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mother s voice in the middle of her a wagon was driven into the yard and his father left it quickly and came toward the door come in here you he shouted angrily i want to look at you i want to see what such a mean spirited has got to say for himself then changing his voice to a he begged who had caught him from falling as he stumbled over the step come in boy an tell me t ain t true i guess they was only of me up you ain t took a shine to that miss now have you no son of mine no son of mine burst out the mother who had been startled by the sudden entrance of the news her was promptly set free and looked from his father s face to his mother s father said he turning away from the who was nearly inarticulate in her excess of rage father i d rather talk to you if you want to hear what i ve got to say mother s got no reason in her law lane said the elder man i see how tis let your ma am talk all she will i m broke with shame of ye his choked weakly in his throat either you tell me tis all nonsense or you go out o that door and shut it after you for good an ye re all the boy i ve got the woman had stopped at last mastered y f the terror of the moment her husband s face was gray with passion her son s cheeks were flushed and his eyes were full of tears mrs s tongue for once 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 hasty he said to you ve heard was the only answer and in a moment more reached to the table and took his old straw hat which lay there good by father he said steadily i think you re wrong sir but i never meant to carry on that old fight and live like the heathen and then young and strong and angry he left the kitchen he might have took some notice o me if he s goin for good said the mother law lane but her son did not hear this and the father only where he stood the struck 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 dazed and giddy but he found the young horse wandering about the yard eager for his supper and at the strange delay he the creature and backed the wagon under the shed then he turned and looked at the house should he go in no the fighting instinct which had kept firm grasp on father and grandfather took possession of now he 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 his footsteps and the man gave a heavy groan let him go let him go i t will teach him a lesson said mrs with something of her usual spirit she could not say more though she tried her best the occasion was far too great how many times that summer mrs powder attempted to vengeance upon the tale into what depths of in law lane remorse the mischief making boy was resolutely plunged who shall describe no more of generous provision no more jovial at the kitchen windows or liberal payment for easy errands whenever mrs powder saw or any other intimate and sympathetic friend she her careless confidences under the tree and detailed her anxious attentions to the stung i went right home she would say sorrowfully i filled him full 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 you won t lose by it if you keep your mouth shut about them words i spoke to and he was that pious i might ha known he meant mischief they ain t boys nor men they re when they come to that size and so you mark my words but his mother never could keep nothing to herself and i knew it from past and i never slept a wink that night sure s you live till the for day perhaps t won t do but good law lane would say perhaps the young folks each other a sight the sooner they d had to it to till they was gray headed less somebody let the cat out o the bag don t you how my cat acted that day exclaimed mrs powder excitedly how she was good as took with a fit she well enough what was i only wish we d had half of her sense iv the day before christmas all the long valley was white with deep new fallen snow the road which led up from the neighboring and the railroad station stretched along the western slope a mere trail and unbroken the storm had ceased the high mountain peaks were dear and keen and rose tinted with the light the hills were no longer green with their covering of pines and and but gray with bare branches and a cold dense color almost black where the grew on the other side of the valley the were law lane out as if in or pen drawing the far away were drawn with a curious and regularity the crooked boughs of the apple trees and the longer lines of the and ashes and elms came out against the snow with clear beauty the fences and walls	40
were buried in snow the farm houses and were petty shapes in their right to natural you were half amused half shocked as the thought came to you of indifferent creatures called men and women who busied themselves within those narrow walls under so vast a sky and fancied the whole importance of the universe was by that of their few pent acres what a world lay outside those play thing farms yet what of immortal things the small gray houses had known the day before christmas i a festival which seemed in that neighborhood to be of modem origin the of it was hardly popular yet among the elder people but christmas had been appropriated nevertheless as if everybody had felt the lack of it new year s day never was sufficient for new england even in its least law lane for those persons who took joy in life something deeper was needed than the spread eagle self congratulations of the fourth of july or the family of day there were no bells ringing which the country folks in law lane might listen for on christmas eve but something more than the joy that is felt in the poorest dwelling when a little child with all its possibilities is bom something happier still came through that snowy with the thought of a christmas child who was the in and founder of the reign of the higher life this was the greater day when the whole of is called to praise and pray and hear the good tidings and every heart catches something of the joyful of good will to men sat on a fallen tree from which he had brushed the snow it was hard work through the and he had made good up the long hill before he stopped to rest across the valley in the fading daylight he saw the two farms and could even trace the course of law lane itself marked by the well known trees law lane how small his own great nut tree looked at this distance the two houses with their larger and smaller out buildings and looked as if they had crept near together for protection and companionship there were no other houses within a wide space knew how remote the homes really were from each other judged by any existing sympathy and interest he thought of his bare boyhood with something like resentment then he remembered how small had been his parents experience what poor ambition had been in them by their lives even his mother s impatience with the efforts he had made to bring a little more comfort and to the old farm house was thought of with for her innate lack of pleasure in pleasant things was made up of being bom and bred of the he was at work on the railroad now with small pay but he had always known that there could be something better than the life in their while his mother did not a different feeling came over him as he thought whom the other farm house sheltered he had looked for that first to see if it were stand w lane ing safe s last letter had come only the day before this christmas holiday was to be a surprise to her he wondered whether s father would let him in never mind i he could sleep in the bam 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 in mrs powder s chimney she was away on one of her visiting nursing some sick person perhaps she have him for the night most gladly now he must take his chances in law lane the darkness was already beginning to fall there was a curious in the air like summer twilight uie cold air became and the young man shivered a little as he walked he could not follow the road where it led among hospitable neighbors but turned bravely toward his old home a long lonely walk at any time of the year among woods and all well known to him and as familiar as they were to the wild creatures that haunted them yet did not find it easy to whistle as he went along law lane suddenly from behind a oak that was heavily laden with dead leaves and snow leaped a small figure and was for the moment much startled the boy carried a rabbit trap with unusual care and placed it on the snow drift before which he stood waist deep already you most scared me to pieces i said in a perfectly calm tone wish you merry christmas folks u be for you they didn t s pose you d home before to morrow though looking for me repeated the young man with surprise i did n t send no word ain t you heard bout your ma am s being took up for dead no i ain t and you ain t me with your stories smith you need n t play any of your mischief me what you mad with me about inquired with a plaintive tone in his voice she got a fall out in the bam this an it liked to killed her most folks ain t heard bout it cause its been so they come for mis powder and she called out to our folks as they brought her round by the way of pack lane er s store to some or asked no more questions bnt strode past the boy who looked after him a moment and then lifted the heavy box trap and started homeward the imprisoned rabbit had been up since the day before at least and felt anxieties else he would have followed at a proper distance and	40
learned something of his reception mrs powder was triumphant in the house being nurse housekeeper and spiritual adviser all in one she had been longing for an excuse to spend at least half a day imder that cheerless roof for many months but occasion had not offered she found the responsibility of the parted lovers weighing more and more heavily on her mind and had set her strong will at work to find some way of them and even to restore a long banished peace to the farms she would not like to confess that a mild satisfaction caused her heart to feel warm and when an urgent summons had come at last but such was the simple truth a man who had been law lane trees on the farm brought the news to hear under other circumstances that mrs had been hunting eggs in a stray nest in the hay and had slipped to the floor and been taken up insensible bones were undoubtedly broken she was a heavy woman and had hardly recovered her senses the 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 forth on the welcome enterprise on the way she could hardly keep herself from undue cheerfulness and if ever there was likely to be a presence in a sick room it was powder s that december day she entered the gloomy kitchen looking like a two footed snow drift her big round shoulders were so heaped with the damp white old sat by the stove in utter despair and waved 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 ever had mrs powder calmly removed her snowy outer garments and tried to warm her hands over the fire law lane put in a couple o sticks of good dry wood she suggested in a soothing voice and the farmer felt his spirits he knew not why then the whole hearty woman walked into the bedroom all i could see she related afterward was the end of jane s nose and i was just as sure then as i be now that she was likely to but i set down side of the bed and got 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 t less t was over such a i spoke to her but she never said and i went back out into the kitchen she s a very sick woman says i loud enough for her to hear me i knew t would 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 o it being nigh three o clock an then i got jane to feel more comfortable with of her for all she d hardly let me touch of her poor i expect she did feel sore and daylight was f and i felt kind o spent so law i set me down in a cheer by the bed head and was speechless too i knew if she was able to speak 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 doctor and i her up well s i could be i veiy bad o e t says she we u hope for the best jane says i and that minute the notion come to me how i d work her round an i like to laughed 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 you can trust me with anything you feel to say sister she kind of opened her eye that was next to me and surveyed my countenance sharp but i looked serious and she groaned real honest be i like old mis she whispered and i kind o nodded an put my hand up to my eyes she was like her too some like her but not nigh so bad for mis was hurt so down the stairs that she never got over it an died the day after law lane oh my she st oat i can t be took away now i ain t a goin to die right off be i mis powder i ain t to give ye hope in the midst of life we are in death we ain t sure of the next minute none of us says i it general but away like an old book o sermons i do feel kind o now says she oh can t you do and i come over an set on the foot o the bed an looked right at her i knew she was a dreadful woman and always made a fuss when was the matter with her could n t bear no kind o pain sister says i don t you bear on your mind you d like to see before you go i know you ain t been at peace with s folks and t ain t none o my business but i should n t want to be called away with hard f s in my heart you must overlook my speaking right out but i should want to be so used myself poor old she had an awful fight of it but she beat her temper for once an give in i do forgive all them says she an rolled up her eyes i law lane says to	40
with pleased anticipation the sick woman was comfortably up in the bedroom in all his life the son had never felt so drawn to his mother there was a new look in her eyes as law lane he went toward her she had lost her high color and looked at him as she never had done before come close here said i believe i m goin to about ag in after all mis powder says i be but them s i had down the yesterday was twice as bad as the i struck with i may never be the same to work but i ain t goin to fight with folks no more the lord let me live a spell longer i ain t a goin to fight with nobody no matter how bad i want to now you go an you a good breakfast i ain t eat a since breakfast yesterday and you can bring me a help o anything sister powder my i hope last muttered sister powder to herself as she heaped the blue plate wish you all a merry christmas i she said i like to forgot my manners it was christmas day whether anybody in law lane remembered it or not the sun shone bright on the sparkling snow the were dropping and the snow birds and blue came about the door the wars of law lane were ended a lost a great many years it had been understood in that miss once had a lover and that he been lost at sea by little and little in one way and another her acquaintances found out or made up the whole story and miss stood in the position not of an unmarried woman exactly but rather of having spent most of her life in a long and lonely she looked like a person with a history strangers often said as if we each did not have a history and her own unbroken reserve about this romance of hers gave everybody the more respect for it the people paid willing deference to miss her family had always been one that could be liked and respected and she was the last that was left in the old home of which she was so fond this was a high square house with a row of pointed windows in its roof a porch in front a lost lover with some bushes near it and down by the road was a long orderly procession of like a row of standing guard she had lived here alone since her father s death twenty years before she was a kind just woman whose pleasures were of a stately and sober sort and she seemed not unhappy in her loneliness though she sometimes said gravely that she was the last of her family as if the fact had a great sadness for her she had some middle aged and elderly cousins who lived at a distance and they came occasionally to see her but there had been no young people staying in her house for many years until this summer when the daughter of her youngest cousin had written to ask if she might come to make a visit she was a girl of twenty both older and younger than her years her father and who were civil had taken some work upon the line of a railway in the far western country had made many long journeys with them before and since she had left school and she had meant to follow them now after spending a fortnight with the old cousin whom she had not seen since her childhood a l t lover her father ha laughed at this visit as a and warned her of the and of but the result was that the girl found herself very happy in the comfortable home she was still her own free lucky and self and the old house was so much pleasanter for the girlish face and life that miss had at first timidly and then most heartily begged her to stay for the whole summer or even the autumn until her father was ready to come east the name of was very dear to miss and she grew of her guest when the village people saw her glance at the girl affectionately as they sat together in the family of a sunday or saw them walking together after tea they said it was a good thing for miss how bright she looked and no doubt she would leave all her money to if she played her cards well but we will do justice and say that she was not she would have scorned such a thought she had grown to have a great love for her cousin and really liked to please her she her i have no doubt and her repress a lost lover sion her sa rare words of approval had a great fascination for a girl who had just been used to people who and were upon most intimate terms with directly and could forget jou with equal ease and liked having so admiring and easily pleased an audience as miss and her old servant she liked to be queen of her company she had so many gay bright stories of what had happened to herself and her friends beside she was clever with her needle and had all those practical gifts which elderly women approve so heartily in girls they liked her pretty clothes she was sensible and economical and busy they praised her to each other and to the world and even stubborn old the man servant to whom miss herself spoke with deference would do anything she asked would by no means choose so dull a life as this for the rest of her days but she enjoyed it immensely for the time being she instinctively avoided all that would shock the grave dignity and old school ideas of miss and somehow she never	40
the green peas were all presently and said gravely that she should have to be lazy now until it was time to put in the meat she wasn t used to being helped there was extra work and she calculated to have one piece of work join on to another however it was no account and she was obliged for the company and laughed merrily as she stood washing her hands in the shining old copper basin at the sink the sun would not be round that side of the house for a long time yet and the pink and blue morning glories were still in their full bloom and freshness they a lost loves grew over the window on strings exactly the same distance apart there was a box crowded full of green down at the side of the door they were over the edge and stooped stiffly down with an air of at their they all over everything said she and re no kind of use only miss s mother she set everything by em she fetched em from home with her when she was married her mother a box and they came from england folks used to say they was good for bee then she went into the inner kitchen and went slowly away along the flag stones to the garden from whence she had come the garden gate opened with a tired and shut with a and she noticed how smooth and shiny the wood was where the touch of so many hands had worn it there was a great pleasure to this girl in finding herself among such old and well worn things she had been for a long time in cities or at the west and among the old fashions and ancient possessions of it seemed to her that everything had its story and she liked the and with which life seemed to go on from year a lost lover to year she had seen many a dainty or gorgeous garden but never one that she had liked so well as this with its bed and its broken rows of bushes its tall of white lilies and its wandering and that had beside the straight paths for so many more than she herself had lived she picked a little of late red roses and carried it into the house to put on the parlor table the wide hall door was standing open with its green outer blinds closed and the old hall was dim and cool miss did not like a glare of sunlight and she flies with her whole heart could hardly see her way through the rooms it had been so bright out of doors but she brought the tall champagne glass of water from the dining room and put the flowers in their place then she looked at two which stood on the mantel in carved frames they were portraits of an uncle of miss and his wife miss had thought looked like this uncle the evening before she could not see the likeness herself but the pictures suggested something else and she turned suddenly and went hurrying up the stairs a lover to s own room where she remembered to have seen a group of fastened to the wall there were seven or eight and she looked at the young men among them most carefully but they were all marked with the name of they were miss s and ers and our friend hung them on their little brass hooks again with a feeling of disappointment perhaps her cousin had a quaint miniature of the lover painted on ivory and shut in a worn red case she hoped she should get a sight of it some day this story of the lost sailor had a wonderful charm for the girl miss had never been so interesting to her before how she must have mourned for the lover and missed him and hoped there would yet be news from the ship thought she would tell her own little love story some day though there was not much to tell yet in spite of there being so much to think about she built a little castle in spain as she sat in the front window seat of the upper hall and dreamed pleasant stories for herself until the sharp noise of the front gate latch her and she looked out through the blind to see her cousin coming up the walk a lost lover miss looked hot and tired and her thoughts were not of any fashion of romance it is going to be very warm said she i have been worrying ever since i have been gone because i forgot to ask to pick those white for the minister s wife i promised that she should have them early this morning would you go out to the kitchen and ask to step in for a moment my dear was picking over red to make a pie and rose from her chair with a little i guess they could wait until afternoon said she as she came back miss h s in a fret because she forgot about sending some white to the minister s i told her that had gone to have the horses shod and wouldn t be back till near noon i don t see why part of the folks in the world should kill themselves trying to suit the rest as long as i haven t got any for the cake i suppose i might go out and pick em added i ll get some to set away for tea anyhow miss had a letter to write after she had rested from her walk and soon left her in the dark parlor and went back m a lost lover to the garden to w o seemed to be taking life with more than her usual she was sheltered by an enormous i set out to free my mind	40
to h this morning said she as down at the opposite side of the where she was picking bat we can t agree on that p int and it s no i don t say nothing yon might s well ask the moon to ce about and travel the other way as to try to change miss h s mind i ain t going to argue it with her it ain t my place i know that as well as anybody she d run her feet off for the minister s folks any day though i do say he s a fair preacher they haven t got a speck o consideration nor they think the world was made for them but i think likely they ll find out it wasn t most folks do when he first was settled here i had a fit o sickness and he come to see me when i was getting over the worst of it he did the best he could i always took it very kind of him but he made a prayer and he this aged i should think a dozen times aged said scornfully i don t call myself aged a lost lover yet and that was more than ten years ago i never made pretensions to being younger than i am but you d a thought i was a old going on a hundred laughed looked cross and moved on to the next bush so that s why you don t like the minister but the question did not seem to please i hope i never should be set against a preacher by such as that and hastened to change the subject but there was to be a last word i like to see a minister that s solid minister right straight through not one of these folks but old parson spoilt me for setting under any other preaching i wonder said after a little if cousin has any picture of that captain he was n t captain said i never heard that it was any more than they talked of giving him a ship next voyage and you never saw him he never came here to see her bless you no she met with him at where she was spending the winter and he went right away to sea i ve heard a good deal more about it of late years than a lost lover i ever did at the time i suppose the folks talked about it enough all i know is there was other good matches that offered to her since and could n t get her and i suppose it was on account of her heart s being buried in the deep with aim and this unexpected bit of sentiment spoken in s tone seemed so funny to her young companion that she bent very low to pick from a dose to the ground and could not ask any more questions for some time i have seen her a sight o times when i knew she was thinking about him went on presently this time with a tenderness in her voice that touched s heart she s been dreadful she and the old colonel her father wasn t much company to each other and she always everything to herself the only time sh ever said a word to me was one night six or seven years ago this christmas they got up a christmas tree in the and she went and i did too i guess everybody in the whole church and parish that could crawl turned out to go the children they made a dreadful i d ha got my ears took off if i had been so forth putting when i a lost lover was little i was looking round for miss h long at the last of the evening and somebody said they d seen her go home i hurried and i couldn t see any light in the house and i was afraid she was sick or something she come and let me in and i see she had been i says have you heard any bad news but she says no and began to cry again real pitiful i never felt so in my life says she as i did down there it s a dreadful thing to be left all alone in the world i did feel for her but i couldn t seem to say a word i put some pine i had handy for morning on the kitchen fire and i made her up a cup o good hot tea quick s i could and took it to her and i guess she felt better she never went to bed till three o clock that night i could n t shut my eyes till i heard her come upstairs there i set everything by miss h i have n t got no folks either i was left an orphan over to where miss s mother come from and she took me out o the town farm to bring up i remember when i come here i was so small i had a box to stand up on when i helped wash the dishes there s nothing i ain t had to make me comfortable a lost loves and i do as i m a mind to and call in extra help every day of the week if i give the word but i ve had my times and i guess miss h knew was very much touched by bit of a story it was a new idea to her that should have so much affection and be so sympathetic people never will get over being surprised that chestnut are not as rough inside as they are outside and the girl s heart warmed toward the old woman who had spoken with such for sentiment and pathos went to the house with her basket and also went in but	40
only to put on another hat and see if it were straight in a minute spent before the old mirror before she hurried down the long elm shaded street to buy a pound of for the cake she left it on the kitchen table when she came back and nobody ever said anything about it only there were two delicious cakes a heart and a round on a little blue china plate beside s plate at tea after tea and miss sat in the front doorway the elder woman in a high backed chair and the younger on the door step the tree and were a lost lover up the stars showed a little through the trees and the elms looked y and black against the sky the fragrance of the white lilies in the garden blew through the hall miss was tapping the ends of her fingers together probably she was not thinking of anything in particular she had had a very peaceful day with the exception of the and they had after all gone to the some time before noon beside this the minister had sent word that the delay made no distress for his wife had unexpectedly gone to to pass the day and night miss had received the business letter for which she had been looking for several days so there was nothing to regret deeply for that day and there seemed to be nothing for one to dread on the morrow cousin asked are you sure you like having me here are you sure i don t trouble you of course not said miss without a bit of sentiment in her tone i find it very pleasant having young company though i am used to being alone and i don t mind it as i suppose you would i should mind it very much said the girl softly a ia t would get used to it as i ha e said miss yes dear i like having yon better and better i hate to think of going away and she smoothed s hair as if she thought she might have n coldly at first and wished to make up for it this rare caress was not without its effect i don t miss and dick so much owned frankly because i have grown used to their coming and going but sometimes i miss people cousin did i ever say anything to you about george forest i think i remember the name answered miss he is in the navy and he has gone a long voyage and i think everything of him i missed him awfully but it is almost time to get a letter does your father approve of him asked miss with great propriety you are very young yet and you must not think of such a thing carelessly i should be so much grieved i you threw away your happiness oh i we are not really engaged said who felt a little chilled i suppose a lost lover we are too only nobody knows yet yes father knows him as well as i do and he is very fond of of course i should not keep it from father but he guessed it himself only it s such a long cousin three years i suppose away off in china and i have known longer voyages than that said miss with a quiver in her voice and she rose suddenly and walked away this grave reserved woman who seemed so contented and so comfortable but when she came back she asked a great deal about her lover and learned more of the girl s life than she ever had before and they talked together in the way about this pleasant subject which was so close to s heart until brought the candles at ten o clock that being the hour of miss s but that night miss did not go to bed at ten she sat by the window in her room thinking the moon rose late and after a little while she blew out her candles which were burning low i suppose that the years which had come and gone since the young sailor went away on that last voyage of his had each added to her affection j a lost lover for him she was a person who the more fondly to youth as she left it the farther behind this is such a natural thing the great sorrows of our youth sometimes become the amusements of our later years we can only remember them with a smile we find that our lives look fairer to us and we forget what used to trouble us so much when we look back miss certainly had come nearer to truly loving the sailor than she had any one else and the more she thought of it the more it became the romance of her life she no longer asked herself as she often had done in middle life whether if he had lived and had come home she would have loved and married him she had minded less and less year by year knowing that her friends and neighbors thought her faithful to the love of her youth poor gay handsome joe i how fond he had been of her and how he had looked at her that day he sailed away out of harbor on the i if she had only known that she never should see him again poor fellow i but as usual her thoughts changed their current a little at the end of reverie a lost lover s perhaps after au loneliness was not so hard to bear as other sorrows she had had a pleasant life god had been very good to her and had spared her many trials and granted her many blessings i am an old woman now she said to herself things are better as they are i can	40
