short notice and here the stopped again it had come very near an this last sentence and he would not cheat the man of whom he was asking so great a favor i did n t fetch the papers along because i did n t know how t would be with you he explained they u make you safe s folks was talking round this spring to see if i wanted to part with our north field his youngest son s a smart fellow and wants to set up for himself and have a farm but i m only asking the loan for a time ye know neighbor and the looked anxiously at the old captain and then leaned over the about with the butt of his whip which he had brought with him from the wagon an only son yoa shall have it said the captain at last t ain t everybody i d do such a thing to and i am only going to have my say about one thing john i never had no family of my own and i suppose the s of a father are i don t know nothing about for or against but i must say i hate to see ye an old man before your time all out and looking discouraged on account o you come in o the lighter and he too and if he s been ye to get this money together to further his notions i m doing ye both a wrong to let ye have it but i can t deny ye and i ve got more than what ye say ye want right here in the house as it happens i was going to buy into that new three the have got on the stocks now i don t know but i am getting along in years to take hold of anything new in i ain t intending to let have none o this said the humbly and he longed to say more and felt as if he never could hold up his head again among his fellows and the time seemed very long and dreary before the captain came back from his house with the note ready to sign and the eight hundred dollars ready to place in the s gray and shaking hand his benefactor pondered long an only son over this strange visit longing to know what had happened but he assured himself over and over that he could n t help letting him have it and if never a cent of it came back there was nobody he was to oblige and john price took his weary way to the south village of and paid a sum of seven hundred and thirty five dollars to the of the town it was not until early in the afternoon that old stone suddenly himself that something might have happened about that payment of s if he were not growing old and a fool at last why had n t he asked the if he had lost the money he had taken home from the s office and when mrs afterward ventured to ask him a harmless question he had grown red in the face and poured forth a torrent of language which had nearly taken her breath away without apparent reason or excuse the captain it must be confessed was an uncommon he was one of the people who seem to serve as or for the concealed anger of poor human nature it is difficult to explain why seems so much more and shocking in some persons than in others but there was something fairly amusing in the and of words which excitement of any kind in an only son the mind of captain stone he even forgot himself so far as to swear a little occasionally in the course of earnest in the evening prayer meet there was not a better man or a christian in the town of though he had become a church member late in life and knowing this there was never anything but a compassionate smile when he grew red in the face	40
with zeal and recommended those poor wretched damned dogs of heathen to mercy nothing seemed to have changed outwardly at the south village john price did his errands and finished his business as quickly as possible and avoided meeting his acquaintances for he could not help fearing that he should be questioned about this miserable trouble as he left the bank he could not help giving a sigh of relief for that emergency was over and for a few minutes he kept himself by main force from looking at the future or asking himself what next but as he turned into his dust powdered lane again at noon the curious little faces of the blossoms seemed to stare up at him and there was nobody to speak to him and the house was like a tomb where all the years of his past were lying dead and an only son all the of life existed only in remembrance he began to wish for in a way he never had before and as be looked about the house he saw everywhere some evidence of his mechanical skill had not left home without a fear because as she always said was as handy as a woman the remembrance of his patient diligence at his own chosen work his under reproof his evident discomfort at having to be dependent upon his father linked to a perfect faith in the ultimate success of his plans the thought of all these things flashed through the old man s mind i wish i had waited till he told me what he had to say said price to himself t was strange about that fence too he s al been willing to take and help whenever i spoke to him he even came to believe that the boy had grown desperate and in some emergency had gone iu search of new materials for his machine he s so said the father he may have forgot to speak about the money and t was but a small looking roll of bills he be back to night like s not as concerned as can be when he finds out what t was he took it was the way we only remember the good qualities of our friends who have died and let the an only son bad ones fade out of sight and so know the angels that were growing in them all the while and out of our sight at last have thrown off the disguise and of the human shape towards evening jacob a neighbor came into the yard on an errand and was astonished to see how tired and old the looked he had left the oxen and their great load of coarse meadow hay standing at the end of the lane in the road and he meant at first to shoulder the borrowed and quickly them but it was impossible he asked if anything were the matter and was answered that there was something trying about such a long spell of which did not in the least satisfy his curiosity no said the i m getting to be an old man but i keep my health fairly and they re both tending to their own concerns but i make sure one or both of m be back toward and jacob after casting about in his mind for anything further to say mentioned again that t was inconvenient to break a right in the middle of a rack and went away looked to me as if he had had a stroke he told hb family that night at supper time and the con an only son of and in going off and leaving the old to shift for himself was more severely commented upon but all this time the latter half of that tuesday afternoon and her cousin were toward home the and hills the was in good trim and glad to be n his own familiar stall again and struck out at an uncommonly good pace though none of the at that it was hardly six o clock when the two tired out and severely women came into the yard the heard the high pitched voice which he knew so well before he heard the sound of the wheels on the soft dry turf and went out to greet the new comers half glad and half afraid took it for granted that was either in the as usual or as she scornfully expressed it the hills and did not ask for him cousin had accepted an invitation to tea as her home was three miles farther on they were both heavy women and stiff from sitting still so long in the old wagon and they grumbled a little as they walked toward the house yes t was a splendid occasion answered the as he stood near the to a much post it all went off beautifully an only son everybody wanted to know where you was an there we talked till we was all about dead and eat ourselves sick you never saw a table in your life the old folks stood it well but i see they d begun to kind o give out at dinner time to day last night was the you know because lots could come in the that was occupied by day they wanted us to stop longer but i see t was best to break it up and i d rather go over again by an by and spend the day in peace an and have a good visit we ve been saying as we rode along that we should n t be surprised if the old folks kind o faded out after this they ve been forward to it so long well it s all over like race and heaved a great sigh and went into the front room to open the blinds and make it less then she removed her best bonnet in her	40
own room and presently came out to get tea dressed in her familiar every day gown the was sitting by the open window on the sill he had a trick of beating a slow with the ends of his shaped fingers they were long and dry and somehow did not look as if they were useful though john price had been a hard working man cousin had come down stairs first and had gone out to get a piece of an only son the golden wedding cake that had been left in the wagon was busy in the scolding a good deal at the state she found it in whatever is this great thing in my pocket she exclaimed for something had struck the table leg as she came by it to bring the last brace of and quickly in the pocket s depths she brought up in triumph the s great brown and presented it to its owner good king said the amazed man it and then holding it and looking at it as if he were afraid it would bite i ain t give it a thought from that to this said who was not a little frightened i s pose you ve been thinking you lost it i thought you looked dreadful when i first saw you why you see i didn t undertake to wash yesterday because i did n t want the clothes a and and i kind of thought perhaps i d put it off till next week anyway though it ain t my principle to do fortnight s an i had so much to do ready to start that i d gone in early and made up your bed and not put a clean sheet on but you was busy out the after you come home at noon and had your dinner to eat and i had the time to spare so i just slipped in and an only son stripped off the then and this come out from under the pillow i meant to hand it to you when you come in from the barn but i forgot it the next minute you know we was about starting and i was scatter i hope it ain t caused you no great inconvenience you ain t wanted it for anything very special have you i s pose t was foolish to go about the bed but i thought if you should be sick or anything well i ve got it now said the drawing a long breath i own i felt some uneasy about it and he went out to the yard and beyond it to the garden and beyond the garden to the family burying lot in the field he would have gone to his parish church to pray if he had been a devout catholic as it was this was the nearest approach he could make to a solemn some of the oldest stones lay flat on the ground and a of vines covered them in part the leaves were burnt by the sun and the scrambled among them as the s startled them his first wife and his second wife both were buried there their resting places marked by a slate and a marble one and it was to this last that the old man went his first wife had been a plain hard worked woman of sterling worth an only r and his fortunes had declined from the day she left him to guard them alone but her successor had been a pale and delicate school teacher who had roused some longing for beauty and romance in john price s otherwise nature she had seemed like a growing beside a ledge and her husband had been forced to confess that she was not fit for a farmer s wife if he could have had a combination of his two partners he had once ventured to think he would have been exactly suited but it seemed to him as he stood before the grave with his head bowed the only way of making some sign of his sorrow he had accused an innocent man his son and hers and there he stayed doing penance as best he could until s voice called him to the house and to some sort of comfortable existence and lack of self reproof before they had finished supper came in looking flushed and tired but he took his seat at the table after a pleasant greeting and the passed him every plate within reach treating him with uncommon politeness the father could not help noticing that his son kept stealing glances at him and that he looked pleased and satisfied it seemed to him as if must have known of his suspicions and of their happy ending but it was discovered an only son presently that the long toiled over machine had been proved a success had taken it to his former employer at who bad promised so great was his delight with it to pay the expenses of getting the patent in exchange for a portion of the right he said there would be no end to the sale of it said the young man looking eagerly at his father s face i would n t have run off so yesterday but i was so full of it i could n t bear to think of losing the cars and i did n t want to say one word about this thing till i was sure i expect i have been slack he continued with evident effort while they leaned over the garden fence and he looked at his father but the fact is i could n t seem to think of other things it took all there was of me to keep right after that but now i m going to take right hold and be some help about the place i don t seem to want to touch a tool again	40
for a year he looked pale and restless the reaction from his long excitement had set in the gave a laugh and struck his son s shoulder by way of a clumsy caress don t you go to yourself now he said i ain t felt so pleased as i do to day since the day you come into the world i sort of felt certain then that you was goin to be somebody i do know why t was an only son and he turned away suddenly toward the house if are as rich as you say you be i should n t wonder if between us we had n t better get them blinds painted and smart up a little another year i declare the old place has begun to look considerable gone to seed that night a great thunder shower broke the spell of the long and afterward until morning the rain fell fast upon the thirsty ground it was a good night to sleep had said as she wearily climbed the crooked at nine o clock for there was already a coolness in the air she never was told the whole of the story about the for when she heard part of it she only said it was just like a man they were generally the most helpless s alive he might have known she had put it away somewhere why did n t he come and ask her he never seemed to that it was a direct p out of his duty to ride over to to the gathering and just speak to the folks in the early morning while it was cool and wet the drove up to the captain s farm and the two perched on the log again and the confession was made and listened to with great gravity the captain swore in his an only son satisfaction and said he was going to have a square talk with and advise with him a little for fear that those down in should undertake to cheat him he away the of the loan in one of his big pockets as if it were of little consequence to him but he announced with considerable satisfaction at the next s meeting that he owned a few of that which the were about ready to and he winked at price in a way that their brother was not able to understand miss s neighbors there is a class of elderly new england women which is fast dying out those good souls who have sprung from a soil full of the true new england instincts who were used to the old fashioned ways and whose minds were stored with quaint country lore and tradition the fashions of the generations do not reach them they are quite unconscious of the western spirit and enterprise and belong to the old days and to a fast disappearing order of things but a person does not exist than the of the following reminiscences whose simple history can be quickly told since she spent her early life on a lonely farm leaving it only once for any length of time one winter when she learned her trade of she afterward for her neighbors and enjoyed a famous reputation for her skill but year by year as she grew older there was less to do and at last to use her own expression everybody got into the way of buying cheap ready miss s neighbors made up clothes just to save em a little trouble and she found herself out of business or nearly so after her mother s death and that of her favorite younger brother she left the farm and came to a little house in the village where she lived most comfortably the rest of her life having a small property which she used most sensibly she was always ready to render any special service with her needle and was a most welcome guest in any household and a most efficient to be in the same room with her for a while was sure to be profitable and as she grew older she was delighted to recall the people and events of her earlier life always filling her descriptions with wise reflections and much quaint humor she always insisted not without truth that the were making everybody look and act of a piece and that the young folks were more alike than people of her own day it is impossible to give the of her talk in any written words as well as many of its peculiarities for her way of going round robin hood s barn between the beginning of her story and its end can hardly be followed at all and certainly not in her own dear footsteps on an idle day her most devoted listener thought there was nothing better worth doing than to watch this good soul at work a book was held open for miss s neighbors the looks of the thing but presently it was allowed to flatter its leaves and close for miss began without any apparent provocation they may say whatever they have a mind to but they can t persuade me that there s no such thing as special and she her strong linen thread so angrily through the carpet she was sewing that it snapped and the big needle flew into the air it had to be found before any further remarks could be made and the listener also knelt down to search for it after a while it was discovered clinging to miss s own dress and after it she went to work again at her long it was always significant of a succession of miss s opinions when she quoted and certain imaginary persons whom she as they who stood for the opposite side of the question and who usually her deepest scorn and fullest her remarks to these offending parties were always	40
with i tell em and to the listener s mind they always stood but not convinced in spiritual form it may be but most intense reality a little group as as miss herself once the listener ventured to ask who they were in her early childhood but she was only answered by a frown miss knew b neighbors as well as any one the difference between language and a lie sometimes they said what was right and proper and were treated accordingly but very seldom and on this occasion it seemed that they had ventured to trifle with sacred things i suppose you re too young to remember john s grandmother a good woman she was and she had a dreadful time with her family they never could keep the peace and there was always as many as two of them who did n t speak with each other it seems to come down from generation to generation like a curse and miss spoke the last word as if she had meant it partly for her thread which had again knotted and caught and she snatched the offered without a word but said after a minute or two that the thread was n t what it used to be the next proved more successful and the listener asked if the were getting on comfortably at present they always behave as if they thought they needed nothing was the response not that i mean that they are any ways contented but they never will give in that other folks holds a candle to em there s one kind of pride that i do hate when folks is satisfied with their selves and don t see no need of improvement i believe in self respect but mi b s neighbors i believe in respecting other folks s rights as much as your own but it takes an to ride right over you i tell em it s the spirit of the of old and it s the kind of pride that goes before a fall john s grandmother was a clever little woman as ever stepped she came from over hard way and i think she em kind of decent behaved as long as she was round but she got wore out a of it an went down to her grave in a quick consumption my mother set up with her the night she died it was in may towards the latter part and an awful rainy night it was the storm that always comes in apple blossom time i remember well that mother come crying home in the morning and told us mis was dead she brought with her that was about my own age and was taken away within six months afterwards she herself to death for her mother and when she caught the scarlet fever she went as quick as cherry bloom when it s just ready to fall and a wind strikes it she like the rest of em she took after her mother s folks altogether you know our farm was right next to theirs the one owns now but he s let it all run out and so as we lived some ways from the stores we had to be for we depended on each neighbors other for a good many things families in places get out of one supply and another and have to borrow until they get a chance to send to the village or sometimes in a busy season some of the folks would have to leave work and be gone half a day land you don t know nothing about old times and the life that used to go on about here you can t step into a house now that there ain t the county map and they don t fetch out the photograph book and in every district you find all the folks has got the same picture hung up and all sorts of luxuries and o splendor that would have made the folks i was fetched up by stare their eyes out o their heads it was all we could do to keep along then and if anybody was called rich it was only because he had a great sight of land and then it was the harder to pay the taxes there was hardly any ready money and i recollect well that old was wealthy and it was told over fifty times a year that he d got a solid four thousand dollars in the bank he round like a turkey cock and thought he ought to have his first say about everything that was going i was talking about the was n t i i do know s i ever told you about the fight they had after their father died about the old house joseph was miss s neighbors married to a girl he met in camp meeting time who had a little property two or three hundred dollars from an old great uncle that she d been keeping house for and i don t know what other plans she may have had for spending of her means but she laid most of it out in a husband for joseph never cared any great about her that i could see though he always treated her well enough she was a poor ignorant sort of thing seven years older than he was but she had a pleasant kind of a face and seemed like an overgrown girl of six or eight years old i remember just after they was married joseph was taken down with a sore throat being always subject to them and mother was over in the and she was one that was always giving right hand and left and she told that was his wife to step over in the afternoon and she would give her some preserve for him she had some that	40
was nice and it was very healing so along about half past one o clock just as we had got the kitchen cleared and mother and i had got out the big wheels to spin a few rolls we always liked to spin together and mother was always good company my brother that was the youngest of us looked out of the window and says he here comes joe s wife with a six miss s neighbors mother she began to shake all over with a laugh she tried to swallow down but i did n t know what it was all about and in come poor and lit on the edge of the first chair and set the down beside of her we tried to make her feel welcome and spoke about everything we could contrive as it was the first time she d been over and she seemed grateful and did the best she could and lost her strangeness with mother right away for mother was the best hand to make folks feel to home with her that i ever come across there ain t many like her now nor never was i tell em but there wa n t nothing said about the six and there it set on the until said she must he going and mentioned that there was something said about a remedy for joseph s throat oh yes says mother and she brought out the little stone jar she kept the preserve in and there wa n t more than the half of it full took up the cover off the and i walked off into the bedroom for i thought i should laugh certain mother put in a big and another and i heard em drop and she went on with one or two more and then she give up i d give you the jar and welcome she says but i ain t very well off for preserves and i was kind of counting on this for tea in case my brother s mi s s neighbors folks are over thanked her and said joseph would be obliged and back she went the pasture i can see that big tin now a shining in the sun the old man was alive then and he took a great spite against poor though he never would if he had n t been set on by john and whether he was mad because joseph had stepped in to so much good money or what i don t know but he him about her and at last he and the old man between em was too much to bear and joe fitted up a couple o rooms for himself in a building he d put up for a kind of work shop he used to carpenter by and he it and made it as comfortable as he could and he ordered john out of it for good and all but he and both treated the old sir the best they knew how and joseph kept right on with his farm work same as ever and meant to lay up a little more money to join with his wife s and push off as soon as he could for the sake of peace though if there was anybody set by the farm it was joseph he was to blame for some things i never saw an that was n t and i dare say he was they were clearing a piece of that winter and the old man was laid up in the house with the off and miss s neighbors od and that made him and he and john together till one day joseph and had taken the and gone to four corners to get some flour and one thing and another and to have the horse shod beside so they was likely to be gone two or three hours john was going by with his oxen and john ash by and the old man hailed him and said they d give him a dollar if he d help em and they the two yoke his and their n to joseph s house there wa n t any foundation to speak of the set right on the ground and he d it up with a few old boards and some pine and sand and stuff just to keep the cold out there wa n t but a little snow and the roads was smooth and icy and they slipped it along as if it had been a hand and got it down the road a half a mile or so to the fork of the roads and left it there right on the piece told afterward that he kind of disliked to do it but he thought as long as their minds were set he might as well have the dollar as anybody he said when the house give a on a piece in the road he heard some of the ware down and a branch of an oak they passed by caught hold of the stove pipe that come out through one of the walls and give that a but he guessed there mis neighbors wa n t no great damage joseph may have given em some provocation before he went away in the morning i don t know hut he did and i don t know as he did but at any rate when he was coming home late in the afternoon he caught sight of his house some of our folks was right behind and they saw him and he stood right up in the and shook his fist he was so mad but afterwards he bu st out it did look kind of s it wa n t bigger than a front entry and it set up so right there on the piece as if he was latin to farm it the	40
house was too old to move they d rack it all to pieces dragging it so fur but he would n t listen to no reason i never saw mother so stirred up as she was that day and when she see the old thing a moving she burst right out crying we could see one end of it looking over the slope of the hill in the pasture between it and our house there was two windows that looked our way and i know mis used to hang a piece o something white out o one of em when she wanted mother to step over for anything they set a good deal by each other and mis was a lame woman i should n t ha thought john would had em haul the house right over the little she thought so much of and broke down the and she set everything by i remember when she died i was n t more n seven or eight year old it was all in full bloom and mother she broke off a branch and laid into the coffin i do know as i ve ever seen any since or set in a room and had the sweetness of it blow in at the windows without remembering that day t was the first fu s neighbors i ever went to and that may be some reason well the old house started off and watched it as long as she could see it she was sort o feeble herself then as i said and we went on with the work t was a saturday and we was and and getting things to rights generally had been over in the swamp getting out some wood he d cut earlier in the winter and along in the afternoon he come in and said he s posed i would n t want to ride down to the corners so late and i said i did feel just like it so we started off we went the ridge road because he wanted to see somebody over that way and when we was going home by the straight road laughed and said we had n t seen anything of john s moving and he guessed he d got stuck somewhere he was glad he had n t nothing to do with it we drove along pretty quick for we were some and we did n t like to leave mother all alone after it come dark all of a sudden stood up in the and says he i don t believe but the cars is off the track and i looked and there did seem to be something the matter with em they had n t been running more than a couple o years then and we was prepared for anything he whipped up the horse and we got there pretty quick and i be bound if the house miss s neighbors had n t got fast right on the track and stir it one way or another they could n t they d heen there since quarter past one pulling and and the men was all hoarse with yelling and the cars had come from both ways and met there one each side of the crossing and the passengers was walking about scolding and swearing and somebody d gone and lit up a t you never see such a sight in all your life i happened to look up at the old house and there were them two top windows that used to look over to our place and they had caught the shine of the and made the poor old thing look as if it was scared to death the men was at it with and and it was dreadful distressing you pitied it as if it was a live it come from such a quiet place and always looked kind of comfortable though so much war had gone on amongst the i tell yon it was a judgment on john for they got it back after a while and then would n t touch it again not one of the men nor let their oxen the was all stove and the outside walls all apart and john never did anything more about it but let it set there all summer till it burnt down and there was an end one night in september they supposed some folks slept in it and miss s neighbors set it or else some boys did it for fun i was glad it was out of the way one day i know i was coming by with mother and she said it made her feel bad to see the little of leather by the fore door where mis had nailed up a once there there ain t an alive now of the old stock except young john joe s son went off to sea and i believe he was lost somewhere in the china seas or else he died of a fever i seem to forget he was called a smart boy but he never could seem to settle down to anything sometimes i wonder folks is as good as they be when i consider what comes to em from their folks before em and how they re by nature them never was like other folks and yet some good streak or other there was in every one of em you can t expect much from such s it s just like a black and white cat for being a poor it ain t her fault that the see her quicker than they can a gray one if you get one of them dispositions put with a good strong will towards the right that s what makes the best of men but all them cared about was to grasp and get and be cap ns they liked to	40
see other folks put down just as if it was going to set them up and they did n t know nothing they make me think s neighbors of some o them old that used to hive up into their castles in old times and then go out a and and i tell you that same was in em they was born a couple o hundred years too late kind of left over folks as it were and miss indulged in a quiet chuckle as she bent over her work john he got captured by his wife she carried too guns for him i believe he died very poor and her own son would n t support her so she died over in poor house and joe got along better his wife was clever but rather slack and it took her a good while to see through things she married again pretty quick after he died she had as much as seven or eight thousand dollars and she was taken just as she stood by a preacher that was holding meetings here in the winter time he sold out her place here and they went up country that he come from her boy was lost before that so there was nothing to hinder her there don t you think i m always a fault finding when i get hold of the real thing in folks i stick to em but there s an awful sight of poor material walking about that ain t worth the ground it steps on but when i look back a little ways i can t blame some of em though it does often seem as if people might do better if they only set to work and tried miss s neighbors i mast say i always do feel pleased when i think how mad john was this john s father when he could n t do as he d a mind to with the pore old house i could n t help thinking of joe s mansion that he and his father hauled down to the piece in the fork of the roads sometimes i wonder where them all went to they d mistake one place for tlie other in the next world for t would make heaven out o hell because they could be with somebody and well i don t know i m sure they a good row going while they was in this world only with mother somehow she could get along with anybody and not always give em their way either tom s husband i shall not dwell long upon the circumstances that led to the marriage of my hero aud heroine though their courtship was to them the only one that has ever approached the ideal it had many aspects in which it was entirely commonplace in other people s eyes while the world in general smiles at lovers with kindly approval and sympathy it refuses to be aware of the delight which is amazing to the lovers themselves but as has been true in many other cases when they were at last married the most ideal of situations was found to have been changed to the most practical instead of having shared their original duties and as school boys would say going they discovered that the cares of life had been doubled this led to some distressing moments for both our friends they understood suddenly that instead of dwelling in heaven they were still upon earth and had made themselves slaves to new laws and in tom s husband stead of being and happier than ever before they had assumed new they had established a new household and must in some way or another the obligations of it they looked back with affection to their engagement they had been longing to have each other to themselves apart from the world but it seemed that they never felt so keenly that they were still in modem society since adam and eve were in paradise before the devil joined them nobody has had a chance to imitate that unlucky couple in some respects they told the truth when twenty times a day they said that life had never been so pleasant before but there were mental on either side which might have subjected them to the accusation of lying somehow there was a little feeling of disappointment and they caught themselves wondering though they would have died sooner than confess it whether they were quite so happy as they had expected the truth was they were much happier than people usually are for they had an uncommon capacity for enjoyment for a little while they were like a sail boat that is beating and has to drift a few minutes before it can catch the wind and start off on the other tack and they had the same feeling too that any one is likely to have who has been long pursuing tom s husband some object of his ambition or desire whether it is a coin or a picture or a stray volume of some old edition of shakespeare or whether it is an office under government or a lover when fairly in one s grasp there is a loss of the eagerness that was felt in pursuit satisfaction even after one has dined well is not so interesting and eager a feeling as hunger my hero and heroine were reasonably well established to begin with they each had some money though mr had most his father had at one time been a rich man but with the decline a few years before of interests he had become mostly through the fault of others somewhat involved and at the time of his death his affairs were in such a condition that it was still a question whether a very large sum or a large one would represent his estate mrs tom	40
s was somewhat of an invalid she suffered severely at times with but she was almost entirely relieved by living in another part of the country while her husband lived she had accepted her illness as inevitable and rarely left home but during the last few years she had lived in philadelphia with her own people making short and visits only from time to time and had not undergone a voluntary period of suffering since the occasion tom s husband of tom s marriage which she had entirely approved she had a sufficient property of her own and she and tom were independent of each other in that way her only other step child was a daughter who had married a navy officer and had at this time gone out to spend three years or less with her who had been ordered to it is not noticed that in many marriages one of the persons who choose each other as partners for life is said to have thrown himself or herself away and the relatives and friends look on with dismal and ill concealed submission in this case it was the wife who might have done so much better according to public opinion she did not think so herself luckily either before marriage or afterward and i do not think it occurred to her to picture to herself the sort of career which would have been her alternative she had been an only child and had usually taken her own way some one once said that it was a great pity that she had not been obliged to work for her living for she had inherited a most uncommon business talent and without being keen at a bargain her insight into the practical working of affairs was very clear and her father who had also been a like tom s had often said it had been a mistake tom s husband that she was a girl instead of a boy such ability as hers is often wasted in the more contracted sphere of women and is apt to be more a disadvantage than a help she was too independent and for a wife it would seem at first thought that she needed a wife herself more than she did a husband most men like best the women whose natures cling and appeal to theirs for protection but tom while he did not wish to be protected himself liked these very qualities in his wife which would have displeased some other men to tell the truth he was very much in love with his wife just as she was he was a successful of almost everything but money and during a great part of his life he had been an invalid and he had grown as he confessed very old he had been badly when a boy by being caught in some machinery in his father s mill near which he was one afternoon and though ho had almost entirely the effect of his injury it had not been until after many years he had been in college but his eyes had given out there and he had been obliged to leave in the middle of his junior year though he had kept up a pleasant intercourse with the members of his class with whom he had been a great favorite he was a good deal of an in the tom s husband world i do not think his ambition except in the case of securing mary for his wife had ever been distinct he seemed to make the most he could of each day as it came without making all his days works tend toward some grand result and go toward the of some grand plan and purpose he consequently gave no promise of being either distinguished or great when his eyes would allow he was an reader and although he would have said that he read only for amusement yet he amused himself with books that were well worth the time he spent over them the house where he lived belonged to his step mother but she had taken for granted that tom would bring his wife home to it and assured him that it should be to all and purposes his tom was deeply attached to the old place which was altogether the in town he had kept bachelor s hall there most of the time since his father s death and he had taken great pleasure before his marriage in it to some extent though it was already comfortable and furnished in remarkably good taste people said of him that if it had not been for his and if he had been a poor boy he probably would have made something of himself as it was he was not very well known by the towns tom husband people being somewhat reserved and not taking much interest ic their every day subjects of conversation nobody liked him so well as they liked bis wife yet there was no reason why he should be disliked enough to have much said about him after our friends had been married for some time and had the first strangeness of the new order of things and had done their duty to their neighbors with so much apparent and generosity that even tom himself was liked a great deal better than he ever had been before they were sitting together one stormy evening in the library before the fire mrs had been reading tom the letters which had come to him by the night s mail there was a long one from his sister in which had been written with a good deal of ill disguised reproach she complained of the of the income of her share in her father s estate and said that she had been assured by american friends that the smaller mills were starting up everywhere and beginning to do well again since so much of their money was	40
surprised and pleased i wasn t caring so much about getting work myself he explained i ve got what will carry me and my wife through but it be better for the young folks about here to work near home my tom h and are wanting something to do they were going to next week i don t say but i should like to be to work in the old place again i ve sort of missed it since we shut down i m sorry i was so long in you said tom politely to his wife well jack did mrs tell you she s going to start the mill you must give her all the help you can deed i will said mr gallantly without a bit of astonishment i don t know much about the business yet said mrs who had been a little overcome at jack s of the different rooms and machinery and who felt an overpowering sense of having a great deal before her in the next few weeks by the time the mill is ready i will be ready too she said taking heart a little and tom who was quick to understand her moods could not help laughing as he rode alongside we want a new barrel of flour tom dear she said by way of punishment for his mirth if she lost courage in the long delay or was at the steady call for funds she made no sign and after a while the mill started up and her cares were lightened so that she told tom that before next pay day she would like to go to boston for tom s husband a few days and go to the theatre and have a and a rest she really looked pale and thin and she said she never worked so hard in all her life but nobody knew how happy she was and she was so glad she had married tom for some men would have laughed at it i laughed at it said tom meekly all is if i don t cry by and by because i am a beggar i shall be lucky but mary looked serene and said that there was no danger at present it would have been ridiculous to expect a the first year though the people were with difficulty all the business letters came to tom s address and everybody who was not directly concerned thought that he was the motive power of the enterprise sometimes business people came to the mill and were amazed at having to confer with mrs but they soon had to respect her talents and her success she was helped by the old clerk who had been promptly recalled and and she certainly did well she was laughed at as she had expected to be and people said they should think tom would be ashamed of himself but it soon appeared that he was not to blame and what reproach was was on the score of his wife s there was nothing about tom s husband the mill that she did not understand before very long and at the end of the second year she declared a small with great pride and triumph and she was congratulated on her success and every one thought of her project in a different way from the way they had thought of it in the beginning she had singularly good fortune at the end of the third year she was making money for herself and her friends faster than most people were and letters began to come from the had been to stay in that region and it was evident that they were continually being obliged to entertain more instead of less their children were growing fast too and constantly becoming more expensive the captain and his wife had already begun to congratulate themselves secretly that their two sons would in all probability come into possession one day of their uncle tom s handsome property for a good while tom enjoyed life and went on his quiet way serenely he was anxious at first for he thought that mary was going to make ducks and of his money and her own and then he did not exactly like the looks of the thing either he feared that his wife was growing successful as a business person at the risk of losing her tom s husband but as time went on and he found there was no fear of that he accepted the situation he gave up his collection of having become more interested in one of and which took up most of his leisure time he often went to the city in pursuit of such treasures and gained much renown in certain quarters as a of great skill and experience but at last his house which had almost kept itself and had given him little to do beside ordering the dinners while faithful old and her niece were his suddenly became a great care to him who had been the main stay of the family for many years died after a short illness and must needs choose that time of all others for being married to one of the second hands in the mill there followed a long and dismal season of and for a time there was a procession of incapable creatures going in at one kitchen door and out of the other his wife would not have liked to say so but it seemed to her that tom was growing about the house affairs and took more notice of those minor details than he used she wished more than once when she was tired that he would not talk so much about the housekeeping he seemed sometimes to have no other thought tom a husband in the early days of mrs s business life she had made it a rule to consult her husband on every subject of importance but it had speedily	40
proved to be a formality tom tried to show a deep interest which he did not feel and his wife gave up little by little telling him much about her affairs she said that she liked to drop business when came home in the evening and at last she fell into the habit of taking a nap on the library sofa while tom who could not use his eyes much by lamp light sat smoking or in utter idleness before the fire when they were first married his wife had made it a rule that she should always read him the evening papers and afterward they had always gone on with some book of history or philosophy in which they were both interested these evenings of their early married life had been charming to both of them and from time to time one would say to the other that they ought to take up again the habit of reading together mary was so tired in the evening that tom never liked to propose a walk for though he was not a man of peculiarly social nature he had always been accustomed to pay an occasional evening visit to his neighbors in the village and though he had little interest in the business world and still less knowledge of it after a while he wished tom s husband that his wife would have more to say about what she was planning and doing or how things were getting on he thought that her chief aid old mr was far more in her thoughts than he she was forever quoting s opinions he did not like to find that she took it for granted that he was not interested in the welfare of his own property it made him feel like a sort of and dependent though when they had guests at the house which was by no means seldom there was nothing in her manner that would imply that she thought herself in any way the head of the family it was hard work to find fault with his wife in any way though to give him his due he rarely tried but this being a wholly unnatural state of things the reader must expect to hear of its change at last and the first blow from the enemy was dealt by an old woman who lived near by and who called to tom one morning as he was driving down to the village in a great to post a letter which ordered his agent to secure a long wished for ancient copper coin at any price to ask him if they had made that week and if she could borrow a as her own had met with some misfortune tom was in a rage and he mentally condemned tom s husband her to some fate but told her aloud to go and see the cook this slight delay besides being killing to his dignity caused him to lose the mail and in the end his much desired copper coin it was a hard day for him altogether it was wednesday and the first days of the week having been stormy the washing was very late and mary came home to dinner good natured she had met an old school mate and her husband driving home from the mountains and had first taken them over her factory to their great amusement and delight and then had brought them home to dinner tom greeted them cordially and manifested his usual graceful hospitality but the minute he saw his wife alone he said in a plaintive tone of rebuke i should think you might have remembered that the servants are unusually busy to day i do wish you would take a little interest in things at home the women have been washing and i m sure i don t know what sort of a dinner we can give your friends i wish you had thought to bring home some i have been busy myself and could n t go down to the village i thought we would only have a lunch mary was hungry but she said nothing except that it would be all right she did n t mind and perhaps they could have some soup tom s husband she often went to town to buy or look at or to see some improvement in machinery and she brought home beautiful bits of furniture and new pictures for the house and showed a touching in remembering tom s fancies but somehow he had an uneasy suspicion that she could get along pretty well without him when it came to the deeper wishes and hopes of her life and that her most important concerns were all matters in which he had no share he seemed to himself to have his life in his wife s he lost his interest in things out side the house and grounds he felt himself fast growing rusty and behind the times and to have somehow missed a good deal in life he had a suspicion that he was a failure one day the thought rushed over him that his bad been almost exactly the experience of most women and he wondered if it really was any more and to him than it was to women themselves some of them may be contented with it he said to himself people think women are designed for such by nature but i don t know why i ever made such a fool of myself having once seen his situation in life from such a stand point he felt it day by day to be more degrading and he wondered what he should do about it tom husband and once drawn by a new strange sympathy he went to the little family burying ground it was one of the mild dim days that come sometimes in early november when the pale sunlight is like the pathetic smile of a sad	40