get on by myself better than most women can and i never should have liked to be interfered with then she shut out the moonlight and lighted her candles again with an almost guilty feeling what should i say if sat up till nearly midnight looking out at the moon she thought it is very silly but this is such a beautiful night i should like to have her see the moon shining through the tops of the trees but was sleeping the sleep of the just and sensible in her own room next morning at breakfast was a little conscious of there having been uncommon confidences the night before but miss was her usual calm and somewhat formal self and proposed their making a few calls after dinner if the weather were not too hot at once wondered what she had better wear there was a certain black a lost lover which miss had noticed with approval and she remembered that the lower needed and made up her mind that she would devote most of the time before dinner to that and to some other so after breakfast was over she brought the dress downstairs with her work box and settled herself in the miss usually sat there in the morning it was a pleasant room and she could keep an watch over the kitchen and who did not need watching in the least i dare say it was for the sake of being within the sound of a voice miss marched in and out that morning she went upstairs and came down again and was mysteriously busy for a while in the parlor was sewing steadily by a window where one of the blinds was a little way open and in its place by a string she a tune to herself over and over what will yon do love when i am with white sails flowing the seas beyond and old going to and fro at her work in the kitchen grumbled out bits of an ancient tune at intervals there a lost lover seemed to be some connection between these fragments in her mind it was like a ledge of rock in a pasture that sometimes runs under the ground and then crops out again perhaps it was the tune of foimd that there was a good deal to be done to the dress when she looked it over and became very it was quiet in and about the house for a long time until suddenly she heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming in from the road the side door was in a little entry between the room where sat and the kitchen and the new comer knocked loudly a tramp said to herself while came to open the door wiping her hands hurriedly on her apron i wonder if you could n t give me something to eat said the man i suppose i could answered will you step in beggars were very few in and miss never wished anybody to go away hungry from her house it was off the grand highway of but they were by no means unknown searched among her stores and r lover heard her putting one plate after other on the kitchen table and that the breakfast promised to be a good one if it were late don t put yourself out said the man as he his chair nearer i lodged in an old bam three or four miles above here last night and there did n t seem to be very good board there going far inquired boston said the man i m a too old to travel now if i could go by water it would seem nearer i m more used to the water this is a royal good piece o beef i suppose you could n t put your hand on a of this was said humbly but the tone failed to touch s heart no i could n t said she so there was an end of that and the conversation for a time presently came to speak to miss who had just come downstairs could you stay in the kitchen a few minutes she whispered there s an old there that looks foreign he came to the door for something to eat and i gave it to him but he s ble looking and i a ta t lover don t like to leave him e i m in the midst o dressing the chickens he u l e through pretty quick to the way he s eating now miss followed her without a word and the man half rose and said madam i with unusual courtesy and when was out of hearing he spoke again i suppose you have n t any to which his hostess answered i could n t give you any this morning in a tone that left no room for argument he looked as if he had had a great deal too much to drink already how far do you it from here to boston he asked and was told that it was eighty miles i m a slow said he sailors don t take much to walking miss asked him if he had been a sailor nothing else replied the man who seemed much inclined to talk he had been eating like a hungry dog as if he were half starved a red faced looking old man with some traces of former good looks still to be discovered in his face nothing else i ran away to sea when i was a boy and i followed it until i got so old they wouldn t a lost lover ship me even for cook there was something in his feeling for once so comfortable perhaps it was being with a lady like miss who pitied him that lifted his thoughts a little from their usual low level it s drink that	40
s been the ruin of me said he i ought to have been somebody i was nobody s fool when i was young i got to be mate of a ship and there was some talk o my being captain before long she was lost that voyage and three of us were all that was saved we got picked up by a chinese she had the plague aboard of her and my mates died of it and i was down myself it was a hell of a place to be in when i got ashore i on an old bark that pretended to be coming round the cape and she turned out to be a i just went to the dogs and i ve gone from bad to worse ever since it s never too late to mend said who came into the kitchen just then for a string to tie the chickens lord help us yes it is i said the sailor it s easy for you to say that i m too old i ain t been master of this craft for a good while and he laughed at his melancholy joke a lost lover don t say that said miss well now what could an old like me do to earn a living and who d want me if i could you would n t i don t know when i ve been treated so decent as this before i m all broke down but his tone was no longer sincere he had fallen back on his profession of beggar could n t you get into some asylum or there s the sailors snug harbor isn t that for men like you it seems such a pity for a man of your years to be and a wanderer have n t you any friends at all and here suddenly miss s face altered and she grew very white something startled her she looked as one might who saw a fearful ghost no said the man but my folks used to be some of the best in i have n t shown my head there this good while i was an orphan my grandmother brought me up you see i didn t come back to the states for thirty or forty years along at the first of it i used to see men in port that i used to know but i always em and i was way off in places i ve got an awful sight to answer for i used to have a good wife when i was in a lost lover i don t know where i have n t been first and last i was always a gay fellow i ve spent as much as a couple o fortunes and here i am a begging devil take it i was still sewing in the dining room but soon after miss had gone out to the kitchen one of the doors between had slowly closed itself with a plaintive the round stone which used to keep it open had been pushed away was a little annoyed she liked to hear what was going on but she was just then holding her work with great care in a place that was hard to so she did not move she heard the murmur of voices and thought after a while that the old vagabond ought to go away by this time what could be making her cousin talk so long with him it was not like her at au he would beg for money of course and she hoped miss would not give him a single cent it was some time before the kitchen door opened and the man came out with clumsy stumbling steps i m much obliged to you he said and i don t know but it is the last time i get treated as if i was a gentleman is there anything i do a lost lover for you round the place lie asked hesitatingly and as if he hoped that his offer would not be accepted no answered miss no thank you good by and he went away the old beggar had been lifted a little above his low life he fell back again directly before he was out of the gate i m blessed if she did n t give me a ten dollar bill i said he she must have thought it was one i u get out o call as quick as i can hope she won t find it out and send anybody after me visions of unlimited drinks and other things in which it was possible to find pleasure flitted through his stupid how the old lady stared at me once i he thought wonder if she was anybody i used to know i don t know as i ever heard of the place and he along the dusty road and that night he was very drunk and the next day he went wandering on god only knows where but and both heard a strange noise in the kitchen as if some one had fallen and they f that miss had fainted dead away it was partly the heat she said when she saw their anxious faces as she came to herself she had had a little headache all a the morning it was hot and in kitchen and the had come upon her suddenly they helped her to walk into the cool parlor presently and brought her a glass of wine and sat beside her on a as she lay on the sofa and her once she held her cheek against miss s hand for a minute and she will never know as long as she lives what a comfort she was that day every one but miss forgot the old sailor tramp in this excitement that followed his visit do you guess already who he was but the certainty could not come to you	40
with the chill and horror it did to miss there had been something in his look and voice from the first and then she had suddenly known him her lost lover it was an awful change that the years had made in him he had truly called himself a wreck he was like some dreary wreck in its decay and utter ruin its miserable and falling to pieces in the slow tides of a lifeless sea and he had once been her lover miss thought bitterly many times in the days that followed not that there was ever a lost lover asked or promised between them but they had liked each other dearly and had parted with deep sorrow she had thought of him all these years so tenderly she had believed always that his love had been even greater than her own and never once had doubted that the missing had with it down into the sea a heart that was true to her by little and little this all grew familiar and she accustomed herself to the knowledge of her new secret she shuddered at the thought of the misery of a life with him and she thanked god for her such shame and despair the distance between them seemed immense she had always been a person of so much consequence among her friends and so dutiful and a woman she had not begun to understand what is in the world her life had been shut in by safe and orderly surroundings it was a strange chance that had brought this wanderer to her door she remembered his wretched she had not liked even to stand near him she had never imagined him grown old he had always been young to her it was a great mercy he had not known her it would a lost lover hare been a most miserable for them both and yet she with sad surprise that she had not known she had changed so entirely she thought of the different ways their roads in life had gone she him she cried about him more than once and she wished that she know he was dead he might hare been such a brave good man with his strong will and resolute courage god f him for the wickedness which his strength had been made to serve god forgive him said miss to herself sadly over and over again she wondered if she ought to have let him go away and so have lost sight of him but she could not do anything else she suffered terribly on his account she had a pity such as god s pity must be for even his sins so her romance was all over with yet the still whispered it to strangers and even and never knew how she had really lost her lover in so strange and sad a way in her latest years nobody noticed much change but saw that the whale s tooth disappeared from its place in miss s room and her old friends said to each other that she began to a lost lover show her age a great deal she seemed really like an old woman now she was not the woman she had been a year ago this is all of the story but we so often wish when a story comes to an end that we knew what became of the people afterward shall we believe that miss more and more fondly to her young and that will stay with her a great deal before she and sometimes afterward when the lieutenant goes away to sea shall we say that miss seems as well satisfied and comfortable as ever though she she is not so young as she used to be and secretly something out of her life it is the contentment of winter rather than that of summer the flowers are out of bloom for her now and under the snow and will not she always be the same with a and freshness and like a tree to the end of her days let us hope they will live on together and be this long time yet the two good women and let us wish much pleasure and a sweet and as she grows older and finds life a harder thing to understand and a graver thing to know the of sister all the there had been an increasing temptation to take an out door holiday and early in the afternoon the temptation my power of resistance a far away pasture on the long slope of a high hill was persistently present to my mind yet there seemed to be no particular reason why i should think of it i was not sure that i wanted anything from the pasture and there was no sign except the temptation that the pasture wanted anything of me but i was on the farther side of as many as three fences before i stopped to think again where i was going and why there is no use in trying to tell another person about that afternoon unless he distinctly remembers weather exactly like it no number of details concerning an ice will give a single shiver to a child of the this was one of those the of sister perfect new england days in late summer when the spirit of autumn takes a first stealthy flight like a spy through the country side and with feigned sympathy for those who with august heat puts her cool cloak of air about leaf and flower and human shoulders every living thing grows suddenly cheerful and strong it is only when you catch sight of a horror stricken little in soil a little that has second sight and of coming disaster to her race only then does a distrust of autumn s friendliness dim your joyful satisfaction in there is always a day when one has the first of spring in late	40
august there is a morning when the air is for the first time autumn like perhaps it is a hint to the to get in their first supplies for the winter or a that summer will soon end and everybody had better make the most of it we are always looking forward to the passing and ending of winter but when summer is here it seems as if summer must always last as i went across the fields that day i found myself half that the world must fade the of sister again even that the best of her and bloom was only a preparation for another spring time for an awakening beyond the coming winter s sleep the sun was slightly veiled there was a chattering group of birds which had gathered for a conference about their early yet oddly enough i heard the voice of a and presently saw him rise from the grass and leisurely while he sang a brief tune he was much behind time if he were still a housekeeper but as for the other birds who listened they cared only for their own notes an old crow went by and gave a at his despised neighbor just as a black at so hard it is to be just to one s the was indeed singing out of season and it was impossible to say whether he really belonged most to this summer or to the next he might have been delayed on his northward journey at any rate he had a light heart now to judge from his song and i wished that i could ask him a few questions how he liked being the last man among the and where he had taken singing lessons in the south the of sister presently i left the lower fields and took a path tliat led higher where i could look beyond the village to the northern country here the sweet grew thick and fragrant and i also found myself treading on near by in a field corner 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 have spent many a delightful hour there in the shade and shelter of a young pitch pine and a wild cherry tree with a lovely outlook toward the village just far enough away beyond the green slopes and tall elms of the lower meadows but that day i still had the feeling 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 intruder though they did not offer to the of sister at me and we parted company very soon it was good to stand at last on the great shoulder of the hill the wind was coming in from the sea there was a fine fragrance from the pines and the air grew sweeter every moment i took new pleasure in the thought that in a piece of wild pasture land like this one may get to nature and upon what she gives of her own free will there have been no heavy shod to the soil and vex it into yielding artificial crops here one has to take just what nature is pleased to give whether one is a yellow bird or a human being it is very good entertainment for a summer and i am asking my reader now to share the winter provision which i that day let us hope that the small birds are also well after their fashion but i give them an anxious thought while the snow goes hurrying in long waves across the buried fields this windy winter night i next went farther down the hill and got a drink of fresh cool water from the brook and pulled a tender of sweet flag beside it the old fence just beyond was the last barrier between me and tee of sister the pasture which had sent an invisible messenger earlier in the day but i saw that somebody else had come first to the there was a brown and a shoulder 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 disappointment then a warm glow of pleasant satisfaction my selfishness this could be no one but dear old mrs the 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 bonnet but she heard the rustle of the bushes against my dress and looked up quickly as she knelt bending over the turf in that position she was hardly taller than the luxuriant themselves i m a in my she said briskly an i ve been thinking o you these twenty times since i come out o the house i begun to believe you must ha forgot me at last the of sister wi b i have been away from home i explained why don t you get in your too there s 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 for this day is prime i ve got a dreadful fit for em this year seems if i must be goin	40
to need em i feel like the must when they know a hard winter s and mrs bent over her work again while i stood by and watched her cut the best leaves with a clumsy pair of which might have served through at least half a century of gathering they were fastened to her apron strings by a long piece of list i m going to take my jack knife and help you i suggested with some fear of refusal i just passed a flourishing family of six or seven heads that must have been growing on purpose for you now be dear heart was the anxious response choose em well there s odds in same s there is in the of s ter 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 leaves is han some when i was small i used to have a notion that adam an eve must a took fer their winter wear ain t they just like flannel for all the world i ve had experience and i know there s plenty of sickness might be saved to folks if they d quit horse and such fiery things and use in proper season now i shall spread these an 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 s goodness in em and she away with the dull while i listened respectfully and took great pains to have my part of the harvest present a good appearance this is most too dry a head she added presently a little out of breath there i i can tell you there s win rows o young doctors over with book that is truly ignorant of what to do for the sick or how to p int out those paths that well of wi bt people toward sickness book fools i call em them men an some on em never live to know much better if they to be in my time every middle aged woman who had brought up a family had some proper ideas o with complaints i won t say but there was some fools amongst them but i d rather take my chances unless they d and gone to with patent stuff now my mother really did sense the use of and roots i never see anybody that come up to her she was a meek looking woman but very mother was then that s where you learned so much yourself mrs i ventured to say bless your heart i don t hold a candle to her t is but little i can recall of what she used to say no her i died with her said my friend in self tone why there was as many as twenty kinds of roots alone that she used to keep by her that i forget the use of an i m sure i shouldn t know where to find the most of em any there was an she called it an called that she used to get way from and she used to think everything of si ter of but i seem to get the right effects from it as she though i don t know as she ever really did use where else would n t a served she had a cousin married out in that used td take pains to get it to her every year or two and so she felt twas 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 stuff that grew right about em t was sufficient an so ordered that was before the whole population 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 w ld to once there s goin to be some sort of a set back one o these days with these an things an letters every hand s turn and folks their proper work to answer em i may not live to see it t was allowed to be difficult for folks to about in old times or to word across the try and they stood in their lot an place and weren t all just alike either same as pine we were kneeling side by side now as if the of in for the march of progress but we laughed as we turned to look at each other do you think it did much good when everybody a cracked of tea i asked walking away on my knees to a new i ve always lifted my voice against the practice far s i could declared mrs an i won t deal out none o the i save for no such nonsense there was three houses along our road i call no names where you couldn t go into the room without a mess o on the stove or side o the fireplace winter or summer sick or well one was one would be and the other like as not yellow dock but they all used to put in a little new rum to out the goodness or keep it from mrs favored me with a knowing smile land how mother used to laugh i but poor they had to work hard and i guess it never done em a o harm they was all good i wish you could hear the there used to be when they was indulged with a real case o sickness everybody would collect from the of i ter wi bt far an near you d see em coming along	40
the road and across the pastures then everybody that wouldn t do no kind o good but her choice o or to the feet i wonder there was a babe lived to grow up in the whole lower part o the town an if else to ail em word was passed about that twas likely mis so and so s last young one was goin to be foolish land how they d gather i know one day the doctor 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 neighbors as if there wa n t a soul to turn to right or left you d ought to seen em begin to scatter but don t you think the cars and have given people more to interest them mrs don t you believe people s lives were then and more taken up with little things i asked being a product of modem times not one dear said my companion stoutly there was as big thoughts then as there is now these times was bom o them the difference is in folks themselves but now instead o their own house of and their own though that was carried to excess they that a niece s child is the other side o and they drop everything and on their best clothes and off they in the cars tis a bad sign when folks wears out their best clothes faster n they do their every day ones the other side o has got to look after itself by rights an besides that s all gone out o fashion some lays it to one thing an some another but some o them old ministers that folks are all a for did preach a lot o stuff that wa n t but t wa n t the word o god out o either old testament or new but everybody went to and heard it and come home and was set to with their next door neighbor over it now i m a and i try to live a christian life but i d as soon hear a s book read out an all as try to get any simple truth out o most sermons it s them as is most to blame what was the matter that day at widow s i hastened to ask for i knew by experience that the good clear minded soul beside me was apt to grow vexed and tee of sister wi by distressed when she contemplated the state of religious teaching why there wa n t the matter only a o miss s had met with a dis and had gone into fits t was a that had come along time and he d gone off an her two days nobody ever knew what become of him them was good lord anybody kind o and took up with whoever they could get one of em married the they lived in that little house that was burnt this summer over on the edge o the plains he was a good hearted with a eye and a clever word for everybody he was the first that ever 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 here they could events some on em and had the second sight i know folks used to say mother s grandmother had them gifts but mother was never free to speak about it to us she remembered her well too i suppose that you mean old jim who was such a famous i asked the of sister with great interest for i am always delighted to know more about that rustic hero that he must have been i now dear heart i suppose you don t remember him do you replied mrs earnestly fiddle he d about break your heart with them tunes of his or else set your heels flying up the floor in a though you was minister o the first parish and all wound up for a funeral prayer i tell ye there ain t no tunes sounds like them used to it used to seem to me summer nights when i was along the plains road and he set by the window as if there was a human in that old red fiddle o his he could make it sound just like a woman s voice over and over as if folks could help her out o her sorrows if she could only make em understand i ve set by the stone wall and cried as if my heart was broke and dear knows it wa n t in them days how he would off them and dance tunes he used to make han some out of em in fall an winter at and parties but he was by as he got along in years and never blew what it was to be every the of sister body felt bad when he died you could n t help the he d got the gift that s all you could say about it there was a mis that lived over by the brook bridge on the plains road that had lost her husband early and was left with three child n she set the world by em and was a real pleasant ambitious little woman and was on as best she could with that little farm when there come a rage o scarlet f ever and her boy and two girls was swept off and laid dead within the same week every one o the neighbors did what they could but she d had no sleep since they was taken sick and after the funeral she set there just like a piece	40
o marble and would only shake her head when you spoke to her they all thought her reason would go and t would certain if she could n t have shed tears an one o the neighbors t was like mother s sense but it might have been somebody else spoke o jim mother an one or two o the women that knew her best was in the house with her t was right in the edge o the woods and some of us younger ones was over by the wall on the other side of the road where there was a couple of old i remember just fi the of sister the brook damp we kept quiet s we could and some along down the road and stood on the little bridge somebody d come out i suppose and they d news everybody was wrought up and felt a good deal for her you know by an by jim come right out o the shadows an set down on the an t was a good while before we heard a sound then oh dear me t was what ti e whole neighborhood for that mother all spoke in the notes an they told me afterwards that mis s face changed in a minute and she come right ot an got into my mother s lap she was a little woman an her head down and there she cried herself into a blessed sleep after awhile one o the other women stole out an told the folks and we all w it home he only played that one tune but resumed mrs after a silence during which my eyes were filled with tears his wife always complained the fiddle made her nervous she never to think o poor after she d once got him that s often the way said i with though i had no guilty in of i t b wi bt mj mind at the and we went off not very far apart up through the pasture mrs me t at we must not get so far off that we could not get back the same day the sunshine began to feel very hot on our backs and we turned toward the shade we had already collected a large bundle of leaves which were laid into a dean held together by four comers and proudly carried by me though my companion r them with anxious eyes we sat down together at the edge of the pine woods and mrs proceeded to fan herself her limp cape bonnet i declare how hot it is the east wind s all gone again she said it felt so cool this f that i myself with as thick a as any i ve got i m t af of having a chill now tiiat i ain t so young as once i hate to be up it s only august after all i assured her my statement by taking two out of my pocket and laying them side by side on the brown pine needles between us i ear alive the old the of sister b lady with evident pleasure where did you get them now does n t anything taste twice better out o doors i ain t had such a for years do le s keep the stones an i plant em it only takes four year for a pit to come to bearing an i guess i m good for four year i meet with some accident i could not help agreeing or taking a fond look at the thin little figure and her wrinkled brown face and kind twinkling eyes she looked as if she had properly dried herself by mistake with some of her leaves and was likely to keep her goodness and to last the longer in consequence there never was a truer simple hearted soul made out of the old fashioned country dust than mrs i thought as i looked away from her across the wide country that nobody was left in any of the farm houses so original so full of rural wisdom and so really able and as she and nobody had made better use of her time in a world foolish enough to sometimes when we had eaten our we still sat under the pines and i was not without pride when i had about in the ground the of sister with a little and displayed to my a long fine root bright yellow to the eye and a wholesome bitter to the taste dear she assented seems to me there s more of it than anything except grass an good for but no better than two or three other things i can call to mind but i always lay in a good of it for old times sake now i want to know why you should a bit it and took away all the taste o your nice i was just what a han some entertainment we ve had i ve got so i certain things with certain folks and was couldn t keep house without no ways whatever i believe she took so much it kind o her disposition i repeated you knew her if ever by the name of mis answered my friend as if this were only a brief preface to further information so i waited with respectful expectation mrs had grown tired out in the sun and a good story would be an excuse for sufficient rest it was a most lovely place where we sat up the long for my part i was of sister perfectly contented and happy you re often heard of she asked as if a great deal d upon his being properly introduced i remember him said i they called him you know and he used to go about with a witch branch to show people where to dig wells that	40
and childish certainty of being the centre of civilization of which her affectionate dreams had told one evening in june a single passenger landed upon the wharf the tide was high there was a fine crowd of spectators and the younger portion of the company followed her with subdued excitement up tiie narrow street of the salt white little town il mb there web only one to find with of a lodging and that was its complete lack of at first the tiny house of mrs which stood with its end to the street appeared to be retired and sheltered enough from the busy world behind its bit of a green garden in which all the blooming things two or three gay and some london pride were back against the gray wall it was a queer little garden and to a stranger the few flowers being put at a disadvantage by so much but the discovery was soon made that mrs was an ardent lover of both wild and tame and the sea breezes blew into the low end window of the house laden with not sweet and but and sage and and country of the pointed and if mn had to step into the far corner of her plot she trod upon and made its fragrant presence known all the rest being a veiy large person her skirts brushed and bent almost every slender stalk that her feet missed you could always tell when she was stepping about there even when you were half awake in the morning and learned to know in the course of a few weeks experience in exactly which comer of the garden she might ba at one side of this plot were other of a rustic great treasures and among the there were some strange and that roused a dim sense and remembrance of something in tiie forgotten past some of these might once have belonged to sacred and mystic rites and have had some knowledge handed with them down the centuries but now they only to humble at intervals with or or spirits in a small on mrs s kitchen they were to suffering neighbors who usually came at night as if by their own to be one was called the indian remedy and its was but fifteen cents the whispered directions could be heard as customers passed the win with most the was allowed to depart from the kitchen mrs being a wise of steps but with certain she gave standing in the doorway and there were other which had to be on their healing way as far as the gate while she muttered long of directions and kept up an air of secrecy and importance to the last it may not have been only the common of humanity with which she tried to cope it seemed sometimes as if love and hate and and adverse winds at sea might also find their proper among the curious wild looking plants in mrs s garden the village doctor and this learned were upon the best of terms the good man may have counted upon the effect of certain which he should find his opportunity in at any rate he now and then stopped and greetings with mrs country of tee pointed over the fence the became at once after the and he would stand a sweet scented in his fingers and make jokes perhaps about her faith in a too persistent course of in which my landlady professed such firm belief as sometimes to the life and usefulness of worthy neighbors to arrive at this of villages late in june when the busy season was just beginning was also to arrive in the early prime of mrs s activity in the of old fashioned beer this and drink had been brought to wonderful perfection through a long series of it had won immense local fame and the supplies for its manufacture were always giving out and having to be for various reasons the seclusion and days which had been looked forward to proved to be very rare in this otherwise delightful comer of the world my hostess and i had made our shrewd business agreement on the basis of a simple cold luncheon at noon and liberal in the matter of hot to provide for which the might sometimes be seen hurrying down the road late in the day with line in hand it was soon found that this arrangement made large allowance for mrs s slow through woods and pastures the beer customers were pretty steady in hot weather and there were many demands for different soothing and with which the unwise curiosity of my early residence had made me acquainted showing mrs to be a widow who had little beside this slender business and the income from one hungry to maintain her one s energies and even interest were bestowed until it became a matter of course that she should go pleasant day and that the should answer all at the side door in taking an occasional wisdom stroll in ite s company and in acting as business partner during her frequent i found the july days fly fast and it was not until i felt myself confronted with too great pride and pleasure in the display one night of two and cents which i had taken in during country of the pointed the that i remembered a long piece of sadly now which i was bound to do to have been patted kindly on the shoulder and called to haye been offered a surprise of early for supper to hare had all the glory of making two dollars and twenty cents in a single day and then to it all and withdraw from these pleasant needed much resolution are so with at best and it was not until the of conscience sounded louder in my ears than the sea on the nearest beach that i said unkind words of	40