face and he sat for a long time on the limp frost bitten grass beside his mother s grave but when he went home in the his who just then was making them a little visit mentioned that she had been looking through some boxes of hers that had been packed long before and away in the garret everything looks very nice up there she said in her voice which worse than usual that day always made him nervous and added without any slight to his feelings i do think you have always been a most excellent housekeeper i m tired of such nonsense he exclaimed with surprising indignation mary i wish you to arrange your affairs so that you can leave them for six months at least i am going to spend this winter in europe why tom dear said his wife i could n t leave my business any way in the but she caught sight of a look on his usually placid countenance that was something more than decision and refrained from saying anything more and three weeks from that day they sailed the confession of a house confession from tbat of most who are under the same head for whereas usually break into houses i broke out it was not a difficult exit for there was no glass to be broken nor any occasion for a tool box the truth is that one night lately i could sleep and when the eastern sky began to show a tinge of light i seated myself by the window and by the time the and bells of the neighborhood struck three i became possessed by a desire to go out of doors to watch the coming of the june morning and to see the world the sun himself did and to hear the of the birds from beginning to end because i had been at best an at this service an occasional early waking or late falling asleep had given me a fragment of the music but it was much like the way a foreign idly in at the door of a cathedral while mass is being performed the confession of a house so after i had leaned out of my eastern window a few longer and had heard one sleepy from the top of an elm not far away i dressed myself hurriedly and took my boots in my hand and prepared to escape it was no easy matter for i belong to a household of light who are quick to hear an i stole carefully by the open doors and down the stairs remembering fearfully that one was apt to and i hardly took a long breath until i found myself out in the garden it was dark under the trees and the alarmed shadows appeared to be there as if to discuss the next move and to find shelter meanwhile a bat went by me suddenly and at that i still i had not thought of and of all creatures they seem most frightful and like the flutter of a ghost s mantle or even the wave and touch of its hand a bat by daylight is a harmless bit of stupidity but by night it becomes a creature of mystery and horror an attendant of the powers of darkness the white light in the sky grew still and under the thin foliage of a great willow it seemed less solemn a bright little moon looked down through the slender twigs and fine leaves it might have been a new moon watching me through an olive tree but i caught the the confession of a house fragrance of the flowers and toward them i went back and forth along the garden walks and i can never tell any one how beautiful it was the roses were all in bloom and presently i could detect the different colors they were wet with dew and hung heavy with their weight of perfume they appeared to be sound asleep yet and turned their faces away after i had touched them some of the flowers were wide awake however one never knows the grace and beauty of white until they have been seen at night or like this early in the morning it is when the dew has fallen that this delicate flower and also give out their best fragrance and if one is lucky enough to be able to add the old fashioned his garden is indeed roses need the sunshine to bring out their full beauties though when i held my face close to the great wet clusters it seemed to me that i had taken all their store of perfume for the coming day in one long delicious breath the white flowers looked still in the i pale light and the taller bushes were like draped figures and suddenly i was reminded nobody knows why of a long walk with some friends through the damp avenues of when the leaves were beginning to fall and the garden of the little the confession of a house was gay with blossoms i remembered most vividly how warm the sunshine was upon the how empty and silent the pathetic holiday rooms how we strained our eyes to catch sight of the ghosts who must be flitting before us and trying to keep out of sight lest one of us might be a of spirits and might intrude upon their peaceful existence if there were a little noise in the court yard i thought it was the merry servants of a hundred years ago busy with their every day duties the scent of the and and was filling all the air we were only stealing in while the tenants of the house were sleeping or were away in paris we had not even a fear or suspicion of their sorry end it was a strange of reminiscences personal and historical that flitted through my mind as i went walking	40
slowly up and down my own new england garden among the roses in the middle of the night i could not say it was the middle of the night or still less the dead of night and have any respect for myself as a truth it had suddenly become morning i sat down on one of the garden benches and watched and listened a began a somewhat and without enthusiasm and the song tried to cheer him or at least to tee confession of a house make him hurry a little the up and the and the were over and the grand chorus began one joyful robin who had posted himself on the corner of a roof where i could see him seemed to have constituted self leader of the choir and sang and sang until i feared for his dear life one would have thought he had reached bird heaven before his time it must have been the dawn of a long looked for day with him at any rate he was so glad to have it come at last i remembered the young english soldier whom saw at daybreak in and i hoped that i should know in another world how my robin liked the day s pleasure after all i became very with a sober minded that gave an eager scramble from among the and then sat still on the gravel walk and looking at me as if he had made plans for sit ting on the garden bench and i was giving him great inconvenience he was a philosopher that fellow he sat and thought about it and made his theories about me and about the uncertainty of things i dare say he comes out every morning and looks up at the bench and considers his and the adverse powers that them in common with many of his fellow creatures confession of a house the colors of the world grew brighter and brighter the outline of the trees and of some distant fields even became distinct yet it was a strange almost light it was more like looking through dear water and i still expected something out of the ordinary course to happen i was not continuing my thoughts and plans of the day before though suddenly i became conscious that one of my friends was awake and an understanding between us sprang up quickly like a flame on the altar to friendship in my heart it was pleasant after all to have human companionship and it was difficult to persuade myself that the mysterious telegraph between my and me measured so many miles i thought of me an another remote acquaintance after this but only the first was awake and watching at that strange hour the rest slept soundly and with something approaching i fancied that i could see sleeping faces and their as i looked into one shaded room after another how wonderful the courage is which lets us lie down to sleep night after night and even wait and wish for it we have a horror of the that its effect we think we are and with the laws of nature and make the false sleep a last resource in illness or a sinful the confess of a house indulgence but in the real sleep tt comes to us what change and restoration and growth to the mind and soul matches the physical rest which does us good and makes us strong he to his beloved while sleeping is the true rendering from the no wonder that in the early days a thousand follies and and legends were based on the dreams and mysteries of sleep no wonder that we gain confidence to approach the last sleep of all since we find ourselves alive again morning by morning and as for the bewildered state into which some of us fall in our later years is not that like a long darkness and from which the mind and body cannot rouse themselves until the brightest of all the ranks of flowers in my garden took on a great splendor of bloom as the light grew clearer after having watched them fade in the of many an evening twilight it was most lovely to see how the veil was lifted again at daybreak it seemed as if the quiet june morning ushered in some grand festival day there were such preparations being made after the roses the london pride was most gorgeous to behold with its brilliant red and its tall straight it had a appearance as if the flower the confession of a house were out to keep guard twice as many birds as one ever sees in the day time were through the air as though they were late to breakfast at any rate and had a crowd of duties to attend to afterward the grand chorus was over with though a number of of various kinds kept on with their parts as if they stayed to practice a while after service though the rest of the had thrown off their and hurried away i had a desire to go out farther into the world and i went some distance up the street past my neighbors house feeling a sense of guilt and secrecy that could hardly be matched it had been one thing to walk about my own garden and even to cross the field at the foot of it to say good morning to a row of elm trees and the in their tops of which incident i forgot to speak in its proper place but if any one had suddenly hailed me from a window i should have been inclined to run home as fast as my feet could carry me in such fashion are we bound to the of existence but it seemed most wonderful to be awake while everybody slept and to have the machinery of life apparently set in motion for my benefit alone	40
a white she found her and call co co with never an answering her patience was quite spent if the creature had not given good milk and plenty of it the case would have seemed very different to her owners besides had all the time there was and very little use to make of it sometimes in pleasant weather it was a consolation to look upon the cow s as an intelligent attempt to play hide and seek and as the child had no she lent herself to this amusement with a good deal of zest though this chase had been so long that the wary animal herself had given an unusual signal of her whereabouts had only laughed when she came upon mistress at the and her affectionately homeward with a of leaves the old cow was not inclined to wander farther she even turned in the right direction for once as they left the pasture and stepped along the road at a good pace she was quite ready to be now and seldom stopped to wondered what her grandmother would say because they were so late it was a great while since she had left home at half past five o clock but ii a white knew the difficulty of making this errand a short one mrs had chased the torment too many summer evenings herself to blame any one else for lingering and was only thankful as she waited that she had nowadays to give such valuable assistance the good woman suspected that occasionally on her own account there never was such a child for about out of doors since the world was made i everybody said it was a good change for a little maid who had tried to grow for eight years in a crowded town but as for herself it seemed as if she never had been alive at all before she came to live at the farm she thought often with wistful compassion of a wretched that belonged to a town neighbor afraid of folks old mrs said to herself with a smile after she had made the unlikely choice of from her daughter s of children and was returning to the farm afraid of folks they said i i guess she won t be troubled no great with em up to the old place when they reached the door of the lonely house and stopped to it a white and the cat came to loudly and rub against them a deserted indeed but fat with young whispered that this was a beautiful place to live in and she never should wish to go home the companions followed the shady road the cow taking slow steps and the child very fast ones the cow stopped long at the brook to drink as if the pasture were not half a swamp and stood still and waited letting her bare feet cool themselves in the water while the great twilight struck softly against her she on through the bi ok as the cow moved away and listened to the with a heart that beat fast with pleasure there was a stirring in the great boughs overhead they were full of little birds and beasts that seemed to be wide awake and going about their world or else saying good night to each other in sleepy herself felt sleepy as she walked along however it was not much farther to the house and the air was soft and sweet she was not often in the woods so late as this and it made her feel as if she were a part of the gray a white shadows and the moving leaves she was just thinking how long it seemed since she first came to the farm a year ago and wondering if everything went on in the noisy town just the same as when she was there the thought of the great red faced boy who used to chase and frighten her made her hurry along the path to escape from the shadow of the trees suddenly this little woods girl is to hear a clear whistle not very far away not a which would have a sort of friendliness but a boy s whistle determined and somewhat left the cow to whatever sad fate might await her and stepped aside into the but she was just too late the enemy had discovered her and called out in a very cheerful and tone little girl how far is it to the road and trembling answered almost a good ways she did not dare to look boldly at the tall young man who carried a gun over his shoulder but she came out of her bush and again followed the cow while he walked alongside i have been hunting for some birds the a white stranger said kindly and i have lost my way and need a friend very much don t be afraid he added gallantly speak up and tell me what your name is and whether you think i can spend the night at your house and go out early in the morning was more alarmed than before would not her grandmother consider her much to blame but who could have foreseen such an accident as this it did not seem to be her fault and she hung her head as if the stem of it were broken but managed to answer with much effort when her companion again asked her name mrs was standing in the doorway when the came into view the cow gave a loud by way of explanation yes you d better speak up for yourself you old trial where d she tucked herself away this time but kept an awed silence she knew by instinct that her grandmother did not comprehend the gravity of the situation she must be the stranger for one of the farmer lads of the region the young man stood his gun beside the i a	40
white der the door step aud was much by the unusual spectators at that hour of the evening no amount of thought that night could decide how many wished for treasures the ten dollars so lightly spoken of would buy the next day the young hovered about the woods and kept him company having lost her first fear of the friendly lad who proved to be most kind and sympathetic he told her many things about the birds and what they knew and where they lived and what they did with themselves and he gave her a jack knife which she thought as great a treasure as if she were a desert all day long he did not once make her troubled or afraid except when he brought down some singing creature from its bough would have liked him vastly better without his gun she could not understand why he killed the very birds he seemed to like so much but as the day still watched the young man with loving admiration she had never seen anybody so charming and delightful the woman s heart asleep in the child was vaguely thrilled by a dream of love a white some of that great power stirred and swayed these young creatures who traversed solemn with soft footed silent care they stopped to listen to a bird s song they pressed forward again eagerly parting the branches speaking to each other rarely and in whispers the young man going first and following fascinated a few steps behind with her gray eyes dark with excitement she grieved because the longed for white was but she did not lead the guest she only followed and there was no such thing as speaking first the sound of her own voice would have terrified her it was hard enough to answer yes or no when there was need of that at last evening began to fall and they drove the cow home together and smiled with pleasure when they came to the place where she heard the whistle and was afraid only the night before a white n half a mile from home at the farther edge of the woods where the land was highest a great pine tree stood the last of its generation whether it was left for a boundary mark or for what reason no one could say the who had its mates were dead and gone long ago and a whole forest of sturdy trees pines and oaks and had grown again but the stately head of this old pine above them all and made a for sea and shore miles and miles away knew it well she had always believed that whoever climbed to the top of it could see the ocean and the little girl had often laid her hand on the great rough trunk and looked up wistfully at those dark boughs that the wind always stirred no matter how hot and still the air might be below now she thought of the tree with a new excitement for why if one climbed it at break of day could not one see all the world and easily discover from whence the white flew and mark the place and find the hidden nest i a white what a spirit of adventure what wild ambition what fancied triumph and delight and glory for the later morning when she make known the secret it was almost too real and too great for the childish heart to bear all night the door of the little house stood open and the came and npon the very step the young and his old hostess were sound asleep but s great design kept her broad awake and watching she forgot to think of sleep the short summer night seemed as long as the winter darkness and at last when the ceased and she was afraid the morning would after all come too soon she stole out of the house and followed the pasture path through the woods hastening toward the open ground beyond listening with a sense of comfort and companionship to the drowsy of a half awakened bird whose perch she had in passing alas if the great wave of human interest which for the first time this dull little life should sweep away the of an existence heart to heart with nature and the dumb life of the forest i a white there was the huge tree asleep yet in the moonlight and small and silly began with utmost bravery to to the top of it with eager blood tiie channels of her whole frame with her bare feet and fingers that pinched and held like bird s claws to the monstrous ladder reaching up up almost to the sky itself first she must mount the white oak tree that grew alongside where she was almost lost among the dark branches and the green leaves heavy wet with dew a bird fluttered off its nest and a red ran to and fro and at the harmless felt her way easily she had often climbed there and knew that higher still one of the oak s upper branches against the pine trunk just where its lower boughs were set close together there when she made the dangerous pass from one tree to the other the great enterprise would really begin she crept out along the swaying oak limb at last and took the daring step across into the old pine tree the way was harder than she thought she must reach far and hold fast the sharp dry twigs caught and held her and a write her like angry the made her thin little fingers clumsy and stiff as she went and round the tree s great stem and higher upward the and in the woods below were beginning to wake and to the dawn yet it seemed much lighter there aloft in the pine tree and the child knew she must	40
hurry if her project were to be of any use the tree seemed to itself out as she went up and to reach farther and farther upward it was like a great main mast to the earth it must truly have been amazed that morning through all its ponderous frame as it felt this determined spark of human spirit its way from higher branch to branch who knows how steadily the least twigs held themselves to advantage this light weak creature on her way the old pine must have loved his new dependent more than all the and and and even the sweet was the brave beating heart of the solitary gray eyed child and the tree stood still and frowned away the winds that june morning while the dawn grew bright in the east a white s face was like a pale star if one had seen it from the ground when the last bough was past and she stood trembling and tired but wholly triumphant high in the yes there was the sea with the dawning sun making a golden over it and toward that glorious east flew two with slow moving how low they looked in the air from that height when one had only seen them before far up and dark against the blue sky ii f ea w ere as ft as they seemed little way from the tree and felt as if she too could go flying away among the clouds westward the and farms reached miles and miles into the distance here and there were church and white villages truly it was a vast and world i the birds sang louder and louder at last the sun came up bright could see the white sails of ships out at sea and the clouds that were purple and rose colored and yellow at first began to fade away where was the white s nest in the sea of green branches and was this wonderful sight and of the world the only re a white ward for having climbed to such a height now look down again where the green marsh is set among the shining and dark there where you saw the white once you wiu see him again look look i a white spot of him like a single floating feather comes up from the dead and grows larger and rises and comes close at last and goes by the pine with steady sweep of wing and outstretched slender neck and head and wait wait do not move a foot or a finger little girl do not send an arrow of light and consciousness from your two eager eyes for the has perched on a pine bough not far beyond yours and cries back to his mate on the nest and his feathers for the new day the child gives a long sigh a minute later when a company of shouting cat comes also to the tree and vexed by their fluttering and the solemn goes away she knows his secret now the slender bird that and and goes back like an arrow presently to his home in the green world beneath then well makes her perilous way down again not a white daring to look far below the branch she stands on ready to cry sometimes because her fingers ache and her feet slip wondering over and over again what the would say to her and what he would think when she told him how to find his way straight to the s nest called the busy old grandmother again and again but nobody answered and the small bed was empty and had disappeared the guest from a dream and remembering his day s pleasure hurried to dress himself that might it sooner begin he was sure from the way the shy little girl looked once or twice yesterday that she had at least seen the white and now she must really be mad e to l here she comes now paler than ever and her worn old frock is torn and tattered and with pine pitch the grandmother and the stand in the door together and question her and the splendid moment has come to speak of the dead tree by the green marsh but does not speak after all though a white the old grandmother her and the young man s kind appealing eyes are looking straight in her own he can make them rich with money he has promised it and they are poor now he is so well worth making happy and he waits to hear the story she can tell no she must keep silence i what is it that suddenly her and her dumb has she been nine years growing and now when the great world for the time puts out a hand to her must she thrust it aside for a bird s sake the murmur of the pine s green branches is in her ears she remembers how the white came flying through the golden air and how they watched the sea and the morning together and cannot speak she cannot tell the s secret and give life away dear loyalty that suffered a sharp pang as the guest went away disappointed later in the day that could have served and followed him and loved him as a dog loves many a night heard the echo of his whistle haunting the pasture path as she came a white home the cow she forgot even her sorrow at sharp report of his gun and the sight of and dropping silent to the ground their songs hushed and their feathers stained and wet with blood were the birds better friends than their hunter might have been who can tell whatever treasures were lost to her and summer time remember i bring your gifts and graces and tell your secrets to this lonely country child i the gray man high on the southern slope	40
of there may still be seen the remnant of an old frost shaken stone walls surround a fast expanse of smooth turf which the forest is on every side the cellar is nearly filled up never having been either wide or deep and the fruit of a few apple trees drops to the ground along one side of the forsaken garden is a thicket of cherry trees to which the shouting come year after year in busy flights the nests are and in this hedge at night perhaps when summer are late in drawing their brown curtain of dusk over the great rural scene at night an owl may sit in the near by and and shriek until the far echoes answer back again as for the few men and women who pass this deserted spot most will be by such the gray man loneliness wiu even grow impatient with those mistaken fellow beings who choose to live in solitude away from neighbors and from schools yes even from gossip and petty care of self or knowledge of the trivial fashions of a narrow life now and then one looks out from this across the wide spread country who turns to look at the sea or toward the shining of the mountains that guard the inland horizon who will remember the place long afterward a peaceful vision will come full of rest and into busy and troubled hours to those who understand why some one came to live in this place so near the sky so silent so full of sweet air and fragrance so beaten and by winter storms and with summer where the birds are nearest neighbors and a clear spring the only wine cellar and trees of the forest a choir of singers who rejoice and sing aloud by day and night as the winds sweep over under the cherry thicket or at the edge of the woods you may find a blossom some half savage slender of the old flower plots that you gather the gray man gladly to take away and every year in june a red rose toward which the wild pink roses and the pale sweet turn wondering faces as if a queen had shown her noble face suddenly at a peasant s festival there is everywhere a token of remembrance of silence and secrecy some stronger nature once ruled these neglected trees and this ground they will wait the return of their master as long as roots can creep through mould and the mould make way for them the stories of strange lives have been whispered to the earth their thoughts have burned themselves into the cold rocks as one looks from the lower country toward the long slope of the great this old abiding place marks the dark covering of trees like a there is nothing to hide either the sunrise or the sunset the low lands reach out of sight into the west and the sea fills all the east the first o the farm was a man who had through or fancy come ashore and cast himself upon the of nature for support in his later years though tradition keeps a suspicion of buried treasure the gray man and of a dark history he cleared his land and built his house but save the fact that he was a no one knew to whom he belonged and when he died the state inherited the property the only piece of that was worth anything was sold and added to another farm and the dwelling place was left to the sunshine and the rain to the birds that built their nests in the chimney or under the sometimes a strolling company of country boys would find themselves near the house on a holiday afternoon but the more the small structure became the more they believed that some ence possessed the lonely place and the path that led toward the clearing at last became almost once a number of officers and men in the employ of the coast survey were at the top of the mountain and they smoothed the rough track that led down to the spring that from under a edge one day a laughing fellow not content with peering in at the small windows of the house put his shoulder against the rain blackened door and broke the simple he hardly knew tbe gray man that he was afraid as he first stood within the single spacious room so complete a curiosity took possession of him the place was clean and bare the empty cupboard doors stood open and yet the sound of his companions voices outside seemed far away and an awful sense that some unseen followed his footsteps made him hurry out again pale and breathless to the fresh air and sunshine was this really a dwelling place of spirits as had been already hinted the story grew more fearful and spread quickly like a mist of terror among the farms for years the tale of the s adventure in the haunted house was slowly and told to strangers or to wide eyed children by the dim the former owner was supposed to linger still about his old home and was held for deep in choosing for the scene of his unsuccessful a place that escaped the and of upon lower his grave was concealed by the new growth of oaks and and many a lad and full grown man beside has taken to his heels at the of light from across a swamp or under a tree in that the gray man as the world in some respects grew wiser the good people near the mountain less and less the causes of these simple effects and as they became familiar with the visible world grew more shy of the unseen and more sensitive to one day a stranger was noticed in the town as a stranger is sure to be who goes his way	40
festival the wedding looked over their shoulders as ain and gain in strange in the house and were with a sense of coming woe for the newly married pair as one caught sight of his among the faces of the rural folk the gray man was like a sombre mask and at last the bridegroom flung open the door with a meaning gesture and the stranger went out like a hunted creature into the bitter coldness and silence of the winter night through the long days of the next summer the outcast of the wedding forbidden at length all the once proffered hospitality was hardly seen from one week s end to another s he cultivated his poor estate with patient the gray man and tho successive crops of his small garden the fruits and of the wilderness were food enough he seemed and was always ready when he even guessed at a chance to be of use if he were he only turned away and went back to his solitary home those persons who by chance visited him there tell wonderful tales of the wild birds which had been tamed to come at his call and cluster about him of the and delicacy of his simple life the once neglected house was covered with vines that he had brought from the woods and planted about the walls there were three or four books in worn on a shelf above tiie fire place one to know what volumes this mysterious exile had chosen to keep him company i there may have been a deeper reason for the of friendliness there are vague of the gray man s possession of strange powers some say that he was gifted with amazing strength and once when some hunters found shelter at his fireside they told eager listeners afterward that he did not sleep but sat by the fire reading gravely while they the gray man uneasily on own bed of boughs and in the dead of night an empty chair glided silently toward him across the floor as he softly turned his pages in the flickering light but such stories are too vague and in that neighborhood too common to weigh against the true dignity and bravery of the man at the beginning of the war of the rebellion he seemed strangely troubled and disturbed and presently disappeared leaving his house key with a neighbor as if for a few days absence he was last seen rapidly through the village a few miles away going along the road by which he had come a year or two before no not last seen either for in one of the first battles of the war as the smoke suddenly lifted a farmer s boy reared in the shadow of the mountain opened his languid pain eyes as he lay among the wounded and saw the gray man riding by on a tall horse at that moment the poor lad thought in his and fear that death himself rode by in the gray man s likeness death who tries to teach and serve mankind so that he may at the last win welcome as a faithful friend i farmer it was as bleak and sad a day as one could well imagine the time of ye was early in december and the daylight was already fading though it was only a little past the middle of the afternoon john was driving toward his farm which he had left early in the morning to go to town but to judge from his face one might have been sure that his business had not been successful he looked pinched and discouraged with something besides the cold and he hardly noticed the faithful red horse which carefully made its way over the frozen of the familiar road there had lately been a few days of mild weather when the ground had had time to but with a sudden blast of cold this deep mud had become like iron rough aud ragged and the people and horses cruelly who tried to travel over it the road lay through the bleak side of the salt farmer which themselves away toward the sea dotted here and there with hay and crossed in wavering lines by the and now u ice that was as the tide ran out the it looked as soft and brown as fur the wind had free course over it and it looked like a deserted bit of the world the battered and flat boats were fastened se in their tiny or far ashore as if their usefulness was over not only for that season but for all time in some late autumn weather one feels as if summer were over with forever and as if no could follow such unmistakable and hopeless death where the land was higher it looked rocky and rough and behind the there were some low hills looking as if they were solid stone to their and overgrown with black and rigid these stood erect from the least to the greatest a most and heartless family which meant to give neither shade in summer nor shelter in winter no wind could them for their roots farmer went down like wires into the and no could dry away the inmost channels of vigorous though scanty sap that ran through their tough branches in one place the hills formed an open on the side toward the sea and here on this bleak day it seemed as if some dismal ceremony were going forward as one caught sight of the solemn audience of black and gloomy that seemed to have come together to stand on the one instinctively looked down at the level of marsh land below half fearing to see some awful or silent combat it might be an angry company of who had taken the shape of trees on this day of revenge and terror it was difficult to believe that one would ever see	40
them again and that the summer and winter days alike would find them looking down at the grave business which was invisible to the rest of the world the little trees stood beside their elders in families solemn and stem and some miserable men may have heard the secret as they stumbled through the snow for shelter lost and frozen on a winter night v farmer if you ke down along the rough grass in the slender shadow of a and look off to sea in a summer afternoon you only hear a whisper like hush i hush i as the wind comes through the stiff branches the boughs reach straight upward you cannot lie underneath and look through them at the sky the tree all reaches away from the ground as if it had a horror of it and shrank from even the breeze and the sunshine on this december day as the of wind struck them they gave one stiff unwilling bend and then stood erect again the road wound along between the sea meadows and the hills and poor john seemed to be the only he was lost in thought and the horse still went on the worn robe was dragging from one side of the wagon and had slipped down off the driver s knees he hardly knew that he held the reins he was in no hurry to get home cold as it was for he had only bad news to tell his only daughter was coming toward home from the opposite direction and with her also things had gone wrong she was a bright good natured girl of about twenty farmer but she looked old and care worn that day she was dressed in her best clothes as if she had been away on some important affair perhaps to a funeral and she was shivering and wholly chilled in spite of the shawl which her mother had insisted upon her carrying it had been a not uncomfortable morning for that time of year and she had the extra wrap at first but now she hu ed it close and half buried her face in its folds the sky was gray and heavy except in the west where it was a clear cold shade of yellow all the bushes and brown tops of the dead and golden rods stood out in exquisitely delicate against the sky on the high road sides while some tattered bits of vine held still a dull glow of color as passed a bush that grew above her she was forced to stop for gray and as it had been on her approach when she looked at it from the other side it seemed to be glowing with the sun was shining out pleasantly now that it had sunk below the and in these late golden rays the bush had taken on a great splendor it gave folly a start and it cheered her not a farmer little this sudden and she even went back along the road a little way to see it again as she had at first in its look of misery the that still clung to its branches looked dry and spoiled but a few steps forward again made them shine out and take on a beauty that neither summer nor autumn had given them and gave her head a little shake there are two ways of looking at more things than bushes she said aloud and went off with steps down the road at home in the farm house mrs had been waiting for her husband and daughter to come until she had grown tired and hungry and almost frightened perhaps the day had been longer and harder to her than to any one else she had thought of so many and suggestions that she might have given them both and though the father s errand was a much more important one still she had built much hope on the possibility of s encounter with the school committee proving successful things had been growing very dark in mr s business affairs and they had all looked with great eagerness toward her farmer securing a situation as teacher of one of the town schools it was at no great distance so that could easily board at home and many things seemed to depend upon it even if the bank business turned out better than was feared our heroine had in her childhood been much praised for her good and stood at the head of the district school and it had been urged upon her father and mother by her teachers and by other friends more or less wise that she should have what they called an education it had been a hard thing both for her father to find the money and for her mother to get on without her help in the house work but they had both managed to get along and had herself nobly in the ranks of a neighboring academy and for the last year had been a pupil in the normal school she had been very happy in her school life and very popular both with scholars and teachers she was friendly and social by nature and it had been very pleasant to her to be among so many young people the routine and petty ceremony of her years of study did not fret her for she was too strong and good natured even to be worn upon farmer or much tired with the life she lived it was easy enough for her to get her lessons and so she went through with flying colors and cried a little when the last day arrived but she felt less regret than most of the girls who were turned out then upon the world some of them claiming that they had finished their education since they had not wit enough to learn anything more either with school books in their hands or without them	40
it came to s mind as she stood in a row with the rest of the girls while the old minister who was chief of the gave them their and some very good advice besides i wonder why we all made up our minds to be teachers i wonder if we are going to be good ones and if i should n t have liked something else a great deal better certainly she had met with a disappointment at the beginning of her own career for she had seen that it was necessary for her to be within reach of home and it seemed as if every school of the better class had been provided with a teacher she had been so farmer of her powers and of her high standing at the normal school that it seemed at first that a fine position ought to be hers for the asking but one after another her plans had fallen to the ground until this last one which had just been decided against her also it had never occurred to her at first as a possible thing that she should apply for the small town school in her own district to tell the truth it was a great of pride to the family but they had said to each other that it would be well for to have the winter at home and in spring she could suit herself exactly but everybody had felt the impossibility of her remaining idle and no wonder her heart sank as she went toward home knowing that she must tell them that another had been chosen to fill the place mrs looked at the fire and looked out of the window down the road and took up the she knitting and tried to work at it but every half hour that went by doubled her uneasiness and she looked out of the window altogether at last until the fire was almost burned out and the knitting lay untouched in her lap she was a tall fine farmer looking woman with a worn well face and hair that had once been light brown but was much faded and not a little gray in these later years it had been thought a pity that she married john who had not half so much force as she and with all her wisdom and affection and every year had seemed to take away something from them leaving few gifts and gains in exchange at first her pride and ambition which were reasonable enough always clung to her husband s plans and purposes but as she saw year after year that he stayed exactly in the same place making little either in farming or anything else she began to live more and more in her daughter s life and looked eagerly to see her win her way and gain an honorable place first in her school life and afterward as a teacher she had never dreamed beforehand of the difficulties that had assailed since she came home the head of her class in june she had supposed that it would be an easy thing for her now to find a good situation in a high or private school with a capital salary she hated to think there was nothing for her but farmer to hold sway over the few scholars in the little school house half a mile down the road even though the girl who was the of her heart should be with her so much more than they had expected at first she was a hind simple hearted good woman this elder mary and she had borne her failing fortunes with perfect bravery she had been the sunshine and inspiration of the somewhat melancholy house for many years at last she saw her husband coming along the road and even that far away first glimpse of him told her that she would hear no good news he pulled up the fallen robe over his lap and sat erect and tried to look as he drove into the yard but it was some time before he came into the house he the horse with stiff and shaking hands and gave him his supper and turned the old wagon and backed it into its place before he came in had come home also by that time and was sitting by the window and did not turn to speak to him his wife looked old and her face was and the lines of it were hard and drawn in strange angles farmer you had better sit right down by the fire john she told him and i u get you and a good hot supper right away i think like s not you did n t get a of dinner i ve no need to tell you i ve got bad news he said the bank s failed and they won t pay more n ten cents on a dollar if they make out to do that it s worse than we ever thought it could be the got and he s made way with about everything it seemed to him as if he had known this for years it was such an old sad story already and he almost wondered at the surprise and anger that his wife and showed at once it made him a little impatient that they would ask him so many eager questions this was the worst piece of misfortune that had ever come to him although they had heard the day before that the bank would pass its and had been much concerned and troubled and had listened to worse stories of the condition of the bank s they had looked for nothing like this there was little to be said but everything farmer to be and feared they had put entire confidence in this bank s security and the money which had belonged to john s father had always been left there to draw	40