to mrs she only became more wistfully affectionate than in her expressions and looked as disappointed as i expected when i frankly told her that i could no longer enjoy the pleasure of what we called folks i felt that i was cruel to a whole neighborhood in her liberty in this most important season for the different wild that were so much counted to ease their winter well dear she said sorrowfully i ve took great o your bein here i ain t had such a season for years but i haye never bad nobody i so all you is a few qualities but witb time yon d gain judgment an experience an be very able in the i d stand right here an say it to anybody mrs and i were not separated or by the change in our business relations on the a deeper intimacy seemed to begin i do not know what of the night it was that used sometimes to send out a penetrating late in the evening after the dew had and the moon was high and the cool air came up from the sea then mrs would feel that she must talk to somebody and i was only too glad to listen we both fell under the spell and she either stood outside the window or made an errand to my sitting room and told it be commonplace news of the day or as happened one misty summer night all that lay deepest in bar heart it was in this way that i came to know that she had loved one who was far above her no dear him i speak of could never think of me she said when we was young together his mother didn t the or the pointed an done everything to part us and folks we both married well bnt n t what either one of us wanted most an now we re left alone again an might have had each other all the time he was above bein a man an more than most he of a high family an my lot was plain an i ain t seen him for some years he s forgot onr f s i but a woman s heart is different them f s when you think you ve done with em as sure as spring with tiie year an i ve always had ways of about him she stood in tiie of a rug and its rings of black and gray seemed to about her feet in the dim light her height and in the low room gave her the look of a huge while the strange fragrance of the mysterious blew in from the little garden m tbe some days after this mrs s came and went past my windows and being nearly over strangers began to from the inland was her reputation sometimes i saw a pale young creature like a left over into upon whose consumption had set its bright and wistful mark but oftener two stout hard worked women from the came together and detailed their symptoms to mrs in loud and cheerful the of a friendly gossip with the medical opportunity they seemed to much from their own store of learning i became aware of the school in which my landlady had strengthened her natural gift but hers was always the mind and the final take of l one handful country of pointed or whatever it was was in one afternoon when i had listened it was impossible not to listen with ears and then laughed and listened again with an idle pen in my hand during a spirited and personal i for my hat and taking book and all my arm i fled farther temptation and walked oat past the fragrant green den and np the road the way went straight and presently i stopped and turned to look back the tide was in the wide harbor was by its woods and the small wooden houses stood as near as they could get to the landing mrs s was the last house on the way inland the gray of the shore were well covered with sod in most places and the pasture and wild roses grew thick among them i could see the higher inland country and the scattered farms on the brink of the hill stood a white much wind blown and weather beaten which was a to folk from its door there was a most view of sea and the summer now pre the and after finding ihe door and taking a long look through one of the windows and reflecting afterward for some time in a shady place near by among the bushes i to the chief place of business in the village and to the amusement of two of the brothers and of landing i hired the for the rest of the for fifty cents a week selfish as it may appear the retired situation seemed to possess great advantages and i spent many days there quite undisturbed with the sea breeze blowing through the small high windows and swaying the heavy outside shutters to and fro i hung my hat and luncheon basket on an nail as if i were a small scholar but i sat at the teacher s desk as if i were that great with all the timid empty benches in rows before me now and then an idle sheep came and stood for a long time looking in at the door at i went back feeling most down toward the again and the flavor not of the garden but of mrs s hot supper up the hill on the nights when there were evening meetings or country of the pointed other public that demanded her presence we had tea tory early and i waa welcomed back as if from a long absence once or twice i feigned for staying at home while	40
would find it inaccessible unless she had occasion to seek me in great haste i wrote on feeling like a of time while the footsteps came nearer and the sheep bell away in haste as if some one had shaken a in its s face then i looked and saw captain passing the nearest window the next moment he tapped politely at the door come in sir i said rising to meet him and he entered bowing with much courtesy i stepped down from the desk captain and offered him a chair by the window where he seated at once sadly spent by his climb i to my fixed seat behind the teacher s desk which gave him the lower place of a scholar you to have the place of honor captain i said a of he quoted as he gazed oat into the sunshine and up the long wooded shore then he glanced at me and looked all him as pleased as a child my quotation was from paradise lost the greatest of poems i suppose you know and i nodded there s nothing that ranks to my mind with paradise lost it s au lofty all lofty he continued shakespeare was a great poet he copied life but you hare to put up with a great deal of k w talk i now remembered that mrs had told me one day that captain had his mind with too much reading she had also made re fe to his having of some nature i could not help wondering what errand had brought him out in search of of pointed me there was quite in us appearance it was a oe thin and delicate with refinement but worn into appealing lines as if he had suffered from loneliness and he looked with his careful precision of dress as if he were the object of care on the part of elderly unmarried sisters but i knew to be a person who would ha e no such standards it was plain that the captain was his own attentive he sat looking at me i could not help thinking that with his queer head and of he was made to hop along the of life rather than to walk the captain was grate indeed and i bade my inward spirit keep close to discretion poor mrs has gone i to say i still wore my sunday gown by way of showing respect she has gone said the captain easy at the last i was she slipped away as if she were glad of the opportunity i thought of the of and felt that history repeated itself she was one of the old stock captain with touching sincerity she was very much looked up to in town and will be missed i wondered as i looked at him if he had sprang from a line of ministers he had the of look and air of command which are the of the old families of new england bat as win says in his there is no such king as a sea captain he is greater even than a king or a i captain moved his chair out of the wake of the sunshine and still sat looking at me i began to be very eager to know upon what errand he had come it may be found out some o these days he said earnestly we may know it all the next stop where mrs b now for instance certainty not is what we all desire i suppose we shall know it all some day said x we shall know it while yet below insisted the captain a flush of impatience on his thin cheeks we have not looked for truth in the right direction i know what i speak of those who have country of the pointed fire laughed at me little know how much my ideas are based npon he waved his hand toward the below in that handful of they fancy that they the i and waited for him to go on can see and i hate been a the greater part of my life forty in all yon may not think it but i am eighty years of age he did not look so old and i hastened to say so too must have left the sea a good many ago then captain i said i have been at least five or six years more he answered my with certain my npon a certain occasion i might say gave rise to prejudice i do not mind telling yon that i chanced to learn of one of the great est discoveries that man has ever made now we were approaching but a sense of his suffer at the hands of the ignorant came to my and i asked to hear more with all the deference i really felt a swallow flew captain into the at this aa if a were after it and beat against the walls for a minute and escaped again to the open air bat captain took no notice whatever of the i had a cargo of general from the london do to fort a station of the old on s bay said the captain we were delayed and baffled by head winds and a tumbling sea all the way and across then the fog kept us off the coast and when i made port at last it was too late to in those northern waters such a and such a crew as i had they cared for nothing and me into a fit of sickness but my first mate was a good man with no more idea of being in there until spring than i had so we made what speed we could to get dear of s bay and off the coast i owned an eighth of die and he owned a sixteenth of her she was a ship called	40
die but she was m and i meant it should be my last y ge in and so it proved she had an country of tbe lent is her day of the aboard her i can t say so much then yon were wrecked i asked as he made a long i wasn t o the lighter by any of mine said the captain gloomily we left fort and ran oat into the bay with a light pair o bat i had been vexed to death with their at the company s office and with on deck an to harry ap things and when we were well oat o sight o land for s straits i had a bad o some sort o fever and had to stay below the days were getting short and we made good all well on board hot me and the crew done their work l dint of hard driving i began to find this narrative a little captain spoke with a kind of slow that lacked the high flavor to which i had grown bat i listened while he explained the winds having become contrary and talked on in a dreary sort of way his voyage the bad and the he was in the lightness of his ship which like a captain in a bucket and would not answer the or properly nd to the most careful setting of sails so there we were along he complained but looking at me at this moment and seeing that my thoughts were wandering he ceased to speak it was a hard life at sea in those days i am sure said i with interest it was a dog s life said the poor old gentleman quite reassured but it made men of those who followed it i see a change for the worse in our own town here full of now small and poor as t is who once would have followed the sea every soul of em there is no occupation so fit for just that class o men who never get beyond the f o i view it in addition that a down and grows dreadful ignorant when it is shut up to its own affairs and gets no knowledge of the outside world except from a cheap newspaper in the old days a good part o the best men here knew a hundred ports and something of the way folks lived in them saw the world for themselves and like s not their country or the pointed and saw it with they may not haye had the best of knowledge to with em but they were some with foreign lands an their laws an see outside the battle for town here in they got some sense o proportion yes they more and their houses were better within an without shipping s a terrible loss to this part o new from a social point o view ma i ha e thought of that myself i with my interest quite awakened it the change in a great many things the sad disappearance of sea a was apt to get the habit of reading said my companion brightening still more and taking on a most touching air of a captain is not expected to be with his crew and for s sake in dull days and nights he turns to his book most of us old came to know most about something one would take to on farming topics and some were great on medicine but lord help their poor or some were all for history and then there d captain be one like me that gave his time to the poets i was well acquainted with a that was all for bees an bee and if you met him in port and went aboard he d sit and talk a terrible while about their so much information and the money that could be made out of em he was one of the captains that ever sailed the seas but they used to call the a great bark he commanded for many years s there was old cap n he had notions of solomon s temple and a handsome little model of the same right from the scripture same s other make little ships and design new tricks of and all that no there s nothing to take the place of shipping in a place like ours these offend me dreadfully they don t afford no real opportunities of experience such as a man gained on a voyage no when folks left home in the old days they left it to some purpose and when they got home they stayed there and some pride in it there s no large minded way of thinking now the worst have got to be best and rule everything we re all turned down and going year by year country of tee pointed oh no captain i hope not said i trying to soothe his feelings there was a silence in the but we hear the noise of the water on a beach below it sounded like the strange warning wave that gives notice of the torn of the tide a late golden robin with the most joyful and eager of was singing dose by in a thicket of wild roses vl the flags how did you manage with the rest of rough on the i i shall be to explain to yon said captain forgetting his for the moment if i had a map at hand i explain better we were driven to and fro way np toward what we to call s discoveries and lost oar bearings it was thick and and at last i lost my ship she drove on a rock and we managed to get ashore on what i took to be island the few of ns that were left alive when she first the sea was somewhat calmer	40
than it had been and most of the crew against orders the long boat and pat off in a harry and were never heard of more oar own boat but the carpenter kept himself and me above water and we drifted in i had no strength to call country op the pointed upon after my fever and laid down to die but lie f the of a man and dog the day and got along the shore to one of those far missionary stations that the support they were veiy poor themselves and in distress t was a useless place were but few left in that region there we remained for some time and i became acquainted with strange events the captain lifted his head and gave me a questioning glance i could not help noticing that the look in his eyes had gone and there was instead a dear intent ness that made them seem dark and piercing there was a supply ship expected and the an excellent christian man made no doubt that we should get passage in her he was hoping that orders would come to break up the station but was uncertain and we got on the best we could for a while we and helped the people in other ways there was no other way of paying our debts i was taken to the s house until i got better but they were crowded and i felt myself in the way and made excuse to join with an old seaman a who had built him a the waiting place warm cabin and had room in it for another he was looked upon with regard and had stood by the in some with the people he had been on one of those english exploring parties that one end of the road to the pole but never find the other we lived like dogs in a or so you d thought if you had seen the hut from the outside but the main thing was to keep warm there were piles of to lie on and he d made him a good and there was another for twas dreadful dreary there we begun to think the supply steamer was lost and my poor ship broke up and herself all along the shore we got to watching on the my men and me knew the people were short of supplies and had to it ought to read in the bible man cannot live by fish alone if d told the truth of things t bread that wears the worst on you i first part of the tame old that i lived with seemed speechless and i didn t know what to make of him nor he of me i dare say but as we got acquainted i found he d been through more than i had and had that wa n t going to let him live a country or tee pointed great while it to ease his mind to talk to an understanding person so we used to sit and talk together all day if it rained or blew so that we n t get out i d got a bad blow on the back of my head at the time we came ashore and it pained me at times and my was broken anyway i ve been so able since captain fell into a reverie i had the good of my reading he explained presently i had no books the spoke but little english and all his books were foreign but i used to say over all i could remember the old poets little knew what comfort they could be to a man i was well acquainted with the works of milton but up there it did seem to me as if shakespeare was the king he has sea terms very accurate and some passages were to the i could say them over until i shed tears there was nothing beautiful to me in that place but the stars and those passages of was always brooding and brooding and talking to himself he was afraid he should never get away and it upon his mind he thought when i got home i could interest the scientific men in his di tee place but they re all taken up their own notions some didn t even take pains to answer the letters i wrote yon that i said this crippled man had been on a voyage of i now tell yon that the ship was lost on its and only and two o were saved off the coast and he had knowledge later that those men never got back to the they on was ran down in the ni t so no other living had the facts and he gave them to me there is a sort of a way np north beyond ice and strange folks living in it believed it was the next world to this what do yon mean i the old man was bending forward and whispering he looked over his he the last to hear old tell it something he said going on with his steadily after the moment of had passed t was first a tale of dogs and and cold and wind and snow then to find the ice grow rotten they had been in and got country of the pointed into a current flowing north far np beyond fox channel and they took to their boats when the ship got crushed and this warm current took them out of sight of the ice and into a great open sea and they still followed it due north just the very way they had planned to go then they struck a coast that was n t laid down or but the cliffs were such that no boat could land until they found a bay and struck across under sail to the other side where the shore looked lower they were scant	40
of provisions and out of water but they got sight of something that looked like a great town for god s sake said i the first time he told me you don t mean a town two degrees farther north than ships had ever been for he d got their coarse marked on an old that he d out at the top but he insisted upon it and told it over and over again to be sure i had it straight to carry to those who would be interested there was no snow and ice he said after they had sailed some days with that warm current which seemed to come right from under the ice that they d been pinched up in and had been crossing on foot for weeks th waiting place bnt what about the town i asked did they get to the town they did said the captain and found inhabitants t was an awful condition of things it appeared as near as could express it like a place where there was neither living nor dead they could see the place when they were approaching it by sea pretty near like any town and thick with but all at once they lost sight of it altogether and when they got close they could see the shapes of folks but they never could get near them all blowing gray figures that would pass along alone or sometimes gathered in companies as if they were watching the men were frightened at first but the shapes never came near them it was as if they blew back and at last they all got bold and went ashore and found birds eggs and sea fowl like any wild northern spot where creatures were tame and folks had never been and there was good water said that he and another man came near one o the f men that was going along slow with the look of a pack on his back among the rocks an they chased him but lord he away out o sight like a leaf the wind takes country of the pointed with it or a piece of they would make as if they talked together but there was no sound of voices and they acted as if they did n t see us bat only felt ns coming towards them says one day trying to tell the they couldn t see the town when they were ashore one day the captain and the doctor were gone till night up across the high land where the town had seemed to be and they came back at night beat out and white as ashes and wrote and wrote all next day in their and whispered together full of excitement and they were sharp spoken with the men when they offered to ask any questions then there came a day said captain leaning toward me with a strange look in his eyes and whispering quickly the men all swore they would n t stay any longer the man on watch early in the morning gave the alarm and they all put off in the boat and got a little way out to sea those folks or whatever th were about em like all at once they raised incessant armies and come as if to drive em back to sea they stood thick at the edge o the water like the o grim war no thought o flight none of retreat some the waiting times a standing fight then soaring on main wing tormented all the air and when they d got the boat out o reach o danger said they looked back and there was the town again standing up just as they d seen it first on the coast say what might they all t was a kind of waiting place between this world an the the captain had sprung to his feet in his excitement and made excited gestures but he still whispered sit down sir i said as quietly as i could and he sank into his chair quite spent thought the officers were hurrying home to report and to fit out a new expedition when they were all lost at the time the men got orders not to talk over what they had seen the old man explained presently in a more natural tone weren t they all starving and was n t it a or something of that sort i to ask but he looked at me had got so that his mind ran on nothing else he went on the ship s surgeon let fall an opinion to the captain one day that t was some condition o the light and the currents that let c of the pointed them see those folks t wa n t a right feeling part of the world anyway they had to battle with the compass to make it an seemed to go wrong had worked it oat in his own mind that they was all common ghosts bnt the conditions were favorable for seeing them he was always talking the society bnt he never took proper steps as i view it now and stayed right there at the mission he was a good deal crippled and thought they d confine him in some jail of a hospital he said he was waiting to find the right men to tell somebody bound north once in a while they stopped there to leave a mail or something he was set in his notions and let two or three proper go by him he didn t like their looks bnt when i was there he had got he might be taken away or something he had all his directions written ont straight as a string to give the right ones i wanted him to em to me so i might have something to show bnt he would n t i suppose he s dead now i	40
wrote to him an i done all i could be a great some o these days the waiting place i assented absent thinking more just then of my companion s alert determined look and the ready aspect that had come to his face but at this moment there fell a sudden change and the old pathetic look returned behind me a map of north america and i saw as i tamed a little that his eyes were fixed upon the regions and their careful recent outlines with a look of bewilderment th r with good and the bird of the of the the of fog and the great words of milton with he described their upon the crew all this tale had such an air of that i could not with captain the old man looked away from the map as if it had troubled him and regarded me we were just speaking of and he stopped i saw that he had suddenly forgotten his subject there were a great many persons at the funeral i hastened to say oh yes the captain answered with all showed respect who could the sad circumstances had for a moment dipped my mind yes mrs will be t ry much missed she was a capital man the outer island for her husband when he was at sea oh yes shipping is a veiy loss and he sighed heavily there was hardly a man of any standing who did n t interest himself in some way in it always gave credit to a town i call it mark now here in he rose with dignity to take leave and asked me to stop at his house some day when he would show me some things that he had brought home from sea i was familiar with the subject of the of shipping interests in all its affecting branches having been already some time in and i felt sure that captain s mind had now returned to a safe ab we came down the toward the village our ways divided and when i had seen the old captain well started on a smooth piece of which would lead him to his own door we parted the best of friends step in some afternoon he said as affectionately as if i were a f wrecked on the lee shore of age like him self i turned toward home and presently met mrs coming toward me with an anxious expression country of pointed i see yon the old down the lull she suggested yes i we had a interesting afternoon with him i answered and her face brightened oh then he s all right i was afraid twas one o his an n t yes i returned smiling he has been telling me some old stories bnt we talked mrs and the funeral beside and paradise lost i expect he got of you some o his great she answered looking at me always sets him goin some o them tales hangs together ble well she added with a look than before an he s been a great reader all his days some thinks he and affected his head bnt for a man o his years he s now when he s at his best oh he used to be a we were standing where there was a fine of the harbor and its long stretches of shore all covered by the great of the darkly and standing as outer island if waited to as we looked far among the outer islands the trees seemed to march still going steadily over the heights and down to the water s edge it had been growing gray and like the first evening of and a shadow had fallen on the darkening shore suddenly as we looked a gleam of golden sunshine struck the outer islands and one of them shone out dear in the light and revealed itself in a compelling way to our eyes mrs was looking off across the ce full of affection and interest the upon that island made it seem like a sudden revelation of the world beyond this which some believe to be that s where mother lives said mrs can t we see it plain i was brought up out there on island i know every an bush on it your mother i i with great interest yes dear in i ve got her yet old s i be she s one of them little women always was an too answered mrs with of the pointed a seen all the trouble folks can see without it s her last sickness an she s got a word of courage for life ain t spoilt her a she s eighty six an i m sixty seven and i ve seen the time i tc felt a good sight the oldest land alive i says she last time i was out to see her how you do about into a bo t i i laughed so i liked to have gone right over into the water an we pushed off an left her there on the shore the light had as we watched l s had mounted a gray rock and stood there grand and like a presently she stepped down and we our way homeward you an me we take a bo t an go out some day and see mother she promised me t would please her very much an there s one or two ce grows better on the island than else i ain t seen their like here on the i m goin right down to get us each a o my beer she announced as we entered the house an i believe in a o goin tee outer island to the an all i fed to have bad a yery afternoon i heard her going down into the cool little cellar and then there was considerable delay when she returned	40
in band i noticed the taste of in spite of my protest but its flavor was disguised by some other that i did not know and she stood over me until i drank it all and said that i liked it i don t give that to said mrs kindly and i for a as if it were part of a spell and and as if my would now begin to look like the shapes of town nothing happened but a ing and some plans that we about going to and on ike morrow there was the dear blue sky of another day early i mrs in the garden my window by the of her remarks to a and the notes of a familiar hymn which die sang as she worked the and which came as if directed purposely to the sleepy ears of my i knew that she wished i would wake np and come and speak to her in a few minutes she responded to a morning voice from behind the blinds i expect you re goin up to your to pass all this pleasant day yes i expect you re goin to be dreadful she said perhaps not said i why what s going to be the matter with yon mrs for i supposed that she was tempted by the fine weather to take one of her along the shore pas island to gather and and to me keep the house i don t want to go nowhere hj land answered no not hj land i don t know s we shall hare a better day all the rest of the to go ont to island an see mother i np early of her the wind s t will take ns right straight an this time o year it s to an as home pretty long late in the afternoon it s goin to be a good day speak to die and tiie boy if yoa see ai body going by the said l well take the b boat a my now yoa let me do n way said mrs ko dear we won t take no big bo t ih a handy an an me we d man her i don t want no bo t than a good an a ain t goin to make no sea an s s son mother like to have him an he be down to the all the time we re any we don t want to easy no men country of the pointed to be every an up all our time no you let me do we just oat an see mother by i what break st you ll want s about ready now i had become well acquainted with mrs as landlady and philosopher we had been discreet once or twice when i had sailed up the coast to a larger town than tending to do some but i was yet to become acquainted with her as a an hour later we pushed off from the landing in the desired the tide was just on the turn beginning to and several friends and acquaintances stood along the side of wharf and cheered us by their words and evident interest and i were both in haste to get out where we could catch the breeze and put up the small sail which lay along the mm sat aft a stem and you better let her drift we u get there as quick the tide take her right out from under these old s there s plenty wind outside island your bo t ain t trimmed proper mis i exclaimed a voice from you re lo so tlie bo t drag yon can t her before the wind ma am yon set mis an let the boy hold the sheet n steer after he the sail up yon won t never t out to green island that way she s lo bad your bo t is she s heavy behind s she is mrs tamed with some difficulty and regarded the anxious adviser my right oar flew out of water and we seemed about to that you she said i al liked the seat best when d you up country this allusion to s origin was not lost upon the rest of the company we were some little distance from shore but we could hear a chuckle of laughter and a who was too ready with his criticism and advice on every possible subject turned and walked indignantly away when we caught the wind we were soon on our course and only stopped to a for the of which mrs looked explaining her country of the pointed mother might not be prepared for three extra to it was her brother s aod she meant to just nm her eye along for the right sort of a little i leaned over the boat s side with interest and excitement while she handled the long line of hooks and made remarks npon worthless bait of the sea as she them and left them on the or shook them off into the waves at last we came to what she pronounced a proper and taken him on board and ended his life resolutely we went our way as we sailed along i listened to an delightful upon the islands some of them barren rocks or at best giving for sheep in the early summer on one of these an eager little flock ran to the water s edge and at us so that i would willingly have stopped but mrs away from the rocks and at the sheep s mean owner an acquaintance of hers who the little salt and still less care which the patient creatures needed the hot sun makes of these small islands thai are a paradise in early june island their springs and short ing grass on a larger island farther	40
to sea my entertaining companion showed me with glee the small houses of two who shared the island between them and that for three generations the people had not spoken to each other even in times of sickness or death or when the news come that the war was oyer one of em knew it a week and never stepped across his wall to ten the others she said ihey enjoy it they ve got to haye to interest em in such a place t is a good deal more to be tied to folks don t like than t is to be alone each of em tells the neighbors their wrongs plenty likes to hear and tell again them as a bone carry one an so they keep the fight i must say i like some folks monday an irons day the whole year if the a long time before we landed at we see the small white standing u like a where mrs was bom and where her mother on a green the water with dark woods still there wars country of the pointed in the fields which we distinguished from one another mrs examined them while we were still far at sea mother s late potatoes looks backward ain t had rain enough so far she pronounced her opinion they look than what they call front street down to centre i expect brother william is so occupied with his an out bait to the that he don t think once a day of the land what s the flag for up above the there behind the house i inquired with eagerness h that s the sign for she explained kindly while regarded me with contemptuous surprise when they get enough for they raise that flag an when t is a poor catch in the pocket they just fly a little signal down by the shore an then the small bo ts comes and get enough an over for their there look there she is mother sees us she s out o the fore door she be to the quick s we are i looked and could see a tiny flutter in the doorway but a quicker signal had made island its way rom the on shore to the heart on the sea how do you suppose she knows it s me said mrs with a tender smile on her broad face there yon never get over bein a child long s yon have a mother to go to look at the chimney now she s gone right in an brightened up the fire well there i m glad mother s well you u enjoy her very much mrs leaned back into her proper position and the boat trimmed again she took a firmer grasp of the sheet and gave an impatient look up at the and the of the little sail and the sheet as if she urged the wind like a horse there came at once a fresh gust and we seemed to haye doubled our speed soon we were near enough to see a tiny figure with head come down across the field and stand waiting for us at the above a curve of beach presently the on the pebbles and who had been kept in during the voyage sprang out and used exertions to haul us up with the next wave so that mrs could make a dry country of tee pointed yon done that yery weu she said mounting to lier feet and coming ashore somewhat stiffly but with great dignity refusing our outstretched hands and returning to possess herself of a bag which had hun at her feet mother here i bet she announced with indifference but they stood and beamed in each other s faces pretty well for an old lady ain t she said mrs s mother turning away from her daughter to speak to me she was a delightful little person herself with bright eyes and an affectionate air of expectation like a on a holiday you felt as if mrs were an old and dear friend before you let go her cordial hand we all started together up the hill now don t you haste too fast mother said mrs t is a reach o ground to the fore door and you won t set an get your breath when you re once there but go trotting about now don t you go a faster than we proceed with this bag an basket there fetch up the i just made one stop to william s till i come to such a fish s i thought yon d want to green island make one o your nice of i ve brought an me that was about on the window sill at home that s what i was wanting said the hostess i a sigh when yon spoke o my was out william forgot to us last time he was to the don t you haste so yourself up this ground i hear you to a ready this mild revenge seemed to afford great pleasure to both and they laughed a and looked at each other affectionately and then at me mrs paused and faced about to regard the wide sea view i was glad to stop being more out of breath than either of my companions and i prolonged the halt by asking the names of the neighboring islands there was a fine blowing which we felt more there on the high land than when we were running before it in why this ain t that i saw when i was out last die one that i said did n t appear likely mrs as we went our way that s the me said her mother she always had a likely look to country of the pointed me an she s right after her i never see a for one of her age if t wan t for	40
shades were all pulled down to shut out the summer light and air it was indeed a tribute to society to find a room set apart for her out there on so apparently and remote an island afternoon visits and evening must be few in such a bleak situation at certain seasons of the year but mrs was of those who do not live to themselves and who have long since passed the line that mere self concern from a valued share in whatever society can give and take there were those of her neighbors who never had taken the trouble to furnish a best room but mrs was one who knew the uses of a parlor yes do come right out into the old kitchen i shan t make any stranger of you she invited us after we had been properly received in the room appointed to formality i expect here be in out the pasture weeds quick s country of the l she can find a good t is hot now yon d better content till yon get nice an rested an long after dinner the sea breeze u spring np an then yon can take your walks an go np an see the prospect from the big ledge u want to show off everything there is then get yon a good cup o tea before yon start to go home the days are plenty long now while we were talking in the best room the selected fish had been mysteriously brought np from the shore and lay all cleaned and ready in an on the table i think william might have just stopped an said a word remarked mrs with high as she caught sight of it he s friendly enough when he comes ashore an was remarkable social the last time for him he ain t disposed to be very social with the ladies explained william s mother with a delightful glance at me as if she counted upon my friendship and he s yery particular and he s all in his old to he want me to tell him yon said and done after you ve gone william has deep green island affections he u want to see you yes i he u be in by an by i ll search for him by v by if he don t proclaimed mrs with an air of resolution i know all of mb down long the shore i catch him by hand fore he knows it i ve got some business with william anyway i brought forty two cents with me that was due him for them last he brought in you can leave it with me suggested the little old mother who was already stepping about among her pots and in the and preparing to make the i became possessed of a sudden unwonted curiosity in regard to william and felt that half the pleasure of my visit would be lost if i could not make his interesting acquaintance had taken the ont of her basket and laid it down npon the kitchen table there a with ns yon know she reminded her mother he be hungry enough to eat his i ye got new dear said the little old lady ton don t often william v me ont o i expect yon might have chose a somewhat larger fish but i ll try an make it do i shall have to have a few extra potatoes bat there s a field foil oat there an the s against the well in beans she smiled and gave her daughter a commanding nod land le s blow for william insisted mrs with some excitement he need n t break his spirit so r s to c in he u know yon need him for something particular an then we call to him up the path i won t put him to no pain mrs s old for the time wore a look of trouble and i found it to the spirit of it was too pleasant to stay indoors altogether even in such besides i might meet william and out i found the by the well house and an old basket at the door and also found my way down to the field where there was a great square of rough and tall one comer was already dug and i chose a fat looking hill where the tops were well withered there is all the pleasure that one can haye in in finding one s hopes satisfied in the riches of a good hill of potatoes i longed to go on but it did not seem to dig any longer after my basket was full and at last i took my by die middle and lifted the basket to go back up the hill i was sure that mrs must be waiting impatiently to the potatoes into the after with the fish you let me take o that basket country of thb pointed ma am said a anxious behind me i tamed startled in the silence of the wide field and saw an elderly man bent in the as often are gray headed and dean and with a timid air it was william he looked like his mother and i had been that he was large and like his sister and strange to say my had led me to him not from thirty and a little it was necessary instead to pay william the respect to age i accustomed myself to plain facts on the instant and we said good morning like old friends the basket was really and i pat the its handle and o him one end then we easily toward the together speaking of the fine weather and of which were reported to be striking in all the bay william had been ont since three o dock and had taken an extra fare of fish i feel that mrs s eyes	40
were as as we approached the and i fell behind in the narrow path and let william take the basket alone and me william at the rest of the way i hear her greet round to in did n t yon she witb well now that a did n t know a i should see yon to y an i wanted to settle an account i felt somewhat disturbed and responsible but when i joined them they were on most simple and terms it became evident that with william it was the first step tliat and that once joined in interests he was able to with more or less pleasure was about sixty and not young looking for his years yet so is tiie of and has such a power of that i all tbe time as if one most try to make die easy for one who was young and new to die of he asked politely if i to go up to die great ledge getting ready so not without a deep of i and a look of from the two li o ss ea we started william and i as if of us younger we ed was the and tke that i country or pointed heard mrs laughing behind ns in the kitchen i laughed too bat william did not even i think he was a deaf and he stepped along before me most and intent npon his errand we went from the upper edge of the field above the house into a smooth brown path among the dark the hot sun brought out the fragrance of the bark and the shade was pleasant as we climbed the hill william stopped once or twice to show me a great nest dose by or some nests below in a bit of swamp he picked a few of as we came out upon an open bit of pasture at the top of the island and gave them to me without speaking but he knew as well as i that one could not say half he wished about through this of rough pasture ran a huge shape of stone like the great of an enormous at the end near the woods we could up on it and walk along to the highest above the of pointed we could look down oyer all the island and could see the ocean that this and a hundred other bits of t all the far william it sudden of for nothing stopped the eye or one in that sense of liberty in and time which great prospects always give there ain t no such view in tlie i expect said william and i hastened to speak my tribute of praise it was impossible not to feel as if an boy had spoken and yet one to hare him his native heath were a late to dinner but mn and mrs were and we all took our after william bad paused to bis bands like a at tbe weu and pat on a neat be took from a tbe door be resolutely asked a blessing in words tbat i hot bear and we ate tbe and were ol tbe went round and round tbe table quite erect and on by ber young stopped to witb at elbow or darted off to tbe open door a song forgot and lit in the grass too near william did not talk but bis sister tbe time and told all tbe news was to tell of and its the old mother listened with delight her hospitality was something she had the gift which d where grew many women lack of being able to make themselves and their houses belong entirely to a s pleasure that charming surrender for the moment of and whatever belongs to them so that they make a part of one s own life that can never be forgotten tact is after all a kind of and my hostess held the golden gift sympathy is of the mind as well as the heart and mrs s world and mine were one from the moment we met besides she had that final that highest gift of heaven a perfect self f sometimes as i watched her eager sweet old face i wondered why she had been set to shine on this lonely island of the coast it must have been to keep the balance true and make up to all her scattered and depending neighbors for other things which they may have lacked when we had clearing away the old blue plates and the had taken care of her share of the fresh just as we were putting back the kitchen chairs in their places mrs said briskly that she must go up into the pasture now to gather the tou can stop here an rest or you can country of the pointed me she announced mother ought to have her nap and when we come back she an william sing for you she music said mrs turning to speak to her mother but mrs tried to say that she could n t sing as she used and perhaps william would n t feel like it she looked tired the good old soul or i should have liked to sit in the peaceful little house while she slept i had had much pleasant experience of pastures already in her daughter s company but it seemed best to go with mrs and off we went mrs carried the bag which she had brought from home and a small heavy burden in the bottom made it straight and slender from her hand the way was steep and she soon grew breathless so that we sat down to rest awhile on a convenient large stone among the there i wanted you to see this t is mother s picture said mrs t was taken once when she was up to soon after she was married that	40
faster while mrs in her full bag of to find the and be ready to put them in their places the old ui william was od side door and old mother was her tea she gave into my hand an old tea william you d like to see this when he was my father brought it to my mother from the island of an here s a pair of that with it she opened the glass door of a little beside the these i call my best things dear she said yon d to see how we enjoy em nights in winter we have a real tea stead o along just the same an i make good for a s an put on some o my preserves an we get together an haye real pleasant times mrs laughed and to see what i thought of tbe old i wish i be here some sunday said l william an me h be about yon an o this nice day said mrs affectionately and she glanced at and he looked up bravely and nodded i began to discover that he and his sister not speak their deeper f before each low want you an mother to sing said mrs abruptly with an air of command and i gave william much in his evident distress after i ve had my cup o tea dear answered the old hostess cheerfully and so we sat down and took our cups and made merry while they lasted it was impossible not to wish to stay on forever at green island and i could not help saying so i m very happy here both winter an summer said old mrs william an i never wish for any other home do we william i m glad you find it pleasant i wish you d an stay dear whenever you fed inclined but here s i think providence was kind to plot an have her husband leave her a good house where she really belonged she d been veiy country of the pointed if she d to here on you wanted more scope did n t you an to live in a large place where more things grew sometimes folks wonders that we don t live together perhaps we shall some time and a shadow of sadness and flitted across her ce the time o sickness an has got to come to all but s got an that s good for she smiled as she spoke and looked bright again there s some that s good for except for them that thinks they re when they ain t announced mrs with a truly professional air of come william let s have sweet home an then mother u sing an the bee for us then followed a most charming surprise william mastered his timidity and began to sing his little faint and frail like the family but it was a tenor voice and tie and sweet i have never heard home sweet home sung as and seriously as he sang it he seemed to make it quite new and when he paused for a moment at the end of the first fine and began the next the old mother tee old joined him and they sang together she ing only the higher notes where he seemed to lend his voice to hers for the moment and on her very note and air it was the silent man s real and only means of sion and one could have listened forever and have asked for more and more songs of old scotch and english inheritance and the best that have lived from the ballad music of the war mrs time visibly and sometimes audibly with her ample foot i saw the tears in her eyes sometimes when i could see beyond the tears in mine but at last the songs ended and the time came to say good by it was the end of a great pleasure mrs the dear old lady opened the door of her bedroom while mrs was tying up the bag and william had gone down to get the boat ready and to blow the horn for who had joined a boat party who were off the shore i went to the door of the bedroom and thought how pleasant it looked with its pink and white and the brown of its right in dear she said i want c of the pointed yoa to bet down in my old by the window you say it s the prettiest view in the house i set there a good deal to rest me and when i want to read there was a worn red bible on the and mrs s heavy glasses her was on the window ledge and folded carefully on the table was a striped shirt that she was making for her son those dear old fingers and their loving that heart which had made the most of everything that needed love i here was the real home the heart of the old on island i i sat in the rocking chair and felt that it was a place of peace the little brown bedroom and the quiet outlook upon field and sea and sl i looked up and we understood each other without speaking i shall like to think o your here today said mrs i want you to come again it has been so pleasant for william the wind served us all the way home and did not fall or let the sail until we were dose to the shore we had a generous freight of in die boat and new p v the old singers which william had put aboard and what mrs proudly called a full of prime one and when we landed we had to make business arrangements to have these conveyed to her house in a i never shall forget the day at green island the town of seemed large	40
and noisy and oppressive as we came ashore such is the power of contrast for the village was so still that i could hear the shy that night as i lay awake in my bedroom and the scent of mrs s garden under the window in again and again with every gentle rising of die a sail except for a few stray or from the inland country to whom mrs offered the of a single meal we were quite by all and when there were signs of invasion late in july and a certain mrs appeared like a strange sail on the far horizon i much from apprehension i had been living in the quaint little house with as much comfort and as if it were a larger body or a double shell in whose simple mrs and i had until some wandering of a visitor marked the little spare room for her own perhaps now and then a on a lonely desert island the thought of being rescued i heard of mrs for the first time with a selfish sense of objection but after all i was stiu of the school a strange sail house where i could always be alone and it was impossible not to with mrs who in spite of some preliminary grumbling was really delighted with the prospect of entertaining an old friend for nearly a month we news of mrs who seemed to be making a royal progress from to in the inland neighborhood after the fashion of queen elizabeth one sunday after another came and went mrs in the hope of seeing her guest at church and fixing the day for the great visit to begin but mrs was not ready to commit herself to a date an assurance of some time this week was not sufficiently definite from a free footed housekeeper s point of view and mrs put aside all gathering plans and went through the stages of expectation provocation and despair at last she was ready to believe that mrs must have forgotten her and returned to her home which was vaguely said to be over way but one evening just as the supper table was cleared and up and mrs had put her large apron over her head and stepped forth for an even country of thb pointed ing stroll in the she headed the bound of wheels and an to me as i sat by the window that mrs was right np the street she may not be bnt she s good company said mrs hastily back a few steps from the neighborhood of the gate no she ain t a considerate bat there s a small left oyer from tea yes it s a real mercy there s a might just as well have passed the compliment o an hour ago perhaps she has had her i to sharing die housekeeper s anxiety and meekly of an appetite for my own after a long up the bay there were so few of any sort at that thia one appeared overwhelming no she s rode way over from s place i expect were busy on die farm and could n t spare the in proper season yoa just sly out an set the on again dear an drop in a good han ful o the fire s all alive a strange sail i u take her right up to lay off her things an she be occupied with an her off so you u have o time she s one i should n t like to have find me unprepared mrs was already at the gate and mrs now turned with an air of complete surprise and delight to welcome her why i heard her exclaim in a fine voice as if she were calling i giving of you up i i was afraid you d gone an out my visit to somebody else i s pose you ve been to supper lor no i ain t said mrs cheerfully as she turned laden with bags and bundles from making her to the boy driver i ain t had a o supper dear i ve been all the way on a cup o that best tea o some o that you keep in the little i don t want none o your useful i keep that tea for ministers folks responded right along in i if you un t the same old sixpence i as they came up the walk together laugh country of tee pointed ing like girls i fled full of to the to the fire and be sure that the sole dependence of a late supper was well out of reach of the cat there proved to be fine of wild and butter so that i regained my composure and waited for my own share of this illustrious visit to b there was an instant sense of high in the evening air from the moment when our guest had so frankly demanded die tea the great moment arrived i was formally presented at the stair foot and the two friends passed on to the kitchen where i soon heard a hospitable of and the brisk of a tea cup i sat in my high backed chair by the window in the front room with an unreasonable feeling of being left out like the child who stood at the gate in s story mrs did not look at first sight person of great social g she was a serious looking little bit of an old woman with a nod of the head i had often been told that she was the best band in the world to make a visit as if to visit were the highest of that a for her few could get her and i saw that mrs felt a comfortable sense of distinction in being favored with the company of this eminent person who knew how it was certainly true	40
that mrs gave both her hostess and me a warm feeling of enjoyment and expectation as if she had the power of social suggestion to all neighboring minds the two friends did not for at i hear their busy load and low by turns as they ranged from public to confidential topics at last mrs remembered me and giving my door a knock before she stepped in with the small in her wake she reached behind her and took mrs s hand as if she were and and her a gentle for i don t know yon m to take to each or not no no body can t tell whether yon h other but i expect yoa get along having seen the world oar ton can inform mis how we die island die other d f she a always country of pointed well acquainted with mother slip oat now an pat away the things an set my bread to rise if you u both me yoa can come oat an keep me company when yoa get ready either or both and mrs large and amiable disappeared and left as being not only with a subject of conversation but with a safe refuge in the kitchen in case of mrs and i sat down prepared to make the best of each other i soon discovered that she like many of the elder women of that coast had spent a part of her life at sea and was full of a good s curiosity and by the time we thought it discreet to join our hostess we were already sincere friends you may speak of a visit s setting in as weu as a tide s and it was impossible as mrs whispered to me not to be pleased at the way this visit was setting in a new impulse and refreshing of the social currents and seldom visited of memory appeared to have begun mrs had been the mother of a large family of sons and daughters sailors and sailors wives and most of them had died before her a i soon grew more or less with the histories of all their fortunes and misfortunes and of an intimate nature were no more withheld from my ears than if i had been a shell on the mn was not without a touch of dignity and ei she was fashionable in hot dress but it was a curiously well provincial fashion of some years back in a wider sphere one might have called her woman of the world with her unexpected bits of modem knowledge but mrs s wisdom was an intimation of truth itself she might belong to any age like an of but while she always understood that entertaining pilgrim could not always understand mrs that first evening my friends plunged into a sea of reminiscences and personal news mrs had been staying with a family who owned the farm where she was bom and she had visited every sunny and shady field comer but when she said that it might be for the last time i detected in her tone something expectant of the which promptly offered country of tee pointed said mrs with sadness jou may say what you like bat i am one of nine brothers and sisters brought up on the old place and we re all dead but me your sister ain t gone is she why no ain t gone i mrs with surprise why i never heard of that i yes m she passed away last october in she had made her distant home in state but she was making a visit to her youngest daughter was the only one of my family whose funeral i was n t able to attend but t was a mere accident all the rest of us were settled right about home i thought it was very slack of em in not to fetch her to the old place but when i came to hear about it i learned that they d recently put up a very elegant monument and my sister was always great for show she d just been out to see the monument the week before she was taken down and admired it so much that they felt sure of her wishes so she s really gone and the funeral was up to i repeated mrs as if to impress the sad fact upon her mind a sail she was some years younger than we be too i recollect the first day she ever came to school t was that first year mother sent me to stay with aunt s folks and get my you fetched little to school one monday in a pink dress an her long curls and she set between you an me and got after a while so the teacher sent us home with her at recess she was scared of seeing so many about her there was only her and me and brother john at home then the older boys were to sea with father an the rest of us wa n t bom explained mrs that next fall we all went to sea together mother was uncertain till the last minute as one may say the ship was waiting orders but the baby that then was was bom just in time and there was a long spell of extra bad weather so mother got about again be fore they had to sail an we all went i remember my clothes were all left ashore in the east chamber in a basket where mother d took them out o my o drawers an left em ready to aboard she did n t have nothing aboard of her own that she wanted to cut up for me so when of thb pointed dress wore out she just me into a spare suit o john s and trousers i was n t bat eight years	40
old an he was most seven and large of his age quick as we made a port she went right ashore an fitted me out pretty but we was bound for the east indies and did n t put in anywhere for a good so i had quite a spell o freedom mother made my new skirt long because i was growing and i about the deck after that real discouraged feeling the hem at my every minute and as if youth was past and gone i liked the trousers best i used to the with em and frighten mother till she said an vowed she d never take me to sea again i thought by the polite smile on mrs s face this was no new story little was a beautiful child yes i always thought was very pretty mrs said she was a dear little girl in those days she favored your mother the rest of you took after your s folks we did certain agreed mrs rocking steadily there it does seem so pleasant to talk with an old a that knows what you know i see bo many of these new folks nowadays that seem to have neither past nor f conversation s got to have some root in the past or else you to explain every remark you make an it wears a person out rs gave a funny uttle yes m old friends is always best less you can a new one that s fit to make an old one out of she said and we gave an affectionate glance at each other which mrs could not have understood being the latest comer to the house evening my ears caught a mysterious allusion which mrs made to heap island it was a chilly night of cold rain and i made a fire for the first time in the stove in my and begged my two to o me in and keep me company the weather had convinced mrs that it was time to make a supply of cough drops and she had been bringing forth from dark and dry hiding places now the dust and of them had resolved themselves into one mighty flavor of that came from a of in the kitchen she called it done and well done and had left it to cool and taken her knitting work because mrs was busy with hers they sat in the two rocking chairs the small woman and the large one but now and then i could see that mrs s thoughts remained with the cough drops the time of gathering was nearly over but the time of and had beg the heat of the open fire made ns a little drowsy but something in the way mrs spoke of shell heap island my interest i waited to see if she would say any more and then took a way to the subject by saying what was first in my mind that i wished the island family were there to spend the with us mrs s mother and her brother william mrs smiled and on the arm of the rocking chair might scare william to death she warned me and mrs mentioned her intention of going out to island to stay two or three days if this wind did n t make too much sea where is shell heap island i to ask seizing the j bears nor east about three miles from green island i right off shore i call it about eight miles out said mrs you n was dear t is off the and a very bad to land at best of the pointed i should think t was agreed mrs down her black silk apron t is a place worth when you once get there some o the old folks was kind o f about it t was counted a great place in old indian times you can up their stone tools most any time if you hunt about there s a beautiful spring o water too yes i remember when they used to tell queer stories about shell heap island some said t was a great place for the indians and an old chief resided there once that ruled the winds and others they d always heard that once the come down from up country an left a captive there without any bo t an t was too far to swim across to black island so called an he lived there till he perished i ve heard say he walked the island after that and sharp sighted folks could see him an lose him like one o them citizens c ap n was acquainted with up to the north pole announced mrs grimly anyway there was indians you can see their shell heap that named the island and i ve heard myself that twas one o their places but i never could believe it there never was no on the coast o all the indians o these regions are tame looking folks alive yes i mrs to see them painted i ve seen when i was out in the south sea islands that was the time for folks to way back in the old must have been doll for a lady hardly ever a lively port and not in any mixed said mrs i never desired to go a v y ge myself i used to return f very slack an behind the times t is explained mrs but t was an we always done extra well and felt rich when we did get ashore i liked the variety there how times have changed how few families there are left i what a lot o queer folks there used to be about here anyway when we was young everybody s just like everybody else now nobody to laugh about and nobody to cry about it seemed to me that there were of character in the region	40