a good yearly interest the farm was not very productive and they had depended upon this for a large part of their ready money much of their other property had away if ever there had been a prospect of making much off the farm something had interfered one year a piece of had been cleared at considerable expense and on the day before its unlucky owner was to begin to haul the great of fire wood down to the little wharf in the from whence they could be carried away to market by the fire got in and the flames of the fallen pines made a torch that lighted all that part of the country for more nights than one there was no and no remedy and as an old neighbor told the unhappy owner the woods would not grow again in his time john was a cheerful man naturally and very sure of the success of his plans it was rare to see him so entirely and lately he had farmer seemed to wife somebody to be protected and looked after even more than she sometimes felt the weight of the years she had lived and as if she must be already very old but he was the same boyish person to her as when she had married him it often seemed possible that he should have his life still before him she could not believe until very lately that it was too late for him to start out on any enterprise time had indeed touched him more lightly than it had herself though he had the face and something of the manner and faults of an elderly and unsuccessful man they sat together in the kitchen which had suddenly grown dark mary was as cold as either of her companions and was angry with herself for her shivering and want of she was almost afraid to speak at last for fear of crying she felt strangely and weak the two women had told john of s disappointment that the agent for the district had given the school to his own niece a young girl from who was to board at his house and help his wife as much as she could with the house work out of it s all of a piece to day groaned the farmer i m sorry for ye farmer she may hear of something yet said mrs making a great effort to speak cheerfully you know they have her name at the normal school people are always sending there for teachers and one fails at the last minute through sickness and i should n t wonder if found a good place yet in that way i declare i don t know how we shall get along moaned s father to whom his daughter s trouble seemed only a small part of the general misfortunes here s winter coming and i m likely to be laid up any day with my and i don t see how we can afford even to take a boy to work for his board and clothes i ve got a few trees i can cut and one cow i can sell but there are the taxes to pay and the minister and money to lay out on fences come spring the farm ran behind last year too rose impatiently and took down a lamp from the high chimney shelf knocking down the match box as she did so which was after all a good deal of relief she put the light on the floor while she picked up the scattered matches and her mother took a good look at her and was somehow made to feel stronger at the sight of s face farmer i guess we d all have some supper said the girl i never should feel so discouraged if i was n t hungry and now i m going to tell you what i mean to do i m going to put right to and go to work out doors and in and i m going to help father same as if i were a boy i believe i should like farming now twice as well as teaching and make a good deal more money at it i have n t a gift for teaching and i know it but i don t mean that what i learned shall be thrown away now we ve got hay for the stock plenty of it and we ve got potatoes and apples and and in the cellar and a good pig to and so there s no danger that we shall starve i m just as strong as i can be and i am going right to work at any rate until i get a school with a first rate salary that be worth more than my help will here i m sure i don t want you to throw away such a good education as you ve had for us said mrs sorrowfully i want you to be somebody and take your right place in the world but answered stoutly that she was n t sure it was a good education until she saw t farmer whether it was any use to her there were too many second rate teachers already and she had n t any reason to suppose she would be a first rate one she believed that people had better learn to do the things they were sure to have to do she would be a boy and farm it than teach any school she ever saw and for this year at any rate she was going to see whether her book learning was n t going to be some help at home i did the best i could at school she said and it was easy enough to get my lessons but now i ve come against a dead wall i don t see but you both need me and i m	40
well and strong as anybody alive i d a good deal rather work at home a while than be up with a lot of children and none of us more than half know what we re about i want to think a good deal more about teaching school before i begin to try in earnest i shall be glad to have you help your mother said john and we manage to get along somehow don t be afraid father responded in really cheerful tones as if she assumed her new situation formally at that moment she farmer went slowly down cellar with the lamp leaving her parents in darkness but by this time the tea kettle had begun to sing and a great glow of coals showed through the front slide of the stove mr lifted himself out of his chair and stumbled about to get the lantern and light it and then went out to feed the cattle he still looked chilled and as if all happiness had forsaken him it was some little time before he returned and the table was already set and supper was nearly cooked and ready to be eaten had made a pot of coffee and drank her first cup with great satisfaction and almost without taking breath but her father tasted his and did not seem to care for it eating only a little food with evident effort now i thought you would relish a good cup of coffee said his wife with much concern but the man answered sadly that he could n t eat he felt all broken down it was a day for you to take that long ride it s the road round here that marsh road is and you hardly ate a of breakfast i wish you had got something to warm you up before you started farmer to come back said his wife looking at him anxiously i believe i get you something now and she went to find a bottle long stored away to be used in case of chill or illness for john was a temperate man i declare i forgot to milk he said hopelessly i don t know s such a thing ever happened to me before i thought there was something else when i was out to the barn and i sat down on the grin stone frame and tried to think what it was but i could n t i ll milk said and she up stairs and replaced her best dress which had been already turned up and well by a worn old frock which she had used on days of cleaning or washing or other rough work when she had lent a hand to help her mother it was nothing new for her a farmer s daughter bom and bred to this work but she made a distinct change of direction that night and as she sat in the cold bam by the dull light of the lantern a certain pleasure stole over her she was not without her but they had never flown with free wings up an imaginary career of school teaching i do believe mother and farmer i can earn money enough to take care of us said to herself and next spring i m going to set out as much land as father will let me have with her thoughts never were than that night the two cows looked round at her with surprise and seemed to value her good natured words and hurried as she left them she disturbed a sleepy row of perched on the rail of the hay cart and thought it was a pity there was not a better place for them and that they should be about i m going to read up some of the old numbers of the she said and see what i can do about having eggs to sell it more was evident that was fired with a great enthusiasm but she remembered suddenly another new great interest which was a secret as yet even from her mother this remembrance gave her a little uneasiness it was still early when the supper table had been cleared away and the milk strained and set aside in the john had drawn his chair close to the stove and when his wife and daughter sat down also ready to begin the evening which showed so little promise of they saw that he was crying farmer why father exclaimed half frightened for this was something she did not remember ever seeing since she was a child and his wife said nothing but came and stood beside him and watched him as if the vague sense of coming trouble which had haunted her all day was going to explain itself by some terrible crisis i m all broken down the poor man sobbed i used to think i was going to be somebody and get ahead and nothing has gone as i wanted it to i m in debt more than you think and i don t know which way to look the farm don t yield me as it used to and i don t grudge what we ve done for the girl but it s been we could carry and here she s failed of getting a place to teach everything seems to go against us this was really most sad and death like it truly seemed as if the wheels of existence had stopped there seemed to be nothing to follow this unhappy day but disgrace and despair but was the first to speak and her cheeks grew very red father i don t think you have any right to speak so if we can t make our living one way we will another farmer losing that money in the bank is n t the worst thing that could have happened to us and now i am going to take hold with you right here at	40
home as i said before supper you think there is n t much that a woman can do but we see how much do you owe but john shook his head sadly and at first refused to tell it would have been nothing if i had had my bonds to help me out he finally confessed but now i don t see how i ever can pay three hundred dollars in a little while he rose wearily though it was only a little past six and said that he must go to bed and his wife followed him to his room as if he were a child this breaking down was truly a most painful and frightful thing and was not surprised to be from her uneasy sleep a few hours later for she had worried and lain awake in a way that rarely happened fearing that her father would be ill and wondering what plans it would be best to make for his assistance in the coming year she believed that they could do much better with the farm and she made up her mind to be son and daughter both later mrs called her hurriedly com farmer ing half way up the staircase with a light your father is sick she said anxiously i don t know whether it is more than a chill but he s in great pain and i wish we could get the doctor can t you wrap up warm and go over to s and see if they can t send somebody there s nobody there said the boys are both away i go myself and get back before you begin to miss me and she was already dressing as fast as she could in that quiet neighborhood she had no thought of fear it was not like to be afraid at any rate and after a few words to her father and making a bright fire in the little fire place of the bed room she put on her warm old hood and and her mother s great shawl and away up the road it was a mile and a half to the doctor s house and with every step she grew more eager to reach it the clouds had broken away somewhat and the stars bright rays came darting like glistening needles at one s eyes so keen and piercing they were the wind had gone down and a heavy coldness had fallen upon the earth as if the air like water had frozen and become farmer it seemed another world altogether and the old dog that had left his snug corner behind the kitchen stove to follow kept close at her side as if he lacked his courage on the the trees stood up thinner and than ever the northern lights were making the sky white and strange with their mysterious light ran and walked by turns feeling warmed and quickened by the exercise she was not averse to the long walk at that time of night she had a comfortable sense of the strong young life that was hers to use and command suddenly she heard the sound of other footsteps besides her own on the frozen ground and stopped feeling for the first time anything like fear her impulse was to hide but the road was wide and and there was nothing to do but to go on she thought next that it might be somebody whom she could send the rest of the way and in another minute she heard a familiar whistle and called out not without relief is that you the figure stopped and answered nothing and hurried nearer and spoke again for heaven s sake what sends you out this farmer time o night asked the young man almost impatiently and in her turn became a little angry with him she could not have told why i m not out for pleasure she answered with some spirit father is taken very sick we are afraid it is and i m going for the doctor there was nobody to send i was coming up from to day said the young man and i lost the last train so i came on a freight train with some fellows i know and i thought i d foot it over from the we were delayed a good while or it would n t have been so late there was a car the track at he had turned and was walking beside who wondered that he had not sense enough to offer to call the doctor for her she did not like his gallantry and was in no mood for friendliness she noticed that he had been drinking but he seemed perfectly sober it was between and herself that something almost like love making had showed itself not long before but somehow any tenderness she had suspected herself of for him had suddenly vanished from her heart and mind farmer i was all knocked of a heap in this morning to hear that the bank had failed our folks will lose something bat i suppose it about ruin your father seems to affect him a good deal don t it it hasn t quite ruined us said angrily and walked faster and faster i ve been turning it over in my mind today a good deal said i hope you will call on me for anything i can do specially now your father s going to be laid up thank you said stiffly and presently she stopped in the road and turned and looked at him in a sharp and not very way you might as well go home she told him not i ve got to the village now and i shall ride home with the doctor there s no need for you to come back out of your way and after a feeble remonstrance obeyed the doctor was used to being summoned at such hours and when	40
told him not without a feeling of embarrassment which was very provoking to her i must say i never liked that tribe said the doctor hastily i always hate to have them send for me when they reached the farm urged the doctor to go into the house at once there was a bright light in the kitchen aod in the bedroom that opened out of it and the girl was almost afraid to go in after she had led the horse into the bam and covered him with the blanket the old was within easy reach of the overhanging edge of the and she left him comfortably as farmer she opened the inner door of the kitchen she heard her father s voice weak and sharp and the doctor speaking in assuring tones with hearty strength but the contrast of the two voices sounded very sad to it seemed to her as if she had been gone a great and she feared to look at her father lest he might have changed sadly as she came to the bedroom door the sight of her rosy and eager sorry face seemed to please him and his own face brightened you re a good girl said he i m sorry you had such a bad time he looked very ill already and could not say anything in answer she the fire and then went to stand by the table as she used when she was a little child to see the doctor take out his of medicine very early in the morning s mother came knocking at the door which had locked after the doctor had gone away in the night she had pushed the bolt with care as if she wished to bar the entrance to any further trouble that might be lying in wait for them outside mrs was ready with her expressions of sympathy farmer but somehow wished she would go away she took a look at the sick man who was sleeping after the suffering and of the night and shook her head for which could have struck her she was an unpleasant sort of woman and carried in her whole manner a consciousness of the altered fortunes of the and she even with on her disappointment about the school spoke about meeting you going for the doctor she said in conclusion i told him i didn t know what you would think about catching him out so late at night but he was to and the time of the train i ve been joking him for some time past i ve about made up my mind there s some attraction to he was terrible took with that miss who was stopping to the minister s in the summer this was more than could bear for it was only a short time since mrs had been paying her great attention and wishing that she and would make a match of it as the farms joined and the farm work was growing too heavy for her as she became older farmer if you mean mary she was married in september to a young man in boston partner in a commission firm said and mrs for that time at any rate was horse and foot i hate that woman i she said angrily as she shut the door not very gently after her it was a long hard illness that followed and the younger and the elder mary were both tired and worn out before it ended in a slow that in its dangers and troubles was almost as bad as the illness itself the doctor was most kind and in other ways than with his it was a most cheerful and kindly presence and more than once di back to the village with him or went with her own horse to bring him to the farm and they became fast friends the girl knew without being told that it would be a long time before her father would grow strong again if that time ever came at all they had got on very well without help she and her mother some of the neighbors had offered their services in doors and out but these latter offers were only occasionally accepted farmer the oxen had been hired by a man who was salt hay to town and had taken care of the and the two cows she had split the and brought it in and had done what little rough work had to be attended to in these weeks in spite of her mother s to tell the truth she enjoyed it after the heat and stillness of the house and when she could take the time to run out for a little while it was always to take a look at some part of the farm and though many of her projects proved to be castles in the air she found almost her only pleasure in these sad winter days in building them thinking them over before her father s illness she would have turned most naturally to for help and sympathy for he had made himself very kind and pleasant to her then had been thought a good match since she was an only child and it was everywhere known that john and his wife had both inherited money besides it gave the more dignity to her position that she had been so long away at school and such good accounts of her standing there had reached her native place and farmer was uncommonly good looking if tbe truth must be told which s eyes had been quick to notice though it was known at once through the town what a plight the affairs were in had come at first apparently unconscious of his mother s of his attentions with great show of sympathy and friendliness to offer to watch with the sick man by night or to be of any use by day	40
and he had been much and surprised at s unmistakable her quick instinct had detected an assumption of condescension and patronage on his part as weu as his mother s and the growing fondness which she had felt earlier in that season turned to a dislike that grew much faster in the winter days her mother noticed the change in her manner and one night as they sat together in the kitchen mrs whispered a gentle warning to her daughter i thought one v time that there might be something between you and she said i hope you won t let your duty to your father and me stand in the way of your settling yourself comfortably i should n t like to think we were going to leave you alone a woman s better to have a home f her own farmer turned so red that her mother could see the color even in the dim light by which they watched don t you worry about me said the girl this is my home and i would n t marry if he were the president that was a black and winter until late in january there near the sea such seasons are not so uncommon as they are farther inland but the desolation of the landscape struck all the more forcibly since it was to by the anxiety and trouble that had fallen into her life she had not been at home in for several years before and in those earlier days she had never noticed the outward world as she had learned to do as she grew older the farm was a pleasant group of fields in summer lying among the low hills that kept away both the winds from the sea and the still and wind yet the plain warm story and a half house with its square front yard with and rose bushes and the open side yard with its close green turf and the and beyond was only a little way from the from s farmer own upper window there was an outlook that way over a low slope of one of the pasture hills and sometimes when she felt tired and dreary and looked out there it seemed to her as if the half dozen black were standing there watching the house and waiting for a still greater sorrow and evil fortune to go in at the door our heroine s life was not a little lonely and it would have been much worse if she had not been so busy and so f of care she missed the girls who had been her companions at school and from having her duties marked out for her by her teachers and nothing to do but to follow set tasks and do certain things at certain hours it was a great change to being her own mistress charged with not only her own but other people s welfare the women from the few neighboring houses who came in to pay friendly visits or to help with the said very good things about afterward it had been expected that she would put on at least a few fine airs but she was so dutiful and worked so hard and so sensibly and with si manifest and interest that no one could help her a very old neighbor who was still farmer of the of life though she had become too feeble to be of much practical use in the event of a friend s illness came one afternoon to pay a visit she was terribly fatigued after the walk which had been so long for her and waited upon her kindly and brought her some all in the middle of one of her poor old mrs wall she made her little call upon the sick man who was almost too weak to even show his gratitude that she had made so great an effort to keep up the friendly custom and after saying sadly that she used to be a great hand to tend the sick but her day was over she returned to the kitchen when drew the big rocking chair to the warmest comer and entertained her to the best of her power the old woman s eye fell upon a great pile of newspapers i suppose you are a great hand to read after all your and answered that she did like to read very much and added those are old numbers of the father has taken it a good many years and i ve taken to studying farming mrs wall noticed the little blush that f ol farmer this announcement and did not question its seriousness and i m going to help father carry on the farm said suddenly fearing that her guest might think she meant to marry and only take the in door part of the farm s business well two heads are better than one said the old lady after a minute s reflection only an old horse and a young one don t always pull well together but i can see if my eyes are n t what they used to be that you are a good smart girl with some snap to ye i guess you ve got power enough to turn most any kind of a mill there was my own first cousin her husband was killed in the last war and she was left with two children when she was n t a great deal older than you be and she run the farm and lived well and laid up a handsome property she was some years older than i but she has n t been dead a great many years she d a piece of ground as well as a man they used to call her farmer she was as nice a woman as t ever knew laughed more heartily than she had for a good while and it did her father good to farmer	40
hear her but later when the visitor had gone in spite of s offer to drive her home a little later when another neighbor returned the horse our friend watched her go away with feeble steps a bent figure almost worn out with spending so many years in a world of hard work she might have stood for a picture of old age and felt it as she at the window it had never come home to her thoroughly before the of growing old and of the of this present life how soon the body loses its power and the strength of the mind with it all that old mrs wall could do in this world was done and her account was closed here i am just starting out said unlucky john s only daughter i did think i might be going to have a great career sometimes when i was at school and here i am settling down just like everybody else and only one wave after all instead of being a whole tide and it is n t going to be a gi eat while before i have as hard work to get up that little hill as old mrs wall but i m going to beat even her cousin i am going to be renowned as farmer farmer found it very hard to wait until it should be time to make her garden and plant it and every day made her more impatient while she plied her father with questions and asked his opinion so many times as to the merits of different crops that he was tired of the subject altogether through many seasons he had tried these same experiments with not very great success and he could not imagine the keen interest and enthusiasm with which s soul was fired she had never known such a late spring and the of snow in march and early april filled her with dismay as if each had aiid frost bitten her whole harvest the day the garden was was warm and spring like and john crept out slowly with his stick held fast in a pale and withered looking hand to see the work go on he groaned when he saw what a great piece of ground was marked out by the long first and felt a new sense of his defeated and weak condition he began to protest angrily at what he believed to be his daughter s nonsense but the thought struck him that might know what she was about better than he did and he fell back farmer upon bis confidence in her and leaned on the fence in the sun feeling veiy grateful that somebody else had taken things in charge he was so dull and unequal to making any effort s got power he told himself several times that day with great pride and satisfaction as the went on and early potatoes from the farm were first in the market though everybody who saw them planted had believed they would and never grow and the other crops had sometimes failed but for the most part flourished began to attract a good deal of attention for she manifested uncommon and business talent and her enterprise held in check by her father s experience wrought wonders in the garden and fields over and over john said to his wife how does take hold of things i and while he was quick to see the objections to her plans and had failed in his own e affairs because he was afraid to take risk he was easily persuaded into thinking it was worth while to do the old work in new ways it was lucky that had a grand farmer capital of strength to live upon for she gave herself little rest all summer long she was up early every morning and hard at work and only wished that the days were twice as long she minded neither heat nor rain and having seen her way clear to employ a strong country boy whom the doctor had met in his rounds and recommended she took care of the great garden with help and when she had occasion to do battle with the market men who came that way she came off victorious in the matter of fair prices now that so much has been said about the days and the thoughts that led to the carrying out of so bold a scheme it is a pity there is not time enough to give a history of the struggles and of that first summer there never was a yoimg man just out of his time and rejoicing in his freedom who went to work more diligently and eagerly than and few have set their wits at work on a new england farm half so she managed a great flock of poultry with admirable skill her walked in a stately procession all that summer to and from their pleasure ground at the edge of the marsh and farmer not a hen that stole her nest but was to earth like a fox and triumphantly she the bee that stood in a long and row in the garden until the bees became good and excellent for very shame she gathered more than one of the herself without a sting and by infinite diligence she war successfully on the worms with the result that she had a great crop of when everybody else s came to grief she wondered why the butter that she and her mother made brought only a third rate price and bought a pound of the very best for a pattern and afterward was of salt and careful to while the cream was sweet and fresh she sold the oxen and bought another horse instead for the lighter team which would serve her purpose better and every morning after the crops began to yield a wagon load of something or other went from the	40
farm to market she was as happy as a queen and as well and strong as girls ought to be and though some people laughed a good deal and thought she ought to be ashamed to work on the farm farmer like a man they were forced to like her all the better when they saw her and when she came into on sunday nobody could have said that she had become and rough her hands grew to need a larger pair of gloves than she was used to wearing but that did not trouble her and she liked a story book or a book with more lessons in it still better than ever she had two girls who had been her best friends at school came in the course of the summer to visit her and were asked out into the garden after the early breakfast because she must weed the and after sitting still for a while on a garden bench they began to help her and both got but at the end of the week having caught the spirit and something of the enjoyment of her life they would have been glad to spend the rest of the summer with her there is something delightful in keeping so close to growing things and one gets a great sympathy with the life that is in nature with the flourishing of some plants and the life of others with the and the and the gathering in that may be watched an tended and counted on one small piece of ground farmer everything seemed to grow that she touched and it was as if the strength of her own nature was like a brook that made everything green where it went she had her failures and disappointments and she little in some places where she had looked for great the hay was partly spoiled by some wet weather but there was still enough for their own stock and they sold the poultry for double the usual money the old doctor was s firm friend and he grew as fond of her as if she were his own daughter and could hardly force himself to take the money she brought back in payment of a loan she had been forced to ask of him unknown even to her mother once when things went hard against her enterprise late in the spring john gained strength slowly all that summer but his heart grew lighter day by day and he and made enthusiastic plans in the summer evenings for increased sheep raising on their wide spread pasture land and for a great poultry yard which was to bring them not a little wealth and on day when our farmer counted up her gains finally she was out of debt and more than satisfied farmer and contented she said over and over again that she never should be happier than she had been that summer but more than one towns woman wondered that she should make nothing of herself when she had had a good education and many spoke as if would have been more admirable and respectable if she had succeeded in getting the little town school she said herself that she was thankful for everything she had learned at school that had helped her about her farming and but she was not meant for a teacher unless folks take a lesson from your example said the doctor i ve seen a good deal of human nature in my day and i have found that people who look at things as they are and not as they wish them to be are the ones who and when you see that a thing ought to be done do it yourself or be sure you get it done here i ve no school to teach and father has lost his money and his health we ve got the farm but i m only a girl the land won t support us if we let it on the that s what you might have said and sat down and cried but i liked the way you un farmer things the farm was going to be worked and made to pay you were going to do it and you did do it i saw you mending up a bit of fence here and there and i saw you busy when other folks were lazy you re a good girl and i wish there were more like you the doctor concluded you take hold of life in the right way there s plenty of luck for you in the world and now i m going to let you have some capital this next spring at a fair interest or none and you can put yourself in a way to make something handsome this is only a story of a girl whom fate and fortune seemed to a glimpse of the way in which she made the best of things and conquered circumstances instead of being what call the victim of circumstances whether she will live and die as farmer nobody can say but it is not very likely one thing is certain her own character had made as good a summer s growth as anything on her farm and she was ashamed to remember that she had ever thought seriously of loving it will be a much better man than he whom she falls in farmer love with next and whatever may fall to her lot later she will always be glad to think that in that sad emergency she had been able to save her father and mother from anxiety and despair and that she had turned so eagerly and readily to the work that was useful and possible when her own plans had proved impossible and her father s strength had failed all that is left to be said of this chapter of her story is that one day when she was walking to the village	40
on one of her rare and happy holidays she discovered that in a bit of the highway her friend the little bush was to be and killed and she took a that was lying idle the workmen having gone down the road a short distance and dug carefully around the roots and put her treasure in a safe place by the wall when she returned later in the day she shouldered it thorns and all and carried it home and planted it in an excellent situation by the orchard fence and there it still grows and i suppose she will say to herself as long as she lives when things look ugly and troublesome i u see if the other side is any better like my bush k marsh i one hot afternoon in august a single moving figure might have been seen following a straight road that crossed the salt of everybody else had either stayed at home or crept into such shade as could be found near at hand the marked at least ninety degrees there was hardly a fishing boat to be seen on the glistening sea only far away on the horizon two or three looked like ghostly flying for once and motionless ashore the light of the sun brought out the fine clear colors of the level landscape the marsh were a more vivid green than usual the brown tops of those that were beginning to go to seed looked almost red and the soil at the edges of the tide seemed to be melting into a black substance marsh like the dark on a painter s where the land was higher the hot air above it this was not an afternoon that one would naturally choose for a long walk yet mr lane stepped briskly forward and appeared to have more than usual energy his big boots trod down the soft carpet of that bordered the dusty road he struck at the stationary procession of with a little stick as he went by flight after flight of yellow fluttered up as he passed and then settled down again to their flowers while on the shiny back of s sunday waistcoat at least eight large green headed flies in complete security it was difficult to decide why the sunday waistcoat should have been put on that saturday afternoon had not thought it important to wear his best boots or best trousers and had left his coat at home altogether he smiled as he walked along and once when he took off his hat as a light breeze came that way he waved it triumphantly before he put it on again evidently this was no common errand that led him due west and made him marsh forget the hot weather and caused him to shade his eyes with his hand as he looked eagerly at a of trees and the chimney of a small house a little way beyond the boundary of the where the higher ground began miss ann sat by her favorite window sewing her thread less decidedly than usual and casting a wistful glance now and then down the road or at the bees in her gay little garden outside there was a grim expression her firmly t face and the frown that always appeared on her forehead when she or read the newspaper was deeper and than usual she did not look as if she were conscious of the heat though she had dressed herself old fashioned of lawn and a loose jacket of thin white with out of date flowing sleeves her sandy hair was smoothly brushed one lock betrayed a slight at its but it owed nothing to any encouragement of s a hard honest kindly face this was of a woman whom everybody trusted who might be expected to give of whatever she had to give marsh good measure pressed down and running over she was a lonely soul she had no near relatives in the world it seemed always as if nature had been mistaken in not planting her somewhere in a large and busy household the little square room kitchen in winter and sitting room in was as clean and bare and as one would expect the dwelling place of such a woman to be she sat in a straight backed kitchen chair and always put back her with a click on the very same spot on the window sill you would think she had done with youth and with love affairs yet you might as well expect the ancient cherry tree in the corner of her yard to cease its white blossoms when the may sun shone no woman in had more bravely and patiently borne the burden of loneliness and lack of love even now her outward behavior gave no hint of the new excitement and delight that filled her heart land alive i she says to herself presently there comes lane i expect if he sees me to the he come in an round till supper time i but marsh good her hair hastily as she rises and drops her work and steps back toward the middle of the room watching the gate anxiously all the time now with a look at the vacant window makes believe that he is going by and takes a step or two onward and then stops short with a somewhat smile he over the neat fence and the blue and white and pink that covers most of the space in the little garden he takes off his hat again to cool his forehead and it without a grand gesture this time and looks again at the window there is a pause the woman knows that the man is sure she is there a little blush colors her thin cheeks as she comes boldly to the wide open front door what do you think of this kind of weather asks lane complacently as he over the fence and himself	40
with an air of self sacrifice i call it hot the from her balcony with deliberate assurance but the corn needs sun everybody says i should n t have wanted to toil up from the shore under marsh such a glare if i liad been you better come in and set a and cool off she added without any apparent enthusiasm was sure to come any way she would rather make the suggestion than have him mr lane sauntered in and seated himself opposite his hostess beside the other small window and watched her as she took up her sewing and worked at it with great spirit and purpose he clasped his hands together and leaned forward a little the shaded kitchen was very comfortable after the glaring light outside and the clean of the few chairs and the and the table under the clock with some and in a china for seemed to please him unexpectedly now just see what ways you women folks have of fixing things up smart i he ventured gallantly s countenance did not forbid further compliment she looked at the flowers herself quickly and explained that she had gathered them a while ago to send to the minister s sister who kept house for him i saw him going by and expected he d be back this same road mis s be n another o her marsh this noon and the went by after him hot foot i d her well with stone cold water she never sent for me to set up with her she knows better poor man t was likely he was right into the middle of tomorrow s sermon t ain t considerate of the and when he knows he s got a fool for a wife he need n t go round persuading other folks she s so suffering as she makes out they ain t got no this year to the and i was going to let the minister take this over to but i see his wagon over on the other road going towards the village about an hour after he went by here it seemed to be a relief to tell somebody all these things after such a season of forced and listened with gratifying interest how you do see through folks i he exclaimed in a mild voice could be very soft spoken if he thought best mis s a die away i heard of her saying last sunday out o that she made an effort to there once more but she expected t would be the last time looks as if she eat well don t she he concluded in a meditative tone marsh eat exclaimed the hostess with snapping eyes there ain t no woman in town sick or well can lay aside the food that she does t ain t to the table afore folks but she goes seeking round in the half a dozen times a day an i ve heard her remark t was the last time she ever expected to visit the as much as a dozen times within five years some places i ve sailed to they d have hit her over the head with a club long ago said with an utter lack of sympathy that was startling well i must be back again of makes us think o supper time must be past five ain t it i thought i d just step up to see if there wa n t anything i could lend a hand about this hot day sensible ann folded her hands over her sewing as it lay in her lap and looked straight before her without seeing the pleading face of the guest this moment was a great crisis in her life she was conscious of it and knew well enough that upon her next words would depend the course of future events the man who waited to hear what she had marsh to say was indeed many years younger than she was and he had drifted to from nobody knew where and possessed many qualities which she had openly and despised in other men true enough he was good looking but that did not for the of his character and reputation yet she knew herself to be the better man of the two and since she had surmounted many obstacles already she was confident that with a push here and a pull there to steady him she could keep him in good trim the were so long and lonely her life was in many ways hungry and desolate in spite of its and she had laughed scornfully when he stopped one day in the spring and offered to help her weed her garden she had even with one of the neighbors about it had been growing more and more friendly and pleasant ever since his ease loving careless nature was like a comfortable cushion for hers with its angles its melancholy and but liked her and if she liked him and married him and took him home it was nobody s business and in that marsh moment of surrender to s cause she arrayed herself at his right hand against the rest of the world ready for warfare with any and all of its opinions she was suddenly aware of the face and light curling hair of her lover at the other end of the painted table with its folded leaf she smiled at him across the then she gave a little start and was afraid that her thoughts had wandered longer than was the kitchen clock was faster than usual as if it were trying to attract attention i guess i be getting home repeated the visitor and rose from his chair but hesitated again at an expression upon his companion s face i don t know as i ve got anything extra for supper but you stop she said an take what there is i would n t	40
go back across them right in this heat lane had a lively sense of humor and a queer feeling of merriment stole over him now as he watched the mistress of the house she had risen too she looked so simple and so frankly sentimental there was marsh such an added to her usually straightforward appearance that his instinctive laughter nearly got the better of him and might have lost him the prize for which he had been waiting these many months but behaved like a man he stepped forward and kissed ann he held her fast with one arm as he stood beside her and kissed her and again she was a dear good woman she had a fresh young heart in spite of the straight in her forehead and her work worn hands she had waited all her days for this joy of having a lover ii even mrs revived for a day or two under the of such a piece of news that was what lane had hung round for all summer everybody knew at last now he would strike work and live at his ease the men grumbled to each other but all the women of most the weakness and foolishness of die elderly bride ann was comfortably off and had something marsh laid by for a rainy day she would have done vastly better to deny herself such an expensive and utterly worthless luxury as the kind of husband lane would make he had away his life he earned a little money now and then in pursuits but was too lazy in the shore to tend what was energetic ann going to do with him she was always at work always equal to and entirely opposed to and idleness and even she people who had some snap to them she often scornfully and now she had chosen for a husband the man in dear one woman said to another as they heard the news there s no fool like an old fool the days went quickly by while miss ann made her plain wedding clothes if people expected her to put on airs of youth they were disappointed her wedding bonnet was the same sort of bonnet she had worn for a dozen years and one disappointed critic the fact that she had up so little and kept on dressing old enough to look like lane s mother as her acquaintances met marsh her they looked at her with close scrutiny expecting to see some outward trace of such a silly departure from good sense and discretion but miss while she was still miss displayed no and behaved with dignity while on the sunday after a quiet marriage at the she and lane walked up the side aisle to their the picture of middle aged and respectability their fellow having recovered from their first astonishment and amusement settled down to the belief that the newly married pair understood their own business best and that if anybody could make the best of and get any work out of him it was his capable wife and if she to drive him too hard he can slip off to sea and they be rid of each other one of s companions as if it were only reasonable that some refuge should be afforded to those who make mistakes in matrimony there did not seem to be any mistake at first or for a good many months afterward the husband liked the comfort that came from marsh such good housekeeping and enjoyed a deep sense of having made a good in a well sheltered harbor after many years of and drifting to and fro there were some to perfect happiness he had to forego long seasons of gossip with his particular friends and the work which was expected of him though by no means heavy for a person of his strength his freedom not a little to chop wood and take care of a cow and bring a of water now and then did not weary him so much as it made him practically understand the truth of weakly sister s remark that life was a constant and when poor for lack of other interest fancied that his health was giving way mysteriously and brought home a bottle of strong liquor to be used in case of sickness and placed it conveniently in the shed mrs lane locked it up in the small chimney cupboard where she kept her bottle and her and the other family she was not harsh with her husband she cherished him tenderly and worked diligently at her trade of singing her hymns in summer marsh weather for she never had been so happy as now when there was somebody to please beside herself to cook for and for and to live with and love but complained more and more in his inmost heart that his wife expected too much of him presently he resumed an old habit of to the least respected of the two country stores of that neighborhood and sat in the row of on the outer steps said a shrewd observer one day the fools set there and talk and talk about what they went through when they the sea till when the comes they are to right over em but things grew worse and worse until one day lane came home a little late to dinner and found hia wife grim faced and impatient he took his seat with an amiable smile and showed in every way his determination not to lose his temper because somebody else had it was one of the days when he looked almost boyish and entirely his hair was handsome and curly m the of the east wind and his wife was forced to remember how in the days marsh of their courtship she used to wish that she could pull one of the curling locks straight for the pleasure of seeing it fly back	40