of landing yet but i did not like to interrupt yes said mrs after a moment of country of the pointed meditation there was certain a good many of human in this neighborhood years ago there was more energy then and in some the energy took a singular turn in these days the young folks is all copy cats to death they won t be all just alike as for the old folks they pray for the advantage o bein a different i ain t heard of a copy cat this great many years said mrs laughing t was a term o my grandmother s no i wa n t thinking o those things but of them strange s that used to the you don t see them now or the ones that used to hive away in their own houses with some strange notion or other i thought again of captain but my companions were not reminded of his name and there was brother william at green island whom we all three knew i was talking o poor the other day i had n t thought of her for a great while said mrs abruptly mis an i recalled her as we sat together sewing she was one o your peculiar persons wa n t she speaking of such persons she turned to explain to me there was a poor sort of a or person out for years all alone on heap island miss her name was a o s late husband i expressed my interest bnt as i glanced at mrs i saw that she was by affectionate feeling and desire for i never want to hear about she said nor i answered mrs she was crossed in love that was all the matter to b in with bnt as i look back i can see that was one doomed from first to into a melancholy she retired the world for good an all she was a well woman all she wanted was to get away from folks she thought she was n t fit to live with anybody and wanted to be free shell heap island come to her from her ther and first thing folks knew she d gone off ont there to live and left word she did n t want no company t was a bad place to get to less die wind an tide were right t was hard work to make a landing what time of year was this i asked yery late in the said mrs country of the pointed no i never could laugh at as some did she set everything by the man an they were going to many in about a month when he got with a girl way up the bay and married her and went off to he was n t well thought of there were those who thought s money was what had tempted him but she d given him her whole heart an she wa n t so young as she had been all her hopes were built on an a real home and somebody to look to she acted just like a bird when its nest is spoilt the day after she heard the news she was in dreadful woe but the next she came to herself very quiet and took the horse and wagon and drove fourteen miles to the lawyer s and signed a her half of the im to her brother they never had got along very well together but he did n t want to sign it till she acted so distressed that he gave in edward s wife was woman who felt very bad indeed and used every argument with but took a poor old boat that had been her father s and lo in a few things and off she put all alone with a good land right out to poor sea edward down to the an stood there like a boy to see her go but she was out o she never stepped foot on the again long as she lived how large an island is it how did she manage in winter i asked perhaps thirty acres rocks and au answered mrs taking np the story gravely there can t be of it that the salt spray don t fly over in storms no tis a dreadful small place to make a world of it has a different look from any of the other islands but there s a sheltered on the south side with mud across one end of it at low water where there s excellent and the big shell heap keeps some o the wind off a little house took the trouble to build when he was a young man they said there was an old house built o logs there before that with a kind of natural cellar in the rock under it he used to stay out there days to a time and anchor a little he had and dig to fill it and sail up to they said the always gave him an extra price the were so noted used to go out and stay with him they country of the pointed were always great so she knew just what t was out there there was a few sheep that belonged to her brother an her but she for him to come and get them on the edge o weather yes she desired him to come for the sheep an his wife thought perhaps d bat he said no an lo the bo t with warm things an what he thought she d need through the winter he come home with the sheep an left the other things by the house but she never so much as looked out o the window she done it for a penance she must have wanted to see edward by that time mrs was with eagerness to speak some	40
thought the first cold snap would set her ashore but she always remained concluded mrs talk about the men not having any curiosity i exclaimed mrs scorn why the waters round island were white with sails all that fall twas never called no great of a ground before many of em made excuse to go ashore to get water at the spring but at last she spoke to a bo t load very and calm and said that she d like it better if they d make a practice of getting water to black island or else and her alone except in case of accident or trouble but there was one man who had always set by her from a boy he d have married her if the other hadn t come about an spoilt his chance and he used to get dose to the island before light on his way out and throw a little bundle way up the green slope front o the house his sister told me she happened to see the first time what a pretty choice he made o useful things that a woman would feel lost without he stood off and could see them in the grass all day sometimes she d come out and walk right by them there was other bo ts near out after but early next morning his present was gone he did n t presume too much but once he took her a nice o things he got up to and when spring come he landed her a hen and chickens in a nice there was a good many old friends had on their minds yes said mrs losing her sad reserve in the growing sympathy of these country of the pointed how used to whether there was smoke oat of the chimney i the black folks see her with their spy glass and if they d ever missed getting some sign o life they d haye sent notice to her folks bat after the first year or two was more and more forgotten as an day charge folks lived very simple in those days yon know she as mrs s knitting was taking at the moment i expect there was always thrown np and a poor patch of covered all the north side of the island so she always had something to bom she was very fond of in the garden ashore and that first she began to till the little field oat there and raised a nice parcel o potatoes she fish o coarse and there was all her an yon can always live well in any wild place by the sea when yoa d starve to death ap except twas time had oat there at least and there was a few in case she needed them in great and a plant o i remember seeing once when i stayed there before she fled to t i is so e been folks there before tlie a makes the best e e i os that stood for s solemn monument too is a bat what i want to know is what she did for other things mrs dick what did she do for when she needed to or for her bread or the bag that no woman can live long or company suggested mrs was one that loved her friends there must been a terrible sight o long winter evenings that first year there was her suggested mrs after the sit nation she wanted the sheep after that first season there wa n t no proper pasture for sheep after the june grass was past and she ascertained the fact and couldn t bear to see them suffer but the chickens done weu i remember by one spring afternoon an the out front o the house in the sun how long country of tee pointed was it before went out with the minister you were the first ones that ever got ashore to see i had been reflecting upon a state of society which admitted such personal freedom and a there was something in the behavior of poor a disappointment of the heart the two women had drawn closer together and were talking on quite of a listener poor said mrs again and sadly shook her head as if there were things one could not speak about i called her declared mrs with spirit but i pitied her and i pity her far more now some other minister would hare been a great help to her one that preached self f and for to cure our own ills but parson was a e person well but very in his s i don t suppose at that troubled time could think of any way to mend her troubles to nm off and hide mother used to say she did n t see how lived without having nobody to do for getting her own meals and tending heir poor ill own poor self day in an day oat said mn there was the dick kindly i expect she soon came to folks o them no i ne er went to to as some did she was o feeling and her hurt her more than she could bear i see it all now as i n t when i was i suppose in old times they had their np for folks said mis as if she and her friend had about once and were now in happy harmony she seemed to speak with new and freedom oh yes i was only too pleased when the mr me to go out with him he had n t been very long in the place when left home and friends t was one day that next summer after she went and i had been married early in the q ring he felt that he ought to go out and visit her she was a member of the church and might wish to	40
her wear before she went away she must have kept it nice for best in the she always had beautiful quiet manners i le the ill member she waited till we were to her and then kissed me real affectionate and inquired for before she shook hands with the minister and then she invited ns both in t was the same little house her father had built him when he was a bachelor with one room and a little of a bedroom oat of it where she slept but t was neat as a ship s cabin there was some old chairs an a seat made of a long box that might have held boat tackle an things to lock up in his days and a good enough stove so anybody could cook and keep warm in cold weather i went over once from home and stayed most a week with when we was girls and those young happy days rose up before me her father was busy all day or dam he was one o the men in the world but s mother had the grim streak and never knew what t was to be happy the first minute my eyes fell upon s face that day i saw how she had grown to look like mis t was the mother right over again oh dear me said mrs had done one thing very pretty there was a little piece o swamp on the country of tee pointed island where good grew plenty and she d gathered em and some for the floor and a thick cushion for the long she d showed a good deal of yon see there was a nice chance to pick np pieces o wood and boards that drove ashore and she d made good use o what she found there was n t no dock but she had a few dishes on a shelf and flowers set about in fixed to the walls so it did look sort of though so lonely and poor i could n t keep the tears out o my eyes i felt so sad i said to myself i must get mother to come oyer an see the in mother s heart would warm her an she might be to advise oh no was dreadful stem said mrs we were all down veiy proper but would keep glances at me as if she was glad i come she had but little to say she was real polite an gentle and yet the minister found it hard confessed mrs he got embarrassed an when he put on his authority and asked her if she felt to enjoy religion in her present situation an she replied that she must be excused from i tee i fly she might made it easier for him after all he was the minister and had taken some trouble to come out though t was kind of cold an the way he inquired i thought he might have seen the little old bible on the shelf close by him an i wished he knew enough to just lay his hand on it an read und an stead of her an then g poor his with the hope she might be led to comfort he did offer prayer but twas all about the voice o out o the and i thought while he was goin on that anybody that had spent the long cold winter all alone out on shell heap island knew a good deal more about those things than he did i got so i opened my eyes and stared right at him she did n t take no notice she a nice respectful manner towards him and when there come a pause she asked if he had any interest about the old indian remains and took down some queer stone and off of one of her shelves and showed them to him same s if he was a boy he remarked that he d like to walk over an see the shell heap so she went country of pointed right to the door and pointed him the way i see then that she d made her some kind o ont o the fine rushes to wear on her feet she stepped light an nice in em as shoes mrs leaned back in her and a sigh i did n t at first bat i d held ont as long as i said mrs whose voice trembled a little when from the door an i see that man s stupid back the wild rose bushes i just ran to her an caught her in mj arms i was n t so big as i be now and she was older than me but i her tight just as if she was a child h dear i says won t you come ashore an live long o me at or go over to island to mother s when winter comes nobody shall trouble you an mother finds it hard bein alone i can t bear to you here and i burst right out crying i d had my own trials young as i was an she knew it oh i did entreat her yes i entreated what did she say then asked mrs much moved she looked the same way sad an remote th it all said mrs took hold of my band and we down close together twas as if she an made a child of me i ha e n t got no right to live with folks no more she said ton never ask me again i ve done the only thing i do and i ve made my i feel a great comfort in kindness bat i don it i have committed the sin yon don t understand says she i was in great wrath and and my thoughts was so wicked towards that i can t expect ever to	40
be ven i have come to know it is to have patience bnt i have lost hope yon most teu those thai how t is with me she said an tell them i want to be alone i couldn t speak no there wa n t ai i say she seemed so above common i was a good deal younger then than i be now and i got s little coral pin oat o my pocket and pat it into her hand and when she saw it and i told her where it come from her oe did really li op for a sort of bright an p le a s ant an i was always good i m he don t think of me si she i want country of pointed yoa to have it an wear it for lo e o o us and handed it back to me ton lie a a dear good man she said an toll mother if i should be she mustn t wish i get well bat i want her to be the one to then she seemed to have said all she wanted to as if she was done with the world and we sat there a few minutes longer together it was real sweet and quiet except for a good many birds and the sea up on the beach bat at last she rose an i did too and she kissed me and held my hand in hers a minute as if good by then she turned and went right away out o the door and disappeared the minister come back pretty soon and i told him i was all ready and we down to the bo t he had picked up some round stones and things and was carrying them in his pocket handkerchief an he sat down without making any question and let me take the an work the bo t an made no remarks for some time until we sort of it off speaking of the weather an that arose as we skirted black island where two or three families to the parish the he next sabbath as usual some thin high about the creation and i could n t help he might never get no further he seemed to know no but he had a great use of words i you tell about brings the time right back as if twas yesterday she said yes she was one o them poor things that talked about the great sin we don t seem to hear nothing about the sin now but you may say t was not uncommon then i expect that if it had been in these days such a person would be to death with idle folks continued mrs after a long pause as it was nobody on her all the folks about the bay respected her an her feelings but as time wore on after you left here one after another ventured to make occasion to put ashore for her if they went that way i know mother used to go to see her sometimes and send william over now and then with something fresh an nice from the there is a point on the sheltered side where you can lay a boat dose to shore an land anything safe on the turf out o reach o the water there were one or two country of pointed fir old folks that she would see and now an then she d hail a boat an ask for and mother got her to promise that she would make some sign to the black island folks if she wanted help i never saw her myself to speak to after that day i expect nowadays if such a thing happened she d have gone out west to her s folks or np to and had a change an come home good as new the world s bigger an than it used to be urged mrs no said her friend the mind of such a person if your eyes don t see right there may be a remedy but there s no kind of glasses to remedy the mind no was and there she lays on her island where she lived and did her poor penance she told mother the day she was that she always used to want to be fetched when it come to the last but she d thought it over and desired to be laid on the island if t was thought right so the funeral was out there a saturday afternoon in september t was a pretty day and there wa n t hardly a boat on the coast within twenty miles that tbe didn t bead for shell heap full o folks an all real ul same s if she d always stayed ashore and held her friends some went out o mere i don t doubt there s always such to every funeral but most had real f and went purpose to show it she d got most o the wild as tame as could be out there so long among em and one flew right in and lit on the coffin an begun to sing while mr was he was put out by it an acted as if he did n t know whether to stop or go i may have been but i wa n t the only one thought the poor little bird done the of the two what became o die man that treated her so did hear asked i know he op to for while somebody who came from die same place told me that he was in there an but that was years ago i heard more than he went to die war in one tbe early ho i heard any e of mrs e per ke country of the pointed showed good judgment in body else if only he d behaved straightforward and	40
manly he was a eyed sort of man that got what he wanted out o folks an only gave when he wanted to buy made friends easy and lost em without the she d had a o work to make him walk to her right ideas but she d haye had too much variety ever to fall into a some is meant to be the in this world an t was her poor lot on shell heap i lain some time after mrs s mm oyer and we liad returned to our former i was ont sailing alone with captain in liis large boat we were taking the crooked channel and were well oat from shore while it was still early in the afternoon i found myself presently among some islands and suddenly remembered the story of poor there is something in the fact of a that cannot fail to touch the imagination the are a sad kindred but they are never commonplace mrs had truly said that was like one of the saints in the desert the loneliness of sorrow will forever keep alive their sad succession where is shell heap island i asked eagerly you see heap now way ont country of tbe beyond black there answered the captain pointing with arm as he stood and holding the with his knee i should like much to go there said i and the captain without comment changed his course a little more to the eastward and let the out of his i don t know s we can make an easy for ye he remarked doubtfully may get your feet wet bad place to land trouble is i ought to have brought a but they on to the water so an i do love to sail free this t boat gets easy with t ain t much on die house guess i can fetch in to shell heap how long is it since miss died i asked partly by way of tion wo come september answered the captain after reflection she died the same year my oldest boy was bom an the town house was burnt over to the port i did n t know but you merely wanted to hunt for some o them indian relics long s yon want to see where lived no t ain t over the on shell heap island we ll manage to fetch the somehow t is such a distance to go way and tide s he ended and we sailed steadily on the captain speechless with intent watching of a difficult until the small island with its low lay in full before ns under the bright afternoon sun the month was august and i had seen the color of the islands change from the fresh green of june to a brown that made them look like stone except where the dark green of the and fir kept the tint that winter storms might but not fade the few wind bent trees on shell heap island were mostly dead and gray but there were some low growing bushes and a of light green ran along just the shore which i knew to be wild morning glories as we came dose i could see the high stone of a small square field though there were no sheep left to it and below there was a little harbor like where captain was boldly running the great boat in to seek a landing place there was a crooked channel of deep water which led dose up against the shore of the pointed there you hold fast f or there an wait for her to lift on the wave you ll make a good if you re smart right on the port hand side i the captain called excitedly and i standing ready with high ambition seized my chance and leaped over to the grassy bank i m beat if i ain t after the bat i could reach the and he with the boat hook while the wind round a little as if on purpose and helped with the sail so presently the boat was free and began to drift out from shore used to call this p int s wharf e but t has worn away in the weather since her time i thought one or two would n t hurt us none paint s got to be renewed anyway but i never thought she d i on by the captain she s too t a boat to handle well in here but i used to sort of shy by in s day an cast a little ashore some apples or a couple o if i had em on the grass where she d be sure to see i stood watching while on hell i land cleverly found his way back to deeper water you seed n t make no haste lie called to me i u keep within call lays right up there in the far comer o the field there used to be a path led to the place i always knew her well i was out here to the i found the path it was to discover that this lonely spot was not its later generations will know less and less of herself but there are paths trodden to the of solitude the world over the world cannot forget them as it may the feet of the young find than out because of curiosity and dim while the old bring hearts full of remembrance this plain had been one of those whom sorrow made too lonely to brave the sight of men too timid to front the simple world she knew yet enough to live alone with her poor human nature and the and passions of the sea and sky the birds were flying all about the field they fluttered up out of the grass at my feet as i walked along so tame that	40
i liked to think they kept some happy tradition from country of the pointed to of the safety of and good f of mankind poor s was gone the stones of its foundations and there was little trace of her flower garden a single faded of french which a great and a yellow butterfly were be together i drank at the spring and thought that now and then some one would follow me from the busy hard worked and simple of the which lay dim and in the august base as must have watched it many a day there was the world and here was she with eternity well in the life of each of us i said to myself there is a place remote and and given to endless regret or secret happiness we are each the and of an hour or a day we understand our fellows of the cell to whatever age of history they may belong but as i stood alone on the in the suddenly there came a sound of distant voices gay voices and laughter from a pleasure boat that was going full of boys and girls i knew as if she had on island me that poor have heard the like on many and many a summer noon and must have welcomed the good cheer in spite of and winter weather and all the and ment in the world by any warning night of her great projects and by and land she first came to an understanding with the forces of and to any preliminary promise of good weather bat examined the day for herself in its infancy then if the stars were and the wind blew from a quarter of good whence no of or might be feared long before i was fairly awake i used to hear a and knocking like a great mouse in the walls and an impatient tread on the steep garret stairs that led to mrs s chief place of she went and came as if she had already started on her expedition with utmost haste and kept returning for something that was forgotten when i appeared in quest of my breakfast she would tee great be absent minded and of speech as if i bad displeased ber and was now by main force of principle holding herself back from and strife of these signs of a change became to me in the coarse of time and mrs hardly noticed some plain proofs of one morning when i said preface that i had just seen the best chaise go by and that we should haye to the mrs was alert m a moment there i i might hare known she exclaimed it s the th of august when he goes and gets his money he an from an o his on his s i the said none o sam b g s wife s folks should make free with it so after sam s gone it all be past an spent like last that s what sam pr rs on now if yon can call it yes i might known t ia the o with him an he stops to dinner with a s widow on the way home an b the times takes him all day to go an i with of pointed the tone of mn s at last like the as well as the chaise i hastened to say r e fer r in g to a long high wagon with a top like an posted on in which we sometimes we can pat things in behind roots and flowers and or anything yon are going after better than if we had mrs looked stony and i counted npon the chaise she said her back to me and back au the oa the shelf as if they had been impertinent yes i desired tiie chaise for once i ain t goin iu nor to fetch home no more this year season s past except for a poor few o late things she added in a tone i c o no i ain t to go i ve been for it the past and for a good day would you like to me go too i asked frankly but not a fear that i might ha mistaken the of latest plan great expedition oh certain dear answered my friend h no i never o any one else for ny if it b for you long s poor mother ain t come i ain t like so handy with a conveyance as i be with a good bo t comes o my early np i expect we ve got to make that great high wagon do the want and t is all loose so i can hear it the other side o the ridge we put the basket in front i ain t goin to have it an all the way why i ve been some nice hearts and rounds to these were signs of high and my interest deepened moment by moment go down to the and get the horse just as soon as i finish my breakfast said l then we can start whenever yon are ready mrs looked again i don t know but you look nice enough to go just as you be she suggested doubtfully no you would n t want to wear that pretty blue dress o way up t ain t dusty now but it may be home no i expect you d rather not wear that and the other hat or the pointed oh i should n t think of wearing these clothes said i with tion why if we going up and are likely to see some of your friends i u put on my dress and yon must wear your i am not going at all if yon mean to wear the ing hat now yon re pretty responded mrs with a gay toss	40
of her head and a smile as she across the room a of wild a pretty piece of from time i was cast down when i see yon come to breakfast i did n t think t was what yon d select to wear to the yon re goin to meet everybody what do yon mean i asked not without not the family s i thought that was going to take place in september tory s the day they sent word the middle o the week i thought you might have heard of it yes they changed the day i been we d it over but you never can tell beforehand how it s goin to be and t ain t worth while to wear a day all out it comes mrs gave th great expedition no place to the of but she spoke like the that she was i wish mother was here to go she continued sadly i did look for her last night and i could n t keep back the tears when the dark really fell and she wa n t here she does so enjoy a great occasion if william had a o snap an ambition he d take the lead at such a time mother likes and there ain t but a few nice opportunities round here an them she has to less she to get ashore to me i do hate to go to the without mother an tie a day body be asking where she is once she d haye got here poor s to feel her age why there s your mother now i exclaimed with joy i was so f to see the dear old soul again i hear her at the gate bat mrs was out of the door before me sore stood mrs who must haye left island before daylight she had tbe steep from the water so eagerly that she out of breath and was standing by the far den to she held aa country of pointed brown basket in her hand as if were a thing of day and looked up at os as and triumphant as a child oh what a poor plain garden i hardly a flower in it except your o i she said bat yon do keep your garden neat are yon both well an goin up with me she came a step or two closer to meet ns with quaint politeness and quite as delightful as if she were at home she dropped a quick little before mrs there mother what a girl you be i i am so pleased i i was just you said the daughter with unwonted feeling i was just you i was so an i myself awake a good piece o the night poor william i watched for the boat till i was ready to shed tears and when twas dark i making errands out to the gate an down the road to see if yon wa n t in the somewhere down the bay there was a head wind as you know said giving me l e cap basket and holding my hand affectionately as we walked up the dean swept path to the the great expedition door i was partly ready to come but dear william said i should be all tired oat and might get cold to beat all the way in so we give it up and set down and spent the together it was a little rough and windy outside and i guess twas better judgment we went to bed yery early and made a good start just at l it s been a lovely on the water william thought he d better fetch beyond bird books the greater part o the way then we sailed from there over to the only one ta william be in again for me to so i can come here an rest me an go to to morrow and have good visit she was just her mrs who had listened to the long explanation without a word of dis while her face shone and more with joy just sit r down an have a of tea and rest yon while we make our preparations yon ve yea just her of you sl country of the pointed some in about noon after bait but he an have bis dinner with us tomorrow unless it rains then next day i laid his best things out all ready explained mrs a little this wind will serve him all the way home yes i will take a of tea dear a cup of tea is always good and then i u rest a minute and be all ready te start i do feel for such hard o william openly mrs she stood before us so large and serious that we both laughed and not find it in our to so a he shall have a good dinner to morrow if it can be got and i shall be real glad to see william the confession ended handsomely while mrs smiled approval and made haste to praise the tea then i hurried away to make sure of the wagon whatever might be the good of the i was going to have the pleasure and delight of a day in mrs s company not to speak of mrs s the early morning was still blowing and the warm air was of some ethereal sort with a cool the great expedition freshness as if it came over new fallen snow the world was filled with a fragrance of and the faintest flavor of from the bare and brown at low tide in the little harbor it was so still and so early that the village was but half awake i hear no voices but those of the birds small and great the constant song the of a hammer over in the woods and the r conversation of some deliberate i	40