she felt old and tired and was hurt in her very soul by the contrast between herself and her husband no wonder i am having to everything on my shoulders she thought had forgotten to do whatever she had asked him for a day or two he had started out that morning to go but he had returned from the direction of the village he said pleasantly after he had begun his dinner a silent and solitary meal while his wife busily by the window and refused to look at him i ve been thinking a good deal about a project i hope it ain t going to cost so much and bring in so little as your other notions have then she responded quickly though somehow a memory of the hot day when came and stood outside the fence and kissed her when it was settled he should stay to supper a memory of that day would keep fading and brightening in her mind yes said humbly i ain t done right i ain t done my part for our marsh i ve let it right on to you most ever since we was married there was that spell when i was kind of weakly and had a pain me i tell you what it is i never was good for ashore but now i ve got my strength up i m going to show ye what i can do i m promised to ship with cap n low s brother that sails out o in the trade lumber and so on i shall get good wages and you shall keep the whole on t what i need for clothes you need n t be so plaintive said ann in a sharp voice you can go if you want to i have always been able to take care of myself but when it comes to two t ain t so easy when be you goin i expected you would be sorry mourned his face falling at this outbreak you need n t be so quick t ain t as if i had n t always set everything by ye if i be s eyes flashed fire as she turned hastily away hardly knowing where she went she passed through the open doorway and crossed the clean green turf of the narrow side yard marsh and leaned over the garden fence the yoimg and were nearly buried in weeds and the bushes were fast being turned into by the worms had forgotten to them with after all though she had put the watering pot into his very hand the evening before she did not like to have the whole town laugh at her for a man to do his work she was busy from early morning until late night but she could not do everything herself she had been a fool to marry this man she told herself at last and a sullen discontent and rage that had been of slow but certain growth made her long to free herself from this for a time at any rate go to sea yes that was the best thing that could happen perhaps when he had worked hard a while on fare he would come home and be good for something i finished his dinner in the course of time and then sought his wife it was not like her to go away in this silent fashion of late her gift of speech had been proved sufficiently formidable and yet she had never looked so resolutely angry as to day marsh he began girl i ain t goin off to leave you if your heart s set against it i up and take right but the wife turned slowly from the fence and faced him her eyes looked as if she had been crying you need n t stay on my account she said i go right to work an fit ye out i m sick of your talk and i don t want to hear no more of it ef was a man lane looked for a minute or but when his stem partner in life had disappeared within the house he away among the apple trees of the little orchard and sat down on the grass in a shady spot it was getting to be warm weather but he would go round and the old girl s garden stuff by and by there would be something goin on aboard the and with delicious anticipation of future pleasure this struck his knee with his hand as if he clapping a on the shoulder he also wi ed several at the same fancied companion then with a comfortable chuckle he laid himself down and pulled his old hat over n marsh his eyes and went to sleep while the weeds grew at their own sweet will and the worms went and from to in summer went by and winter began and mr lane did not he had promised to return in september when he parted from his wife early in june for had a little at the last and at the prospect of so long a separation she had already learned the and of her husband s character but though she accepted the truth that her marriage had been in every way a piece of foolishness she still clung affectionately to his assumed fondness for her she could not believe that his marriage was only one of his soon as he grew tired of the he was ready to throw the benefits of respectable home life to the four winds a uttle sentimental speech making and a few kisses the morning he went away and the gratitude he might weu hare shown for her marsh generous care taking and provision for his voyage won her soft heart back again and made poor elderly simple hearted watch him cross the with tears and if she could have called him	40
back that day she would have done so and been thankful and all summer and winter whenever the wind blew and the drooping elm boughs against the low roof over her head she was as full of fears and anxieties as if were her only son and making his first voyage at sea the neighbors pitied her for her disappointment they liked but they could not help saying i told you so it would have been impossible not to respect the brave way in which she met the world s eye and carried herself with innocent of having committed so and a folly the on the store steps had been diverted one day when who was their chief wit and rose slowly from his place and said in pious tones boys i must go this minute will keep dinner waiting mrs lane did not show in her face how young her heart was and after the marsh had departed she seemed to pass swiftly from middle life and an almost youthful vigor to early age and a look of spent strength and dissatisfaction i suppose he did find it dull she assured herself with wistful yearning for his rough words of praise when she sat down alone to her dinner or looked up sadly from her work and missed the amusing though conversation he was wont to offer occasionally on stormy winter nights how much of his was true she never cared to ask he had come and gone and she forgave him his and longed for his society a heavy h au one spring day there was news in the boston paper of the loss of the with all on board and lane s best friends shook their sage heads and declared that as far as regarded lane that idle vagabond it was all for the best nobody was interested in any other member of the crew so the misfortune of the seemed of but slight consequence in she having passed out of her former owners hands the before had stuck by the ship at least so he had sent word then to marsh bis wife by low tbe was to sail regularly between and and sent five dollars to and promised to pay ber a visit soon tell ber i m up be told tbe witb a grin and i ve got some folks in i visit witb on voyage and i come for good and farm it mrs lane took tbe five dollars from tbe as proudly as if bad done tbe same so many times before tbat noticed it tbe gave tbe messages from and felt tbat be bad done tbe proper tbe news came long afterward tbat tbe was lost tbat was tbe next tbat knew about ber wandering mate and after tbe minister bad come solemnly to inform ber of ber and bad gone away again and sat down and looked ber in tbe face was not a nor a woman in tbe town of all tbe came to witb our and nobody was aware of it from tbat time was really and bet marsh ter satisfied with life than she had ever been before now she had an ideal lane to mourn over and think about to and admire she was day by day slowly forgetting the trouble he had been and the bitter shame of him and his to something near he meant well she told herself again and again she thought nobody could tell so good a story she felt that with her own bustling capable ways he had no chance to do much that he might have done she had been too quick with him and alas alas i how much better she would know how to treat him if she only could see him again i a sense of relief at his absence made her continually assure herself of her great loss and false even to herself she mourned her sometime lover diligently and tried to think herself a broken hearted woman it was thought among those who knew lane best that she would recover her spirits in time but s wildest of a proper respect to his memory were more than realized in the first two years after the went to the bottom of the sea she mourned for the man he ought to have been marsh not for the real but she had loved him in the beginning enough to make her own love a precious possession for all time to come it did not matter much after all what manner of man he was she had found in him something yon which to spend her affection iv lane was a woman and a good neighbor but she never had been able to get on with one fellow and was mrs they managed to keep each other provoked and from one year s end to the other and each good soul felt herself under a moral and understood that she was judged by a not very criticism and discussion mrs lane clad herself in simple black after the news came of her husband s death and mrs made one of her farewell to church to see the new made widow walk up the aisle she need n t tell me she lays that affliction so much to heart the s wife faintly after her exhaustion had been met by marsh ill proper treatment of and a glass of wine at the where she rested a while after service knows she s well over with such a piece of nonsense if i had had my health i should have spoken with her and urged her not to take the step in the first place she has n t spoken six words to me since that vagabond come to i dare say she may have heard something i said at the time she married i declare for t i never was so as i was when the came home	40
and told me was going to be married she let herself d wn too low to ever hold the place again that she used to have in folks minds and it s my opinion said the sharp eyed little woman she ain t got through with her pay yet but mrs did not know with what unconscious prophecy her words were the months passed by summer and winter came and went and even those few persons who were by lane s stern and forbidding exterior into forgetting her kind heart were at last won over to marsh ness by her renewed devotion to the sick and old people of the rural community she was so tender to little children that they all loved her dearly she was ready to go to any household that needed help and in spite of her ceaseless industry with her needle she found many a chance to do good and help her neighbors to lift and carry the burdens of their lives she out suddenly into a lovely eagerness to be of use it seemed as if her affectionate heart once made generous must go on spending its wealth wherever it could find an excuse even mrs herself was touched by her old enemy s evident wish to be friends and said nothing more about poor s looking as savage as a hawk the only thing to admit was the truth that her affliction had proved a blessing to her and it was in a truly kind and compassionate spirit that after hearing an awful piece of news the s hysterical wife to spread it far and wide through the town first and went down to the widow lane s one september afternoon was busily upon the s new coat and looked up with a friendly smile as her guest came in in spite of marsh an instinctive shrug as she had seen her coming up the yard the dislike of the poor souls for each other was deeper than their philosophy could reach mrs f spent some minutes in the unnecessary endeavor to regain her breath and to her surprise found she must make a real effort before she could tell her unwelcome news she had been so full of it all the way from home that she had the whole interview now she hardly knew how to looked than usual but there was something wistful about her face as she glanced across the room presently as if to understand the reason of the long pause the clock loudly the a against the table leg and had begun to the thread around her busy and looked down and saw her then the instant consciousness of there being some unhappy reason for mrs s call made her forget the creature s mischief and anxiously lay down her work to listen low was to our house to dinner the guest began he s with the about some hay he s got a marsh new has and is going to build up a regular business of hay to boston by sea there s no market to speak of about here unless you haul it way over to and you can t make but one turn a day t would be a good thing replied trying to think that this was all and perhaps the wanted to hire her own field another year he had her once and they had not been on particularly good terms ever since she would make her own with she thanked him and his wife he s been down to the provinces these two or three years back you know the voice went on and straightforward ann lane felt the old rising within her at dinner time i was n t able to eat much of anything and so i was talking with cap n and asking him some questions about them parts and i spoke something about the mercy t was his life should ha been spared when that the was lost so quick after he sold out his part of her and i put in a word bein s we were neighbors marsh about how your course had be n under i noticed then he d looked sort o queer whilst i was but there was all the folks to the table and you know s a very cautious man so he spoke of else n t half an hour after dinner i was in with some plates and cups to help what my th would let me and says he step out a little ways into the piece with me mis i want to have a word with ye i went too spite o my for i saw he d got on his mind look here says he i gathered from the way you spoke that lane s wife expects he s dead certain says i his name was in the list o the s crew and we read it in the paper no says he to me he ran away the day they sailed he wasn t aboard id he s w with an ther woman down to them was his very words lane sank back in her chair and covered her horror stricken eyes with her hands t ain t pleasant news to have to tell sister went on mildly yet with evident relish and full command of the occasion he said he seen the morning he came marsh away i thought you ought to it i u tell you one thing i told the to keep still about it and now i ve told you i t spread it no further to set folks a talking i u keep it secret till you say the word there ain t much here and there and he s dead to you certain as much as if he laid up in the burying ground had bowed her head upon the table the ij sandy hair st s with gray she	40
did not answer one word this was the hardest blow of all i m much obliged to you for being so friendly she said after a few minutes looking before her now in a d sort of way and lifting the new coat from the floor where it had fallen yes he s dead to me worse than dead a good deal and her lip quivered i can t seem to bring my thoughts to bear i ve got so used to no don t you say to the folks yet i d do as much for you and mrs knew that the smitten fellow creature before her spoke the truth and f two or three days came and went and with marsh every hour the quiet simple hearted woman felt more grieved and unsteady in mind and body such a of news rarely falls into a human life she could not sleep she wandered to and fro in the little house and cried until she could cry no longer then a great rage and excited her she would go to and call lane to account she would accuse him face to face and the woman whom he was deceiving as perhaps he had deceived her should know the and cowardice of this miserable man so dressed in her respectable sunday clothes in the gray bonnet and shawl that never had known any journeys except to meeting or to a country funeral or quiet lane trusted herself for the first time to the bewildering railway to the temptations and dangers of the wide world outside the bounds of two or three days later still the quaint thin figure familiar in flitted down the street of a provincial town in the most primitive region of china this woman could hardly have felt a greater sense of foreign life and strangeness at another time marsh her native good sense and shrewd observation would hav delighted in the experiences of first week of travel but she was too sternly angry and too deeply plunged in a survey of her own calamity to take much notice of what was going on about her later she condemned the unworthy folly of the whole errand but in these days the impulse to seek the and him was the s wife a kindly creature had urged this guest to wit and rest and eat some supper but refused and without asking her way left the brightly lighted little public room where curious eyes already offended her and went out into the damp twilight the voices of the street boys sounded and she felt more and more lonely she longed for to appear for protection s sake she forgot why she sought him and was eager to shelter herself behind the of his manhood she herself presently with terrible bitterness for a wonder whether he would say why girl and be glad to see her poor woman it was a work laden serious that had been hers at any rate the marsh power of giving her whole self in unselfish enthusiastic patient devotion had not belonged to her youth only it had sprung fresh and in her heart as every new year came and went one might have seen her stealing through the shadows the edge of a lumber yard stepping among the refuse of the harbor side asking a question timidly now and then of some by yes they knew lane his house was only a little way off and one curious and compassionate by some inner sense the exciting nature of the errand turned back and offered to go with the stranger you know the man he asked he is his own enemy but doing better now that he is married he minds his work i know that well but he s taken a good wife s heart beat faster with honest pride for a moment until the shadow of the ugly truth and reality made it sink back to and the fire of her rage wa again kindled she would speak to face to face before she slept and a horrible contempt and scorn were for him as with a glance either way marsh along the road she entered the narrow yard and went noiselessly toward the window of a low poor looking house from whence a bright light was shining out into the night yes there was and it seemed as if she must faint and fall at the sight of him how young he looked still the thought smote her like a blow they never were mates for each other and she her own life was she was an old woman he never had been so and respectable before the other woman ought to know the savage truth about him for all that i but at that moment the other woman stooped beside the supper table and lifted a baby from its cradle and put the dear live little thing into its father s arms the baby as wide awake and laughed at who laughed back again and it reached up to catch at a handful of the curly hair which had been poor s delight the other woman stood there looking at them f of pride and love she was young and and neat she looked a brisk efficient little creature perhaps would make something of himself now he always marsh had it in him the tears were running down s cheeks the rain too had begun to f all she stood there watching the little household sit down to supper and noticed with eager envy how well cooked the food was and how the master of the house ate what was put before him all thoughts of ending the new wife s sin and folly vanished away she could not enter in and break another heart hers was broken already and it would not matter and lane a widow indeed crept away again as silently as she had	40
come to think what v best to be done to find alternate woe and comfort in the memory of the sight she had seen the little house at the edge of the seemed full of blessed shelter and comfort the evening that its forsaken mistress came back to it her strength was spent she felt much more desolate now that she had seen with her own eyes that lane was alive than when he was counted among the dead an disregard of the laws of the land filled this good woman s mind had his life to live and she wished him no marsh harm she wondered often how the baby grew she fancied sometimes the changes and conditions of the far away household alas i she knew only too well the weakness of the man and once in a grim outburst of impatience she exclaimed i d rather she should have to cope with him than me i but that evening when she came back from and sat in the dark for a long time lest mrs should see the light and risk her life in the evening air to bring unwelcome sympathy that evening i say came the hardest moment of all when the ann of so many virtuous self respecting years whose idol had turned to clay who was disgraced and wronged sat down alone to supper in the little kitchen she had put one cup and on the table she looked at them through bitter tears somehow a consciousness of her solitary age her future rushed through her mind this failure of her best earthly hope was enough to break a stronger woman s heart who can laugh at my marsh or who can cry for that matter the gray marsh ness of the plant is made up of a hundred colors if you look close enough to find them this same marsh stands in her own place and holds her dry leaves and tiny blossoms steadily toward the same sun that the pink for and the white rose the ladies to be leaders of society in the town of was as satisfactory to miss and miss as if were london itself of late years though they would not allow themselves to suspect such treason the most ill bred of the younger people in the village made fun of them behind their backs and laughed at their summer their steps and the shape of their they were always conscious of the fact that they were the daughters of a once eminent minister but beside this claim to the respect of the first parish they were aware that their mother s social position was one of superior madam s grandmother was a of boston in her younger days she had often visited her relatives the and and in seasons of she could the ladies relate to a select and properly excited audience her delightful experiences of town life nothing could be finer than her account of having taken tea at governor s on street in company with an english lord who was indulging himself in a brief from his duties at the court of st james he exclaimed that he had seldom seen in england so beautiful and intelligent a company of ladies madam would always say in conclusion he was decorated with the blue ribbon of the of the miss and miss thought many years that this famous blue ribbon was tied about the noble gentleman s leg one day they even discussed the question openly miss placing the at his knee and miss it much lower down according to the length of the short gray with which she was familiar you have no imagination the elder sister replied impatiently of course those were the days of small clothes and long silk stockings miss was but not persuaded i wish that my dear girls could have the the ladies outlook upon society which fell to my portion madam sighed after she had set these ignorant minds to rights and enriched them by communicating the final truth about the blue ribbon i must not you for the absence of opportunities but if our cousin were only living you would not lack enjoyment or social education madam had now been dead a great many years she seemed an elderly woman to her daughters some time before she left them later they thought that she had really died comparatively young since their own years had come to equal the record of hers when they visited her tall white in the orderly burying ground it was a strange thought to both the daughters that they were older women than their mother had been when she died to be sure it was the fashion to appear older in her day they could remember the sober effect of really youthful married persons in cap and but whether they owed it to the changed times or to their own qualities they felt no older themselves than ever they had beside up the ladies holding the dignity of their father they were obliged to give a sanction to the ways of the world for their mother s sake and they combined the two duties with reverence and madam was in her prime a walking example of and if she in any way it was by keeping too strict watch and rule over her small kingdom she acted with great dignity in all matters of social administration and te but while it must be owned that the felt a sense of freedom for a time after her death in their later years they praised and valued her more and more and often lamented her generously and sincerely several of her distinguished relatives attended madam s funeral which was long considered the most dignified and elegant of that sort which had ever taken place in it seemed to mark the close of a famous epoch in history and it was difficult forever	40
came to were not like the older and they had no desire to be taught better little they cared about the or the and once when miss to speak of some detail of her mother s brilliant opportunities in boston high life she was interrupted and the new comer who sat next her at the parish sewing society began to talk about something else we cannot believe that it could have been the at governor s which the rude creature so ignored but some persons are capable of showing any lack of good taste the ladies had an unusual and most painful sense of failure as they went home together the ladies that evening i have always made it my object to improve and interest the people at such times it would seem so possible to their thoughts and direct them into higher channels said miss sadly but as or that woman there is no use in casting before swine miss murmured an indignant assent she had a secret suspicion that the woman had heard the story in question oftener than had pleased her she was but an ignorant creature though she had lived in twelve or thirteen years she was no better than when she came the mistake was in treating sister as if she were on a level with the rest of the company miss had observed more than once lately that her sister sometimes repeated herself unconsciously a little oftener than was agreeable perhaps they were getting a trifle dull toward spring it might be well to pass a few days with some of their friends and have a change if i have tried to do anything said miss in an icy tone it has been to stand firm in my lot and place and to hold the standard of cultivated mind and elegant manners the ladies as high as possible you would think it had been a hundred years since our mother s death so completely has the effect of her good breeding and exquisite hospitality been lost sight of here in i could wish that our father had chosen to settle in a larger and more place they would like to put us on the shelf too i can see that plainly i am sure we have our friends said miss anxiously but with a choking voice we must not let them think we do not mean to keep up with the times as we always have i do feel as if perhaps our hair and the sad secret was out at last each of the sisters drew a long breath of relief at this beginning of a confession it was certain that they must take some steps to their lost public attention had that evening been called to their fast disappearing locks poor ladies and miss felt the discomfort most for she had been the of the hair long and curly and chestnut in color there used to be a about it and sometimes pretty escaping curls but these were gone long ago miss resembled her father and her hair the ladies had not been luxuriant so that she was less changed by its absence than one might suppose the and had increased so gradually that neither sister had quite accepted the thought that other persons would particularly notice their altered appearance they had shrunk with the bom of close family association from speaking of the cause even to each other when they made themselves pretty little lace and dotted muslin caps breakfast caps they called them and explained that these were universally worn in town the young princess of wales originated them or at any rate adopted them the ladies offered no apology for keeping the breakfast caps on until and in spite of them a forward child had just spoken loud and shrill an question in the ears of the for once silent sewing society do miss wear them great caps because their bare heads is cold the little beast had said and everybody was startled and dismayed miss had never shown better her good breeding and the younger sister thought no little girl replied the stately the ladies with a chilly smile i believe that our are quite in the fashion for ladies of all ages and you must remember that it is never polite to make such personal remarks it was after this that miss had been reminded of madam somebody s unusual at the evening entertainment in boston nobody but the woman could have interrupted her under such trying circumstances miss however was certain that the time had come for making some effort to replace her lost the child had told an unwelcome truth but had paved the way for further action and now was the time to suggest something that had slowly been taking shape in miss s mind a young grand nephew of their mother and his bride had passed a few days with them two or three before and the sisters had been quite shocked to find that the pretty young woman wore a row of not originally her own over her smooth forehead at the time miss and miss had spoken severely with each other of such bad taste but now it made a great difference that the of the the ladies was not only a relative by marriage and used to good society but also that she came from town and might be supposed to know what was proper in the way of toilet i really think sister that we had better see about having some arrangements next time we go anywhere s said unexpectedly with a slight tremble in her voice just as they reached their own door there seems to be quite a fashion for them nowadays for the parish s sake we ought to recognize and miss responded with instant satisfaction she did not like to complain but she had been troubled with pains in her	40
forehead on suddenly meeting the cold air the sisters felt a new bond of sympathy in keeping this secret with and for each other they took pains to say to several acquaintances that they were thinking of going to the next large town to do a few errands for christmas a bright sunny morning seemed to wish the ladies good fortune old downs their faithful maid servant and protector looked after them in affectionate dear what devil s may be played on them blessed afore they re safe the ladies home again she murmured as they vanished round the comer of the street that led to the railway station miss and miss paced side by side down the main street of it was nothing like boston of course but the noise was slightly and the by sometimes roughly pushed against them was a town but a great convenience at times like this the trifling christmas gifts for their old neighbors and sunday school scholars were purchased and away in their neat basket before the serious commission of the day was attended to here and there in the shops were displayed in but no such vulgar the patronage of the they pretended not to observe the goods and went their way to a low one building on a side street where an old lived he had been useful to the minister while he still remained upon the earth and had need of a wig sandy in hue and sprinkled with gray as if it kept pace with other changes of the ladies existence but old s shutters were up and a bar of rough wood was nailed firmly across the one that had lost its and would rack its feeble hinges in the wind old had always been polite and bland they really had looked forward to a little chat with him they had heard a year or two before of his wife s death and meant to offer sympathy his business of hair dressing had been carried on with that of and umbrella mending and the condemned umbrella which was his sign cracked and swung in the rising wind a tattered skeleton before the closed door the ladies sighed and turned away they were beginning to feel tired the day long and they had not met with any pleasures yet we might walk up the street a little farther suggested miss that is if you are not tired as they stood hesitating on the comer after they had finished a short discussion of mr s disappearance happily it was only a few minutes before they came to a stop together in front of a new shining shop where heads all in a row were with the latest fashions of and one smiling fragment of a gentleman stared the ladies so straight at miss with his black eyes that she felt quite and embarrassed and was obliged to not to be conscious of his admiration but miss after a brief delay boldly opened the door and entered it was better to be sheltered in the shop than exposed to public remark as they gazed in at the windows miss felt her heart beat and her courage give out she coward like left the transaction of their business to her sister and turned to contemplate the back of the handsome model it was a slight shock to find that he was not so attractive from this point of view the wig he wore was well made all round but his shoulders were roughly finished in a substance that looked like plain plaster of paris what can i have pleasure of showing you young asked a person who advanced and miss faced about to discover a smiling middle aged frenchman who rubbed his hands together and looked at his customers first one and then the other with delightful deference he seemed a very civil nice person the young ladies thought my sister and i were thinking of buying the ladies some little arrangements to wear above the forehead miss explained with par dignity but the frenchman spared her any farther words he looked with eager interest at the as if no lack had attracted his notice before ah yes je high are not now mode je prefer them yes yes but ladies must accept fashion must now cover forehead with you say as you as you i and the little man with many and merry gestures at such girlish fancies pulled down one box after another it was a great relief to find that this was no worse to say the least than any other though the solemnity and secrecy of the occasion were upon by the great supply of arrangements and the loud discussion of the color of some a noisy girl was buying from a young the other side of the shop miss waved aside the wares which were being displayed for her approval something more simple if you please she did not like to say older the ladies but these are tr s simple protested the frenchman we have nothing younger and miss and miss blushed and said no more the frenchman had his own way he persuaded them that nothing was so suitable as some conspicuous that matched their hair as it used to be they would have given anything rather than leave their breakfast caps at home if they had known that their proper winter must come off they hardly listened to the wig merchant s voice as miss stood revealed before the merciless mirror at the back of the shop he made everything as easy as possible the friendly creature and the ladies were grateful to him beside now that the bonnet was on again there was a great improvement in miss s appearance she turned to miss and saw a gleam of delight in her eager countenance it really is very becoming i like the way it parts over your forehead said the younger	40
sister but if it were long enough to go behind the ears non non entreated the frenchman to make her the old woman at once would be cruelty the ladies and who was wondering how well she would look in her turn promptly to such yes there was no use in being old before their time was not quite keeping pace with the rest of the world in these days but they need not drag behind everybody else just because they lived there the price of the little arrangements was much less than the sisters expected and the expense of their reverend father s had been it was proved a thing of the past miss treated her polite frenchman with great courtesy indeed miss had more than once whispered to her to talk french and as they were bowed out of the shop the gracious of the elder lady seemed to act like the string of a and bring down an torrent of foreign words upon the two heads it was impossible to reply the ladies bowed again however and miss caught a last smile from the handsome wax countenance in the window he appeared to regard her with fresh approval and she departed down the street with steps the ladies i feel as if anybody might look at me now sister said gentle miss i confess i really suffered sometimes since i knew i looked so distressed yours is lighter than i thought it was in the shop remarked miss doubtfully but she quickly added that perhaps it would change a little she was so perfectly satisfied with her own appearance that she could not bear to dim the pleasure of any one else the truth remained that she never would have let choose that particular arrangement if she had seen it first in a good light and was thinking exactly the same of her companion i am sure we shall have no more said miss i am sorry we waited so long dear and they tripped down the main street of confident that nobody would suspect them of being over thirty indeed they felt quite girlish and unconsciously looked sideways as they went along to see their satisfying reflections in the windows the great panes made excellent with not too clear or lasting pictures of these comforted by the ladies the frenchman in the shop was making merry with his the two great had long been out of fashion he had been lying in wait with them for two ladies who could be into such a purchase sister miss was saying you know there is still an hour to wait before our train goes suppose we take a little longer walk down the other side of the way and they strolled slowly back again in fact they nearly the train naughty girls i would have been so worried they assured each other but they reached the station just in time said miss put up your hand and part it from your forehead it seems to be getting out of place a little and miss who had just got breath enough to speak returned the information that miss s was almost covering her eyebrows they might have to trim them a little shorter of course it could be done the darkness was falling they had taken an early dinner before they started and now they were tired and hungry after the exertion of the afternoon but the the ladies spirit of youth afresh in their hearts and they were very happy if one s heart remains it is a sore trial to have the outward appearance entirely at it was the ladies nature to be girlish and they found it impossible not to be grateful to the ineffectual disguise which seemed to set them right with the world the old conductor who had known them for many years looked hard at them as he took their tickets and being a man of humor and compassion affected not to notice anything remarkable in their appearance you ladies never mean t grow old like the rest of us he said gallantly and the sisters fairly with joy bless us the mrs was saying at the other end of the car there s the old maid and they ve bought em some i expect they wanted to get in a little before real cold weather but don t they look just like a pair o dogs the little ladies descended wearily from the train somehow they did not enjoy a day s as much as they used they were certainly much obliged to for sending the ladies her niece s boy to meet them with a lantern also for having a good warm supper ready when they came in took a quick look at her and returned to the kitchen i knew somebody would be of em she assured herself angrily but she had to laugh their dear kind faces were wrinkled and pale and the great had lost their pretty and were hanging down almost straight and very ugly into the ladies eyes they could not them up under their caps as they were sure might be done then came a succession of rainy days and nobody visited the household the looked very bright chestnut by the light of day and it must be confessed that miss took the and miss s half an inch and miss returned the compliment quite secretly because each thought her sister s forehead lower than her own their dear gray eyebrows were honestly displayed as if it were the fashion not to have them match with at last spoke out and begged her as they sat at breakfast to let her take the back and change them her sister s the ladies ter worked in that very shop and though in the work room would be able to oblige them was sure but the ladies looked at each other in pleased assurance and then	40
had trained him used to sit on a high stool and wear a green a business man jacket in the first dingy counting room he started us he started us said john to himself then he felt a little and sat down again saying that he would not go through the house until next day perhaps he had hardly got back his strength but jack might bring the statements there were a number of new clerks even in the inner and one had a small face i don t like that fellow s looks he muttered who got him here i should like to know i but jack responded with wounded pride that this was the book keeper in new york he had been trying to get him into their employ for a year somehow for the first time john was conscious that he was getting to be old he grumbled something about the boys pulling and him and his affairs and wish ing him out of their way the pomp of the new counting room the self of jack dazzled and him not a little he had thought it indispensable to the welfare of this great business that he should not miss a day at his desk all through the times of the year but here was the establishment a business man running along on its manifold and ponderous track just as well as if he had been at the post of guidance well not every man had given his affairs such a good he had only followed out the founder s principles too and he thought again of the sturdy grandfather in the jacket after all it was good for the son and successor he would stand well in the row of john jack was married and settled he had as handsome a house as his father s a block higher up the avenue the rascal had even grown a little of late but john the elder had no intention of being called an old man yet there were some questions to ask about the real estate that day but jack could not answer for these walter had been looking after that part of the property and walter was out of town so they had divided the responsibility between them had they the father grumbled but jack brought a great of and papers to be signed and the two men and together the firm was already larger than the senior partner approved it was no use a business man to talk about adding another member but jack took advantage of his father s smiles to suggest the admission of a brother in law the husband of the youngest daughter i think it over replied the chief turning to look for his no his capital is no we re carrying sail enough for the present unless times change for the better jack went back to his own desk a little annoyed he did not like to give up his authority was it only a month since the old gentleman had been away it seemed like a year ii john took the doctor s advice after all and went to europe he had felt strangely weak and unequal to much effort ever since his illness and he grasped at the promised renewal of his health there was great satisfaction at meeting some of his old on the other side he wholly enjoyed his and was satisfied with the careful reports from home he was proud too of some a business man new and connections which he succeeded in forming in a business way he was fond of saying to his wife the time had been well spent but mrs lost no chance of urging her husband to give up the business to the boys he had himself she pleaded over and over again it was no use to break down his health altogether he knew very well now that he could not bear what he could once the truth was the ways of doing business were changing these were doing as much harm as good time had gone by when a man could get private of a rise in and quickly increase his stock to control the market now what one knew the rest knew and it was simply a question of who could sell john talked it and again with merchants like himself not long after their return the great sorrow of his life came to him in his wife s death it was harder to bear the loss then than it ever could have been before they had loved each other with a sober affection which was as permanent and as the air they breathed in the earlier years a business man while he was as he often said in business cares and the good woman was careful and troubled about many things her growing children her household and her social relations they had gone their separate ways without much reference to each other satisfied with a mutual confidence and inspiration for the first time in these later months they had sometimes spent all the hours of the days together and had been more lover like and affectionate than ever before they sometimes talked in the long of the english lakes or the soft sunshine of italy about what they would do together when they reached home and john felt less annoyance at the thought of his boys business capacity he would have more time at home than ever before he even grew interested in his wife s small charitable and lent a willing ear to her confidences and knew at last what good his generous had done in public and private needs he had never found time to think much of these things but alas good mrs died after a short illness within a week or two of their arrival home and the great house with its a business man r which they	40
had chosen together was left desolate it was harder than ever for this business man to assure himself that a man need not be old at his age but somehow he had let go his active of affairs while he could summon no interest to fill the place of that to which he had given all his time and thought he cared nothing for books or for art or of all his fashionable daughter thought for society he had given away much money because others u it had never with his he was sometimes angry with the boys and sometimes thankful to give up his responsibility but he wished such to be voluntary it should not be taken for granted his daughters were eager to have their share of his favor they came to him with stories of the boys assumption of authority and they were all dependent upon him in one way or another and john told himself more than once that he should like to see one of the crowd who had made his own way in the world they were all respectful and affectionate the girls told him again and again that they were so a business man j glad that their husbands were able to relieve him of care and were men he could trust yes he surely had a great deal to be thankful for it seemed to be nobody s fault that he was laid on the shelf jack w s sometimes and self confident about the business it was amazing that he himself who had been counted one of the most daring far sighted and men of his day be constantly made to feel that he was an old and fast drifting of the times who should understand the times if not a man of his experience as the long months went by the days when he did not go to his were of more and more frequent occurrence the chief value of his presence seemed to be for the which by no means passed him by and one day there was a vehement outbreak of anger against young jack who had ventured to suggest the propriety of a smaller sum than his father had seen fit to bestow you may be making money but whose money are you making it with the old man demanded while jack spoke soothingly and glanced round at the other he did not look as if he would like to knock his father down as he a business man used in case of differences when they both were younger and the senior partner was injured by this of their present equality you treat me as if i were an old woman he said and went away jack was such an and there was jack s boy who ought to be at a desk already about the park with his dog cart and saddle horses a or nothing times had changed indeed m when mr did not go down town in the morning he sometimes took his stick and walked eastward along the street that made a right angle with the avenue nearest his house he did not like to meet his acquaintances even ladies in business hours but he found it amusing to watch the progress of some buildings not a great distance away the contrast between this district and the region of his home was very striking though he found himself by no means in the most portion of his native city on the contrary there was even a sort of john had a business man more than once the good landlord whoever he might be of one long row of small brick houses the occupants were evidently people of small means but most respectable and orderly and at the end of the block was a shop or two a s and a gay little place which held out to of thread and needles and even letter paper prints good thing good thing the rich ex merchant would say if only the women don t waste their time and travel way down to s for every of cotton it happened that john walked slowly by one morning just as the owner of this place of business was opening his shutters he was a bright faced young man of two or three and twenty and the elderly gentleman hesitated then stopped and said good morning the young man looked around cheerfully good day sir he answered can i do anything for you in my line and mr smiled without committing himself to any definite reply you are on time i see he said presently tapping the pavement with his cane as the proprietor fastened a business man the back with a sufficient snap was only one window to the little store but its contents were most arranged yes sir time s money answered the admiring owner of the trifling wares i should be glad to have you step inside and with a glance along the street toward the avenue mr accepted the invitation it was still early in the morning he had not been sleeping well of late and his luxurious household was hardly his eldest daughter had come home with her family to keep the house for him after her mother s death her husband was the least prosperous of the sons or sons in law and to tell the truth john was not at all fond of him and never had been there was something delightfully cordial and sincere in the younger merchant s hospitality at any rate it was stronger than his guest s reasons for not accepting it and mr bowed gravely and went in at the door he took no notice of anything in particular the cheap goods did not invite his attention in detail but he seated himself on one of the two light which were provided for the comfort of possible customers and asked look a	40
business man ing about urn in an interested way how long the business had been established only a month or two answered the young man and a boyish color spread quickly over his face i hope there s a good chance here i don t see why i shouldn t do well i seem to have the good will of the neighborhood so far there are some near by who do a pile of work one of them does and finishing for madame and has all she can carry i any orders you know for goods i don t carry in stock i hope i shall do well here and i don t mind saying i shall sell out the business when it gets to be worth anything and strike for something better i wish i was a little nearer the avenue i know a fellow who keeps a first rate class of goods up in street that s getting rich you see the m some of the big houses give hm all their trade and about keep him going mr returned the hopeful smile of his and slowly his overcoat he felt a little tired and lonely that morning and did not wear the look of a prosperous man the coat itself was a comfort a business man able old one he bad insisted upon keeping bis daughter had suggested the of it to a deserving german mother to make over for her children somehow mr liked to wear it in these morning walks away from the avenue the buttons were loose and one of them actually came off at this moment and rolled behind some boxes that were piled at the end of the counter william the looked after it but some instinct that he could hardly explain led him to the trivial accident the old gentleman looked as if he had seen better days the button holes of the coat were and a bit of the was hanging had often seen the old fellow go by about this time in the morning stopping once in a to speak to some children or to exchange greetings with the who were tending the great mortar box in front of the new block they talked together for a few minutes in a friendly way was arranging his wares and when the visitor rose to go he darted forward to open the door for him i should be pleased to have you drop in any time sir he said with pleasant deference i hope you a business man remember to mention the store if you have any ladies at home my goods are mostly in their line do you keep pins asked mr turning back with evident pleasure to make an in four s he could find somebody to give them to and there was a satisfaction in putting the little in his pocket he was used to writing for his purchases and was a little uncertain as he took some change from his waistcoat pocket about the state of his present there never is much doing this time in the morning explained the proprietor my customers either come toward night or run over here at noon time i ought to have somebody to help me for i shut up now when i go down town to fill my orders i want to get on as cheap as i can though for the present all great things must have a beginning he added as he opened the door the second time there was something delightfully fresh and energetic about the young man john sighed to remember that there was a time when his own future lay all before him the winter wind had risen and was whirling the dust and bits a business man of paper along the bare and as he went away toward the avenue he had to stop more than once and turn his back to the gale he happened to be just opposite a window at one time where a young girl sat sewing busily there were some half finished garments on the table beside her a very pretty girl she was and she looked frankly up at the elderly man and even gave him a bright smile of unconscious sympathy and friendliness the whole day afterward while the wind blew and the weather was cold and a few of snow against the windows john sat by the library fire trying to read newspapers and and meditating by turns he tried once or twice to his younger down to keep him company but they were needed up stairs to practice for a famous fancy in aid of some children s hospital they were to have fine and be prominent in the dances and could only chatter to him of these things if they stayed their mother had him for staying out of doors so long on a chilly morning he was late to breakfast and she a business man reproached him for making her uneasy he might have a fall any day or be knocked over by the passing carts i should like to have my liberty the old man answered with more severity than was usual with him he did not feel so old as other people seemed to consider him life was not very amusing of late but certainly he was much interested in his new acquaintance of the side street i watch that lad mr assured and by and by if he does well i let him have some capital while with rare sentiment he also wondered if the nice girl who by the window and the brisk young merchant were aware of each other s existence the question was answered no later than the next morning but one between the two a serious trial came to our hero he had been vastly punctual at the meetings of a certain notable company of which he had been chief and had clung more and	40
once he beheld with dismay the entrance of one of his own upon his new place of business as he stood behind the high desk casting up a column of figures luckily there was an inner room to which he stealthily retreated with beating heart and listened there to the loud tones of the woman who was at home a most soft spoken and creature but this accident did not happen again a business man and he felt more and more secure in the companionship of his young partner it was surprising how his zest and ambition seemed for a time to return how pleased he was when an uncommonly good day s trade was reported he shook his head when the young folks asked him to come to their wedding but he slipped as large a as he dared into the bride s work little hand and stole away toward his own house it had made him desolate to see the rooms the lovers were to live in they had asked their benefactor to visit their new home in such a way that he could not refuse and they told him they never could have got on so well without his help little miss was not going to give up her sewing at present she would take care of their tiny housekeeping and earn all she could in the spare time just as she had always done they did not seem like city people at all they had the simple ways of country folks and john thought of them with deep affection as he sat at the head of his glittering dinner table that night and lifted a glass of his best wine in a shaking hand to drink secretly mr and mrs william s health and prosperity a business man at last there came a time late one spring when the old business man seemed much than he had ever before he hardly ever w nt down to the great office now and was even glad when the rare expedition was safely over with once or twice he took his seat at some assembly but he was an and was more annoyed than otherwise with the empty show of deference from his in office every day when it was possible however he paid an early visit to his young friends in east number street and on many a morning when there were few customers coming in he gave the ambitious proprietor and suggestions there was a young boy added to the force of this experiment a lad from whose bright face seemed to please the old gentleman and on one of the last visits sent him home with mr it caused a good deal of curiosity and interest when the adventure was for he had helped the guest up the high steps of one of the best avenue houses but the morning calls were nearly done mr only appeared once more and then when the owner of the little shop had r a business man gone down town he and liis young wife talked a great deal that night about their benefactor he s been the making of me said to himself sadly as the days went by after that and his friend did not come again for a long time mr s daughter had said proudly that her father was able to take an hour or two s walk early every morning in these late spring days she had fully that he used up all his strength in doing so much and that he was fit for nothing all the rest of the day at length john was taken away to his country place and before the summer was over he died the poor rich man had almost ceased to care anything for even the as he had often fondly called it though he was still grateful for the pleasure that came to him as he dreamed of and planned for the future fortune of the happy young people in east number street his wi was made some months before and was as just to his own family and to public needs as all his dealings had been there was one which surprised his family entirely he left five thousand dollars to one william in east number street and among the a business man latest of his private papers was a note to this written in a trembling hand which con strangely with his former clear i have left something for you as a remembrance mr said i have no doubt that you will make your way in the world by its help and your own exertions and i owe you something for your kindness and respect to an old man remember that getting money may make you poor as it has me and can leave you at last a beggar for a little friendliness and sympathy and occupation there are other things which a man needs beside wealth to make him happy i am your grateful friend john the young man s eyes were strangely as he read heavens he said awed and astonished i used to think that he was n t the broken down old fellow we took him for at first but there he was all the time one of the richest men in the city how pleased he used to be some days to help behind the counter when two or three customers a business man came in together so that was old john perhaps our place made him think of old times when he was just beginning himself answered the little wife i remember the first time i saw him one windy morning when the dust blew in his face and he turned round and looked right in at the window he made me feel real bad he looked so and i never thought he was going to give us such a lot of money he s given	40
timidly i have sometimes thought about him and wondered if he supposed we were set against him there was so much hard between the families when we were all young and we would n t speak to him when we were girls a man would be cut by that as much as anything i would n t speak to him now either and s voice and her linen thread snapped together everybody said they treated our folks you needn t expect me to go after such and mary and mary hardly knew what gave her such i don t want to vex you i m sure she said simply if he did n t answer or did n t treat us well any way i should think aa you do but i to ask him to come and spend day with us and show him a spirit he ain t so well off that he need think we ve got low motives and taking courage you know this u be the first since his wife died if t was his wife we saw mentioned in the paper i must say you are consistent with our for dinner miss grimly together her big needle and her steel without any top i won t lend myself to any such notions and there s an end to it she rose and disappeared angrily into the and began to the pots and as if she had to begin the preparations for at that very moment but miss mary dean whom everybody thought a little and went on sewing as long as the pale daylight lasted she did not know why she was so disappointed about not inviting mary and their unknown cousin she had not thought of him very often but she had always been a little ashamed and sorry about the family quarrel that had made everybody so bitter and when she w a girl her father thought that this cousin s father cheated him of his rights in the old home farm at least three days afterward sister was discovered to be very silent and unreasonable and in spite of previous experiences miss mary was entirely surprised to be told late in the evening just as they were going to bed that a letter had been sent that day to cousin john asking him to come to spend with them on the you d never have been satisfied without it i suppose the good woman said as she went hurrying about the room and gentle mary was filled with fear she knew that it would be a trouble to her sister and an unwelcome one but at last she felt very glad and was grateful as she thanked the head of the family for this generous deed i don t know why my heart was so set on it she announced later with great humility and mary and m from under the i hope he won t stop long she observed quite cheerfully and so peace was restored and miss dean thought about the dinner and talked over her plans while mary listened with pleased content and looked out through the little bedroom window from her pillow to see the white twinkling winter like stars goodness me exclaimed on morning there he comes and he looks as old as i the sisters stood together and watched their guest climbing the long hill and made characteristic comments h does look real said mary but off to look at the chicken which had just been put into the oven he looks as if he were hungry she growled on the way and took a complacent look into the after she had seen that the oven continued to be in a proper state of warmth there was enough for her to do to look after the dinner mary could attend to the company but after all it was good to have company especially some one who seemed to be glad to be with them he had grown to look mary and like her own dear honest hearted father ix these latter years he could not be a bad man and it seemed a great while since they had seen one of their own folks at the table so put her whole heart into making her little dinner just as good as it could be she sat down in the front room once or twice and tried to talk over old times but she was not very successful they were constantly running against unpleasant subjects it seemed as if the mistaken household that had been divided against itself had no traditions of anything but warfare but the guest was glad to come he could talk to his cousin mary about the pleasure s note had given him he did not say that it was not very affectionate but he told the truth about having often wished since he had grown older that they could talk over the old times and have a kinder feeling toward each other and i was so broken up this year he added i miss my wife worse and worse she was some years younger than i and always seemed bo pleasant and well if one of you girls is left without the other you ii know mary and about it that s all i can say and a sudden pang shot through the listener s heart and mary dean looked so sorry and so kind that she had to listen to a great many things about the wife who had died cousin john moved her sympathy more and more and by the time dinner was ready they were warm friends then there was the dinner and the two elderly women and their guest enjoyed it very much miss had put on the best table cloth and the best dishes she had done all she could to make the little festival a success and presently even she	40
was filled with the spirit of the day and did not let the least shadow of show itself in her face when mary said sister i m sure we ought to be very thankful to day for all these good things and cousin john s company i don t feel as if we ever should make out to be enemies again and the cousin shook his head more than once while something like a in the eyes that were turned toward mary dean they talked of old times said to each other that they would let be some of the sisters friends had been very kind one had given them a present mary and of which liked very much but had denied herself since they were so dear year cousin john had evidently dressed himself with great care but he looked and the sisters shrewd eyes saw where a or two was needed and a button had been lost it seemed more friendly than ever when he stood before to have his coat mended it only took a minute and her eyes were the best mary said proudly girls said the old man suddenly girls i want to know if with all your sewing trade you have n t got any sewing machine and the girls looked at each other wistfully and answered no now i know what i do for you and the withered face brightened i m going to send you over maria s she set everything by it t was one her brother gave her that s so well off in new york she says t was one of the best and there it has stood i ve been thinking i should have to sell it i send it over right away and he looked from one delighted face to the other you won t refuse now he asked mary and as if there bad been any danger of tbat and the sisters confessed how puzzled they had been about their winter s work they had not acknowledged so fully even to each other that some of their old customers had died that it hardly paid to do hand sewing and hardly anybody needed work somehow and they were not able to be out in all weather or to be of as much service to their neighbors as they used but they were sure to do well now if they h d a machine mr at the shop paid excellent prices for the best work cousin john stayed until the next day and they watched him go down the hill with many feelings of gratitude and respect it takes two to make a quarrel but only one to end it said turning suddenly to mary they both felt younger than they had for a great while and they pitied their cousin s aged looks and slow steps twas all owing to you she went on in a tone that was not usual with her mary i believe you ve chosen the better part and you ve listened to the lord s words while i ve been with much serving but mary would have it that only could have made cousin mary and john so comfortable and got him the good dinner the dinner s the least part of it said this time in her every day short fashion of speech there it s beginning to snow i wish if there s a good fall of it we could just put this house on and slide down hill but she looked very good natured and mary laughed softly you say that every year don t you said she just think how long we ve been wishing for a sewing machine and now we re really going to have one i suppose you know just how to use it before it has been here a day the news from mrs peak had been to herself to spend with her niece and brought the first account of old mr johnson s illness mrs johnson his daughter had come in for a few minutes thursday afternoon and had said it was the first time since she could remember that the old gentleman had not been in his seat in church on day and they all felt as if it were a great break he would insist upon setting at the table said mrs but he looked too feeble to be out of his bed these bad take hold of a man of his years after the visitor had gone mrs peak and her niece talked a good deal about the changes in the family which would be sure to come when mr johnson died i know that s folks are depending upon getting a lift said mis the news from has hinted as much to me more than once for she says s got more than he can carry in his business and everything would be easy if he only had a little more capital truth is i have an idea that he s a good share away from his father now and the old gentleman is n t so ready as he used to be to further his projects and there s william his other son i know it to be a fact that he is intending to go out west when his father s taken away he has had a notion of it for a good while his wife s sister s folks are all out there and doing well they be very much missed as a family said mrs peak how has changed from what it was when i was a girl when she went home the next day she was quite and told who happened to be at the when the t ain came in and offered to carry her home that old mr daniel johnson was breaking up at least so his family seemed to think was deeply concerned the two villages were only	40
a few miles apart and he had been a boy it was old mr johnson to whom he owed his rise in the world and he the news from remembered that he mi ht never have owned his flourishing country tore if it had not been for this kind friend s assistance besides he had been confident of mr johnson s support if he should make up his mind to buy a large tract of which would pay well for being cleared that very next winter he was indebted to him however and it would be a very different thing if he were the of the eager so with all this in his mind he questioned mrs peak anxiously and they concluded that mr johnson s end was not far distant of course he made a great effort to get to the table on account of its being said sorrowfully but i m afraid he give right up now i d ride right over to see him to morrow but i can t get away it s right in my busy time i m buying up a great deal of wood this f au and some of em bringing it in now on wheels instead of waiting for snow the snow does keep off late this year said mrs peak here it s the first o december and there s only been one that was hardly more than a frost the news from they reached the little gray house behind the bushes where mrs peak lived alone and as she unlocked its side door and went in it seemed strangely cold and lonely i must look about for a likely she said to herself they re a sight of company and what trouble it gave would be no harm i declare it makes me feel all the folks i have always been used to knowing are off i always set a good deal by daniel johnson two neighbors looked up the road a little later than this from their kitchen windows and seeing a light in mrs peak s kitchen also said to themselves that she might be lonely that evening without anybody to speak to and they would step over and hear the news they met at the door each with a shawl over her head and her knitting work in her hands and were welcomed most heartily mrs west who was very fond of talking began at once to describe her experiences when she found that the cats had stolen into the during the night and the turkey so that it was only fit to be thrown away it was too late to get another except a the news from rack of bones fit only for a lantern that had been left at s store i did n t know what in the world i should do there was all the folks coming his sister and all the child n and my brother and his wife and we three at home are hearty but there we made out with the pie and a spare i put right in it so happened i had one that was an i took those cats and em well in a tub o water after i d give em as good a beating as i knew how and after a while they stole in half and set by the stove meek as moses with their tucked underneath em and when i d look at em they d at me both together making a for all i was so worked up i had to laugh they all laughed again at the cats while mrs peak acknowledged that she had just been thinking of getting a but such accounts as this were and mrs west promptly offered her own virtuous which amused the company very much you have n t told us yet whether you heard anything over at said mrs the news from the other guest at which mrs peak s face grew long i had a beautiful visit with she answered but i ve been feeling anxious to hear again from old mr daniel johnson s wife came in and said he seemed very feeble he did n t make no effort to get out to day and said she d noticed he looked pale and kind o up two or three weeks ago i suppose the cold weather pinched him i suggested mrs west well he u be a great loss i heard from him direct this morning continued mrs peak mournfully i called to s oldest boy as he went by and he said his grand ther was n t any better i asked if he was and he said no he s got a sight o resolution i should n t wonder if he did n t take his bed at all i don t see how they pay their minister the salary they give him now when they lose mr johnson said mrs he s always ready to give and he does what he can for his folks i should n t wonder if he had n t but a little property left after all he s the news from had to do and being out o business for some years now he s kept his money a observed mrs west there ain t no such business man about here but there s been plenty o hands reached out to take what they could get well t is all over now he won t last a great while if he s as feeble as you say his father went just the same way only kept the house a week and his bed the last day i should have gone right over to see him myself yesterday said the hostess but it kept steady all day same as it did here i suppose they be likely to have his funeral from the meeting house won t	40
they asked mrs solemnly but nobody could answer her question next day being sunday and most of the congregation coming from the scattered farms there was the usual exchange of greetings and inquiries for news and in this way the sad story of mr johnson s last illness was spread far and wide before night and in passing from one to another the report became every hour more serious at last some one ventured the news from to say that judging from what she had just heard the poor man could not now be living and the listener felt justified in announcing that mrs smith thought there was no doubt that he was dead late on sunday night mrs west brought the news to mrs peak he heard it from some one who stopped at s but there was n t no particulars and mrs peak said nobody had any idea mr johnson would go so soon it was a great shock to her as much as if she had not known of his illness death is always sudden at the last said mrs west i suppose you will go over to the funeral it seems a pity you have come home saturday don t it i shall get ready to go by the first train answered the old lady crying a little i declare i wish i d gone to the house before i come away it ain t that i think of the expense of going to twice for that s nothing at such a time as this but i can t feel reconciled to not seeing him again he was a most amiable christian man there won t be many dry eyes in the day he s the news from buried i ve known him ever since i ve known anybody so by the earliest train next day mrs peak went back to her countenance wore a solemn expression she felt herself to be one of the chief though her place in the procession would probably be not far from the least afflicted end as she stepped down from the car she pulled a very long face and was surprised to see no signs of uie calamity which had befallen the village she meditated upon the way the world moves on though its best men die and took her way to save time through the back streets to her niece s well she said sadly i m sure i did n t think i should be back again so soon when i left you when do they bury who asked much amazed she was busy washing and was not in the least prepared for her aunt s appearance she was used to making careful arrangements when she expected guests being as her friends said very set in her ways and if there was anything she disliked it was a lack of ceremony even from her nearest relatives the news from i haven t heard of any death she assured her aunt who was apparently much perplexed somebody told the last night that mr el johnson had passed away and mis west came right out to tell me mrs peak explained at last began to laugh he was out to meeting last night as sure as the world she said he s had a bad cold you know he s always been subject to fall but he s about again i heard s wife f at him about up his throat when we were out o the house last night she was dreadful down hearted about him i m sure when she come in night ventured mrs peak in self now aunt peak said have n t you seen enough of johnson by this time to know that she always thinks and everybody is going to rack aad ruin she was cheerful about the old gentleman to what she is sometimes to be sure we all know he s getting along in years seems to me i do she is apt to look on the dark side reflected mrs peak the news from but now don t speak to any one of what my errand was in coming over i ve got a little any way that i forgot last week and folks think we re dreadful hungry for news over our way it does look like it chuckled but do stop to dinner aunt now you re over it s coming winter and you may not get started again tis a pity there ain t something else for you to go to i s pose you ve heard that story about the old ladies that set out for a funeral and found they d missed the day and asked the folks if they did n t know of a funeral they go to said her aunt peak i should think you had no s it was n t my as i know of that the story got about i did speak of it to one or two that his son s wife appeared concerned and when word come that he was gone i only thought she had good reason to be anxious and he was an old friend and a leader in church interests and i thought natural enough i d come right over don t take it hard of me joking with you said but it is kind of amusing when you come to look at it and see how the news from get made up and set going out of nothing every one of em thinks they tell the truth and first thing you know there s a lie about fast as lightning and she turned to her neglected washing as if no time must be lost i can t get back before two i m sorry i happened to trouble you on an inconvenient day i m sure said mrs peak humbly i step down the street	40
for a while and do a few errands and you must n t let me put you out just a cup of tea and a taste of bread and butter be all i ask for and nodded and told her aunt not to worry and to have as good a time as she could the old lady s pride had met with a sad she did not know how to face the people at home but luckily she was saved the first acknowledgment as had reached before her and had found mr daniel johnson briskly at work by the garden covering his vines he had avoided any reference to the next world and indeed had learned the of the story from a man whom he had met on the road so he entered the news from at once upon the project of buying the pine woods between and and found to bis great satisfaction that his old friend would be glad to join him if the affair could be well arranged mrs peak herself met mr johnson and could hardly look him in the face when she asked for his health and when the neighbors came in one after another that evening after she was again comfortably established at home she said you may laugh at me all you have a mind to but i don t mean to need another lesson like this i think it s a good deal better to mind what we ve got to do instead of on what folks have got to say but it s hard to teach an old dog new tricks and i suppose i shall always like to hear what news there is a goin v the two i brown left his chair by the fire somewhat impatiently and dropped his newspaper on the rug he crossed the dining room to the and stood with his back to his wife looking out at the weather women were such he had a vague idea that she might take some notice of the disagreeable and wind and a little about that he had better be at his office she had already asked him to renew her to the church newspaper he would have to leave the stage and walk a block and a half and had said that he must look in at her brother bob s counting room some time during the day to ask for his wife s health she had given him two letters to post and had reminded him three times that he must not forget them the two i believe that i will not go to the office to day brown announced presently with considerable dignity and even as if he would not brook the idea of being contradicted in any shape his wife said nothing to this which was a great disappointment and after growing more and more disturbed for a minute or two he turned and offered his explanations mrs brown was herself to the baby while the nursery maid was busy up stairs in the baby s luxurious quarters brown was usually neither too proud nor too much occupied to devote himself to his daughter also but now he walked stiffly back to the big chair by the fire and took no notice of the little hands that were put out to him the baby s mother flushed suddenly with something like anger very unusual in her gentle face it is such an abominable day said brown i don t feel very energetic there won t be a soul inside the office door unless it s a book agent i am going to make myself comfortable at home and see something of you and yes you little pink he had come so near to the baby the two that his better nature could submit no longer and he caught the smiling child and went round the breakfast table until she shrieked with delight and family harmony was restored mrs brown smiled too they were a happy household but she looked serious again directly and returned to the charge ben dear she said i don t like to have you neglect your profession brown stopped his and the cups and plates gave a final when you know perfectly well how it me he responded solemnly with a twinkling eye even in the presence of the baby mrs brown did not like to have such made and she looked up reproachfully she kept up with great care the fiction of her husband s having already a fair law practice for a young man of his age and a very promising outlook brown had no imagination he made no complaint he knew plenty of fellows in the same box and was not going to shoulder the whole shame of paying rent for a office he had begun to get tired of spending his days there altogether even with the resource of taking all the time he liked for an elaborate and social the two his wife had been growing a trifle anxious lately because it was so difficult to tempt his appetite at dinner time and the wit of the luncheon club had said in his affected little voice only the day before shall have to cut this sort of thing you know getting too stout and always hated eating my dinner in the middle of the day could do it with one but to morrow i m expecting another brown suddenly remembered this and smiled because he had a quick amusing fear lest the bad weather might keep s at home then he gave a sigh and gently deposited the baby in her mother s lap i will go you hard hearted monsters he said kissing them both but why i ever let myself be into studying law is the puzzle of my life if i had something to do i would work like a i ve got it in me fast enough	40
but i hate this make believe business so would you i do feel sorry about it you know i do answered with great tenderness and sympathy i should be perfectly unhappy but you have your studies ben dear i begin to hate those old yellow books the two said ben now if my father had let me study as i wished i should have been in the middle of things by this time you never would have broken the chain asked with anxiety roused by such treason she had been so proud of brown s being the fourth lawyer of his line and of his he was only twenty eight years and two months old at that moment beside and it was much too soon to lose all hope about his future brown went out into the a few minutes later and his wife and the baby him from window he was a handsome good natured young man and it was impossible not to be proud of him or to feel sorry at his temporary discomfort as he slipped and along the when he had paused for a moment at the comer to throw a last kiss to the baby and wave his hand old mr who stood at his own window opposite nodded his head in sage approval good fellow he grumbled with his plunged deep in his black silk stock comes of a good family and is sharp after his business the the two damp air blew in at the window and the of brown s departure was obliged to turn away and seek his fireside again he would have been perfectly thankful to change places with the young man and go down town to do a stiff day s work as he used twenty years ago brown had turned aside from her window and begun an eager morning s work she had been dreadfully afraid that ben would insist upon staying at home and she felt hard hearted in very truth but when she had up that morning to find it she had resolved to have the books in the library thoroughly cleaned nobody would come in and she would muster the household force and of course attend to ben s private desk and papers herself she was still excited by her narrow escape from complete disappointment but she hoped she had not seemed anything but kind and affectionate in urging her husband that day of au others to go to his office mr john brown had an journey to his place of business he liked the the two bad weather on the whole he had so few things ordinarily to match his youthful energy against and he met two or three companions in misery if one had any right to call these by such a hard name each carried his green bag but brown s friend unconsciously held his in such a way that the shape of a box of cigars was displayed as its only contents s office was farther down the street and brown remembered his promise about the just in time not to pass the office of the paper he would have sent a note to the to do his errand but was very upon his settling the matter in person she had paid for a year in advance and the bill had been rendered again she was most dependent upon this particular publication and seemed anxious to stand well in the s estimation there was only one other man in the office beside the clerk when brown entered this other man stood with his back to the door looking over a file of newspapers and until the small matter was settled in a general and fashion that would have wounded mrs brown he gave no sign of consciousness of brown s presence the two then he laid down the newspapers and approached our friend old boy how are you he inquired affectionately and a little timidly too as if not quite certain of his reception the very name of was sufficient it had been brown s at the school where he had fitted for college anybody who called him had a right to favor after the space of at least a dozen years since those happy days when he had heard it often this had not followed the class to college but he had been a good in his day and a lad of some cleverness and an habit of mind only a few days before who had also been at the school had asked our hero what had become of old they used to call him for the reason that he never had two cents in his pocket he was kept at his studies by some kind and charitable mend who forgot to an extent to supply the minor comforts of life had developed an amazing gift for maintaining himself by an ingenious system of like those savages who have not got so far in civilization as any sort of or strictly financial arrangements the two the old of the past quickly filled brown s heart looked as usual but he would take him to the office and make him a welcome companion that dull morning and by and by they would have a bit of luncheon together after all the day promised weu he had feared a very special lack of entertainment come round to my office said brown warmly i ve nothing in the world to do this morning tell me what you have been about all this time i send for presently he was asking for you a day or two ago we re both in the law lots of time to call our own too he added with a cheerful honesty which his wife would have inwardly lamented and tried to explain was out that day protected by a melancholy fall overcoat and no but he took brown s umbrella and carried it over both	40
their heads with careful as if it were his own he looked as if he were growing old which seemed premature in a man of thirty brown could not help a suspicion that had made himself up for some secret purpose he always used to say the two that he meant to be a and had been considered immensely clever in some boyish plays and however another stolen glance made brown feel certain that this appearance was as himself an unsuccessful an and that the gray hairs which sprinkled his thin straight hair were quite genuine the and of his boyhood had never fulfilled their promise of a robust frame but appeared to have suffered from exposure and neglect like an unfinished building which has had time to let its get rain blackened and look poor but the same spirit and shrewd determination from s eyes and he kept step with his well clothed and well fed acquaintance this was a most fortunate meeting nothing had ever played better into his hands brown was always a good fellow and luck was sure to turn you are n t in the s war cry office as a permanent thing i imagine asked brown with friendly desire to keep up the conversation just as they stepped into the odd that we should have happened to find each other there i never was inside that place b the two no said truth is it looked quiet and secluded and i put into harbor there to dry off a little and get my wits together temporary asylum i was paying that clerk the compliment of looking over his newspapers but i think he was just to suspect that i held them down i had a kind of revenge on him when you came in it looked as if we had an appointment you know and you were always so thundering respectable brown laughed with unaffected pleasure he was not so far from boyhood as a stranger might imagine there was something delightful about s turning up that wet february morning and the most facts about himself with honest sincerity he took the wet thin overcoat and put it away with his own and would have insisted upon his guest s occupying the best chair in the office if he had not promptly taken it without any invitation there was an open wood fire and stretched out a pair of very shabby shoes to dry with an air of comfort and satisfaction he was a a a curious of insignificant things but he never the two had been a or a beggar and there was i golden thread of good humor and through his character brown had taken up a not very ponderous mail that la on his desk two or three bills as and an invitation to make further to the art club he gravely looked these over and put them in an orderly heap at the further edge of the old s shoes were beginning to steam at the toes and his host noticed that they looked about the size of his own shoes at any rate there was an extra pair of in the office closet that could be offered before they went out to luncheon brown felt a glow of spread itself over him as he resolved to dress in comfortable fashion before they parted again you look just as you did when we used to stay up after hours and sit before the fire and tell stories he said to his guest i dare say you could spin as good a midnight as ever you rich fellows see the world from a different angle responded who grew more luxurious every moment now it really makes no difference how long you have to wait the two for practice it s sure to come if only when you begin to settle up the family estates there are half a dozen good round ones and they never would like to choose any one else au those good old of yours if you had been out of school when your father died you would have gone on with at least a third of his business and that was enough for you to handle it is only a question of time and you re rich any way i don t like to see all your first rate abilities out nevertheless i always said there was more good stuff in you in any of the fellows more hold on and push too if you had anything to push and got your energy well roused i should just like to see you in a western railroad office making things spin now a poor dog like me thrown out neck and heels into the water to get to land as best i can by myself why it s a good thing to meet a floating plank to rest a on now and then and he turned to look brown full in the eyes with a plaintive appeal as if he unconsciously identified himself with his figure of speech what have you been doing old boy can t i lend you a hand somehow asked the two the sympathetic host he began to feel that the was driving at something definite and he did not believe that he should make a fool of himself but this was the first time that one of his boyhood friends had turned up looking as if the world had used him badly there ought to be something done about it look here said with an air of secrecy and he held out a of papers which were produced from his breast pocket as if the hand well knew its way to them i dare say the owner remarked proudly that you wouldn t believe that there is an enormous fortune in that small space brown tried to look interested but his showed through it is the thing alive	40
continued have you got ten thousand dollars you could put your hand on the listener nodded slowly to tell the truth he had a little more than that lying idle in the bank because he really did not know how to it the bulk of his property was in the hands of to whom his father had consigned it but this was some money that had been left him by an old the two long ago in his own right he had a vague idea of putting it into a country place some day or other he had a sentiment about keeping it by itself and he wanted a nice old fashioned farm by and by for the present he and his wife spent their with s mother who would else have been alone in her gi eat house at he could say neither yes nor no to such a question or rather such a as this yet a curiosity took possession of him to hear more and saw his advantage now my boy he said pulling his big chair close to brown s side at the desk i helped work this out and i twisted things round so that i have the right in my own hands i simply have n t a cent and i don t know where i can get it unless you give it to me to carry out the thing one step more i need capital he ended and gave another look at brown the situation was growing commonplace brown felt for the first time a little bored and began to wonder how he should get out of it he also noticed that old had those confounded old shoes of his it the two was becoming doubtful if the and the luncheon even would be considered a handsome conclusion to their renewed acquaintance now look here said with a cheerful smile you are thinking how you can ever get rid of me and that you have heard this sort of story before i u tell you the rest of it in fifteen minutes and then you can say that your business claims your time and i disappear like the s rabbit in the hat in the shoes brown mentally corrected him and tried to look resigned and even pleased but he played impatiently his paper knife he felt young and helpless in s hands brown s legal and the traditions of his education had not prevented the love of his profession from being largely an acquired taste he was equal to being a good lawyer by and by but his head was naturally fitted for affairs and if there was one thing that he understood more easily than another it was mechanical did not use his whole fifteen minutes in making sure of this ally the two i do see it do you take me for a blind man exclaimed the listener springing to his feet and marching across to the window where he stood with his back to just as he had looked out at the storm once before that day it is a great temptation but i can t throw up my law prospects my career is cut out for me already but i u give you a lift old hang me if i don t grew calm as his friend became excited nonsense said he i don t want much of your time it s your money i m after you can keep your law business going all the better for you we are likely to have suits but nobody can touch us i don t ask you to decide now think it over and think me over i ve no security to give you but my plan itself do you smoke inquired brown and answered that he did as the story of this day cannot be suffered to grow any longer the reader must be content to know that these former passed a most agreeable morning that they had a capital luncheon together early lest might not have well and that the two accepted the and all other with generous lack of protest or false shame ii a year from the time when he met his old brown was inclined to repent his whole indulgence in affectionate to a he assured himself that it had been an expensive lesson but one that he probably needed a year later brown was triumphant and began to flatter himself that he knew a man and likewise a promising enterprise when he saw them he was doing very well in his law business the family reputation for clearness of legal vision and pleading was new and young j brown was everywhere spoken of as the most promising man of his age at the new york bar hinted that there were of brighter men but that nobody could help picking up some of business with such a father and behind him brown led the company of her husband s admirers and already indulged in dreams of his appearance the two in the gloomy but noble garb of a chief justice he was very busy in these days long ago he had been obliged to take his breakfast at eight o clock instead of half past nine and he was rarely at home until after six o clock at night while it was not uncommon that their seven o clock dinner was considerably delayed watched him with increasing anxiety for fear that he would break himself down with but he never had seemed in such good health and spirits the year before he had been so gloomy and for a few weeks that she was always fearing a return but at present there was no sign of any to outward view the were the most prosperous young people in the city fortune position everything that the social heart desired seemed to be heaped upon them a few voices had begun to figure	40