saw william tf s escaping sail already r from land and captain was sitting behind his window as i passed by watching for some one who never came i tried to speak to him but he did not see me there was a patient look on tiie old man s face as if the world were a great mistake and he had nobody with whom to speak his own language or find a doubts and anxieties i may had the of the high wagon for a person of mrs s age and they were happily by the aid of a and her own spirit mrs bestowed great care upon ns as if we were taking passage by boat bat she finally pronounced that we were properly trimmed when we had gone only a little way np the hill she remembered that she left the house door wide open the large key was safe in her pocket i offered to run back but my offer was met with scorn and we lightly dismissed the matter from our minds until two or three miles farther on we met the doctor and mrs asked him to stop and ask her nearest neighbor to step over and dose the door if the dust seemed to blow in the afternoon a country road she be there in her kitchen u hear you the minute yon call t wont give yon no delay said mrs to the doctor yes mis s right there with the windows all open it isn t as if my fore door opened right on the road anyway at which proof of composure mrs smiled wisely at me the doctor seemed delighted to see onr they were evidently the warmest friends and i saw a look of affectionate confidence in their the good man left his carriage to speak to ns but as he took mrs s hand he held it a moment and as if merely from force of habit felt her pulse as they talked then to my delight he gave the firm old wrist a pat you re wearing well good for another ten years at this rate he assured her and she smiled back i like to keep a strict account of my old stand and he turned to me don t you let mrs to day old folks like her are apt to be thoughtless and then we all laughed and parting went our ways i suppose he puts up with your the same as ever asked mrs country of pointed yon are as friendly as i see and nodded he s got too many long now to stop to tend to all his door she said especially them that takes pleasure in over the doctor and me have got to be land of partners he s gone a good deal far an wide looked tired did n t he i shall have to advise with him an get him off for a good rest he ll take the big boat from an go off up to boston an mouse round among the other doctors once in three years and come home fresh as a boy i guess they think consider ble of him up there mrs shook the reins and for the whip as if she were compelling public whatever energy and spirit the white horse had to begin with were soon exhausted by the steep hills and his of a long expedition ahead we toiled slowly along mrs and i sat together and mrs sat alone in front with much majesty and the large basket of provisions part of the way the road was shaded by thick woods but we also passed one after another on the high which a road we all three regarded with deep interest the house itself and the and garden spots and all having to suffer an inspection of the sort this was a highway quite new to me in fact most of mj journeys with mrs had been made and between the roads in open my friends stopped several times for brief visits and made so many promises of stopping again on the way home that i b an to wonder how long the expedition would last i had often how mrs was greeted by her friends but it was hardly to be compared to the feeling now shown toward mrs a look of delight came to the faces of those who recognised the plain dear old figure beside me one revelation after another was made of the constant interest and intercourse that had linked the far island and these scattered farms into chain of love and dependence now we must n t stop again if we can help it insisted mrs at last you d get tired mother and yon u think the less o we can visit along here any day there if they ain t in this next house tool these are new folks country of tbe pointed you know from over st way they took this old last year t is tlie best water on the road and tlie s come undone yes we d best delay a little and water the horse we stopped and seeing a party of pleasure in holiday attire the thin anxious mistress of the f came out with wistful sympathy to hear what news we might haye to mrs first her at the half door and asked with such cheerful if we were that after a few words she went to her kitchen and reappeared with a of entertainment for man and beast announced mrs satisfaction why we te perceived there was new all along the road but you re the first that has treated us our new acquaintance flushed with pleasure but said nothing they re very nice you ve had good luck with em pronounced mrs yes we ve there was all the way along if one house is all the rest is	40
t is so with a great many things i don t suppose likely you re goin up to a co y the asked the as the white horse lifted his head and we were saying good by why yes said mrs and mrs and i all together i am with the yes i expect to be there this afternoon i ve been forward to it she told us eagerly we shall see you there come and sit with ns if it s convenient said dear mrs and we drove away i wonder who she was before she was married said mis who was in matters of she most have been one of that remote branch that lived down beyond we can find ont this afternoon i expect that the families u march together or be ont some way i m willing to own a relation that has proper ideas of i seem to see the family looks said mrs i wish we d asked her name she s a stranger and i want to help make it pleasant for all such she cousin pa about the forehead said mrs with country of the pointed we had just passed a of that shaded the road and out to some open fields beyond when mrs suddenly in the horse as if somebody had stood on the roadside and stopped her she even gave that quick nod of her head which was usually made to answer for a bow but i that she was looking eagerly at a tall ash tree that grew just inside the field fence i thought t was to do well she said as we went on again last time i was up this way that tree was kind of drooping and discouraged grown trees act that way sometimes same s folks then they put right to it and strike their roots off into new ground and start all over again with real good courage ash trees is likely to hate poor they ain t got the resolution of other trees i listened for more it was this peculiar wisdom that made one value mrs s pleasant company there s sometimes a good hearty tree right out of the bare rock out o some crack that just holds the roots she went on to say right on the pitch o one o them bare stony hills where you can t seem a country road to see a wheel o good in a but that tree a green top in the yon lay your ear down to the an you ll hear a little stream every tree has got its own spring s folks made to em i not help turning to look at mrs dose beside me her hands were clasped placidly in their thin gloves and she was looking at the as we went slowly along with a pleased expectant smile i do not think she had heard a word about the trees i just saw a nice plant o back there she said presently to her daughter i haven t got my mind on today responded mrs in the most matter fact way i m bent on seeing folks and she shook the reins again i for one had no wish to hurry it was so pleasant in the shady roads the woods stood close to the road on the right on the left were narrow fields and pastures where there were as many acres of and as there were acres of bay and and with a little turf between country of tbe pointed when i thought we were in the heart of the inland we the top of a hill and there lay spread oat before ns a ol great of fields that swept down to the wide water of a bay beyond this were distant shores like another in the midday which half hid the hills beyond and the pale blue mountains on the northern there was a with all sails set coming down the bay from a white that was sprinkled on the shore and there were flitting about it was a noble landscape and my eyes which had grown to die inspection of a shaded roadside hardly take it in why it s the upper bay said mrs yon can see way over into the town of farms way oyer there are all in mother used to haye a sister that lived v that shore if we started as early s we could on a summer we could n t get to her place from green island till late afternoon even with a fair steady and you had to strike the time just right so as to fetch up long o the tide and land near the flood twas a road business an we did n t back an f as much as mother desired yon have to go way down the st to gold spring light an round that long point up here s what they call the back shore no we were most always separated my dear sister and me after tiie first year she was married said mrs we had our little families an plenty o we were always forward to the time we see each other more now and then she d get oat to the island for a few days while her husband d go and once he stopped with her an two children and made him some right there and cured all his fish for winter we did have a time together sister an me she used to look back to it long s she i do to look over there where she used to live mrs went on as we began to go down the hill it seems as if she must still be there though she s long been gone she loved their she did n t see how i got so used to our island but somehow i was always	40
happy from the first yes it s very dull to me up among those slow farms mrs country or the pointed the snow em in winter they re all by winter as yon may say t is r by the shore than np among places i i like to live np why see ahead of ns on the next rise i mrs there s going to be a great gathering don t yon believe there is it hasn t seemed np to now as if anybody was going bnt ns an t is a day with yesterday and pleasant to work an get ready i n t wonder if was there n the slow ones like ann mrs s eyes were bright with and even mrs showed remarkable she the horse and np with the holiday makers ahead there s all the f goin six in the wagon she told ns joyfully an mis s folks are now the hill in their new mrs pulled at the neat bow of her bonnet strings and tied them again with careful precision i believe your bonnet s on a little bit sideways dear she advised mrs as if she were a the it y x in life where high days and holidays are few that any of general interest proves to be less than great is the hidden fire of enthusiasm in the new nature that given an it shines forth with light and heat in quiet inward force does not waste itself upon those petty of every day that belong to cities but when at long intervals the to patriotism to friendship to the ties of kindred are reared in our familiar fields then the fires glow the flames come up as if from the inexhaustible burning heart of the earth the fires break through the granite dust in which our souls are set each heart is warm and every face shines with the ancient light such a day as this has powers and easily makes friends of those who have been cold hearted and gives to those who are a road bat mrs was too to pay proper heed we began to feel a new sense of and of taking part in the great as we the train the bo en be union dumb chance to speak and some beauty to the face oh i expect i shall meet friends today that i have n t seen in a long said mrs with deep satisfaction t will bring out a good many of the old folks t is such a lovely day i m always glad not to have them disappointed i guess likely the best of em u be there answered mrs with gentle humor stealing a glance at me there s one thing certain there s nothing takes in this whole neighborhood like anything related to tiie yes i do feel that when you call upon the you may expect most families to rise up between the landing and the far end of the back those that are n t kin by blood are kin by marriage there used to be an old story goin about when i was a girl said mrs amusement there was a great many more then than there are now and the folks was all setting in meeting a dreadful hot sunday afternoon and little bound girl came running to the house door all out o breath from in the neighborhood mis c of pointed mis i says she your baby sin a fit i they used to tell that the whole on was up on its feet in a minute and right ont into the all the mis was setting right out for home the minister stood there in the trying to keep sober an all at he burst right out he was a yery nice man they said and he said he d better give em the and hear the mon next sunday so he kept it my mother was there and sh thought certain t was me none of our family was oyer subject to fits interrupted mrs severely no we never had fits none of us and t was lucky we did n t way out there to green island now these folks right in front dear knows the o soothing an i ve had to favor old mis with t you can see it right in their expressions all them folks there just you look up to the mother she suddenly exclaimed see all the ahead of us and oh look down on the bay yes look down on the see what a sight o boats all for the place wi h p im a h to t took of a h d it m as ire along and bo can root got in ahead and i don t want to m wo drop by one in the as wo along old stood low and broad in its fields as if it wore a brown ban waiting for tbat toward it from bad made bis and it was still farm of and farmers and bad been its and presently mrs me stone walled bury ing tbat stood like a little fort on a the bat as there were plenty of who were not there some lost at sea and some out west and some who died in the war most of the home graves were of women country of the pointed we see now that there were d along shore and across country in all these there were straggling walking in single file like old illustrations of the pilgrim s progress there was a crowd about the house as if huge bees were in the bushes beyond the fields and a higher point of land ran out into the bay covered with woods which must have kept away much ci the wind in winter now there was a pleasant look	40
of shade and shelter there for the great family meeting we hurried on our way beginning to feel as if we were very late and it was a great satisfaction at last to turn out of the stony into a green lane shaded with old apple trees mrs encouraged the horse until he fairly with as we drove round to the front of the house on the soft there was an instant cry of rejoicing and two or three persons ran toward us from the busy group why here i beard them say as if it were pleasure enough for one day to have a of her mrs turned to me lovely look of triumph and self f the an man wore the look of a pot up and lifted mn down from the wagon like a child and kissed her with hearty affection i was master afraid she would n t be here he said looking at mrs with a oe like a happy while everybody crowded to gi e their mother s always the said mrs yes they all make of mother she h have a lovely time to day i would n t have had her miss it and there won t be a thing she u ever regret except to mourn because wa n t here mrs having been properly escorted to the house mrs received her own full share of honor and some of the men a kindness that was the soul of waited upon us and our baskets and led away the white horse i already knew some of mrs s friends and and felt like an adopted in this happy moment it seemed to be enough for any one to have arrived by the same conveyance as mrs who presently had her court inside the while mrs large hospitable and pre country of the pointed eminent was the of a rapidly ing crowd about the were up the long green slope from the water and nearly au the boats had come to shore i three or four that were baffled by the light bat before long all the small and great seemed to have assembled and we started to go np to the grove across the field of the chattering crowd of noisy children and women whose best fell straight to the ground in generous folds and men who looked as serious as if it were town meeting day there suddenly came silence and order i saw the straight figure of a man who bore a fine resemblance to mrs and who appeared to us with perfect ease he was enough but with a grand military sort of courtesy and bore himself with solemn dignity of importance we were out according to some dear design of his own and stood as speechless as a troop to await his orders even the children were ready to march together a pretty flock and at the last moment mrs a few bo mm union the and who were yery out of tho and took their we hy and then we made a long there was a wide path for tin the field and ae we along the birds flew np oat of the thi of and the bees as if it s ll were jane there was a flashing of while the water where the fleet of hm m rode tlie low wares together in ttie small as if they time to steps the f ttie w t f be beard yet still m we bare been a y f an t to rate a m ut tbe of if tlie g re it was ly ut see tliis aad to part f h t e ih sea at r ts s w t w va a sm e a r fa e its m u a st mr w ike l mai s l ao sa f t m u m w h ia ba m w tf mm fa t f f vi m a m i of the point branches and singing as we went so we came to the thick shaded still silent and were set in our by the straight trees that swayed together and let sunshine through here and there like a single golden leaf that down vanishing in the cool shade the grove was so large that the great looked far smaller than it had in the open field there was a thick growth of dark pines and with an occasional or oak that gave a gleam of color like a bright window in the great roof on three sides we could see the water shining behind the tree trunks and feel the cool salt that began to come up with the tide just as the day reached its highest point of heat we could see the green field we had just crossed as if we looked out at it from a dark room and the old house and its standing placidly in the sun and the great bam with a of carriages from which two or three care taking men who had were coming across the field together mrs had taken o f her warm gloves and looked the picture of content there i she i ve always meant to have you see this place but i never the bo re union looked for a an occasion made to match yes it suits me i don t ask no more i want to know if yon saw mother at the head i it choked me right np to see mother at the head with the ministers and mrs turned away to hide the feelings she could not instantly control who was the i hastened to ask was he an old soldier don t he do well answered mrs with he don t often have such a chance to show off his gifts said mrs a friend from the who had joined us that s	40
he always takes the lead such days for no ing else most o his time trouble is he i turned with interest to hear the worst mrs s tone was both and she explained scornfully no was in the war said mrs with lofty indifference a cause of real distress to him he and far an wide about here an took the bo t and went to boston to but be ain t a sound man an country of thb pointed would n t hate him they say he knows all their an can tell all the o well s he can banker hill i told him once the country d lost a great general an i meant it too i expect yon re near right said mrs a and i be right insisted mrs with much t was most too bad to him down to his trade bat he s a most at his best an he always says it s a trade that gi es liim to tf an plan i over to the port they always him to march i ay same as the rest an he does look he of soldier stock i had been noticing with great interest the french type of face which prevailed in this company i had said to myself before that mrs plainly of descent in both her appearance and her gifts bat this is not surprising when one has learned how large a proportion of the early on this northern coast of new england were of blood and that it is the englishman not the who goes to a new world tee they used to say in old times said mrs modesty our family came of high folks in france and one of em was a great general in some o the old wars i sometimes think that s ability has way down from then t ain t he s acquired t was bom in him i don t know s he ever saw a fine parade or met with those that up such things he s figured it au out an got his papers so he knows how to aim a cannon right for william s fish house five miles out on island or up there on burnt where the signal is he had it all over to me one day an i tried hard to appear interested is life s all in it but he will have those poor gloomy come him now an then an then he has to drink mrs gave a heavy sigh there s a great many such folks just as there is plants continued mrs who was nothing if not i know of just one of laurel that grows over back here in a wild spot an i never could hear of no other on this coast i had a large bunch brought me once from way so i know it this piece grows in an spot where you d think t would country of pointed do but it b sort o poor i te it time an again just to notice its poor t is a real oat of its own place mrs looked bewildered and blank well all i know is last year be worked out some kind of a plan so s to parade the in and got em all ap to sense bis ideas of a square burst tbey was anyway after way down from np into the salt air and they d been treated to a sermon on an works from old that knows when to cease t wa n t no time for then they wa n t a of the be n t do with em thinks of when be sees a crowd is bow to em t is all well when be don t tempt too much he never did act like folks ain t i just been that be ain t like em mrs decidedly strange folks has got to have strange ways for what i see somebody observed once that yon could pick out the likeness of most sort of tee s a when yon locked about in said in her brightening with i didn t see the of it then so plain i always did think man a was pretty as a i remember said the pleasant of mrs who after the a ate greetings of nearly the whole company came to join ns to see as she insisted that we were out of mischief tes man was one o them pretty little that make homely old sheep replied mrs with energy cap n ne er d look so if she was any sort of a proper person to things she might divert him yes she might divert the old gentleman an let him think he had his own way stead o everything down to the bare bone t would n t hurt her to sit down an hear his great stories once in a while the stories are very interesting i ventured to say yes yon always yourself a what if they was all true and he had the right of it mrs he sa country of thb good sight better company though than sordid creator s as live and let said dear old mrs gently i have n t seen the captain for a good while now that i ain t so constant to she added wistfully we always have known each other why if it is a good pleasant day tomorrow i u get william to call an invite the in to dinner william be in early so s to pass op the street without anybody there they re out it s time to set the tables said mrs with great excitement here s jane well i am pleased certain i exclaimed mrs with unaffected delight and these kindred spirits met and parted with the promise of a good talk later on	40
after this there was no more time for conversation we were seated in order at the long tables i m one that always seeing some o e folks that i don t like at a time as this mrs privately to me after a season of we were the bo waiting for the feast to yon would n t think such a great creator a i be feel all over pins an needles i remember the day i promised to how it come over me s i was happy s i could that i d got to hate an own cousin o his for my near relation all the rest o my life an it seemed as if die i should poor saw had crossed me he had very nice feelings and when he asked me what t was i told him i never could like her myself said he you sha n t be dear he says an t was one o the things that made me set a good deal by he didn t make a habit of always like some men yes says i but think o times an she s our relation an we ve got to own her young folks don t think o those things there she goes now do let s pray her by i said mrs with an alarming transition from general opinions to particular i hate her just the same as i always did but she s got on a real pretty dress i do try to remember that she s s oh dear well she s gone by after all an ain t seen me i expected she d come of the pointed round just to off an mj afterwards she was acquainted this was so different from mrs s of mind that had a ment s uneasiness but the passed quickly over her spirit and was gone with the there was a more ont door feast along the coast than the set forth that day to call it a would make it seem the great tables were edged with pretty which the boys and girls made we brought flowers from the fence of the great field and out of the disorder of flowers and provisions suddenly appeared as orderly a scheme for ihe feast as the had shaped for the procession i b an to respect the for their inheritance of good taste and skill and a gift of f something made them do all these things in a finer way than most country people would have done them as i looked up and down the there was a good cheer a that shone with pleasure a humble dignity of bearing there were some who should have sat below the bo the salt for lack of this good breeding bat they were not many so i said to myself their may have sat in the great hall of some old house in the middle ages when battles and and and were familiar things the ministers and mrs with a few of their rank and age were put in places of honor and for once that i looked any other way i looked twice at mrs s face serene and of and responsibility the mistress by simple fitness of this great day mrs looked up at the roof of green trees and then surveyed the com i see em better now they re all down she said with satisfaction there s old mr and his sister i wish they were with ns they re not among folks they can with an they look disappointed as the feast went on the spirits of my companion steadily rose the excitement of an unexpectedly great occasion was a to her disposition and i could see that sometimes when mrs had seemed limited and heavily domestic she had simply grown for lack of proper surround c of the pointed was not ao much now as expectant and as alert and gay as a girl we who were her neighbors were fall of was but the reflected light from her beaming it was not the first time that i was full of wonder at the waste of ability in this world as a wonders at the of the thousand seeds that die the provision of every sort the reserve force of society grows more and more amazing to one s thought more than one face among the showed that only opportunity and were a narrow set of circumstances had a fine able character and held it captive one sees exactly the same types in a country gathering as in the most brilliant city company you are safe to be understood if the spirit of your speech is the same for one neighbor as for the other the feast s feast was a noble feast as has already been said there was an elegant ingenuity displayed in the form of which delighted my heart acknowledge that an american pie is be preferred to its humble the english and it is joyful to be reassured at a that invention has not yet failed beside a delightful variety of material the tions went beyond all my former experience dates and names were wrought in lines of and on the tops there was even more elaborate reading matter on an excellent early apple pie which we b to share and eat upon mrs helped me generously to the whole word and consumed herself save an fragment but the most renowned essay in on the was a model of the old house country of the pointed made of with all the windows and in the right places and of genuine set at the front it most have been baked in sections in one of the last of the great brick and fastened together on the morning of the day there was a general sigh when this fell into at the feast s end and it was	40
as a matter of et do boat being steady and wise under their instant direction and s boat and s boat were as distinct and experienced as ihe men and as and opinions were unknown to tiie of these friends you would as soon hats expected to hear small talk in a company of as to hear old mr or and their two mates waste breath upon any form of trivial gossip they made brief to one another from time to time as you came to know them you wondered more and more that they should talk at all speech seemed to be a light and elegant accomplishment and their acquaintance with its arts made them of new to the listener you felt almost as if a pine should suddenly address you in regard to the weather or a lofty minded old make a remark as you stood respectfully near him under the tent i often wondered a great deal about the inner life and thought of these self contained old their minds seemed to be of the pointed fir fixed upon nature and the elements than npon of man like or my friend captain who was the nephew of the of this regarded them with deference but he did not belong to their companionship though he was neither young nor v a they ve gone together oyer since they were boys they know most about the sea st them be me once they was always just as you see em now since the memory of man these ancient had houses and lands not outwardly different from other t dwellings and two of them were others of families but their true dwelling were the sea and the stony beach that its m shore and where much salt from the had soaked the into a state of brown and it had also affected the old s hard one fancied that when death them it could only be with the aid not of any slender modem dart but the good serviceable of a century along was such an person heavy headed and stooping so that one never look him in the face that even after his friendly exclamation about the s and the sleepy boy i did not venture at once to speak again mr was carrying a small in one hand and presently shifted it to the other hand lest it might touch my skirt i knew that my company was accepted and we walked together a little way you mean to have a good supper i ventured to say by way of friendliness to have this ere an some o my good baked potatoes must eat to live responded my companion with great and open approval i found that i had suddenly left the forbidding coast and come into a smooth harbor of friendship you ain t never been up to my place said the old man folks don t come now as they used to no tain t no use to ask folks now my poor dear she was a great hand to draw young company i remembered that mrs had once said that this old had country of the pointed and at the death of his wife i should like yery much to said l perhaps you are going to he at home later on mr agreed by a sober nod and went his way bent shouldered and with a rolling gait there was a new patch high on the shoulder of his old waistcoat which to the of the s down the bay and i wondered if his own fingers clumsy with much deep sea fishing had set it in was there a good catch to lay i asked stopping a moment i did n t hap pen to be on the shore when the boats came m no all come in pretty light answered mr an they done the best an me we had but a slim fare we went out but not so as sometimes looked like a poor i got nine all small and seven fish the rest on em got more fish than well i don t expect they feel like every day we i am to humor em a little an let em have their way bout it these dog fish kind along of em mr the last sentence with much sympathy as if he looked upon himself as a true friend of all the and that lived on the fishing and so we parted later in the afternoon i went along the beach again until i came to the foot of mr s land and found his rough track across the stones and rocks to the field edge where there was a heavy piece of old wreck timber like a ship s bone full of from this a little row with one man s treading led up across the small green field that made mr s whole estate except a straggling pasture that on edge up the steep beyond the house and road i could hear the ankle of a cow bell somewhere among the by which the pasture was being walked over and from every side it was likely to be called the wood lot before long but the field was i not see a bush or a anywhere within its walls and hardly a stray showed itself this most surprising in that country of firm and scattered stones all the walls that industry country of tbe pointed had begun to dear away off the land in the narrow field i noticed some stout planted at random in the grass and among the hills of potatoes but carefully painted yellow and white to match the house a neat little dwelling which looked strangely modem for its owner i should have much sooner that the smart young egg merchant of the tending was its than mr since a man s house is really but his body and expresses in a way	40