if there were enough already for every man woman and child in america but knew what he was about brown had thought that were a step too low he was conscious of a shameful wish now and then that he had embarked on any sort of business rather than a patent the pride of the j judges and famous at the bar had more than once in the beginning against such a sordid enterprise but as for john b brown this and of an article that no farmer could do without he felt an increasing pride in his success he had merely made use of a little capital that was lying idle and his own superfluous and energy he believed that his legal affairs had been helped rather than by this side issue of his and he and had fought some amazing fights with the world in the course of their short but successful alliance brown lazily opened a near at hand and looked among the b s it was a new copy and he nearly laughed the two aloud at the discovery that he figured twice on the page brown j lawyer h th st and brown john b b th ave h city here was a general lived in city and one of the clerks must have given wrong information or else the agent had confused what was told him nobody knew where he lived very likely they called him the in the establishment because he dressed well and had a less and manner than it was surprising the way a man could hide himself in such a huge city as this yes he must certainly tell that very night they would have a capital laugh over it and he could her about making a partner instead of the fifth at the bar was very fond of a joke and she had no idea how rich they were going to be if affairs went on at this pace brown had felt very for a long time whenever he saw their in the papers and had been nearly ready to confess and be forgiven once the summer before when he and took a little journey together up the con the two river and had in contemptuous agony over s of natural scenery use brown s electric and save ten years of life was displayed on rocks and fences everywhere himself had used his short summer holiday in leading a gang of into the rural districts and this was the result could a man of ordinary courage confess at such a moment that the name of brown was in reality her own property and that she was unconsciously responsible for such was rushing things this morning he eagerly assured his guest that they had made the pay her own bills after the first six months and had advertised only as fast as they gained the means it was the first application of to farming brown and i had little capital to start with but we knew we had hold of a sure thing i am not sure that there is anything that to it in the world of inventions continued proudly i have been an all my life here you have a light wheeled vehicle that one horse can drag the two all day and an intelligent child can control you only need to and and your ground then the is driven to and fro it stops itself at proper distances a revolving the ground within a space twelve inches in this is drawn up the throws the earth out at one side the lets fall sufficient seed a second arrangement covers it in and a weight falls twice and banks it down the horse steps on between the my dear sir in the time i have consumed in telling you four hills of potatoes are planted as well as if you had done each one separately with your own the average time is only three of a minute a horse soon the trick for the is self acting and stops him in the proper place the only thing that troubled us in the beginning was the complaint of that the horses gave trouble and the hills went all over the field this new improvement makes a field as regular as a board with the that stops the instantly the horse to anticipate and makes his four steps forward and stops of his own accord it is less the two ing for the horse than a or and a is barbarous beside it then think of the heat of planting time and the waste of human energy we are now a and but our present enterprise is more than we can handle with ease you have no doubt read our hear this a ten acre field planted in half a day with some help from a neighbor read for yourself sir i you need to be very careful of the and setting your properly confided honestly is a terrible force there has been one bad accident through such carelessness the arrangement was not set as it should be and the machine went on digging straight down and would have carried the horse with it if the harness had n t been so old that he freed himself and scrambled out of the pit my dear sir this will show you the power of that machine it went down forty feet right through gravel rotten rock and everything until it struck a solid ledge and that stopped it at last the whole neighborhood collected and they got alarmed thought she might be for a or something and they rolled a big the two out of a pasture near by and let it drop right down on the but that only the wood work and partly the running work for she kept tossing up for a day or two the man had n t a word to say for it	40
family he had built up his own business reputation and had grown ambitious about the success of the firm he had determined at first to say nothing even to his wife until he knew whether he had made a fool of himself or not but he was perfectly aware now that he had not made a fool of himself he was plans for giving all their workmen some share in the business and was glad that he had a chance to work out some experiments in the social questions of the day he was ready now to be something of a he was willing to believe that he had got hold of the right thread of the that linked labor with capital his wife knew that he had some business interests apart from his law reports and his practice and none of his friends would be surprised that he had been a little would have got at the whole story and told it too but he had gone abroad months before and his profession altogether for the time being per the two the time had come to choose between the two it would be hard to play both characters if the cares of either should double for instance and he was perhaps fated to be j after all this was a melancholy thought and the old wish returned that his other enterprise had concerned anything but an it might give him a and he never would be able to live the silly story down was sure to project something new and yet he was truly proud of the firm of brown and would not see it cheated next day happened to be alone in the office and his partner beckoned him out into an empty comer of their place of business where they were well removed from the clerks and their scratching pens laughed and shouted and was at first unable to give any answer wants you to bring a suit of against yourself does he he gasped at length go ahead my boy nobody know the difference it will us i have told you a dozen times that nothing would do us so much i the two good as a rousing now don t put on your best j manners but listen to me i m not going to work myself to death we have laid by something handsome already if the old fellow will add to it i am perfectly willing to sell out if you are just to make his last days happy i ve got my head full of new electric notions and i want to go to france and experiment you tell him the whole story he will be glad to get hold of the and i shall be glad to let it go i meant to go summer i u let it all drop we have had a run of luck and luck is apt to turn we re young yet you know j brown so i put this business into your hands you re lawyer for the firm brown turned away mournfully he was convinced more entirely than ever before of the nature of his partner yesterday with his whole soul bent on the success of the to day ready to throw it aside and to wander away and spend all the money he had earned brown mentally resolved that it really was not safe to risk his good name any longer in such keeping but the two that he should insist upon being made of a share of his partner s funds so that might never come to the ground again called him back in great excitement when he was leaving the office a little later look here said he i was going to put this picture into our next as your portrait i was in the patent medicine business once and this was old dr who made the spring i was going to start him again as john b brown the farmer and i think it would have been beneath our dignity responded brown severely what became of your patent medicine business i never heard of that because it fell through said old cheerfully this was the only thing that never did you re a first class business man for a doubtful lawyer but brown laughed and straightened himself proudly as he went toward and his other office which bore the shining brass door plate with his honored name of j brown that evening he confessed all to his wife it was a great shock but she bore it bravely the two she knew little about business but she believed with all her heart in respecting the traditions of one s family though after all one brown had kindly made money for the other of s cl e hi ei ij ut a collection of volumes for home and travel by favorite authors by exile little stories by p a of leisure by the snow image and other twice told tales by watch and ward by henry james in the wilderness by charles a study of by george p by william henry bishop the story of a mine by each volume bound i mo cents co boston and new york e em choice books of american literature printed and bound in a style which aims to preserve the traditions of and and other stories by t b my summer in a garden by charles fireside travels by james the luck of roaring camp and other stories by by william d in two volumes wake by john the papers by j r in two volumes studies by charles other numbers will be announced later each volume uniform i mo a limited supply of the first edition of the above volumes with the exception of no i may also be had in red cloth edges with paper each co boston and new york issues for the summer of i but yet a	40
that for not a cent less than a dollar a day should thb man share the privileges and advantages of his own food and ing two dollars a week being the ear rent rate among john s it will be easily seen that mr was a of f ar enterprise on shore public attention was beginning to centre upon the small white sail that was tbe bay at the landing there was i or folly bo being to be unless om bad enough to the sallow the wife she at the front kitchen window of the few farm house was nearly at the top of a long green the store of which the department wasn small stood nearer the water at the head of the little harbor it was a high narrow painted little building and looked as if it had from some inland but the shed near bj bad evidently been standing for many years and was well acquainted with the fish the looked still we e r be at e n its few and with sea weeds below mark and the stone work was put together there wood of boats and empty bands and broken pots and a little on the shore stood a tar kettle and still a pair k wheels with their thorough drawn tight by ex ly of i tbe or the tide was high and on this sheltered side of the inland the low waves with a quick fresh sound and moved tho pebbles gently on the narrow beach the looked more and more golden red and all the shore was glowing with color the faint tinge of some small oaks among the farther up the island the pale green and of a group of were all with the brilliant contrast of the sea and the shining of uie autumn sky even the green pastures and fields looked as if their had been changed to some richer material like velvet so soft and splendid they looked high on a barren pasture ridge that sheltered the landing on its side the bushes had been brightened with a touch of coming toward john s island one might be reminded of some dull old picture that had been and wet all its colors were suddenly grown so clear and gay almost at the same moment two men ap from different quarters of the and without apparently taking any notice of each other even by way of greeting they seated side hj on a r i i or folly piece of ship timber near the tar pot in a few a third resident of the joined coming over the high and looking for one moment giant like against the sky need n t to aj oo m head wind said one of the first w was a piece o wall that was an i see him all of a meet my woman has been expecting a letter from her brother s folks in i s ye te they was all down with the throat we knew em an she was put about she got no word by the mail lor bow wa n t it just like s to go over in that ou hie with no sail to speak of n t have took him half the b his eat grumbled the elder man of the three thinks he can do as he s a la an we ve got to make the best ef i was i should look t fuel thing for an boat nor any t got ue s nearer year t to the said the don t no but twice tbe of a week anyhow an then he round long s he s a mind to an politics over to the folks may be an there s all kinds o urgent letters that ought to be in owners hands direct need n t think we mean to put up with him and the who never had any letters at all from one year s end to another s looked at both his companions for their assent don t ye so dan el softly responded the last comer a little fish farmer who looked like a and was really the most amiable man on john s island don t ye i don know as come to the scratch one of us would want to make two back an every week the year round for a an twenty dollars take it in them high december seas now an long in an march course he him self an it comes in the way o his business an he a passenger now an then it all counts up i s there s somebody or aboard now said the opponent they may have sent over for our folks from they was on to be dangerous three of folly of folly o the ii and ii i lo go up io dare te sent a letter we got dam thai i i te heard before now of hie looking over everything in the bag over be calls ii to save time but l would n t be no wonder ef a letter st o his fingers now an again there s king george a off ain t im asked the maker who was whit a piece of dry stalk that be had picked np from the pebbles and all three mb took a long look at the gray sail beyond ike a s that one of the group i suppose now s to tempt him to set foot on a island long s he lives do yon bat nobody answered don know who he s but himself ike peace maker i was mj last week an he come by with o fish an to to see what i me and king george s al a s o a by	40
i off to ike banks you know thai time ma ike no an took himself be l oo k h i always give my that he wa n l in his right mind t wa n t all now i went to school with him an he was a clever boy as there was said the man who had hardly spoken before i never more n half blamed him however t was an it kind o mo tliat he ha been drove off an this way twas he thought george was in in his light boot the an he worked folks np an set em him george s mother s folks did have a kind of a spot somewhere in their heads but be never give no sign o anything till begun to hunt him an dare him weu he s done a good thing bo bought folly island i hear say king george is rich said the peaceful t was a hard thing for his folks his wife an the girl i think be s been more his wife died anyway dam i how they most be in i should think they d be a sea would break right over em be hanged i say that drive a man to do such things as them never step foot on any land but own i i tell ye we ve oo ns got rights u tbe or tbe of thb eloquence on the s part and his neighbors stole a look at him and then at other he was an own to king george the owner of island an isolated bit of land miles farther and one of the reflected tliat this relationship be the of his the post boat was nearly in now and the three and went down to the water s edge the sail was and the old slipped about uneasily on the low wares was greeted by friendly shouts from his late but he was with his sail and with his and took his time as least one spectator grumbled about in king george had also lowered his sail and taken to his oars but just as he would hare been alongside the caught up his own oars and pulled toward the landing this proceeding stimulated his to a stem chase and the boats were together but p straight on through the low wares to the strand and his lingered just look in his oars and dropped his the bow he knew perfectly well that the of the govern ment would go and take all lime he could to sort the contents of the in his place of it would even be good luck if lie did not go to first and keep everybody all the while his hailed him from their on the high seas and taken their weekly over the boat s side but it was only in mo of great or that the king of folly island was so kindly served this was tyranny pure and simple but what could be done so was winter cold and so did the dog spoil the even the needed a fearless to lead them to liberty the three men on the strand and king george from the harbor were all watching with curious eyes the stranger who had crossed in s boat he was deeply interested in them also but at that moment such a glow of it broke from the in the west that turned away to look at the strange r landscape that surrounded him he as if he had taken a step backward into t or folly md or it an earlier age these men had the look of or of yet the little showed marks of long he had really got to the outer of now it s too bad o yoa to keep george a the maker he s got a good ways to go way to island an like s not he beans to his too we all ye sooner with this fair wind at the an unintelligible growl this ers passenger was o er to stop a an wants to be he announced presently one of the group on the strand interrupted him he was considered the wag of that neighborhood b en to island stranger he asked with great s the king of it off in his boat george he i want to know ef yon t put up a that wants to these somehow caught the spirit of the occasion and understood that there was a this request folly had an sound and he listened for the answer it was well known by except himself that the entertainment of the public and king george roared back that he would do the best be could on short notice and pulled his boat farther in made ready to transfer his luggage and again with the men on the shore he was not sorry la hare a longer in that sunset light and the hospitality of john s island already represented by these specimens of was not especially was grumbling to himself and turned to go to the store king reminded him innocently of some which he had promised to hare ready and always fearful of one of his few he nodded and went his way it seemed to be a strange combination of dependence and between the men the king followed his with a glance of hatred and turned hie boat and held it so that could step in and back afterward for hie possessions i mr re ad or folly or with mom and a ol of ha e ye pat in the drops the and was bj a nod of the t head bring them before he the island was already setting his small sail the wind had they slid ont el the bay and presently the figures on the shore	40
grew and found himself outward bound on a new toward n low island miles away it seemed to be at distance from any other land the light of the sun was full upon it now he was as far away as he could get from city life and the busy haunts of men he at the curious chain of circumstances that he had followed that day this man looked like a and lived in the of au grow more and more amused with ths novel experiences of the day he had wished for a long time to see for himself a week at mount had served to make him very of the society d that re i watering place so with the native simplicity and quiet there was a serious look to tlie dark forests and bleak rocks that seemed to have been broken into fragments by some of nature and scattered in islands and along the coast a strange population clung to these isolated bits of the world and it was reward ing to s sincere interest in such existence that he should now be brought face to face with it the boat sailed steadily a colder air like the very breath of the great sea met the presently two or three light house lamps flashed out their first pale rays like stars and evening had begun yet there was still a soft glow of color over the low the western sky was slow to fade and the islands looked soft and like in the growing gloom found himself drifting away into as if he were listening to there in the motion of the boat as for the king he took no of his passenger but with an oar and tended the sheet and a few notes occasionally of some quaint minor must have been singing itself to or roll r to own the stranger from hit before long and with delight that the man before him had a interesting face a forehead and commanding there was truly an air of distinction and dignity this king of folly island an uncommon and independence he was tlie son and of the old who had sailed that stormy coast and its and its fire hundred years before was bom in italy or was beggar to the surly lords aad gentlemen of spain the silence was growing strange and pro between the new made host aad guest and asked some question about the distance the king turned to look at him with surprise as if he had forgotten his companionship the seemed to him pleasure and he answered in a good dear with a true s and we re n half there be you cold and to a stray shiver now md which seemed to a more friendly b the boat s as tho the off ue i h or tl i own rough coat and wrapped it about the shoulders of the paler city man then he stepped forward along the boat after handing the oar to his companion and busied himself with a ro ie with the that he had bought from one would hate thought he had freed from his coat merely as a matter of con and who was not a little touched by the kindness paid his new complete deference george was evidently a man whom one must be very careful about thanking however and there was another time of silence i hope my coming will not make any trouble in your family ventured the stranger after a little while bless ye no r replied the host s only my daughter and nothing would please lier better somebody extra to do for s dreadful for a that s bed to live alone on a far island is t ain t every one i d pick to carry home though said the king has been my plan to keep dear o much as could be i had my fill o the john a good ago r si of to get ob with asked the lie the new tone which hb i get on with em ef t was while responded the a ii i i did n t see why there was any o being and all my days by a pack o like them they d hunt ye to death if ye was their master and i got me a o as far off from em as i buy and here i i ain t stepped foot on any man s land but my own these twenty six years ef anybody wants to deal with he must to the water edge the speaker s trembled with excite lent and was conscious of a strange sympathy and but why did n t you go ashore and the main out of the way of such neighbors altogether he asked and was met by a wondering look i did n t belong there replied the king as if the idea had never occurred to him before i had my living to get it took me than twelve years to finish paying for island besides what hard money i laid some years the fish is mighty shy or i i always had an eye to the island i was a boy and wo ve been better off here as i view it i was some sorry my woman should be so fur from folks when she was down with her last sickness the sail was lowered suddenly and the boat rose and fell on the long waves near the of a which pulled over tlie bows slipping the long line by with its hooks until he came to a small which he throw l him to and beat itself about at s foot as if imploring him not to cat it for his supper then sail was a pin and toward folly island slowly with a failing the king his feet and even	40
would n t go me he answered in a choked an my is my vow i shall never set foot on another man s land while i m alive the day had been so and folly island had appeared to be such a calm not to say place that its visitor was already forgetting tbe thrill of in with which be had first heard its name here again however was the unmistakable tragic element in the life of the inhabitants this man who should be armed and defended by his common sense was made weak by some prejudice or superstition what could have him in this strange way for indeed the people of most were prone to herd together to follow each other s lead to need a no matter how much they might rebel at bis example or demands this city gentleman was moved by a deep curiosity to know for himself the laws and of hb new found acquaintance s be had never felt a i tbe kin a or ill a day s with being society would be at a ll be witb apparent lightness if each of us found liis neighbors strike out for himself as you hare done the king of folly island a shrewd look at his was still watching fleet then he blushed like a girl through all the color of his cheeks look out for number one or else number two s got to look out for you he said witb uncertainty in the tone of his voice yes answered smiling i bare repeated that to myself a great many the truth is i don t to my neighbors any more than you da i expect that you hare got a better nor me ef i had only been started anon st christians now i with fury at the thought of his nature is the same the world the guest quietly as if more to than his listener i dare say thai is apt to be our own but there m to or bad risen from the couch of pins and tlie two men walked toward the house together the cares of modem life could not weigh too heavily on such a day the sea the white sails or gray and dark green of the nearer islands made a brilliant picture and the younger man was with himself for thinking the of small craft a to the financial which were day after day in city life wh it a question of chance it after all for either or dollars ome of these boats were sure to go disappointed or worse at but at point he shrugged his shoulders angrily he could not forget some still of his own di a man became who chose to be only a i the t of uie chase for and the power of it suddenly seemed a very trivial and to who anew that he bad no purpose in his gains you ain t a married live a life don t ye asked uie king as if in recognition of and a little startled nodded assent v s or roll t tbe or makes i a sight easier was the unexpected response yon t feel as if jou night be folks when jou do what suits best now mj woman was her weight in gold an she lays there in the little yard over in the comer of tlie field fought me nor the p int again after she found i was but it aged her of her away from all her folks an out of where was i n t foresee it at the time there was something r and in the exile s appearance as he spoke and bis listener bad almost an admiration for heroism until he reminded himself that this from society had been and so far as he knew quite selfish it could not be said that bad stood in om k t and place as a brave man be had left john s island as the fathers left england for conscientious and a necessary freedom how ly since those have made plea for liberty what was your object ia bare asked quietly as if be bad no reason yet that satisfied him i wanted to be by myself and the if l f king rallied his powers of eloquence to make excuses i wa n t one tliat could stand them folks that overlooked an me an was too mean to live they could go their way an i mine i would n t harm em but i wanted none of em here you see i get my own i raise my own an the women folks have more than tliey want an i keep a few sheep a over the other o the place the fish o the sea is had for the an i owe no man anything i should ha b en if i d stopped where we come from and he turned with an air of triumph to look at who glanced at him in return with an air of interest i see that you depend upon the larger islands for some supplies cough drops for instance said the stranger with needless i cannot help feeling that you would have done better to choose a exposed island one nearer the main land you know in a place better sheltered from he winds they do cut us in two said the king meekly and his face fell felt quite of himself but be was already of an feeling or roll t indeed this ma of folly this man who felt to bo better than hu the of his family be op riches and who gather them not the poor pale that was certain in this moment they passed the comer of the	40
house and herself standing on the watching some distant point of the sea or sky with a much battered spy she looked pleased as she lowered the glass for a moment and greeted with a silent welcome oh so tis now i forgot twas this afternoon said she s a the funeral ain t you daughter old over wall that has been sick all summer a cousin o my mother s he confessed in a lower tone aad away with feigned as took the spy glass which offered he was sure that his hostess had been wishing that she share in the family gathering was it possible thai was a tyrant and bad n tor this grown woman e his chosen isle he forgot the affairs of the or st p next moment as he caught sight of the strange procession he could see the coffin with its black pall in a boat rowed by four men who bad pushed out a little way from shore and other boats near it from the low gray house near the r came a little group of women stepping down across the rough beach and getting into their then all fell into a rude sort of the boat going first and the went away across the wide bay toward the main land he k the for an and for it eagerly they were just bringing out the coffin before you came she said with a little sigh and had seen many page and himself for stolen so much of this rare pleasure from his hostess he still see the funeral though it was only a far away line of boats there was a strange awe and in watching them follow single steady course s folks bury to the the king of folly but his guest had taken a little book from his pocket and seated himself on a rock thai made one boundary of the gay or i bland it and at i of the and be was too warm r bit walk across the pastures was sunshine for tbat time of year and bis holiday began to grow doll w be after all good for nothing but mj making the thought fairly haunted i be bad lost bis power of enjoyment i there might be no remedy bad disappeared the fuel was a dim speck off there where the on the water yet be saw it still i bis book closed over his fingers sat on the door step knitting now b the old glass laid by her side ready for k at her presently with will yon let me see your book she d with a child s eagerness and be gave it is an old of s poems be said it to her name was the same as she it with the o said with interest in this and examining tlie what a hand she wrote i is it a book you if f ml or i d i like it best because it was hers i am afraid replied honestly yes it does one ood to read such x but i find it to read anything in these days my business fills my mind you know so little here on your island of the way the great world beyond and fights and i sup are some pleasant folks said simply i used to like to read but i found it made me i used to i could go ashore and do all the that folks in books did but i don t care now i would n t go away from the inland for anything no said kindly i would n t if i were you go on dreaming about the world that is better and it does people good to come here and see you so comfortable and contented be added with a tenderness in his voice that was quite foreign to it of late years but gave one quick look at the far her thin cheeks grew very rosy and she k down again at her knitting presently she went into the house at tea the guest was surprised to find the out for a or r with i om from bout in his own of honor looked gay and and at the as well as the master of the when thej came to take their yon toe yon found me to unexpected the poor m e e i did n t want yon to think that we bad forgotten how to treat folks and somehow the man whose was so com and could hardly keep hack his tears while after the supper was cleared away he was shown a little of a meeting house and all which had made from card board aad with small shells a winter or two before he brought it to him with a sense of its art and said that could be said except it was beautiful lie even begged to bo told how it was done and they sat by the light together and discussed the poor toy while the king of folly island and again with renewed as be contemplated his s enjoy but she r often poor and the wondered if the king or master s supply of wore equal to pitiful would bo hero soon i day after day in the bright lingered with his new friends spending a morning now and then in fishing with his host and coming into closer contact with the of that part of the world before the short visit was over the was aware that he had been very tired and out of sorts when yielded to the de to hide away from drifted some was beyond himself into this quiet haven he felt stronger and in much better spirits and remembered afterward tliat he had been as merry as a boy on folly island in the	40
long evenings when was busy with knitting work and her father told long and spirited stories of his early experiences along the coast and among the business cares began to fret this and as suddenly as ho ho went away again on a misty morning thai promised rain he was very sorry when he said good by to she was crying as be left and a great wave of tbe of poured itself e he should see her again that was certain be that he spirit away to climate and half his thought as he stood hesitating thai last on the little beach the next he was in the boat and pushing out from shore george looked aa and ruddy and weather beaten as his daughter and like some frost bitten flower that tries to lift itself when morning comes and it feels the of the sun the tough witli his pet doctrines and angry could hare no idea of the loneliness of his wife and daughter all these years on his folly island and yet how much tliey had been saved of useless and of petty tyranny from narrow souls i had a bitter of all as he leaned back against the side of the boat and slowly out into the bay while seemed to retreat into tlie fog and slowly disappear his thoughts flew before him to his office to his clerks and accounts he thought of his wealth which buying him nothing of ue friends who were no friends al all for tbe k or i ho had away some who might have been near strangely impatient of familiarity and on the against mockery or he was tlie true king of folly not this work worn be had been a and a more selfish man these many years george was watching eagerly as if he hail been waiting for this chance to s to him alone you seem to a kind of solitary ho c with his customary frankness i expect it never your thought that t would be to married yes i thought about it once some years ago answered seriously was you well twas better soon nor late if it to be tlie sage my mind has been on s case was a master on an i was dreadful set against of her go though i call to mind there was a likely chap as found her out an made to hind an try to court her i drove him i tell you an him under when i caught him afterward out a an he took the hint did n t know what or wm to pay i mj liked to him no r he was very apt to be silent you expected him to and presently the king resumed i te been thinking that ought to sort o up she pines for her mother they was a sight o company for each other now i s pose you t take no sort o fancy for her in o time i to got more hard cash away folks expects an you should your own way i a cousin o mine a widow woman to keep the house an you an the need n t only summer here i take it e got some means found himself smiling at this pathetic appeal and was ashamed of himself directly and turned to i m afraid i n t think of it be answered suppose lor no said george sadly his she ain t gift no sign that i be r see her take to no as she has to you i thought you might an i or you thought the island was a place t would do no harm to speak they were on their way to john s island where was to take uie s boat to the main land found his fog bound way by some mysterious instinct and at journey s ends the friends parted with little show of or emotion yet there was much expression in s grasp of his hand thought and both men turned more once as the boats separated to give a kindly glance backward people are not brought together in this world for nothing and r had no idea of tlie confusion tliat his theories and his manner of life had brought into tlie well affairs of john was of curiosity about the visit but he little satisfaction was the on these b some ten years ago be proclaimed an a bom lady her mother s folks was ministers over to the winter was gone when ed a letter in a yellow envelope ess li k e in iti appearance of r the king or folly i of wrote to say that had been hoping to get strength enough to thank him for the generous box which had sent he had both his imagination and memory to supply the minor wants and fancies of the dot was steadily failing in health and the cousin had already been summoned to take care of her and to manage the keeping the king wrote a hand as if he had used a fish hook instead of a pen and he told the truth about his sad affairs with simple only sent a message of thanks and an assurance that she liked to think of s being in the fall be would soon send him a small one morning opened a which lay upon his desk and found this sake the shell meeting house which looked sadly trivial and astray he entirely confused by its unexpected he did not to meet the eyes of an office boy who stood near was an uncomfortable feeling in his throat but m a letter from the and read it slowly without a understanding of the words dear friend poor i was very for all that you sent in the box i take such	40
pleasure in the things i find it hard to write but i think about you every day his best ts we have had rough and he stays right with me you must keep your promise and come back to the island will bo and you one that takes father just right it seems as if i had n t l any use in the world but it mo laying hero to what a sight of use you must be and so good by a vision of the poor girl came before his eyes as he saw her stand on the door step the day watched the boat funeral she had worn a dress with a quaint pattern like gray and willow leaves as one sees them fallen by the country a vision of her thin stooping shoulders and her simple pleasant look touched him with real sorrow much use in the world i alas alas t how her affection made her fancy such a thing i the day was stormy and turned anxiously to look out of the window beside him as he thought how the or t blow tho distant bay he felt a desire to sweep away tbat might poor or make her less comfortable yet she must die at any rate before the summer came the king of island reign only bis sheep pastures and the trees and pines much use in the world i the words stung um more and more the boy still stood waiting and sow became unhappily conscious of his presence i used to see one o them bell works where i come from up in the the boy said with unexpected forbearance and sympathy but dismissed him with a needless question about the price of certain railroad bonds and dropped the embarrassing gift the poor little meeting into a deep lower drawer of his desk he had hardly thought of the lad before except as a willing half errand now he was suddenly of the hopeful bright young face al thai moment a whole new future of spread out before his eyes a had suddenly been and felt like another man er as if there had been a of his rat jt or old self occupied nature was there really such a thing as taking part in the warfare against ignorance and had given him in some mysterious way a of all her u n ea li e fled hopes and dreams of i l ike morning there had been m in f temptation to take an door and in the afternoon the power of a ray on the long of a high hill was mind yet there seemed to be no r reason why i should think of it i that i wanted anything from and there was no sign that the pasture wanted but i was on the farther side any as three fences before stopped ik again where i was and why ve ia bo use in trying to toll another i about that afternoon ho dis remembers weather exactly like it of details concerning an will give a sin s to if tke w of or perfect new en days in summer when the spirit of autumn takes a stealthy flight like a spy h the country and with feigned for those who with august heat her cool cloak of air about leaf and flower and human thing grows suddenly cheerful and strong it is only when you sight of a horror stricken little in toil a little that has second sight and of disaster to her only then does a distrust of a s dim your joyful there is always a day when cm has the first of spring in august there is a morning when the air is for the first autumn like perhaps it is a to the to get in their supplies for the winter or a that summer will soon end and everybody had better make the most of it we are hm king forward to the and of winter but when summer is here it as if summer must always last as i across tke that day i found myself half thai the of b that tha of her and n was a for another ig time for an awakening beyond the winter sleep le ton was veiled there was a group of birds which had a about their mi yet enough i heard the t of a and presently rise from the grass and while he sang a brief tune he was behind time if he were still a house it bat as for the other birds who lis thej cared only for their own notes lid crow went by and gave a i at his despised neighbor just as a at so hard it be to s the ink was indeed singing out of season it was impossible to say whether he belonged most to this summer or to nt he might hare been delayed on journey at any rate he had i heart now to judge from his song wished that could ask him a few ms how he liked being the last the an a ve of s presently i left the lower fields and took a path that led where i could look beyond the to the country mountain ward here uie sweet grew thick and fragrant and i al found myself treading on penny royal near by in a field comer i long ago made a most comfortable seat by putting a stray piece of board and bit of rail across the angle of the fences i hare spent many a delightful hour there in the shade and shelter of a young pitch pine and a wild cherry tree with a outlook toward the village just far enough away beyond the green slopes and tall of the lower meadows but day i still had the feeling	40
of being outward bound and did not turn aside nor linger the high pasture land grew more and more i stopped to pick some that at me like beads among their dry vines and two or three yellow birds fluttered up from the leaves of a and then came back again as if they had complacently discovered that i was only an overgrown yellow bird in strange disguise but perfectly harmless they made me feel as if i were an though they did not offer to i tbe of al me and we it was good to at last on the great of the hill the wind was in from the there a fine fragrance from the pines and the air grew sweeter moment i took new pleasure in the thought that in a piece of wild pasture land like this one may get to nature aad upon what she of her own free will hare been no to the soil aad h yielding artificial here one has to take just what nature is pleased to whether one is a yellow or a human being it is good entertainment for a summer and i am my reader now to the winter pro i that day let us hope that the small birds are also well after their but i them an while the snow goes in wares across the buried fields hue windy winter night i went farther down the hill and a drink of fresh cool water from the brook and pulled a tender of sweet g it the old fence just b was the barrier between me aad tbe of the pasture which had sent an invisible messenger earlier in the day but i tiiat somebody else had come first to tlie there was a brown ca and a shawl up and down a little way off among the i had taken such uncommon pleasure in being alone that i instantly felt a sense of then a warm glow of pleasant satisfaction my selfishness tliis could be no one but dear old mrs tlie friend of my childhood and fond dependence of my years i had not seen her for many weeks but here she was out on one of her famous for or perhaps just returning from a expedition i approached with care so as not to the net but she heard the rustle of the against my dress and looked up quickly as she knelt bending uie turf in that position she was hardly taller than the i m a in my she said briskly an i ye been thinking o yoa these twenty times since i come out o the house i begun to most forgot me at last of i from home i explained why t in your too a great plantation of it beyond the next fence but one i repeated the dear little old woman with an air of compassion for inferior knowledge t ain t the right time s too rank now but this day is prime te got a dreadful fit for em this year seems if i must to need em i feel like the must when they know a hard s and mrs bent her work again while i stood by and watched her carefully cut the best f grown with a clumsy pair of which mi t have through at least half a century of they were fastened to her apron strings by a long piece of list m going to take my jack knife and help you i suggested with some fear of i just passed a flourishing family ef six or seven heads that must hare been on purpose for you now be dear heart was the response em well s odds b same s there is in tbe of angels take a plant that s all run up to stalk and there ain t but little goodness in the leaves this one i m at now must ha been stepped on by some and of its bloom and the is ban some i when i was small i used to hare a notion that adam an eve must a took fer their winter wear ain t they just like flannel for all the had and i know there s plenty of sickness might be saved to folks if they d quit horse and such ry things and use iu pro season now i shall these an dry em nice on my spare floor in the an come to steam em for use along in the winter there be the of the whole summer s goodness in em and she away with the while i listened respectfully and took great pains to hare my part of the present a good appearance this is most too dry a head she added presently a little out of breath there i can tell you there s win rows o doctors with book thai is truly ignorant of what to do for the sick or how to p int out those paths that well r or book fools i men an on em to know much better if b in my time every woman who bad brought np a lad proper ideas o with its i won t say but there was some but i d rather take my es s they d and with patent stuff now my did sense the use of and see anybody that up she was a meek woman mother was i that s where you learned so much mrs i ventured to say your heart i don t hold a candle i is but little i can recall of what to say no her died with i my friend m a self was as many as twenty roots alone that she used to keep bat i forget the use of an i m t know where to find the n any there was an it	40
an called master she used to get way from she used to think e r of of but i never could seem to get the right from it as she could i don t know as she really did use where else would n t a served she bad a cousin married out in that used to take pains to get it to her every year or two and so she felt t was important to have it some set more by such things as come from a distance but i mother always used to maintain that folks was meant to be with the staff that grew right about em t was an so ordered that was before the whole took to on wheels the way they do now twas never my that we was meant to know what s goin on all over the to once there s goin to be some sort oc a one o these with these an things an hand s and folks their proper work to answer em i may not live to see it twas allowed to be difficult for folks to about in old times or to word the and they stood in their an place and n t all just alike either we kneeling by side i ff of mm for of hot m we turned to at think it did good when j a cracked of asked walking on a new always lifted my against far s i declared mrs od d i won t deal out none o the or no such nonsense there was along our road i call no where you could n t go into the mn without a mess o on the store or side o the or summer sick or well one one would be like as not yellow dock but used to put in a little new rum to le goodness or keep it from m favored me with a knowing land how mother used to laugh i r creature they had to work hard it never done em a o was all good i wish you ar the there used to ba y was with a real case o everybody would i from tbe or i far an near you d see em coming along the road and across the pastures then everybody that would n t do no kind o good bat her o or to the feet i wonder there was a babe lived to grow up in tlie whole part o the town an if else to ail em was passed about that t was likely mis so so s young one was goin to he foolish land how they d gather i i know one day the come to s and the house was crammed so t he could inside the door and he says just as polite do send for some of the as if a to turn lo right or left you d ought to seen em begin to scatter but don t you think tile cars and have given people to interest them mrs don t you believe people s lives then and more taken up with i asked being a product of modem met cm dear my com p an k m to there was as big thoughts then as b now these times was bom o them the difference is b folks but n w o their own or a own wm carried to thai a i is the i o and thej drop i and on their and in the cart a bad sign out their best faster their lay ones the other has got to look after an besides that gone out o fashion some lays king an some another but some o tliat folks are all a a k t o stuff that wa n t t t wa n t the o god old testament or new but went to and heard it and le and was set to with door neighbor oyer it now i m and i try to live a christian life soon hear a s book read i an all as try to get simple i most sermons lt s them as is was the matter that day at widow hastened to ask for i knew by that the good clear soul was apt to grow and of bi tf r distressed when she contemplated the of religious teaching why wa n t the matter only a o miss s had met with a dis and had gone into t was a that had along time and he d gone off an her two days nobody know what become of him them was good lord anybody i kind o and took up with they could get one of em married the they in that little house that was burnt this summer on the edge o the plains he was a good hearted creator with a eye and a word for he was the first that came this way and we was all for a look at him when he first used to go by mother s folks was what they call scotch irish though there was an old race of em settled about hero they could some on em and had the second sight i know folks to say mother s grandmother had them gifts but mother was never free to speak t it to ua she remembered her well too i suppose that you mean old jim who was a i asked or i for i am always sore about thai hero that be must bare i dear heart i suppose you don t you replied mrs fiddle i he d about break i with them tunes of his or else set i flying up the floor in a though sinister o the first parish and all for	40
a funeral prayer i tell ye t no tunes sounds like them used ed to seem to summer nights along the plains road i by the window as if there human in that old o his he could make it sound i woman s as if folks could help her out rows if she could only em l i te set by the stone wall and f my heart was broke and dear in them days how he would hem and dance tunes i he han some out of em winter at and but he was by ke got along in years r h was to be f r of body fell bad when he died you could a l help the creator he d got the that s all you could say about it there was a mis that by the brook bridge on the plains road thai had lost her husband early and was left with three child n she set the world by em and was a real ambitious wo man and was oo as best she could with thai little farm when there come a rage o scarlet and her boy and two was swept off and laid dead within the same week o the neighbors did what they could but d bad no sleep since they was taken sick and after the funeral she set there just like a piece o marble and would only her head when you spoke to her they all thought her reason would go and t would certain if she could n l shed tears an one o the neighbors i was like mother s sense it might been some body spoke o jim an one or o the women thai knew her house with her in the edge o the woods and some of us younger over by the wall on the other side of the road where there was a ef old i remember damp fall and we kept and other folks a the and oo bridge d and they d t up and felt a good deal do know by an by jim n right out o the an m an t waa a good while beard a then oh dear me i the whole neighborhood felt for r all in the an that a face i a minute and right it into my mother a lap waa an laid her head down into a ter awhile one o the other women i told the and we all went only played that one tone here i during which my hia wife the made her peered to o poor r d once got him often the way i with i had no guilty in s r of t t my mind at the moment and we went ing off not far up through the me that we not get ao far off that we could not get back tlie day the began to feel tory hot on oar and we both turned toward t we had a large bundle of which were carefully laid into a apron held together by the four comers and proudly carried by me though my ion regarded them with we down together at the edge of the pine and proceeded to fan with her limp cape bonnet the wind a all gone again it felt ao that i with aa thick a aa any i te got i m t of having a chill now that i ain t ao young aa once i hate to be up it a after all i her my by taking two out of my and them by on the brown pine between ua the ou time in f d i af ted jt tbe of perfectly and happy yoa te heard of aa if a great deal depended upon hu being properly introduced i remember said i tbey called him you know and lie used to go about with a witch to show people where to dig that s the one said mrs i did n t know s you could go mo far back i m always between whether yon can remember everything i or are only a babe in arms i hare a dim recollection of there being something strange about their marriage i suggested after a pause which began to appear dangerous i was so much afraid the would be changed i can tell you all about it i was answered was pious to his lights in his early years he lived way back in the country then and there come a preacher along and set up that way all by the ears i to heard the old talk it over but i forget most of his doctrine except some of his followers was they dwell among the an of i tl while yet on and this os you call felt sure he was called by tlie voice of a so ho a good wife lie had an four children and built him a new over to the other side of tlie land he d had from his they did nt take much pains with the because they ex to be translated before long and the spirit and them folks was goin to appear and divide up the amongst cm and the worlds folks and on was to serve em or be sent to tliey hail about in school houses an all sorts o on some on em went but the on to what wits l e liad an by an by tke spirit bride did n t turn out to be much of a an he had always been used to good so he home ag ia one o mother s sisters married up to ash hill where it all took thai s bow i to	40
have the particulars then how did he to find his i inquired do tell me whole story ve got leaves there all s al if i if ts tbe of replied mn the way he come o was this the went a o him there was a spell he lived to and then his poor wife and he had a spirit bride in good earnest an the child n was placed about with his folks and hers for they was both out o good families and i don t know what come but he had another pious fit that looked for all the world like the real thing he had n t no family cares and he lived with his brother s folks and turned his land in with theirs he used to travel to every an that was reach of his old s feeble legs he joined the christian that was just in their early prime and he was a great and got to be called though i guess he wa n t con less it was for a spare hand when timber was n usual an one time there was a four days protracted to the church in tlie lower part of the town t was a real solemn time more n usual was goin forward an they collected from the whole country round women folks liked it an the men too h give em a change an they was ti of t round free same as conference folks now some on em for a joke sent brim up to s though she d p ive out she could n t accommodate nobody because of ex her cousin s folks everybody knew t was a lie she was dose she had plenty to do with there was a streak that wa b t just ri ht in s i always thought she was very kind in case o sickness i say that for her you know where the house is over there on what they windy there the wont and o s of him she put in her own and come back together to she was prominent among the herself an he and talked and she and talked an took up more n the time allotted in the exercises just as if they was off to each other what thej was able to do at everybody was at em after the broke up and that next day an the next an all through they was and seemed to be a beautiful had always give out she the men but when she got a at a particular cm of twas altogether and the to please or and there i you don t want to listen to this old stuff that s past an gone oh yes i do said i i run on like a clock that s her striking hand said mrs mildly sometimes my goes on half the and i says to myself the day before i would let it be a and keep it in mind for a check on my own speech tlie next rs that was b rd was that the an well opinions differed which of em had s first but them fools settled it the protracted was and away hearts before he started for home they considered t would be wise though their short acquaintance to take one another on trial a spell t was s notion and she asked him why he would n t and stop with her till spring and then if they both continued to like they married any time t was she and talked it with mother and mother disliked to offend her but she spoke pretty plain and felt an thought they was il the of so much from hasty and folks to a sense of each other s when t was too so one day our folks saw full a by with a t of in the back o his wagon and bundles o stuff tied on top and to tlie underneath and he a hymn just as be passed the house and was the old with a twas most thank time an sooner n ex l him new s was the time she set but be thought ho d better come while the roads was it for wheels they was out to together day an tliat used to be a t season for o the young folks other and some on em ventured to speak to the as come down the aisle carried it off real well she wa n t afraid o what nobody said or thought and so home tliey went they d got out her and her she would ride after the s poor old and i it long o the winter from up yes said mrs emphatically after we had silently considered the for a short space of time there tbe of was considerable talk now i tell i the boys cm just about to death for a while tliey used to collect up there au rap on the and they d turn out all the s long at nine o clock o night and chase all the an one night they the pig right out o the and it into tiie back entry an run for their they d stuffed its mouth full o so it could n t till it got there there wa n t a sign o nobody to be seen when out with the light and she an the had to persuade the back as best they could t was a cold night and they said it took em till towards you see the was just the kind of a man that a would n t for it takes a man to deal with a well there was no end to uie works nor the talk but left em pretty alone she kind of dignified	40
would be the best time for such a journey if the need not be so spent in rooms with lamps for company this was early summer and i had long days in which to amuse myself for a book i took a small copy of the mental journey after i left my own neighborhood i was looked at with curious eyes i was now and then recognized witli surprise but oftener with suspicion as if i a criminal escaping from justice the of the two country at which i rested questioned me outright until i a re account of myself through the middle of the day i let the horse stand in the shade by the roadside while i sat near leaning against the broad trunk of a tree and ate a bit of luncheon or or read my book or strolled away up the shore of a brook or to the top of a hill on a the landscape the third or fourth day i left my faithful companion so long that he grow restless and at last fearful as will the silence and strangeness of the place and my disappearance l him i returned i found that the poor had twisted a forward shoe so badly that i could neither pull it off altogether nor again was to do but to lead him slowly to some i could get assistance so on went the saddle and away we together sadly along the dusty road the horse looked at me with anxious eyes and was made by the difficulty of the projecting shoe i should hare provided myself with some he seemed to tell me the foot was aching from the blows i had it with a rough stone in trying to draw the nails it was all my fault left him in such a desolate place fastened to a tree that grow against a ledge of rock we both a little sulky at this so early in the expedition the sea was near and the salt penetrated deep into the country like abandoned beds of winding inland among the pine woods and pastures the toe landscape higher land separated these like a of low and the road climbed and from one low to another there bad been no houses for some distance behind us i knew that there was a village with a good a few miles ahead so far indeed i had planned to reach it at i began to feel tired and the horse tossed his head more and more impatiently my anxious dragging hold upon the rein dose at his mouth there was nobody to be seen the hills the of seemed and i determined at to wait until some appeared who could give us assistance perhaps the blacksmith might be out that afternoon we halted by some pasture bars in the shade of an old apple tree and i threw the bridle over a leaning post m the unsteady fence and there the horse and i waited and looked at each other reproachfully it was some time before i discovered a large rusty nail lying in the short grass within reach of my hand my pocket knife was already broken because i had tried to ae it for a and this was just wliat i needed i caught up the again and with the tough nails their hold at last and the bent shoe dropped with a the horse gave a of evident relief and seemed to respect again and i was ready to mount at once in an instant life lost its aspect keep your feet out of now i i said joyfully with a friendly stroke of the good creature s neck and tangled mane and a moment afterward we were back ia the stony road alas the foot had been strained and our long halt had only it i was mounted on three feet not four nothing was to be done but to go forward step by step to the far away village or to any friendly shelter this side of it the afternoon was sometimes i rode i walked those three of marsh and hill seemed interminable at last i saw the chimneys of a house the horse raised his head high and loud and long these were moat being high and square they evidently b longed to a comfortable house of the last century and my spirits rose again the toe landscape wm still abandoned by beings i had seen no one since noon the road was little and was undoubtedly no longer the main highway of that region i wondered what impression i should make in a guise the saddle and its well stuffed and my own amused me unexpectedly and i understood for the first time that the rest and change of this solitary had done me much good i was no longer and but ready for of any sort it had been a most sensible thing to go wandering alone through the country but now the horse s ankle was swollen i grew anxious again and looked at the chimneys with relief presently i in sight of the house il was for the first gave an impression of and neglect the bam and straggling row of out buildings were leaning this way and that and the blinds of the once handsome were broken and everything gave of decline from and to and ruin a good mansion i thought abandoned by its former owners and ten now by some of society who ask but meagre comfort and are indifferent to the of life full of uncertainty i went along the approach to the bam noticing however with surprise tliat the front yard had been carefully tended there were some dark crimson in bloom and broken lines of box which had been carefully at no remote nobody was in sight i went to the door and gave a knock with my whip al arm s length for	40
the horse was eager to the hungry stable some time elapsed before my repeated summons were answered then the door opened and a woman just this side of middle age stood before me waiting to hear my errand she had a pathetic look as if she were by circumstances to deny all however her own impulses might lead her toward generosity i was instantly drawn toward her in warm sympathy the blooming garden was hers she was very poor i would plead my real fatigue and ask for a s lodging and ie my holiday might also give her pleasure but a curious hardness drew her face into forbidding angles even as her sweet and wo tbe chamber manly eyes watched me with be sorry to take the horse any farther to y said i after stating my appealing case i will give you as little trouble as possible at this moment the haggard face of an elderly man peered at me over her shoulder we don t keep tavern young lady he announced in an unexpectedly musical low but since your horse is i am ready to pay any price you ask i interrupted impatiently and he gave me an eager look and then came to the outer step both his daughter and me as he touched the horse with real tis a pretty creature he said and at stooped stiffly down to examine the lifted foot i explained the accident in detail grateful for such intelligent sympathy while he the ankle there s no damage done he assured me presently looking up with transient a common will do there s a bottle in the house but t will cost you something and his face clouded again i turned to the daughter who gave a tbe landscape t strange appealing look her begged me give him hit own way firm set mouth signified her assent to the idea that i had no right to demand do what you think best i said at own price i shall be very grateful to you and come to this understanding the father and i the while the daughter stood watching us the old man led the horse across the green to a weather beaten stable talking to him in a low tone the creature responded by unusual i even saw him though usually so suspicious and with strangers put his head close to liis leader s shoulder with most affectionate impulse i gathered up my my as somebody had called them after s fashion in the morning and entered the door ii along the by ways and in the elder villages of new england stand many houses like this from which life and vigor have long been until all instincts of seem to have departed the tbe fears of increasing damage from or or falling plaster no longer alarm as age through the human frame the pleasures of enthusiasm and one bj one so it is with a house the old s shrewd eyes alone seemed to his surroundings what sorrow or misfortune had made him accept them i wondered as i stared about the once elegant room nothing new had been brought to it for years the leather bound books in the secretary might hare belonged to his grandfather the was and deeply worn the faded paper on the walls and the paint looked as old as ho the of could nowhere be much than here but the exquisite and order of the place made one the thought of in its common as for all its and were absent i sat down in a straight backed mahogany chair feeling much and not without gratitude for this unexpected episode the hostess left alone i was glad to have the long day a lit tie and to find myself in thb lonely i was pleased by the thought tbe i r t i that the price of my food and lodging would be welcome and i grew more and more eager to know the history of my new friends i hare never been of a more intense desire to make myself harmonious or to win some degree of confidence and when the silence of the sitting room grew tiresome i went out to the stable whence my host had not returned ami was quite reconciled at finding that i was looked upon by him at least merely as an to my four footed companion the old man regarded me with indifference and went on patiently rubbing the horse s foot i was silent after having offered to take his place and being contemptuously refused his clothes were curiously old and worn patched and an of the r of them was not unlike the dusty gray of there was unusual delicacy and refinement in his hands and feet and i was sure from the first glance at my new friends and the first sound of their voices tliat they had inherited gentle blood though such an inheritance had come through more than one generation to whom had been sternly denied any approach to of mi mi ty or i hare often in the b who once ruled now sternly and well and while they ie men and women of without authority and of hum they yet bear the mark of and dignified behavior like silver with a guinea stamp waa more and more oppressed by tlie ting sense of poverty for i saw proofs that the of the old made im practical protest against its decay the woman s share of work performed best as one see by mended clothes but tlie master s do was hopelessly not only as to buildings but in the itself was growing wild bushes at its own except for a rough patch near the which had been dog and planted that was this brooding sad old man dis by life he say to himself things be	40
they will but my time watching his face with but i did not date to ask and only stood and watched him sad of um man might have m a den from which wild words could a curious stranger i was afraid of what he might say to me yet i longed to hear him speak the summer day was at its dose i moved a stop forward to get away from tlie level which l my and ventured to give some news about myself and lonely journey that hitherto brought me such pleasure the listener looked up witli sincere attention which made me grow enthusiastic at once and i my vi experiences and tlie amusing comments which i had upon my mode of about tlie country it me to think that i was within sixty miles of home and yet a foreigner at lost i asked a trivial question about some portion of the scenery which was answered the old man s voice was singularly sweet and varied in tone the exact reverse of a new s voice of the rural quality i was half startled at seeing my horse quickly turn his head to look at the speaker as if with human curiosity equal to my own i felt a thrill of vague apprehension i was unwise enough for a moment to dread taking up my residence in this m a horror at one feels at hearing behind one in a dark strange place made me foolishly uneasy and i stood looking oflf the level country through the golden light of closing day beyond the and beyond the sand to the ea what had happened to this father and daughter that they were contented to let the chances of life slip by while their gradually made itself ready to tumble about their ears i see that the horse s foot was much better already and i watched with great sympathy the way that the compassionate patient fingers touched and soothed the bruised joint but i saw no sign of any other horse in the stable a few dusty of harness hung on a high in the wall a d as i at these and renewed my wonder that such a person should hare no horse of his own especially at such a dis from any town the old man spoke look np at that bu of dry skin the said he that was the pretty of the best mare that ever trod these she leaped the yard gale one toe landscape day can ht foot in a rope and broke neck she was like one minute and the next she was a heap of worthless ih a heavy thing to be dragged away and hidden in the earth i lis voice failed him suddenly old fellow it told tliat he had suffered cruel sorrows tliat made this loss of a pleasure almost so far life had often brought mo and i hail gained a habit of expecting ray own to bo lucky i stood ap before this glimpse of a defeated life and iu long procession of pre h the master of the place went into the house and returned with a wont wooden of bits of hard bread and some meal the hungry creature in the stall eagerly and about while our host ascended the broken to the stable and after waiting for some time i heard tiie rustle of an of hav which came down into the i way and was not surprised when i noticed the faded dusty of it to see my dainty beast at it with disappointment and look round at me the man joined and i protested hastily treatment of my favorite tbe landscape tee t cannot wa get to bring better and enough for a day or two if you are i tbe must not bo he aid with a new harsh tone you will foot and wo keep the boast will in tonight to morrow he can all day and keep the foot moving gently next day he be shod but there ie danger in giving him green i suggested this is too rich about the house surely you know of horses to have learned that he will dot be fit to ride either if i meant to give a month of pasture it would be another thing no send somebody for at an of decent hay i will go myself are there houses near the old man had gone into tho stall and was feeding the hungry horse from the i was startled to see him snatch back two or bits of the bread and p t them into his as if with all his for the horse and a sincere desire to make him he nevertheless the food i became tliat poor was a he certainly played the character exactly and yet was an appealing look in his eyes which joined with the tones of his voice mo sure that ho fought against his inclinations i wondered if i should be that ni ht after the fashion of ml l for sake of what might be found in my pocket and sauntered toward tho house it remained to be proved whether the daughter was the vi tim or the of her father s traits i had the satisfaction of finding the daughter was jn t arranging a table for supper as i passed the wide open door of i was tempted to look in by the faint ancient of and wine which escaped but i never saw a closet than that or one that looked in spite of the lingering fragrance of hospitality it gave me a strange feeling as if there were a still link with the past and some visible presence would have me contrast the house s former with its present we sat at table i not surprised to nd on a cloth was half covered with and patches some of	40
together in attire down the garden of the once a hospitable family had kept r i v e i open house behind the row of elms and once the follies of the world and the fashions of brilliant luxurious life had belonged to this decayed and withering household i wondered if the old man to whose strangely sweet and voice i had the evening before could bear to look at this picture and acknowledge his to his prosperous ancestors it was well for me that the keeping of is comparatively for i comfortably and was never so heartily rejoiced at tlie vicinity of a chicken my proposal to with my new friends for a few days met with no opposition from either host or hostess and again as i looked in their pinched and hopeless faces i planned some secret excuses for making a feast of my own or a happy holiday the fields and hills of the old picture were still unchanged but what ebb and flow of purpose of fort of social condition had and the household i where did she sleep asked the master of the house suddenly with a strange at his daughter in the chamber the tbe tbe lifting ber to bit tb and ms tbe i looked at bim to sea yes anger and expected a torrent of because be was so displeased nothing was said but with a feeling of uneasiness we left tbe table and i went out to the kitchen with my new friend there is no reason why i should not have pot you into tbe landscape chamber she told me instantly it is a fancy of my i bad that room thoroughly m tbe morning but the front guest chambers been closed for some time who painted tbe strange old picture i asked some member of tbe family i was answered that it was tbe work of a who was captured in war time aod under the charge of her grandfather he must bare had a gay i suggested if he has left a faithful picture of as be saw it tbe used to be like that always was faint response and the speaker as if she whether we her family history r f she turned quickly away i believe we are under some miserable doom will be sure to tell you so at any she with an effort at he believes that he fights against it but i always say that be was cowardly and accepted it and she sighed wearily i looked at her with fresh surprise and conjecture i forgot for tho time this great busy world of which we were a part and i felt as if i had lost a score of years for each s journey and ha l gone backward into the past new england many strange within its borders but there could not be another which approached this tlie very air of the o ed me and i strayed out into the beautiful wide fields ami found my spirits rising again at once i turned at last to back at the group of gray buildings in the great level landscape they were a small upon tbe fruitful earth those roofs which covered awful and of the of spiritual life and growth what power burst tbe bonds and the man and woman i had left from a mysterious tyranny i was and the grew tbe hot i went toward a group of oaks to myself in the shade and found the ancient burying of the family there were numerous but none were marked except the oldest there was a group of but stately stones with fine yet curiously enough the latest of them bore a soon after the beginning of the all the more recent were low and in any way the family fortunes had long ago perhaps i might be the present master of the house though i remembered what had been said to me of some mysterious doom i could not help thinking of my new acquaintances most and was startled at the sound of footsteps i saw the old man muttering and bending his head until be could see nothing but the ground at hb feet he only picked up some dead branches that had fallen from the oaks and went away toward the again always looking at the ground as if be expected to find something it came to ray mind with greater distinctness that be was a poor only by his own choice and i indignantly resolved to urge the daughter to break her to him for a time la her own and set herself free but the had no cheerful sense of no certainty of a which was more to him than any use of it there was a look upon his face as of a conscience within a of shame and guilt and evil memory had he sacrificed all sweet family life and natural to his craving for wealth i watched the bent and hungry figure out of sight when i reached the again i went through the open door of the wide hall and gained my being seen by any one i was and with the unusual heat and quickly drawing tlie shutters i threw myself on the bed to rest all the light in the room from the shaded hall there was absolute silence except some far country sounds of birds high in the air or cattle the house itself was still as a tomb i went to sleep but it was not sound sleep i grew heavy and tired with my own weight i heard soft footsteps coming up the stairs some one stopped ss if to listen outside the wide open door then the gray shadowy figure of old man stood just within and his peered about the i was behind the curtains one had tbe been and hid me from hie	40
sight at first but as be took one step forward he saw me asleep he bent over me until i felt mj hair stir with his breath but i did not move his presence was not frightful strange to say i felt as if i were dreaming i opened my eyes a as he went away apparently satisfied to the door and unlocked it starting and looking at me anxiously as the key turned in the then he disappeared i had a childish desire to shut him in and keep him prisoner for reasons that were not clear to myself whether he only wished to satisfy himself that a concealed treasure was i do not know but presently he out and carefully locked the door and went away on i that ho lingered before the picture the chimney and wondered if conscience pricked him as he acknowledged the between past and present then he groaned softly and went out my heart began to beat fast i up and tried to lock the door into the hall my enthusiasm about spending a few days in this dismal place suddenly faded out for i not bear the thought that the tee weird old man was free to about at his own sad will but as i stood in my doorway a song perched on the sill of the wide hall window and sang his heart away in a meet cheerful strain there was something so touching ami appealing in the contrast that i felt a wistful clutch at my throat while smile l as one does when tears are coming like april to one s eyes thinking what i did i went into the room threw open the shutters again and stood before the dingy how the horses up to the door and how fine the ladies were in their and high feathers i i imagined that the picture had been a constant rebuke to the in the house through their wasting lives and failing fortunes in every human heart there b such a picture of the ideal life the high possibilities and the semblance of duties done and of spiritual achievements it forever measures our by its exact likeness to that completeness which we would not fight hard enough to win but as i looked up at the the old landscape became dim and i knew that it was only because a cloud was tee tbe tan yet i was glad to leave the of the room and to down tbe wide i nothing of the daughter though i for her and even called her through the when i reached the door i found her father crossing the yard and wondered if he would show any of our having so lately met he stood still and waited for and my first impulse made me ask what did you want just now i was not asleep when you were in my room you frightened me do not be afraid be answered with patience you must take us as you find us it is a sad old house but yon need not be afraid we are much more afraid of you i and we both smiled your daughter said i i have been asking her to come away for a time to visit me or take a journey it would be much better for you both and she needs a and a little god does mean that we make our utterly dismal i was afraid and did not dare to meet the old man s eyes after i tbe landscape he coldly and at his mended coat sleeve what do you know about happiness you are too young said he at your ago i thought i knew the wliat would it make if tlie old here were like the gay ghost of it in our chamber the would be jealous of our luxury reverence and respect would be turned into idle curiosity this quiet would be disgraced by such a folly no we are very my child and i you must not try to us and he looked at me with a kind of piteous suspicion there was a large block of stone under one of the old elms which had been there long ago for a mounting and hers we seated ourselves as i looked at my companion be seemed like a man unused to the broad light of day i fancied that a prisoner who had just ended many years of life would wear exactly such a face and yet it was such a lovely summer day of a joyful world if be only take or make it sa alas he matched the winter weather better i not bear to think of the ou hi winter i i in is lo blame laid the old in a eager tone which me and made me shrink away from him we are in bondage i am a yet i can never follow my own impulses i longed to give what i had with a lavish hand when i was younger bnt some power restrained me i hare grown old while i tried to fight it down we are all in prison while we left in thb world that is the in prison for another man s sin for the first time i understood that he was not altogether sane if there were an of mine as i hare been taught who sold his soul for wealth the awful price was this and he lost the power of using it he was greedy for gain and now we cannot part with what we have even for com comfort his children and his children s children hare suffered for his fault he has lived in the hell of watching us from generation to generation seeing our spoiled our power of usefulness away wherever he is he knows that we are all because	40
he was and us with the mark of his own base spirit he has watched bis r j i t a up and disappear one by one poor and in god s world we fight against tho doom of it but it wins at last thank god there are only two of us left i had sprung to my feet frightened by the old man s vehemence i could not help saying that god meant us to be free and by any evil power the gray face looked at me and i could not speak again this was the of the doom then i left the old man crying while i hurried away to find the of the desolate house and ap to her to let me send a companion for father who could pro care for him here or persuade him to go away to some place where he would forget his misery among new interests and scenes she herself must not be worn out by hb malady of but i only dashed my sympathy against the rock of her i think we shall all disappear some night in a winter storm and the world will be rid of us the house and i au she said with bitter and turned is her work again early that evening i said good by is mj new friends for the horse was sounds tbe ni lo be satisfied by such meagre onr host sorry to let e creature go and stood a after i bad mounted how tbe famous old breed its own t he aid wistfully i should like to have seen the who has stamped his likeness o on all his descendants but among human beings i could not resist saying there is freedom thank god i we can climb to our best and our worst inheritance no no i cried tlie old man bitterly you are young and fortunate forget us if you can we are of those who have no hope in a world of fate i looked again and again as i rode away it was a house of shadows and moods and i was glad when had fairly left it behind me yet i looked forward to seeing it again i well remember the old man s clutch at the money i offered him and the kiss and the bunch of roses that the gave to me but late that i was not sorry to shut myself into my room at a village hotel rather try to sleep again behind the faded curtains of the landscape i i it r i law lake i thb of a flat iron signified to an educated by that this was tuesday morning yesterday having been fair and the weekly washing day by the it was undoubtedly what mrs powder pleased herself by calling a good week not one of the and im sections of time a rainy monday forced u m n ers mrs powder was not a woman who could live altogether in tbe present and whatever she did was done with a view to having it cleared out of the way of the next enterprise on her list i t bear to see folks do their work as if every piece on t was a tread mill she used to say briskly life means to me and i t dwell by the way no more n sparks fly downwards t ain t th way i m bout mr of the tribe s law lame m white bundles in the shallow t were disappearing one one taking their places on the es well and precisely d the july sunshine came in at one of mrs powder s kitchen and the cool breeze blew the heat out again the other side mi powder grew impatient as she the end of ask and the flat iron more and i be kept out the doorway and along the country as if she were watching for somebody shall just have ready an go an her out myself an uke my chances mud at last with a look at the k as if it were partly to for the y and had ears with which to listen o rebuke the round moon face had ago its and st the upper part of the old dial as if ad forgotten its responsibility about the of a heavenly body in its pleased mm about housekeeping see here i said mrs powder taking at hot iron from the fire you ain t time like yon used to you re get i must say look at thb ere sub law mark on tlie floor that calls it full o clock and you want six minutes to ten i vo got to send to tlie dock man and have your in all took apart you got mo to more n half an hour too late sabbath to which the moon face di i not its beaming expression very likely being a moon it was not willing to mind tlie ways of the lord wh at an old thing you be said mrs powder turning away with a i don t wonder your sense kind of you and the clock at her by way of answer though presently it was going to strike ten at any rate the hot iron was now put down hurriedly and the half night cap was left in a queer position on the a figure had appeared in the road and was coming toward the house with a fleet run which speedy action here you smith the old woman el but the lad doubled his pace and not to see or hear her mrs powder could play at that game too and did not call again but quietly went back to her i air wed i i t p s y i m id laid	40
j to v had w d quiet tj y r w j bu thin i v ie m j v to w eyes he bore likeness to a little hungry or as be wont to work before the tin pan news mrs powder asked i ain t seen nobody this day s folks has got their case ia they ain t i and while a solemn silence fell upon the kitchen the old dock and and struck ten with persistent e fort mrs powder looked round at it impatiently the moon face confronted her with the same placid smile twelve o clock s the time yon your dinner ain t it mis powder the boy inquired as if he had repeated bis news like a and had no further interest in its leaning i don l plot for to get me no lar dinner this day was the unexpected reply yon can eat a couple or three o and step along for all i care an i want yon to go up s lane and carry her word that i m goin out to pick no some they be up elegant and i te got a for em tall her i say t is our day she know w be n after together la ik lame i this forty years and knows to meet with mo there by split rocks the was a few minutes afterward and tlie board was taken to its place in uie shed when mrs powder re turned had stealthily departed the tin was turned down on tlie of the kitchen chair good i said the astonished woman i bu si himself to bliss one o days them would hare lasted me till certain to eat mis powder at the window with his countenance lifted just above tlie sill but he set forth immediately down the road with pockets and the speed of a light xl half an hour the little gray was shut and locked and its mistress was the next pasture with a quick step for a person of her age and weight an old oat was trotting after her with tail high in the air but it was plain to see thai she still for danger law down from the bad on s first approach m close to mrs powder as was latent with short excursions after it young opened green eyes fearfully on the hat evil monster the boy bare were two pastures to cross and powder was much heated by the sun and entirely out of breath i she the familiar i and caught sight of her friend s ain t there no justice left was her salutation i s x se you ve d that s folks have lost their t poor mis t wiu kill her sure i ve bo n to go ber all the but i could n t to you till came by i likely you d expect notice when see what a good day t was i did replied in a tone h more serious than her companion s was a thin despairing little body with face and a general look of and though really the s prosperous person of the two la w told me you said t was our day she added i m wore out to satisfy that boy he s always for to eat time he comes nigh the house i should think they d see to him to home not let him on the neighbors so you ain t been of him loo r mrs powder well i i don t see he iti and she herself with her apron i always forget what a spot is here s your cat ain t she asked ban an tliey sat looking off over the valley behind them the rose one above another with their bare and great stretches of pine and forest beyond the wide valley was another range of hills green and in the clear mid day light higher mountains loomed and stony to northward they were on the women s right as they sat westward it does seem as if folks might keep the when the lord s give em so a a to live in said there am t no farms than s and s folks have got but stead o neighboring they must law lamb pick mean and fight from generation to generation m j ma am used to say t was just so with em when she was girl and she was one of the first up this way she al a r would have it tliat s folks was the most to blame but there s plenty sides with em as you know there t is all mixed up so t is a real answered mrs powder i te been o both minds i must say i used to bold for in the old folks time bat i te round to see they ain t perfect there i m b over with i te got to tell somebody i te it close long s i can s get right to then said or we sha n t from here the whole afternoon and the thin figure and the tall stout one off together toward their well known they were presently settled down within good hearing distance and yet the discussion was not begun the cat herself for a nap on the smooth a rock there i hare to eat a while first like a said mrs powder i always em that is only fit to eat law s right off of the twigs you want cm full o sun let cm cold and they re only fit to cook not but what i eat em any ways i can em ain t nice an law my poor	40
knees is so stiff i i begin to be afraid nowadays year o may be my i don know why t be that my knees serves me so i ain t nor none o my folks was we go off with other complaints the o the knees dried up an posted so i re be a told then was ignorant retorted her companion sharply i know by the s i hare and the two friends picked and discussed the points of medicine no more i can t force them and out o my mind suggested miss after a while being eager to receive the proffered might be think of em without no other for over the bounds of a lane wall what if t was two foot om way or two foot t other e law bat that just wliat they n c powder you know night be to give away a piece o but when said t wa yours at theirs t would take more se n i ve got to let see i thought they right all the old oyer wanted was for the to say two foot of lane was theirs by rights and then they to turn it into the and to i that two foot more o the did they wa n t for no t was for but s folks now don t you go an all i that over t powder said lesser woman there ain t ben no spoke so often as them along hill not even the ten the only sense there s be n about they we let each other alone altogether ain t spoke at all for six months to a u i t help hoping that the war ul not with the old breed and they sort of peace mis was a ds and they re sort o folks and got fight in her i think she s more than a good sight but law st mis s a downright little and would have ended it ago if she d be n able s stubborn too let me tell yon and mrs powder s voice was full of t will never die out in his day ami be u spend every cent as the folks did afore him the must laugh at him well one an an other o the best on em has them to leave it out to and tried to em they was fools my man talked with himself about it once after he d been on a jury and they was away from court they could n t agree they never could i au the spare money o both farms has gone to pay the lawyers and carry on one fight after another folks don t know it but s farm is au they ve spent even what mis had from her folks an there s worse behind there s worse behind insisted the speaker stoutly i went up there thb spring as you know when mis was at death s door with fever i went through everything of her round and was there five weeks till she got about i lo a ds you as an own sister says law lame to ma i m woman ai heart she and yoa think of it that my man had to mo alone at i while he went for you and the doctor not to ask s folks to send for help i like to ant says she to mo and ba st right ont a i knew then how she d felt things all these years how are they goin to pay more court bills and all them piles o if tlie farm s so heavy she resumed s farm ain t worth a good two thirds of s they to both neglected their lands how many yoa got so fur proudly displayed her gains of was filling very and the friends were at their usual game of mrs powder had been the faster in years past and she now doubled her diligence ain t the sweet thick an scented as ever you see she said rather n the best thai grows if i can have a sweet bush and sweet patch and some o you can take all the look how folks toils with witch grass and m la w im and gets a lot o poor cat and all together in their front yards when they might get better comfort in tlie first pasture the road i guess s wild that s never got out o me i must ha be n made o counter to town dust i never see why folks wanted to go off an live out o sight o the an everything on a level you said was worm to behind suggested as if it only common politeness to show an appreciation of the friendly offering i have it in mind to get round to in proper course responded mrs powder a trifle by i it in my mind tliat i was to tell yon for a kind of a treat the day we come out and mrs powder rose with difficulty from her knees and retreated to the shade f a tree which grow over a rock near by could not resist picking a little longer in an unusually fruitful spot then she hastened to seat herself by her mind it was an im law powder was warm and farther and telling the b that were at light on foot as her and her increasing weight then she demanded a second sight of the which were compared and decided upon as to quality and quantity then the cat which had been left at some distance on her rock came trotting toward her in a disturbed way and after a minute of security in a comfortable lap darted	40