his nature and character i went up the field following the smooth little path to the side door as for using the front door that was a matter of great ceremony the long grass grew close against the high stone step and a bush leaned oyer it top heavy with the weight of a vine that had managed to take what the might call a half about the door came to the side door to me he was knitting a blue without looking on and was warmly dressed for the season in a thick blue flannel shirt with white buttons a faded waistcoat and trousers patched at the knees these along were not his fishing clothes there was something delightful in the grasp of his hand warm and clean as if it never touched anything but the comfortable instead of cold sea water and slippery fish what ace the painted for down in the field i hastened to ask and he came out a step or two along the path to see and looked at the as if his attention were to them for the time folks laughed at me when i first bought this place an come here to he explained they said t wa n t no kind of a field privilege at all no place to raise anything all fuu o stones i was aware twas good land an i worked some on it odd times when i didn t have else on hand till i cleared them loose stones all out you never see a prettier piece than tis now now did ye well as for them painted marks them s my i struck on to some heavy rocks that didn t show none but a d be liable to ground on em an so i an em same s yon see they don t trouble me no more n if they wa n t there you haven t been to sea for nothing i said laughing of the pointed one trade helps another said with an amiable smile come right in an set down come in an rest ye he exclaimed and led the way into his comfortable kitchen the sunshine poured in at the two farther windows and a cat was np sound asleep on the table that stood between them there was a new looking light of a pattern on the floor and a large for a household of only one person stood on the bright i to say that somebody must be a good that s me acknowledged the old man with frankness there ain t nobody here but me i try to keep things looking right same s poor dear left em you set down here in this then you can look off an see the water none on em thought i was goin to get along alone no way but i wa n t goin to have my house turned down an all changed about no not to please i was the only one knew just how she liked to have things set poor dear an i said i was goin to make shift and i haye made shift i d rather tough it out alone and he sighed as if to sigh were his familiar consolation along shore we were both silent for a minute the old man looked out of the window as if he had forgotten i was there you must miss her much i said at last m i do miss her he answered and sighed again folks all that time would ease me but i can t find it does no i miss her just the same every day how long is it since she died i asked eight year now come the first of october it don t seem near so long i ve got a sister that comes and stops long o me a little spell spring an fall an odd times if i send after her i ain t near so good a hand to as i be to knit and she s very quick to set to rights she s a married woman with a family her son s folks lives at home an i can t make no great claim on her time but it makes me a kind o good excuse when i do send to help her a little she ain t none too well off poor dear always liked her and we used to contrive our ways together t is full as easy to be alone i set here an think it all over an think considerable when the weather s bad to go outside i get so some days it as if poor dear might step right back country of tee pointed into i keep a as if she might step in to one yes ma am i keep a off an o my that s just how it seems i can t over of her no way nor no how yes ma am that s just how it seems i did not say anything and he did not i so sometimes i have to lay by an go out door she was a sweet pretty long s she lived the old man added mournfully there s that little chair o her n i set an notice it an think how strange t is a like her should be gone an tiiat chair be here right in its old place i wish i had known her mrs told me about your wife one day i said you d have liked to come and see her all the folks did said poor she d been so pleased to hear every ing and see somebody new that took such an int rest she had a kind o gift to make it pleasant for folks i guess likely told yon she was a pretty woman especially in her young days late years too she lier looks	40
and come to be so pleasant look h me in there t ain t so much matter i shall be done afore a great while no i sha n t trouble the fish a great sight more the old sat with his head bowed over his knitting as if he were hastily the very thread of time the minutes went slowly by he stopped his work and clasped his hands firmly together i saw he had forgotten his guest and i kept the afternoon watch with him at last he looked up as if but a moment had passed of his continual loneliness yes ma am i m one tiiat has seen trouble he said and began to knit again the tribute of his careful housekeeping and the dean bright room which had once his wife and now her memory was very to me he had no thought for any one else or for any other place i began to see her my self in her home a delicate looking faded little woman who leaned upon his rough strength and affectionate heart who was always watching for his boat out of this very window and who always opened the door and welcomed him when he came home i used to laugh at her poor dear said as if he read my thought i used to of the make light of her timid notions she used to be fearful when i was oat in bad weather or baffled about ashore she used to say the time seemed long to her bat i ve ont all it now i to be dreadful when i was a young man and the fish was well i d stay out late some o them days an i expect she d an watch an lose heart a my heart i what a supper she d an be right there from the door with over her head if t was cold to hear all about it as i come up the field lord how i think o all them little things this was what she called the best room in this way he said presently laying his knitting on the table and leading the way across the front entry and a door which he threw open with an air of pride the best room seemed to me a much and more empty place than the kitchen its lacked the simple perfection of the room and failed on the side of poor ambition it was only when one remembered what patient saving and what high respect for society in the abstract go to such furnishing that the along h be was at all i imagine the great day of certain the bewildering shops of the next large town the anxious woman the clumsy sea man in his best clothes so eager to be pleased but at ease only when they were safe back in the sail boat again going down the bay with their precious freight the money all spent and nothing to think of but and sail i looked at the pet the glass on the with their of swamp grass and dusty marsh and i read the history of mrs s best room from its very beginning you see for yourself what beautiful she could make now i m going to show you her best tea things she thought so much of said the master of the house opening the door of a shallow cupboard that s real all of it on those two shelves he told me proudly i bought it all myself when we was first married in the port of there never was one single piece of it broke until well i used to say long as she lived there never was a piece broke but long at the last i noticed she d look kind o distressed an i thought country of the pointed t was o me asked if should use it when the was here to time o her funeral i knew she d want to have and i said certain some o the women they come to me an called me while they was of the down an showed me there was one o cups broke an the pieces in p mr and way hack here comer o the shelf they did n t want me to go an think they it poor dear i i had to pat right oat o the when i see that i in one minute how twas we d got so to t was all there s i fetched it home an so when she broke that cap somehow or she n t frame no words to come an tell me she n t think t would me twas her own hurt pride i guess there wa n t no other secret ever lay between us the french cups with gay of pink and blue the best an old bowl and tea and a waiter or two adorned the shelves these with a few in a little square pile had the closet to themselves and i was conscious of much pleasure in seeing them along shore one is shown over many a house in these days where the interest may be more complex but not more definite those were her best things poor dear said as he locked the door again she told me that last summer before she was taken away that she could n t think o anything more she wanted there was everything in the house an all her rooms was furnished pretty i was goin over to the port an inquired for errands i used to ask her to say what she wanted or no cost she was a very reasonable woman an t was the where she done all but her extra it kind o chilled me up when she spoke so satisfied you don t go out fishing after christmas i asked as we	40
came back to the bright kitchen no i take to my knitting after january sets in said the old t ain t worth while fish make off into deeper water an you can t stand no such for the sake o what you get i leave out a few traps in sheltered an do a little on days the young fellows it out some on em but for me i lay in my winter s an set here or tee pointed t is an knit an take my comfort mother learnt me when i waa a lad she was a beautiful herself i was laid up with a bad knee an she said t take up my time an help her we was a large family they buy all the folks can do down here to store they say our s is to be celebrated np to boston good quality o wool an even or i ts always been called a pretty hand to do but is master cheap to what they used to be when they was all hand worked i change off to long towards spring and i piece up my and lines and get my stuff to rights pots they require attention but i make em up in spring weather when it s warm there in the bam no i ain t one o them that likes to set an do you see the poor dear did them she wa n t very partial to old went on after he had counted his our is to wear but i can t master none o them my sister she em up she said last time she was here that she guessed they d last my time along the old ones are always the i said yon ain t to the ones now answered mr see ours is for tbe most part an their good looks is all in the poor dear used to say they made an easier floor i go round the house same s if t was a bo and i al rays used to be up the o the kind her an me was always ha in our jokes together same s a boy an girl never d know about it to see us she had nice manners with all but to me there was nobody so she d take off anybody s natural talk winter in s when we set here alone so you d think t was them a there i i saw that he had dropped a again and was the blue round his fingers he handled it and threw it off at arm s length as if it were a line and frowned impatiently but i saw a tear shining on his cheek i said that i must be going it was growing late and asked if i might come again and if he would take me out to the fishing grounds some day c of the pointed yes any time yon want to said my host t ain t so pleasant as when poor dear was here oh i didn t want to h se her an she did n t want to go bat it had to be things ain t for us to say there s no yes an no to it ton find one o the best o women said mr as we parted he was standing in the doorway and i had started off down the narrow green no there ain t a better hearted woman in the state o i ye known her from a girl she s had the best o mothers yon tell her i m liable to fetch her up a or three nice good early to he said now don t let it slip mind poor dear she always thought a sight o and she used to remind me there was nobody to fish for her bat i don t it as i ought to i see you drop a line yourself handy now an then we together like the best of friends and i spoke again about the fishing grounds and confessed that i had no fancy for a and a ground swell nor me neither said the old nobody likes em say what they may along shore poor dear was by the mere sight of a bo t s got the best o mothers i expect yon know mis ont to island and we was always to go ont when bnt there i n t pick no day s weather that seemed to her just right i never set oat to worry her neither t wa n t no kind o she was so pleasant we n t have no fret nor trouble twas never you dear an you afore folks an you behind the door i as i looked back from the lower end of the field i saw him still standing a lonely figure in the doorway poor dear i repeated to myself half aloud i wonder where she is and what she knows of the little world she left i wonder what she has been doing these eight years i i gave the message about the to mrs been with she asked with interest i expect you had kind of a dull he ain t the kind so much long o fish seems to make em lose the gift o speech but when i told her that mr had been talking to me that day she interrupted me quickly of pointed then t was all about his wife an he can t too pleasant neither she was modest with strangers but there ain t one o her old friends can make up her loss for me i don t want to go there no more there s some folks you miss and some f you don t when they re gone but there ain t hardly a day i don t think o dear	40
she was always right there yes you knew just where to find her like a plain flower s worthy enough i do esteem but he s a man the view at last it was the time of late when the house was cool and damp in the morning and all the light seemed to through green but at the first step out of doors the always laid a warm hand m my and the clear high sky seemed to lift quickly as i looked at it there was no mist on the coast nor any fog instead of these the sea the all the long shore line and the inland hills with of bay and every fir top gained a deeper color and a clearness there was something shining in the air and a kind of on the water and the grass a look that except at this moment of the year one go r to seek the sunshine of a northern summer was to its lovely end the days were few then at land country of pointed ing and i let each of them slip away unwillingly as a his i wished to have one of my first weeks back again with those long when nothing happened except the growth of and the of the son once i had not e en known where to go for a walk now there were many things to be done and done again as if i were in london i felt and full of pleasant engagements and the days flew by like a handful of flowers to sea wind at last i had to say good by to all my tending friends and my place in the little house and return to the world in which i feared to find myself a foreigner there may be to such a summer s happiness but the ease that belongs to simplicity is charming enough to make up for whatever a simple may lack and the gifts of peace are not for those who live in the thick of battle i waste take the small steamer that went down the bay in the afternoon and i sat for a while by my window looking out on the green garden with regret for company mrs had hardly spoken the backward view all day except in the and meet way it was as if we were on the edge of a it seemed impossible to take my departure with anything like composure at last i heard a footstep and looked np to find that mrs was standing at the door i ve seen to everything now she told me in an unusually loud and business like voice your trunks are on the w by this time cap n he and took em down himself an is going to see that they re safe aboard yes i ve seen to au your she repeated in a tone these things i ve left on the kitchen table you want to by hand tiie basket need n t be returned i guess i shall walk over towards ihe port now an inquire how old mis edward is i glanced at my friend s face and saw a look that touched me to the heart i had been sorry enough before to go away i guess you u excuse me if i ain t down there to stand round on the w and see you go she said still trying to be yes i ought to go over and inquire for mis edward it s her third shock and if mother gets in on sunday she want of tee pointed to know how the old lady is last word mrs tamed and left me as if with of she had forgotten so that i felt sore she was back bat presently i heard her go out of the door and walk down the path toward gate i not part so i ran after her to say good by bat she shook her head and her hand without looking back when she heard my steps and so went away down the street when i went in again the little had grown lonely and my room looked empty as it had the day i i and all my had died out of it and i knew how it would seem when mrs back and found her gone so we die before our own eyes so we see some chapters of our to natural end i found the on the kitchen table there was a quaint west indian basket which i knew its owner had valued and which i had once admired there was an affecting laid beside it for my supper with a neatly tied bunch of and a d bay and a old leather box which held the coral the backward view pin that brought home to give to poor there was still an hour to wait and i went up to the hill above the and sat there thinking of things and looking off to sea and watching for the boat to in sight i could see island small and j wooded at that distance below me were the houses of the village with their apple trees and bits of garden ground as i looked at the pastures beyond i caught a last glimpse of mrs herself walking slowly in the that led along following the shore toward the port at such a distance one can feel the large positive qualities that control a character close at hand mrs seemed able and warm hearted and quite absorbed in her bustling but her distant figure looked and appealing with something about it that was self possessed and now and then she stooped to pick something it might have been her favorite and at last i lost sight of her as die crossed an open space on one of the higher points of land and disappeared again behind	40
and but london and and and the strange of the china sea one september day when i was nearly at the end of a summer spent in a village called landing on the coast my friend mrs in whose house i lived came home from a long solitary stroll in the wild pastures with an eager look as if she were just starting on a hopeful quest instead of returning she brought a little basket with enough for supper and held it towards me so that i could see that there were also some late and surprising sprinkled on top but she made no comment upon her i could tell plainly that she had something very important to say you haven t brought home a leaf of anything i ventured to this you were saying yesterday that the witch might be in bloom by the twin i dare say dear she answered in a lofty manner i ain t goin to say it was n t i ain t much concerned either way bout the facts o witch truth is i ve been off there s an old indian over towards the back shore through the great swamp that anybody can t travel over all summer you have to seize your time some day just now while the low ground s summer as it is to day and before the fall rains set in i never thought of it till i was out o sight o home aiid i says to myself to day s the day certain i and stepped along smart as i could yes i ve been i did get into one spot that was wet before i noticed you wait till i get me a pair o dry stockings in case of cold and i u come an tell ye mrs disappeared i could see that something had deeply interested her she might have fallen in with either the sea serpent or the lost tribes of such was her air of mystery and satisfaction she had been away since just before mid morning and as i sat waiting by my window i saw the last red glow of autumn sunshine along the gray rocks of the shore and leave them cold by the queen a twin again and touch the far sails of some so that they stood like golden houses on the sea i was left to wonder longer than i liked mrs was making an evening fire and putting things in train for supper presently she returned still looking warm and cheerful after her long walk there s a beautiful view from a hill over where i ve been she told me yes there s a beautiful prospect of land and sea you would n t discern the hill from any distance but tis the pretty situation of it that counts i sat there a long spell and i did wish for you no i did n t know a word about goin when i set out this morning as if i had openly reproached her i i only felt one o them fits on an i up my little basket i didn t know but i might turn and come back time for dinner i thought it wise to set out your luncheon for you in case i didn t hope you had all you wanted yes i hope you had enough oh yes indeed said i my landlady was always peculiarly in her supplies when she left me to fare for myself as if she made a sort of peace offering or affectionate apology by the queen twin you know that hill with the old house right on top over beyond the swamp you u excuse me for mrs began but you ain t so apt to strike inland as you be to go right along shore you know that hill there s a path right over to it that you have to look sharp to find nowadays it belonged to the up country indians when they had to make a carry to the landing here to get to the out islands i ve heard the old folks say that there used to be a place across a ledge where they d worn a deep track with their feet but i never could find it tis so overgrown in some places that you keep the path in the bushes and it as you can but it runs pretty straight the lay o the land and i keep my eye on the sun and the moss that grows one side o the tree trunks some brook s been choked up and the swamp s bigger than it used to be yes i did get in deep enough one place i i showed the solicitude that i felt mrs was no longer young and in spite of her strong great frame and spirited behavior i knew that certain ills were apt to seize upon her and would end some day by leaving her lame and by the twin don t you go to about me she insisted still s the only way the evil one u ever get the upper hand o me keep me enough an i m twenty year old summer an winter both i don t know why t is but i ve never happened to mention the one i ve been to see i don t know why i never happened to speak the name of martin for i often give her a thought but t is a dreadful out o place where she lives and i haven t seen her myself for three or four years she s a real good interesting woman and we re well acquainted she s age than mine but she s very young feeling she made me a nice cup o tea and i don t know but i should have stopped all night if i could have got word to you not to	40
worry then there was a serious silence before mrs spoke again to make a formal announcement she is the queen s twin and mrs looked steadily to see how i might bear the great surprise the queen s twin i repeated yes she s come to feel a real interest in the queen and anybody can see how by the queen a twin natural tis they were born the very same day and you would be astonished to see what a number o other things have she was speaking o some o the facts to me to day an you d think she d never done nothing but read history i see how earnest she was about it as i never did before i ve often and often heard her allude to the facts but now she s got to be old and the hurry s over with her work she s come to live a good deal in her thoughts as folks often do and i tell you tis a sight o company for her if you want to hear about queen victoria why mis martin tell you everything and the prospect from that hill i spoke of is as beautiful as anything in this world t is worth while your goin over to see her just for that when can you go again i demanded eagerly i should say to morrow answered mrs yes i should say to morrow but i expect be better to take one day to rest in between i considered that question as i was home but i hurried so that there wa n t much time to think it s a dreadful long way to go with a horse you have to go most as far as the old by the queen s twin place an turn off to the left a master long rough road and then you have to turn right round as soon as you get there if you mean to get home before nine o clock at night but to strike across country from here there s plenty o time in the shortest day and you can have a good hour or two s visit beside t ain t but a very few miles and it s pretty all the way along there used to be a few good families over there but they ve died and scattered so now she s far from neighbors there she really cried she was so glad to see anybody you ll be amused to hear her talk about the queen but i thought twice or three times as i set there t was about all the company she d got could we go day after to morrow i asked eagerly t would suit me exactly said mrs il one can never be so certain of good new england weather as in the days when a long storm has blown away the warm late summer mists and cooled the air so that however bright the sunshine is by day by the twin the nights come nearer and nearer to f there was a cold freshness in the morning air when mrs and i locked the house door behind us we took the key of the fields into our own hands that day and put out across country as one puts out to sea when we reached the top of the ridge behind the town it seemed as if we had anxiously passed the harbor bar and were comfortably in open sea at last there now proclaimed mrs taking a long breath now i do feel safe it s just the weather that s liable to bring somebody to spend the day i ve had a feeling of mis elder from north point bein close upon me ever since i up this an i did n t want to be with our present plans she s a great hand to visit she ll be the day somewhere from now till but there s plenty o places at the where she goes an if i ain t there she just select another i thought mother might be in too tis so pleasant but i run up the road to look off this before you was awake and there was no sign o the boat if they hadn t started by that time they would n t start by the twin just as the tide is now besides i see a lot o men green island way and they detain william no we re safe now an if mother should be in tomorrow we have all this to tell her she an mis martin s very old friends we were walking down the long pasture slopes towards the dark woods and of the low ground they stretched away northward like an unbroken wilderness the early mists still much of the color and made the beyond look like a very f ar country it ain t so far as it looks from here said my companion but we ve got no time to spare either and she hurried on leading the way with a fine sort of spirit in her step and presently we struck into the old indian which could be plainly seen across the long turf of the pastures and followed it among the thick low growing there the ground was smooth and brown under foot and the thin trees held a dark and shadowy roof overhead we walked a long way without speaking sometimes we had to push aside the branches and sometimes we walked in a broad aisle where the trees were by the e twin larger it was a solitary wood and there was not even a rabbit to be seen or a crow in air to break the silence i don t believe the queen ever saw such a trail as this said mrs as if she followed the thoughts that were in my mind our visit to mrs	40
martin seemed in some strange way to concern the high affairs of i had just been thinking of english and of the solemn hills of scotland with their lonely cottages and stone walled and the wandering flocks on high cloudy pastures i had often been struck by the quick interest and familiar allusion to certain members of the royal house which one found in distant of new england whether some old instincts of personal loyalty have survived all changes of time and national or whether it is only that the queen s own character and disposition have won friends for her so far away it is impossible to tell but to hear of a twin sister was the most surprising proof of intimacy of all and i must confess that there was something remarkably exciting to the imagination in my morning by the queen s twin walk to think of being presented at court in the usual way was for the moment quite commonplace iii mrs was swinging her basket to and fro like a as she walked and at this moment it slipped from her hand and rolled lightly along the ground as if there were nothing in it i picked it up and gave it to her whereupon she lifted the cover and looked in with anxiety t is only a few little things but i don t want to lose em she explained humbly t was lucky you took the other basket if i was goin to roll it round mis martin complained o lacking some pretty pink silk to finish one o her little frames an i thought i d carry her some and i had a bunch o gold thread that had been in a box o mine this twenty year i never was one to do much fancy work but we re all liable to be swept away by fashion and then there s a small packet o very choice that i gave a good deal of attention to they ll her up and give her the best of come spring she was me that spring weather is very by the twin an to her and she was to dread it mother s just the same way if i could prevail on mother to take some o these in good season make a world o difference but she gets all down hill before i have a chance to hear of it and then william comes in to tell me and how feeble mother is why can t you remember bout them good that i never let her be without i say to him he does provoke me so and then off he goes sulky enough down to his boat next thing i know she comes in to go to to speak to everybody and like a girl mis martin s case is very much the same but she s nobody to watch her william s kind o slow but there any william s better than none when you get to be mis martin s age had n t she any children i asked quite a number replied mrs but some are gone and the rest are married and settled she never was a great hand to go about i don t know but mis martin might be called a little peculiar even her own folks has to make company of her she never slips in and lives right along with the rest as if by the queen twin t was at home even in her own children s houses i heard one o her sons wives say once she d much rather have the queen to spend the day if she could choose between the two but i thought was so difficult as that i used to love to have her come she may have been sort o but very pleasant and if you had sense enough to treat her her own way i always think she d know just how to live with great folks and feel easier long of them an their ways her son s wife s a great driver with farm work boards a great o men in time an feels right in her element i don t say but she s a good woman an smart but sort o rough anybody that s gentle an precise like mis martin would be a sort o restraint there s all sorts o folks in the country same s there is in the city concluded mrs gravely and i as gravely agreed the thick woods were behind us now and the sun was shining clear overhead the morning mists were gone and a faint blue haze softened the distance as we climbed the hill where we were to see the view it seemed like a day there was an old house on the height facing southward a mere by the twin forsaken shell of an old house with empty windows that looked like blind eyes the frost bitten grass grew close about it like brown fur and there was a single crooked bough of holding its green leaves close by the door we just have a good piece of butter now said the commander of the expedition and then we hang up the basket on some inside the house out o the way o the sheep and have a han some entertainment as we re back she be all through her little dinner when we get there mis martin will but she want to make us some tea an we must have our visit an be back pretty soon after two i don t want to cross all that low ground again after it s begun to grow chilly an it looks to me as if the clouds might begin to gather late in the afternoon before us lay a splendid world of sea and shore the autumn colors already brightened the landscape and here and there at the edge	40
of a dark tract of pointed stood a row of bright swamp like scarlet flowers the blue sea and the great tide were by the winds by the twin poor land this is sighed mrs as we sat down to rest on the worn i ve known three good hard families that come here full o hope an pride and tried to make something o this farm but it beat em all there s one small field that s excellent for potatoes if you let half of it rest every year but the land s always hungry now you see them little an fir up over the hill all green an hearty they ve got it all their own way seems sometimes as if wild got jealous over a certain spot and wanted to do just as she d a mind to you see here she do her own an with frost an wet an plant just what she wants and wait for her own crops man can t do with it try as he may i tell you those little trees means business i i looked down the slope and felt as if we ourselves were likely to be surrounded and overcome if we lingered too long there was a vigor of growth a and about the sturdy little trees that put weak human nature at complete defiance one felt a sudden pity for the men and women who had been after a by the queen s twin long fight in that lonely place one felt a fear of the immediate forces of nature as in the irresistible moment of a i can recollect the time when folks were shy o these woods we just come through said mrs seriously the men folks themselves never d venture into em alone if their cattle got strayed they d collect whoever they could get and start off all together they said a person was liable to get bewildered in there alone and in old times folks had been lost i expect there was considerable fear left over from the old indian times and the poor days o anyway i ve seen bold men act kind o timid some women o the family went out one afternoon when i was a girl and got lost and was out all night they found em middle o the next day not half a mile from home scared most to death an they d heard wolves and other beasts sufficient for a poor s they d strayed at last into a kind of low place amongst some an one of em was so she never got over it an went off in a sort o slow decline t was like them victims that by the twin in a foot o water but their minds did suffer dreadful some folks is bom afraid of the woods and all wild places but i must say they ve always been like home to me i glanced at the resolute confident face of my companion life was very strong in her as if some force of nature were in this simple hearted woman and gave her to the ancient she might have walked the fields of her strong skirts might at that very moment bend the slender of and be fragrant with trodden instead of the brown wind brushed grass of new england and frost bitten she was a great soul was mrs and i her humble as we went our way to visit the queen s twin leaving the bright view of the sea behind us and descending to a lower country side through the dry pastures and fields the farms all wore a look of gathering age though the settlement was after all so young the fences were already fragile and it seemed as if the first impulse of had soon spent itself without hope of renewal the better houses were always by the queen s twin those that had some hold upon the riches of the sea a house that could not harbor a fishing boat in some neighboring was far from being sure of every day comforts the land alone was not enough to live upon in that stony region it belonged by right to the forest and to the forest it fast returned from the top of the hill where we had been sitting we had seen prosperity in the dim distance where the land was good and the sun shone upon fat and where houses with three or four chimneys apiece stood high on their solid ridge above the bay as we drew nearer to mrs martin s it was sad to see what poor fields what thin and empty dwelling places had been left by those who had chosen this part of the northern for their home we crossed the last field and came into a narrow rain washed road and mrs looked eager and expectant and said that we were almost at our journey s end i do hope mis martin ask you into her best room where she keeps all the queen s pictures yes i think likely she will ask you but t ain t everybody she worthy to visit em i can tell you by the queen s twin said mrs she s been em an em out o newspapers an magazines time out o mind and if she heard of anybody for an english port she d contrive to get a little money to em and ask to have the last likeness there was she s most covered her best room wall now she keeps that room shut up sacred as a house i won t say but i have my amongst em she told me t other day but they re all beautiful to me as they can be and she s made some kind o pretty little frames for em all you know there s always a new fashion o frames round first t	40