away again in a strange excited man she s goin to hare a bt i do quite for the cat was mrs powder s darling and she might everything to go in search of her she may have seen a snake or she often gets scared and runs when we re out a said the cat s owner complacently and s spirit again i suppose you never suspected that and cared the least thing about one another inquired the keeper of the secret a moment later and the listener turned toward mrs powder with a startled i law now t powder for mercy s alive i was all that she could say but mrs powder was satisfied and confirmed the news by a most emphatic nod my i what be they goin to do about it inquired flushing with excitement a an a fall in i don t you how the old ones was al and names when we was all to times b changed certain now say you hope to die if ever you u tell a word i say pursued mrs powder if i was to be taken away to morrow yon d be all the one that would know it es mis and and themselves t was but her bein nigh to death that urged her to tell me the state o things i s pose she thought i favor em in time to come he says to me mis powder my poor girl may need your care an i says mis she have it and then he had a o pain and wo no that day as i remember how it about i t have u anybody that asked me that a a ever the time o day s law lamb the t i powder they ve hid em in the an and in the edge o the growth at nightfall for the sake o a word an they re stole ont into that lane o winter nights i tell ye i te heard folks say that would still be lord of all but i was strained to it till i see what that boy and girl was to undergo ail the hate of all their folks is turned to lore in them and i couldn t help of an i ventured to send over to my house after my and then i made an out to the spring brook to see if there was any started which i knew well enough there wasn t and i spoke right out bold to that was at work on a piece of over on his land says i if you time just nm over to the edge o my pasture and pick me m handful o o i want to pot em b half a pint o new rum for mis and there ain t a soul to send i knew he d just meet her coming back if i time it right of started i he looked at me kind of s and pretty quick i see him it over the with an axe and a couple o ends o board like he d got to mend a fence i had to keep her dinner warm for her till ha past one o clock i don t know what he to his folks but the come an kissed me hearty when she first come inside the door tis harder for he ain t got nobody to speak to and s got her mother if she is a mis much afraid i don t know s we can blame for not to his girl to the after they re got away all his sub his means an his cattle like t was in the book o job urged seems as if they might call it square an marry the young folks off but they won t h will only fan the flame range was a sentimental person neighbor powder had chosen wisely in gaining a new friend to the of ap hopeless affection unknown to herself she had been putting tho s secret to great risk of the weather was most beautiful that af there was an almost law lane and delight among the sweet of the and the two elderly women were serene at heart and felt like girls again as they talked together they remembered many an afternoon like this they grew more and more confiding as they the past and their life long friendship a stranger might hare gathered only the most rural and statements and a tedious succession of questions from what mrs powder and had to say to each other but the old stories of true lore and faithful companionship were again simply those who are only excited by more complicated histories too often forget that there are no new plots to the and of life they are played sometimes by country people in sometimes by in and lace lore and prosperity death and loss and misfortune the stories themselves over and over again never mind whether the or the wit of the plays the part of hero the two homely figures sat still so long that they seemed to become permanent points in the landscape and the small birds aad even a wary went their ways law of mrs powder and the old tree under which they sat high above the young ine which thick behind on tlie in the middle of a comfortable reflection u ou the grandfather s or mrs i gave sudden utterance to tlie belief that some creature up in the tree was dropping pieces of bark and all over her a most like said looking up into the branches the tree down t it aa you was must have well enough what he was about h oh out	40
ow o suddenly a voice overhead and a desperate scramble and rustling startled the good women half out of their wits ow mis powder i shrieked a familiar voice while both hearts fast and half falling half climbing down out of the tree he and beat hb with his hands and at rolled in agony among the and look out for em i he shouted h i thought t was only an old last year s s they u sting you too r law lame mrs powder bar apron and laid about her with sore aim only two to be but after these were beaten to the earth and to regain her breath hardly dared to bis bead or to look about him what was you up there for anyhow t asked with suspicion to us i be bound but mrs powder who knew s disposition best her friend into silence and began to inquire about the condition of his wounds there was a deep hatred between and miss oh dear they re bit me all groaned the boy ain t you got you can rub on mis powder and the rural remedy of fresh earth was suggested t is too dry here said the just you step down to that ma shy spot there by the brook dear and you with the wet mud real good and t will ease you right away mrs powder s sounded but her spirit and temper of promise of future teach him to follow us out thb fashion t said the boy had departed weeping i m law t n gratified that the got hold of him t i hope t will serve him for a lesson don t you r him up one now pleaded mrs powder while her eyes bore witness of hardly he s the worst tale i see and we ve put ourselves into a trap if be tells his mother she spread it all over town but i should no more thought o his up in that tree than o his the in the garden o you leave to me and be mild with him s you can the approached still his ear and check were swollen au ready so that one eye was nearly closed the expedition was ami with of took up tlie two half filled mrs powder kindly by his small thin hand and the little group moved homeward across the pasture s your hat stopping short after they had walked a little distance hanging on a limb up by the s nest answered oh ma powder i law fo om would from tlie look of lane itself that it hid always been of wrath and a famous bat while petty wars had raged the men and women of the old na had grown high in apple trees had leaned their heavy on the stone walk and year after r themselves in pink and white to unlucky by way for a procession of peace that never le birds built their nests in the boughs the ripe green and wild roses and tall flourished in their season on either the wheel it was a country lane where children might f and lovers might linger no one would that this lane had its and its annual crop of and i it and in every generation of owners each i most be either or im looked permanent no one would suspect that a la w s tain piece of wall had been more than once thrown down by night and built again angrily by day or a well had been the cause of much and even now looked you came to know its story as if it stood on its long straight legs like an top heavy beast all ready to stalk away when its position became too dangerous tlie had built it beyond their boundary it had been moved two or three times backward and forward the house and land stood between the farm and the the had never able to reach the highway without passing their enemies under fuu are of u y looks or voices the of legal m the matter of right ol way would be impossible to explain they had never been very clear to any impartial and gone to their graves with bitter hatred and sullen desire for revenge in their hearts perhaps this one great interest outside the simple matters of food and and had taken the place lo them of drama and literature and art one mi help thinking as he looked at the mi la w la w lame d fences and and to how much better to much money might have been put the of court and the lawyers had taken everything and men had in beat and frost and women had pinched and to pay the lane s bills both the and of the present stood well enough in the opinion of other neighbors they were hard honest men the fight was inherited to begin with and they were stubborn enough to hold fast to fight law lane was as well known as the county roads in half a towns perhaps its owners felt a thrill of enmity that come straight down from border as they glanced along its crooked length who could believe that the son and daughter of the instead of being ready to lift the torch in torn had weakly and fallen in love with each other nobody liked mrs she was a suspicious soul who was a tyrant and terror of in her own whenever the course of events ran to her preference her son a complete contrast to her in disposition and to his narrow minded prejudiced father as well the elder was ca able of things however and might keen reared to friendliness and justice if the of	40
his youthful day had not been specially and the annals of law lane at their darkest page if there had been another boy to match young on the farm the two might easily have their natural until something worse came into being but when one s enemy is only a sweet faced girl it is very hard to to her all manner of and serpent like power of evil at least so the younger felt in his inmost heart and though he minded his mother for the sake of and played his solitary games and built his and traps on his own side of the fences he always saw as she came and went and better and better as years went by when the tide of love rose higher than the young people s steady head they soon laid fast hold of freedom with all their life was by no means at iu worst and must bend all its energies to hinder these unexpected lovers s la w lame ears had to much m entered the house the families were severed beyond the power of even a funeral could only try to imagine the room to which his had returned one summer after he had left reluctantly because the time drew near for his s return from the his mother had been in a peculiarly bad temper all day and ho had been glad to escape from her unwelcome that he should marry any one of two or three capable girls and so furnish some help in the housekeeping had often heard this suggestion of his duty and tired and provoked at last he had stolen out to the garden and wandered beyond it to the brook and out to the somewhere somehow he had met bath and the lovers their trials with unusual sorrow and impatience it very hard to wait young ready to persuade the tearful girl that must go away together and establish a home of their own he was heartily because the last verdict was b his father s favor and to wound ith any glimpse of the straits to which own father had been reduced she was law lame too dutiful to leave the pinched household where her help was needed more than ever she her lover that they were sure to bo happy at last were not they happy now how much worse iv would be if could not safely so many op k brief though they were of being if the fight had been less absorbing and the loss bitter they hi have been suspected long ago so and with kisses and went back to the kitchen where his mother sat alone it was hardly past twilight out of doors but mrs had lighted a lamp and sat near the small open window ing a hot looking old coat she looked so uncomfortable and surly that her son was filled with pity as he stood ing her there among the and that tlie why don t you put down your sewing and out a little ways up the mother and get cooled off he asked pleasantly but she only herself in her chair and off another of linen thread i t spare no time to go it i wi if a law lane like folks she answered i always had to work and i always shall i see that girl by an ago as if she d be n off all the afternoon folks that think she s so amiable about her s strength would be surprised at the way she round i guess and mrs crushed an offending with her brass in a fashion that disgusted somehow his mother had a instinct that he did not like to bear sharp words about yet he rarely had been betrayed into an ill judged he had left only a minute ago he knew exactly what she had been doing all day and from what kind errand she had been returning tlie blood quickly to his face and he rose from his seat by the table and went out to the kitchen the air was and sweet and a sleepy bird or twice from an elm bough overhead the moon was near its rising and he see the great shapes of the mountains that lay to the he forgot his mother and began to think about again he wondered if she were thinking of him and meant to ask her if she remembered an especial feeling of i law lane just at this hour turned to look at uie to mark the exact time yes said mrs as she saw him try to discover the hour t is time that father was to home i s pose bein everybody was out to the to hear the news and most like he s himself hoarse about fall or something lie ain t got done about our the case neither there s always some new one that wants to the p right from i l see go by did you he d have had to foot it by the path cross lots replied gravely from the he s sold his he ain tr mrs with a chuckle i s pose they re him for the money up to court guess be won t try to fight us again for one while said nothing he not bear this sort of thing much longer won t be kept like a under a he muttered to himself i think it seems kind of hard he ventured to say now he s got to hire when fall work on and the hard hearted woman within bad long law law lamb t trying to her sod into an argument and now the occasion bad restrained himself from speech with a desperate effort and bis ears to the sound of his mother s in the middle of her	40
a wagon was into the yard and hb father left it and came toward the door come in here you i he shouted angrily i want to look at you i i want to what such a mean spirited has to say for himself then changing bis to a be begged who had him from falling as he stumbled over come in boy an tell me h ab l i guess they was only of me you ain t took a shine to that now have you no son of mine no son of mine burst out the mother who bad been startled the entrance of the news her was promptly set free and looked from his father s face to his father said he turning away from the who was nearly inarticulate in her rage father i d rather talk to if want to hear what i ye got to mother s got no in her i said the elder man i see how tis let your am talk all she will i m broke with shame of ye hb choked weakly in his throat either tell me t b all nonsense or you go out that door and shut it after you for i an ye re all the boy i ve pit the woman had stopped at last by the terror of the moment her s face was gray with passion her son s cheeks were flushed and his eyes were full of tears mrs s tongue for had lost its cunning the two men looked at each other as long as they could the younger man s eyes fell first i wish you would n t be he said to morrow you re heard was the only and in a moment more r s a e h id to the table and took hb old straw hat which lay there good by father i he said steadily i think you ro wrong sir but i never meant to carry on that old fight and like the heathen and then young and strong and angry be left the kitchen he might hare took some o if he s goin for good said th i r i law fl but ber ton did not hear thb and the father only where he the against his face as if it were a piece of wood he sank feebly into a chair muttering and trying to himself in his spent anger went out and giddy but he found the young horse wandering about the yard eager for his supper and at the delay he the creature and backed the wagon under the shed then he tamed and looked at the house should he go in no i the fighting instinct which had kept firm grasp on father and took possession of now ue crossed the yard and went out at the gate and down the lane s end to the main road the father and mother listened to hb foot and the man gave a heavy groan let him go let him go i teach him a lesson i said mrs with something of her usual spirit she could not say though she tried her the far too great how many times that summer mrs powder attempted to vengeance upon the au into what depths of in law lamb remorse the boy was resolutely who shall describe f no more of generous provision no more jovial at tlie windows or liberal payment for easy whenever mrs powder saw or any other intimate and friend she her careless confidences under the and detailed her anxious attentions to the i went right home she would say i filled him fuu with as good a supper as i could gather up and i took all the fire out o them with the best o dear says i yoa won t lose by it if you keep your month shut about them words i spoke to and he was that i might ha known he meant mischief they ain t boys nor men they re they come to that sin and so yon mark my but his mother never keep nothing to herself and i knew it from past and i never slept a wink that n sure s you live till the for day perhaps t won t do bat good i law law would uie young each other ll the they d had to it to till they was gray headed the cat out o the bag don t you how my eat acted that day i exclaimed mrs powder excitedly how she was good as took with a she well enough what was i wish we d had half of her iv i the day before christmas all the long alley was white with deep new fallen snow tbe road which led up from the neighboring and the railroad station stretched along tbe western slope a mere trail and unbroken the storm had just the high mountain peaks were clear and keen and rose tinted with the light the hills were no longer green with their of pines and and but gray with bare branches and dense almost black where grew on the other el the the y y i a out as if in or pen the far were drawn th a e and regularity the crooked of the apple trees and the longer lines of the and ashes and out a the snow with clear beauty tbe fences and walls were buried in snow tbe farm houses and were petty their right to natural k you wore half amused half as the thought came to you of in different i r called men and women f themselves within those narrow ha k n so a sky and fancied the lo of the was m by	40
that of their few pent acres what a world outside those yet what of tbe small gray houses had known the day before christmas i a which seemed in that neighborhood to be of modem origin the it waa v popular among the elder people but christmas had been appropriated never as if everybody had felt the lack of it new year s day was for new england in its least x us la w lane for who took true in life deeper wan needed than the spread eagle self of the fourth of july or the of day there were no l ringing which the country folks in law lane might listen for on christmas ere but more the joy that is felt in the poorest dwelling when a little child with an iu possibilities is bom something pier still came through that snowy with the thought of a christmas who was the in and founder of the of the higher life this was the day when the whole of is called to praise and pray i aad bear the good tidings and heart something of the joyful f good will to men em sat on a fallen tree from be had brushed the snow it was bard work wa ling through the and be bad made good up the long kill before be stopped to rest across the in tbe fading daylight he saw the two and trace the course of law marked by the well known f law how small his own great looked this distance the two houses witli larger and out buildings and snow top ed looked as if had near together for protection and companion ship there were no other houses a wide space knew how remote tbe homes really were from each other judged by any existing sympathy and interest ho thought of his bare boyhood with something like resentment then bo remembered how small had been his par experience what poor ambition bad been in them by their his mother s im with the efforts bo bad made to bring a little more and to the old farm house was thought of with pity for her innate of pleasure in pleasant himself was made up of being and bred of the he was at work on the railroad now with small pay bo had always known that there could be so me thing better than the life in farm house while his mother did not a different feeling came over him as he tbe other farm sheltered be bad for thai first to see if it i s law tale s last letter bad only day before this was to be a surprise to her he whether s father would let him in mind i he could sleep in the barn among the hay and dropped into the snow again from the old tree trunk and went his way there was a small house just past a bend in the road and he quickened his steps toward it alas i there was no smoke mrs powder s chimney she was away oo one of her nursing some person she would hare him for tl s night most gladly now he take his in law lane the darkness was already beginning to there was a curious in the like summer twilight the cold air became and the young man shivered a little a he walked he could not follow the left where it led among hospitable i but turned off toward his ld a lonely walk at any time l the among woods and all w ell known to him and as familiar as they lo the wild that haunted did not find il a w his t le aa he went a law suddenly from behind a was with dead snow leaped a small figure and for the moment much the boy carried a rabbit trap with care and placed it on the snow drift before which he stood already you t scared me to pieces i said in a perfectly calm tone you merry christmas i folks u be h for they did n t s pose you d home to morrow though looking for me repeated t man with surprise i did n t word ain t you heard ma am s being took up for dead no i ain t and you ain t with your stories smith you need n t play off any of your mischief om what you mad with me about with a tone in hie she got a fall out in the bam this an it liked to her most folks ain t heard bout it cause iu been so they for mis and she called out to our folks aa thej brought her round by the way of law lake r s o or om asked no more but strode the boy who looked after a mo and then lifted the box trap and started tbe imprisoned rabbit had been up the day before at least and felt humane anxieties else he would have followed at a proper and learned something of his if rs powder was triumphant in tim house being nurse housekeeper spiritual all in one she had ing for an excuse to spend at least a day under that cheerless roof for y months but occasion had not offered found the responsibility of the parted weighing more and more on mind and had set her strong will at to find some way of them en to restore a long banished peace to farms she would not like to confess a satisfaction caused her heart to warm and when an urgent sum had at last but such was the truth a man i law lane u trees on the farm brought the news to bear	40
under other circumstances that mrs had been hunting eggs in a stray nest in the hay had slipped to the floor and been taken up insensible bones were undoubtedly broken y t was a woman and her senses tbe doctor must be found as soon as possible mrs powder hastily put her house to rights and with a good round bundle of what she called her set on the welcome enterprise on tbe way she could hardly keep herself from due cheerfulness and if ever there was likely to be a presence in a sick room il was powder s tliat december day she entered the gloomy kitchen looking like a footed snow her big round shoulders were so heaped with the damp white old sat by the store in utter despair and a limp hand toward the bedroom door she s in a he said hopelessly i ought to thought to send word to pore all the boy she had mrs powder calmly removed her snowy outer garments and tried to warm her the fire law lane pot in a o sticks of good dry wood suggested in a soothing and felt bis spirits be knew not why then the whole woman walked into the bedroom could see related was the end of jane s nose and i just as sure then as i be now that she was likely to but i set down side of the bed and got bolt of her hand and she groaned two or three times real desperate i wished the doctor was there to see if anything really her but i there wa n less t was a i spoke to her but she never said and i went back out into the kitchen s a tory sick woman says i loud for her to hear me i knew please her there was a good deal to do and i put on my and took right and begun to lay about me and dinner the men folks was for want it being nigh three o clock an then i got jane to feel more comfortable with of her for all d let me of her poor i did feel sore i and then was and i f kind o spent so law i set me down in a cheer by the bed bead and was speechless too i knew if she was able to she could n t hold in no great spell longer after a while she stirred a little and groaned and then says she ain t the tor and i her up well s i could be i bad off t says she we u hope for the best says i and that minute the notion come to me bow i d work her round an i like to right out but i did n t if i should lose me again you must see to for my son says she his father s got no head i will says i real solemn an yon trust me with anything you feel to say sister she kind of opened her eye that was next to me and surveyed my sharp but i h serious and groaned real honest be i like old mis she whispered and i kind o nodded an my hand up to my eyes too some like her but not nigh so bad for mis was so down hm stairs thai over k aa died the day after law lane oh my i f ha out i t be look away now i in t a goin to die right off bo i mu powder i ain t the to give ye hope in the midst of life we are in death we ain t of the next minute none of us says i it general but away like an ou book o sermons i do feel kind o now says she oh t you do and i come over an set on the foot o the bed an locked right at her i knew she was a dreadful woman and always made a fuss when anything was the matter with her n t bear no kind o pain sister says i don t you bear on your mind yoa d like to see before you go i know yon ain t been at peace with s folks and t none o my business but i should n t want to be called away with hard s in my heart you must my speaking right out but i should want to be so used myself poor old i she had an awful fight of it but she beat her temper for once an in i do forgive all them says she an rolled np her eyes i law lame says to myself that wa n t all i wanted i let her alone a spell and set there as if i expected her to breathe her last any minute she asked for and i said he waa anxious and out for the doctor now the snow d stopped i i could see says she i m all done with the lane now and i d keep the peace if i was goin to live her got weak and i did n t know but she was worse off than s posed i was scared for a minute and then i took a grain o hope i d watched by too many beds not to know the don t ye let old la make my coffin will ye mis powder she once he s called a good workman a n l he says i as i when il come to her funeral orders t waa more n i could do to hold in i ain t goin through l o e n l in a coffin to please that old	40
cheat says she same s if she was well an right up in bed and then her br o is ee pained her an she dropped on the pillow law oh i m a goin now i the i te been an awful bard t was i put up to the wont od t i m marry be a aod i owned till now i m on my bed ob i m a goin i m a goin can marry ber and tbe two together make tbe best farm in town ain t got no left be s like an old we off and d you saw no a fit of and tbe end was i bad to send to s in all tbe for to an was got in to bold ber band and bear last words enough to make a fourth o july speech and i was sent out to tbe door to hurry up tbe and who should right out o tbe dark but i declare when i see him you could me down with a but i got him by tbe you hide away a says i till i set the little in this an don t you make the best o your ma s condition just as about ber as you can i let ye know why soon s we can talk and i hia right out an shut the door k la w lame the groans was goin on and in and scared about to death themselves neither on em had ever been in that before as i know of she called em into the bedroom and said she d had hard s towards them and wanted to make peace before she died and both on em shook hands with her don t you want to tell what you said to me about her and sap i over the bed or dead you know t is right and best there ain t no half way bout mo she says and so there wa n t says she out i want you to tell pore thai i ye both my and i made two steps that kitchen and set the lamp ia tbe window and in comes pore boy he didn t know what was and thought his mother was certain when he saw the cross s goin in he went an stood beside the bed an his father clutched right bolt of him i to myself if you make as an end when your time really does you may well be thankful jane i tliey was all a an i was if you ll it i d mi t s law lane law to ton ought to ber take o bath t hand an s an put together then i d got all i wanted i tell you an after d two or three more she begun to tired the poor old was shook up dreadful and i felt for her though you not think it so i beckoned out into the kitchen an went in an set with her alone she dropped off into a good sleep an told the folks her symptoms was more i tell if i took handsome care o any person t was jane before got about again an she used to an help real will in she got bolt of ber ma in law s one afternoon an trimmed it up real and that pleased mis about to death my pricked me some but not a great eight i m to take what blame come lo me by rights the doctor come along late that night and said she was well to the care she d had and give me a wink and s yet mrs powder always assured her friends triumphantly and what s more is disposed v i f si one or two p to ne though an i should n t wonder come to think it over if she me just least grain but dear sake i they never was so in lives an em he got a first rate for a lot o by s that the wanted and peace is kind o b tt an ia law lane v when on morning in bis familiar dark ber under the roof be believe that ho was at home again and that strange things had were cheerful in the kitchen below nd be dressed and went stairs there was mr powder cooking the breakfast with generosity and beam ng with good nature the father wa smiling and looking on with ant e r t oa the sick woman was up in the bedroom in au bis life sob had never felt so draws to mother there waa a new look in ber la w hb toward her ihe had her high and looked at him as had done before come she i believe i m goin to about after all mu powder i be them a i had down the yesterday was twice as bad as the i struck with i may be the to work but i ain t goin to fight with folks no the lord let me e a i ain t a goin to fight with nobody no matter bow bad i want to now you go an you a good breakfast i in t eat a id since breakfast yesterday and you can bring me a help o sister powder my i hope muttered sister powder to herself as she heaped the blue plate wish you au a merry he said i like to forgot my manner it was christmas day whether anybody in law lane remembered it or not the shone bright on the sparkling snow the w i and the snow birds and blue came	40
v all b y i if m work at setting the in order and ting in her winter thank the and belong to me she said in a tone t was wise o father to it so and let her hare the money she d left me no peace till i off if i d only been half owner she s always meant to get to a larger but what i want is real promotion the farm house was not only on a by road that wandered among the slopes of the bills but it was at the end of a long of lu own there was rarely any sound at night except from the winds of or tlie of the neighboring pine trees by day there was a beautiful outlook over the wide country from the farm house windows but on such a night as this the darkness made an impenetrable wall miss was not afraid of it on the contrary he had a sense of security in being shut into the of the night by day she might be vexed by by night they could scarcely find her her bright light could not be seen from tlie road if she to away in the old gray house like an in iu shell the at least undisturbed her miss sorrow of loneliness was not the fear of no she was fearless enough at the thought of physical dangers the evening did not seem so long as she expected a glance at her keeper told her at last that it was already eight o clock and her eyes began to feel heavy the fire was low the fog was iu presence felt even in the house for the autumn night was ami mist decided that when she came to the end of the on a certain needle she would go to bed to morrow the meant to out apples for drying a duty loo long delayed she had sent away some of her bent tliat day to make the annual barrel of with which the provided herself habit than from real need of either the wholesome or iu if this fog lasts i ve got to dry my apples by the stove she thought doubtfully and was conscious of a desire to survey the weather from the outer doorway before she slept how she missed and the i though they bad been with her only for a short time before the wedding and since the they had occupied in the village had been let the thought of i i t a fed red tom still brought the warm tears near to falling he had cried bitterly when he went away so had bis mother at least she held up her miss had in tears out of the silence of tho great came the dull sound of a and as miss sprang from her chair to tlie window dropping the sleeping cat in a solid mass on the floor the noise of a her heart was beating she was tired by the excitement of the last few days she did not remember this but being startled in an unusual way it must be some strange crisis in her life she turned and looked about the kitchen as if it were going to be altogether swept away now you need n t be afraid that s to bring her back i she assured herself with grim humor in that minute s apprehension of disaster a man outside spoke sternly to his horse stepped quickly to the door and opened it wide she was not afraid of tho messenger only of tho message the light so s i can see to this t said a familiar it s as dark as a pocket i be right in you put on a good warm shawl t is as bad as rain tliis fog is tho minister wants you to come to his house lie s at his wits end and there was we could think of that s an able except you his wife s gone died at quarter to six and left a mis able baby but the doctor expects t will live the nurse they with s om and t is an awful state o as you ever see half the women in town are there and the minister s overcome be s sort of fainted away two or three times and they don t know who else to get till the tor said your name and he groaned right out you was tlie one t ain t right to r as i it mis and mis is going to watch with tho dead bat there needs a bead felt for once as if she useful possession herself and sat down with amazing appearance of calmness in of her chairs to bar tho messenger was a good deal so was she but in a few she rose cutting short his d of affairs at the mi a too pot out the fire as best can she said well talk as wa go there plenty o ashes there i ni i let the store cool off for i was to go to bed in fire minutes the cat ll do well enough leave her plenty for to morrow and she s got a place where she can in an of the wood shed i i just slip on an other dress and put the nails the windows an we be right off she was quite again now and true to her promise it was not many minutes before the door was locked the house left in darkness and and miss were driving comfortably down the lane the fog had all blown away suddenly tlie stars were out and the air was sweet with the smell of the wet bark of black and cherry and apple trees tliat grew	40
always understand gratefully that it was best for the vanished friend to just when he did that this world held no more duties or for him that his earthly life was in fact done and ended our relations with him must be lifted to a new plane miss thought often of the minister s loss and always with tender sympathy yet she could not help seeing that he was far from being r miserable in his grief was ready to the fact he depended n his rather than upon his own character od efforts the only way in which she herself to the minister by persistent suggestions tha he should more exercise and stir about out doors m once when she had gone so far as briskly inform him that he was getting mr showed entire displeasure a little later in the privacy of the kitchen the opinion that knew w ll that she never did think were angels only human beings like herself in great danger of being fools of but the two good friends made up their little quarrel at supper time i have been looking up tlie of that severe word you applied to me this noon said the reverend mr it is a but it comes from the dutch word log which means heavy or words were pronounced with evident consciousness that they hardly applied to his somewhat figure and miss felt l and and went on pouring tea until both cup ami were full and she the end of her thumb she was very weak in the hands of such a scholar as this but inter she had a sense of not having applied the epithet with a feminine reverence for his profession and for hb attain she had a keen sense of his human and neither his grief nor nor his considerate idea of own value could blind her sharp to certain she forgave them readily but she knew them all by sight and pick s if there were any gift of mr s which be sincerely called perfectly delightful by many people it was his when he was in a hurry and hasty directions to his housekeeper about some possession or called her down stairs to stop the baby s crying the tones were entirely different from best known to the parish nature had gifted him with a power of carrying his into the depths of his sympathetic being and it again g lie had been considered the superior in some of that teacher of who led the students of the toward the glorious paths of there was a mellow middle tone most of tender feeling but though it sounded sweet to other feminine ears miss was always annoyed by it and impatient of a certain artificial quality in its to hear mr talk to his child in this tone and her as my babe affecting to other ears was always to miss but she thought well of bis preaching and the more he let all the and of day life fall to her the more she miss t enjoyed life and told her th t mr wm a most amiable man to live with and when spring was come tlie was let on shares to one of miss s whom she could entirely trust it was not the of for iu owner who had the reputation of being an farmer and the agreement cost many sighs and not a little she felt too much shut in hy u is life but the minister his lot the child was even more appealing in her l and so the long from tom and his sisters the garden the three and u e glory of the sun in the great unbroken western sky were all given np together for that year it was not ao hard as it might hare there was one most condition of ufe the feast of books was new and delightful to the s housekeeper she had made the moat of the few of the house but she new ha known the joy of having more books than could or their exquisite power of the delight of their friendly y sh e waa the student the brain wearied ber of the but the made it an excuse or really the new either life had seemed o full to her she was working with both hands earnestly and no half she was filled with in the of the minister s books to her his calling his character and his influence were all made and respectable by this foundation of learning on his le waa to her a man of letters a critic and a besides being an experienced from the nature of his profession indeed he an honest liking for books and was fond of reading aloud or being read to and many an went joyfully by in the presence of the great english writers whose best thoughts were rolled out in mr s best tones and miss listened with delight and cast many an affectionate g ce at the sleeping in the at her feet filled with as she was for all her privileges mr was most generous in his of miss s and r to expression to sincere of her uncommon power of mind led into paths other wise by her and to rest his brain and make ready for a good night s sleep he l his to read him a clever story it was all a new world to the good woman whose and reading had been sound but and if ever a mind up with joy to its possession of tlie world of books it was hers he became ambitious for the increase of her own little library and it was in reply to her plan for larger and more money from farm another year for the sake of that mr once said earnestly that his books were hers now	40
this careless expression was the spark which lit a new light for miss s imagination for the first time a thrill of personal interest in the man made itself felt through her devoted capacity for service and appreciation he had ceased to be simply himself he stood now for a life a suggestion of added good and growth a larger of human interests in hie existence had all the difference her limited rural home and that with the great world which even the met contracted is sore to hold and thai very night while mr had gone and ill prepared to hie e her womanly before it for a famous it was so far successful that words failed the completely and the was in tears for some days miss was not only stem herself but even with the minister and entirely to her domestic the very next sunday it happened that mr e bury exchanged with a in the next large town a centre and he came home afterward in the best of spirits lie never had seemed so of his comfortable home or miss s desire to shield hb weak nature from these cares of life to which he was entirely he was unusually and amusing and described not with the best taste the efforts of two of his unmarried to make themselves agreeable he had met them on the short journey and did not hesitate to speak of himself lightly as a in fact he recognised his own popularity and attractions in a way that was oi pleasing to miss yet she was used la ua way of speaking and mi m glad to have him at home again she had been much disturbed and grieved by tier own thoughts in hi absence she could not be sure whether she was wise in drifting toward a nearer to minister was not exactly shocked at finding herself interested in but with her usual sense of propriety and she insisted upon taking everybody s view of tlie question before the weaker miss was a hearing was with herself for feeling l and liking to avoid the direct of her fellow mrs ami she hail always been the best of but for the first time mist was annoyed by such freedom of com ment and opinion and sister had never been so forward about spending the afternoon at the or running in for of gossip in the morning as in these latter days at last began to ask tho about her plans for the wedding in a half joking half serious which was hard to bear you re a sight too good for him was the usual conclusion and so i tell everybody the whole parish has got it settled for you and there s as many as six think hard of because you ve em no bein here on the spot it seemed as if a torrent of fate were sweeping our independent friend toward tbe brink of a great change she insisted to tbe side of her nature tliat did not care for minister himself that she was likely to age much sooner than be with bis round boyish face and plump they u be you for his when you go amongst strangers little and dried up as you re to be a ready you re three years older anyway and look as if t was nine yet the capable clear headed woman was greatly by the high position and of mistress of the she liked the new excitement and authority and grew more and more happy in the exercise of powers which a solitary life at the farm would hardly arouse or engage there was a growth of independence and in miss s and had not alone so many years for but there was no outward sign yet of she was firmly that tbe minister could not get on her and thai she rather not s s get on without him and tlie pleasure of her new if possible she grew a little more self contained and reserved in manner and speech while carefully his wants and putting better and better dinners on the table as for mr himself he became more cheerful every day and was almost in hb affectionate gratitude he spoke always as if tliey were one in their desire to interest and benefit the parish he had fallen into a pleasant home like habit of saying we whenever or par affairs were under discussion once when somebody had been remarking the efforts of one of her parish to gain mr s be bad laughed but when thin had gone away tbe minister said gently we know better don t we miss and could not help feeling that his tone meant a great deal yet she took no special notice of him and grew much more was natural heart beat warmly her dress already younger and a great deal than when first came to live at the her e im a ability waa made glad hj the many thai fell upon and those who know her and mr best thought nothing be wiser than their impending marriage did not the little child need miss s care did not the helpless minister need the assistance of a clear sighted business woman and good did not herself need and deserve a husband but with increasing certainty she still no outward sign of their secret understanding it was likely that mr thought best to wait a year after his wife s death and when he spoke right out was the time to show what her answer would be but somehow the thought of the dear old farm in the weather was always a sorrowful thought and on the days when mr hired a horse and wagon and her and the baby to accompany him on a series of die not bear to look at the home fields and the pasture	40
conspicuous bad taste of the new mrs s dress the waving feather of her hat tbe make believe richness of her and saw with bow unused she was to young tbe brave tried to make s the best of things hut one moment she herself thinking how uncomfortable mr s home would be henceforth with this poor reed to lean upon a faced pretty girl the next moment she pitied the girl herself who would have the hard task before her of being the wife of an indolent preacher in a country town miss had generously allowed her farm to the limited of tlie first parish in fact she had been a silent partner in the establishment rather than a dependent would the first parish laugh at her now t it was a but she honestly believed that the minister himself would be most when the parish opinion had found time to down the next day our heroine whose face was singularly free from disappointment told the minister that she would like to leave at for she was about many not having had notice in season of his change of plan i ve been telling your wife all about the and parish interests the best i can aad it s likely she wants to take everything her own hands right away added the pf ml uncommon with a of malice but mr flushed and looked down at the short capable he knew virtues so well that this gave him a crushing blow why i thought of course you would here as usual he said in a strange harsh voice that would have been perfectly surprising in the pulpit mrs has never known any care we count upon your remaining m n miss looked him in the face and for a moment him for that self so often and now sunk into depths of if you thought th it you ought to have known better she said you can t ex a woman who has property and relations of her own to give up her interests for yours altogether i got a letter tliis morning from my brother s boy little tom and he s got leave from his mother and her husband to come and stop with me a good while ha says all winter s been sick and they ve had to take him ont o i never supposed that such up air would agree with him concluded miss p triumphantly she was full of joy aad hope s new turn of affairs and the minister was hopeless i home for a while if t would be a for jou she added more thai is after i get house well and there s something in it to eat i wish you could have spoken to me a fortnight ago but i saw joe tliat boy that lived with me quite a while he s glad to come back he only engaged to stop till after time where ha s been this summer and he s promised to look about for a good cow for me i always thou t well of joe the minister turned away and miss went about her work she meant to leave the house in the best of but the whole congregation came in that day and the next and she hardly had time to build a fire in her own before joe followed her from the witli the beloved tom lie looked tall and and pale and largely under his of red hair bless his heart i how hb lonely aunt and kissed him and bow thankful ha was to get back to her though she never have suspected it if she had not known s him so well a shy boy fashion of r es and had replaced his early but he promptly went to the shelf of books to find tlie familiar old miss w heart leaped for joy as she remembered how much more she could teach the child books she felt a great wave of gratitude fill her cheerful soul as she remembered the pleasure and gain of those evenings when she and mr had read together there was a great deal of eager discussion in the village and much amused scrutiny of s countenance as she walked up the side aisle that first sunday after the was married she led little tom by the hand but he o the door ushered her in handsomely and she looked at her neighbors and nodded her head sideways at the boy in a way that made them suspect that she was much more in love with him and all ever been with mr a few minutes she frowned at tom sternly for greeting old acquaintances over the rail in a way that not fit the day or place there was no chance to laugh at her disappoint ment for nobody help her experience at the had been in her life and thai had returned willingly to her old the dream of being a s wife liad been only a dream and she was surprised to find herself waking from it with resignation to her lot i d just like to know what sort of a breakfast they had she said to herself as the bride s went waving and np to the if there was a man who was about his cup o coffee t is reverend i there now don t you wish t was you a setting up front and feeling the eyes of the whole parish sticking in your back you could have had him you know if you d set right about it i never think you had proper ideas of what promoted is but if you ain t discovered a new world for yourself like c i miss my guess if you d on the farm all alone last year you d had no thoughts but and and as t is you	40

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