was shell work and then t was pine and bead work s had its day and now she s much concerned with worked with silk i tell you that best room s a sight to see but you must n t look for anything elegant continued mrs after a moment s reflection mis martin s always been in very poor circumstances she had ambition for her children though they took right after their father an had little for themselves she wa n t over an above well married however kind she may see fit to speak she s been patient an hard by the queen s twin all her life and always high above mean complaints of other folks i expect all this business about the queen has her over many a place in life yes you might say that d been a slave but there ain t any slave but has some freedom iv presently i saw a low gray house standing on a grassy bank close to the road the door was at the side facing us and a of bushes and roses grew to the level of the window on the stood a bent shouldered little old woman there was an air of welcome and of unmistakable dignity about her she sees us coming exclaimed mrs in an excited whisper there i told her i might be over this way again if the weather held good and if i came i d bring you she said right off she d take great pleasure in a visit from you i was surprised she s usually so even this did not a faint apprehension on our part there was something distinctly formal in the occasion and one felt that consciousness of by the twin which is never easy for the pride to bear on the way i had torn my dress in an unexpected encounter with a little and i could now imagine how it felt to be going to court and forgetting one s feathers or her court train the queen s twin was of such trifles she stood waiting with a calm look until we came near enough to take her kind hand she was a beautiful old woman with clear eyes and a lovely and of manner there was not a trace of anything about her or as mrs would say beauty in age is rare enough in women who have spent their lives in the hard work of a but and withered as this woman may have looked her features had kept or rather gained a great refinement she led us into her old kitchen and gave us seats and took one of the little straight backed chairs herself and sat a short distance away as if she were giving audience to an it seemed as if we should all be standing you could not help feeling that the habits of her life were more but that for the moment she assumed the of the occasion by tee queen twin mrs was always mrs too great and self possessed a soul for any occasion to i admired her calmness and presently the slow current of neighborhood talk carried one easily along we spoke of the weather and the small adventures of the way and then as if i were after all not a stranger our hostess turned almost affectionately to speak to me the weather will be growing dark in london now i expect that you ve been in london dear she said oh yes i answered only last year it is a great many years since i was there along in the said mrs martin t was the only voyage i ever made most of my neighbors have been great my brother was master of a vessel and his wife usually sailed with him but that year she had a young child more frail than the others and she dreaded the care of it at sea it happened that my brother got a chance for my husband to go as being a good and came one day to urge him to take it he was very ill disposed to the sea but he had met with losses and i saw my own opportunity and by the queen twin persuaded them both to let me go too in those days they did n t object to a woman s being aboard to wash and mend the voyages were sometimes very long and that was the way i come to see the queen mrs martin was looking straight in my eyes to see if i showed any genuine interest in the most interesting person in the world oh i am very glad you saw the queen i hastened to say mrs has told me that you and she were bom the very same day we were indeed dear i said mrs martin and she leaned back comfortably and smiled as she had not smiled before mrs gave a satisfied nod and glance as if to say that things were going on as well as possible in this anxious moment yes said mrs martin again drawing her chair a little nearer twas a very remarkable thing we were bom the same day and at exactly the same hour after you allowed for all the difference in time my father figured it out sea fashion her majesty and i opened our eyes upon this world together say what you may t is a bond between us mrs assented with an air of by the queen s twin and her hat strings and threw them back over her shoulders with a gallant air and i married a man by the name of just the same as she did and all by chance for i did n t get the news that she had an too till a fortnight afterward news was slower coming then than it is now my first baby was a girl and i called her victoria	40
after my mate but the next one was a boy and my husband wanted the right to name him and took his own name and his brother edward s and pretty soon i saw in the paper that the little prince o wales had been just the same after that i made excuse to wait tiu i knew what she d named her children i did n t want to break the chain so i had an alfred and my darling that i lost long before she lost hers and there i stopped if i d only had a dear daughter to stay at home with me same s her youngest one i should have been so thankful but if only one of us could have a little i m glad t was the queen we ve both seen trouble but she s had the most care i asked mrs martin if she lived alone all the year and was told that she did except by the queen a twin for a visit now and then from one of her the only one that really likes to come an stay quiet long o she always says quick as she s through her she s goin to live with me all the time but she s very pretty an has taking ways said mrs martin looking both proud and wistful so i can tell nothing at all about it i yes i ve been alone most o the time since my was taken away and that s a great many years he had a long time o failing and sickness first mrs s foot gave an impatient on the floor an i ve always lived right here i ain t like the queen s majesty for this is the only palace i ve got said the dear old thing smiling again i m glad of it too i don t like changing about an our stations in life are set very different i don t require what the queen does but sometimes i ve thought t was left to me to do the plain things she don t have time for i expect she s a beautiful housekeeper nobody could n t have done better in her high place and she s been as good a mother as she s been a queen i guess she has agreed mrs instantly how was it you hap by the queen twin to get such a good look at her i meant to ask you again when i was here t other day our ship was in the thames right there above we was cargo and under orders to clear as quick as we could for to take on an excellent freight o french goods explained mrs martin eagerly i heard that the queen was goin to a great review of her army and would drive out o her ham palace about ten o clock in the and i run aft to my husband and brother where they was together by the and told em they must one of em take me they laughed i was in such a hurry and said they could n t go and i found they meant it and got sort of impatient when i began to talk and i was most broken hearted twas all the reason i had for that hard voyage couldn t help often me for he did so resent the sea an i d known how t would be before we sailed but i d minded nothing all the way till then and i just back to my cabin an begun to cry they was disappointed about their ship s cook an i d cooked for fo c s le an by tee queen s twin cabin myself all the way over t was dreadful hard work specially in rough weather we d had head winds an a six weeks voyage they d acted sort of ashamed o me when i so to go ashore an that hurt my s most of all but come below pretty soon i d never given way so in my life an he begun to act frightened and treated me gentle just as he did when we was goin to be married an when i got over he went on deck and saw an talked it over what they could do they really had their duty to the vessel and could n t be spared that day was real good when he understood everything and he come an told me i d more than worked my passage an was goin to do just as i liked now we was in port he d engaged a cook too that was aboard that and he was goin to send the ship s carpenter with me a nice fellow from up way he d gone to put on his ashore clothes as quick s he could so then i got ready and we started off in the small boat and rowed up river i was afraid we were too late but the tide was setting up very strong and we landed an left the boat to a keeper and i run all the by the queen s twin way up those great streets and across a park twas a great day with sights o folks everywhere but t was just as if they was but wax images to me i my way an on with the carpenter after as best he could and just as i worked to the front o the crowd by the palace the gates was flung open and out she came all horses and gold and in a beautiful carriage there she sat t was a moment o heaven to me i saw her plain and she looked right at me so pleasant and happy just as if she knew there was different between us from other folks there was a moment when the queen s	40
get sort of telling myself a story all the time she was an i was goin to see her again an i it up until nightfall an when i see the by the twin dark an it come to me i was all alone the dream left me an i sat down on the an felt all foolish an tired an if you u believe it i heard steps an an old cousin o mine come along one i was apt to be shy of she was n t all there as folks used to say but harmless enough and a kind of poor old talking body and i went right to meet her when i first heard her call stead o as i sometimes did an she come in dreadful an we sat down to supper together t was a supper i should have had no heart to eat alone i don t believe she ever had such a splendid time in her life as she did then i heard her tell all about it afterwards exclaimed mrs there now i hear all this it seems just as if the queen might have known and could n t come herself so she sent that poor old that was always in need i mrs martin looked timidly at mrs and then at me t was childish o me to go an get supper she confessed i guess you wa n t the first one to do that said mrs no i guess you wa n t the first one who s got supper that by the queen twin way and then for a moment she could say no more mrs and mrs martin had moved their chairs a little so that they faced each other and i at one side could see them both no you never told me o that before said mrs gently don t it show that for folks that have any fancy in em such beautiful dreams is the real part o life but to most folks the common things that happens outside em is all in all mrs martin did not appear to understand at first strange to say when the secret of her heart was put into words then a glow of pleasure and comprehension shone upon her face why i believe you re right she said and turned to me would n t you like to look at my pictures of the queen she asked and we rose and went into the best room v the mid day visit seemed very short september hours are brief to match the days the great subject was dismissed for a while after our visit to the by the twin queen s pictures and my companions spoke much of lesser persons until we drank the cup of tea which mrs had foreseen i happily remembered that the queen is said to like a proper cup of tea and this at once seemed to make her majesty kindly join so remote and a company mrs martin s thin cheeks took on a pretty color like a girl s somehow i always have thought of her when i made it extra good she said i ve got a real china cup that belonged to my grandmother and i believe i shall call it hers now why don t you responded mrs warmly with a delightful smile later they spoke of a promised visit which was to be made in the indian summer to the landing and green island but i observed that mrs presented the little parcel of dried with full directions for a cure all in the spring as if there were no real chance of their meeting again first as we looked back from the turn of the road the queen s twin was stiu standing on the watching us away and mrs stopped and stood still for a moment before she waved her hand again there s one thing certain dear she by the queen s twin said to me with great it ain t as if we left her all alone then we set out upon our long way home over the hill where we lingered in the afternoon sunshine and through the dark woods across the swamp by a one morning at landing as if it were still night i suddenly startled by a spirited conversation beneath my window it was not one of mrs s morning she was not addressing her plants and flowers in words of either praise or blame her voice was though perfectly good while the second voice a man s was of lower pitch and somewhat the sun was just above the sea and struck straight across my room through a crack in the blind it was a strange hour for the arrival of a guest and still too soon for the general run of business even in that tiny eastern haven where daybreak and early tides must often rule the day the man s voice suddenly declared itself to my sleepy ears it was mr william s why sister he protested gently i don t need none o your by a pick me a small han ful she commanded no no a small han f ul i said o them large i i go to all the trouble an of em just so as to have you ready to meet such occasions an last year you may remember you never stopped here at all the day you went up country an the frost come at last an it i never saw any that so objected to ground might as well try to flourish in a common front yard there you can come in now an set and eat what breakfast you ve got patience for i ve found everything i want an i em up an be all ready to put em on i heard such a pleading note of appeal as the went round the comer	40
days when nothing could be done without company the truth was that my heart had gone with william but it would have been too selfish to say a word even to one s self about his day if there is one way above another of getting so close to nature that one simply is a piece of nature following a instinct with perfect forgetfulness and forgetting everything except the dreamy consciousness of pleasant freedom it is to take the course of a shady brook the dark pools and the sunny one on the of sky by a between the trees on either bank the speaking noise of the water the amazing importance of what one is doing and the constant sense of life and beauty make a strange of the quick hours i had a sudden memory of all this and another and another i could not get myself free from fishing and wishing at that moment i heard the unusual sound of wheels and i looked past the thicket of wild roses and straggling to see the white nose and meagre shape of the horse then i saw william sitting in the open wagon with a small expectant smile upon his face i ve got two lines he said i was quite a piece up the road i thought perhaps t was so you d feel like going there was enough excitement for most occasions in hearing william speak three sentences at once words seemed but vain to me at that bright moment i stepped back from the window with a beating heart the beer bottle was not yet in the well and with that and my luncheon and pleasure at the i went out into the happy world the land breeze was blowing and as we turned away i saw a by a flatter of white go past the window as i left the and my morning s work to their neglected fate n one seldom gave way to a cruel impulse to look at an ancient william but one felt as if he were a growing boy i only hope that he felt much the same about me he did not wear the fishing clothes that belonged to his sea going life but a strangely shaped old suit of tea colored linen garments that might have been brought home years ago from or william had a peculiar way of giving silent assent when one spoke but of answering your thoughts as if they reached him better than words i find them very easy he said frankly referring to the clothes father had them in his old sea chest the antique fashion a quaint touch of foreign grace and even imagination about the cut were very pleasing if ever mr had faintly resembled an old beau it was upon that day he now appeared to feel as if everything had been explained between us as if everything were by a quite understood and we drove for some distance without finding it necessary to speak again about anything at last when it must have been a little past nine o clock he stop ed the horse beside a small and nodded when i asked if i should get down from the wagon you can steer about right across the pasture he said looking from under the of his hat with an expectant smile i always leave the team here i helped to the harness and william led the horse away to the bam it was a poor looking little place and a forlorn woman looked at us through the window before she appeared at the door i told her that mr and i came up from the landing to go fishing he keeps a don t he she answered with a funny little laugh to which i was at a loss to find answer when he joined us i could not see that he took notice of her presence in any way except to take an ul of dried salt fish from a in the back of the wagon which had been carefully covered with a piece of old sail we had left a wake of their flavor behind us all the way i wondered what was going to become of the by a rest of them and some fresh which were also disclosed to view but he laid the present gift on the without a word and a few minutes later when i looked back as we crossed the pasture the fish were being carried into the house i could not see any signs of a brook until i came close upon it in the pasture and presently we struck into the low woods of straggling and fir mixed into a of swamp and which stretched away on either hand up and down stream we found an open place in the pasture where some taller trees seemed to have been overlooked rather than spared the sun was bright and hot by this time and i sat down in the shade while william produced his lines and cut and trimmed us each a slender rod i wondered where mrs was spending the morning and if later she would think that had landed and captured me from the iii the brook was giving that live persistent call to a listener that always make it ran with a free swift current even by a here where it crossed an apparently level piece of land i saw two quick chase each other from bank to bank as we solemnly arranged our hooks and i felt that william s glances changed from anxiety to relief when he found that i was used to such gear perhaps he felt that we must stay together if i could not bait my own hook but we parted happily full of a pleasing sense of companionship william had pointed me up the brook but i chose to go down which was only fair because it was his	40
day though one likes as well to follow and see where a brook goes as to find one s way to the places it comes from and its tiny springs and and in this case were not to be considered william s only real anxiety was lest i might suffer from his own complexion was still strangely by its but i kept forgetting it and looking to see if we were treading fresh so efficient was mrs s remedy i was conscious after we parted and i turned to see if he were already fishing and saw him wave his hand gallantly as he went away that our friendship had made a great gain by a the moment that i began to fish the brook i had a sense of its when my bait first touched the water and went lightly down the quick stream i knew that there was nothing to lie in wait for it it is the same certainty that comes when one at the door of an empty house a lack of answering consciousness and of possible response it is quite different if there is any life within but it was a lovely brook and i went a long way through woods and open pastures and found a forsaken house and overgrown farm and laid up many pleasures for future joy and remembrance at the end of the morning i came back to our meeting place hungry and without any fish william was already waiting and we did not mention the matter of we ate our with good and william brought our two stone bottles of beer from the deep place in the brook where he had left them to cool then we sat awhile longer in peace and on the green banks as for william he looked more boyish than ever and kept a more remote and sort of silence once i wondered how he had come to be so curiously wrinkled by a forgetting absent to recognize the effects of time he did not expect any one else to keep up a vain show of conversation and so i was silent as well as he i glanced at him now and then but i watched the leaves tossing against the sky and the red cattle moving in the pasture i don t know s we need head for home it s early yet he said at last and i was as startled as if one of the gray had spoken i guess i go up along and ask after thankful s folks he continued mother d like to get word and i nodded a pleased assent iv william led the way across the pasture and i followed with a deep sense of pleased anticipation i do not believe that my companion had expected me to make any objection but i knew that he was gratified by the easy way that his plans for the day were being he gave a look at the sky to see if there were any but the sky was frankly blue even the doubtful morning haze had disappeared we went northward along a rough by a road across a bare looking country full of tiresome long slopes where the sun was hot and bright and i could not help observing the forlorn look of the farms there was a great deal of pasture but it looked deserted and i wondered afresh why the people did not raise more sheep when that seemed the only possible use to make of their land i said so to mr who gave me a look of pleased surprise that s what she always he said eagerly she s right about it too well you see i was glad to myself approved but i had not the least idea whom he meant and waited until he felt like speaking again a few minutes later we drove down a steep hill and entered a large tract of dark woods it was delightful to be sheltered from the afternoon sun and when we had gone some distance in the shade to my great pleasure william turned the horse s head toward some bars which he let down and i drove through into one of those narrow still sweet scented by ways which seem to be paths rather than roads often we had to put aside the heavy drooping branches which barred the way and once when a by a sharp struck william in the face he announced with such spirit that somebody ought to go through there with an axe that i felt unexpectedly guilty so far as i now remember this was william s only remark au the way through the woods to thankful s folks but from time to time he pointed or nodded at something which i might have missed a sleepy little owl into the bend of a branch or a tall stalk of cardinal flowers where the sunlight came down at the edge of a small bright piece of marsh many times being used to the company of mrs and other friends who were in the habit of talking i came near making an idle remark to william but i was for the most part happily preserved to be with him only for a short time was to live on a different level where thoughts served best because they were thoughts in common the effect upon our minds of the simple things and beauties that we saw once when i caught sight of a lovely gay pigeon us curiously from a dead branch and instinctively turned toward william he gave an indulgent nod which silenced me all the rest of the way the wood road was not a by a place for noisy conversation one would interrupt the birds and all the still little beasts that belonged there but it was to find how strong the habit of idle speech may become in one s self one need not always be	40
saying something in this noisy world i grew conscious of the difference between william s usual fashion of life and mine for him there were long days of silence in a sea going boat and i could believe that he and his mother usually spoke very little because they so perfectly understood each other there was something peculiarly about their quiet island in the sea fixed into the still foundations of the world against whose rocky shores the sea beats and calls and is we were quite half an hour going through the woods the horse s feet made no sound on the brown soft track under the dark i thought that we should come out at last into more pastures but there was no half wooded strip of land at the end the high woods grew against an old stone wall and a open field and we came out suddenly into broad daylight that startled us and even startled the horse who by a might have been as he walked like an old soldier the field up to a low house that faced the east behind it were long frost that made the hill with of green turf and bushes between it was the wildest most sort of pasture country up there there was a sort of daring in putting a frail wooden house before it though it might have the homely field and honest woods to front against you thought of the elements and even of possible as you looked up the stony heights suddenly i saw that a region of what i had thought gray stones was slowly moving as if the sun was making my unsteady there s the sheep exclaimed william pointing eagerly you see the sheep and sure enough it was a great company of backs which seemed to have taken a mysterious resemblance to the themselves i could discover but little chance for on that high ridge but the sheep were moving steadily in a satisfied way as they fed along the slopes and hollows i never have seen half so many sheep as these all summer long i cried with admiration by a there ain t so many answered william it s a great sight they do so well because they re but you can t beat sense into some folks you mean that somebody stays and watches them i asked she observed years ago in her that they don t turn out their flocks without protection anywhere but in the state o returned william first thing that put it into her mind was a little old book mother s got she read it one time when she come out to the island they call it the shepherd o plain t was n t the purpose o the book to most but when she read it there mis she said that s where we ve all lacked sense our ought to have taught us that what sheep need is a shepherd you see most folks about here gave up years ago count o the dogs so she gave up school and went out to tend her flock and has ever since an done well for william this approached an he spoke with enthusiasm and i shared the triumph of the moment there she is now he exclaimed in a tone as by a the tall figure of a woman came following the flock and stood still on the ridge looking toward us as if her eyes had been quick to see a strange object in the familiar of the field william stood up in the wagon and i thought he was going to call or wave his hand to her but he sat down again more than if the wagon had made the familiar motion of a boat and we drove on toward the house it was a most solitary place to live a place where one might think that a life could hide itself the thick woods were between the farm and the main road and as one looked up and down the country there was no other house in sight potatoes look well announced william the old folks used to say that there wa n t no better land than the field i found myself possessed of a surprising interest in the who stood far away in the bill pasture with her great flock like a figure of si high against the sky by a everything about the old was clean and orderly as if the green were not only swept but i saw a flock of stepping off carefully at a distance but there was not the usual flock of about the place to make everything look in william helped me out of the wagon as carefully as if i had been his mother and nodded toward the open door with a look at me but i waited until he had tied the horse and could lead the way himself he took off his hat just as we were going in and stopped for a moment to smooth his thin gray hair with his hand by which i saw that we had an affair of some ceremony we entered an old fashioned country kitchen the floor into and the doors well polished by the touch of hands in a large chair facing the window there sat a looking old woman with the features of a warlike emperor by a bonnet like black cap with a band of green ribbon her was a fan by a william crossed the room toward her and bent his head close to her ear pretty well to day mis he asked with all the voice his narrow chest could muster no i ain t william here i have to set she answered coldly but she gave an inquiring glance over his shoulder at me this is the young lady who is stopping with this summer he explained and i approached as if to	40
give the she offered her left hand with considerable dignity but her expression never seemed to change for the better a moment later she said that she was pleased to meet me and i felt as if the worst were over william must have felt some apprehension while i was only ignorant as we had come across the field our hostess was more than she was forbidding but i was not long in suspecting that she felt the natural resentment of a strong energy that has been defeated by illness and made the spoil of mother well as usual since you was up last year and william replied by a series of cheerful the mention of dear mrs was a help to any conversation by a been ashore be explained in a somewhat voice thought you d like a few for winter which explained at once the generous freight we had brought in the back of the wagon i could see that the offering was no surprise and that mrs was interested well i expect they re good as the last she said but did not even approach a smile she kept a straight eye upon me give the lady a cheer she william who hastened to place close by her side one of the straight backed chairs that stood against the kitchen wall then he lingered for a moment like a timid boy i could see that he wore a look of resolve but he did not ask the permission for which he evidently waited you can go search for she said at the end of a long pause that became anxious for both her guests d like to see her and william in his pale disappeared with one light step and was off by a vi don t speak too loud it a person s head directed mrs plainly clear an distinct is what reaches me best any news to the i was happily furnished with the particulars of a sudden death and an engagement of marriage between a a home from his voyage and one of the younger and now mrs really smiled and settled herself in her chair we exhausted one subject completely before we turned to the other one of the returning took an liberty and mounting the came in and walked about the kitchen without being observed by its strict owner and the tin slipped off its nail behind us and made an astonishing noise and jar enough to reach mrs s inner ear and make her turn her head to look at it but we talked straight on we came at last to understand each other upon such terms of friendship that she her majestic port and complained to me as any poor old woman might of the hardships of her illness by a she had already fixed various dates upon the sad certainty of the year when she had the shock which had left her perfectly helpless except for a clumsy left hand which and and settled and the folds of her dress but could do no comfortable time work yes m you can feel sure i use it what i can she said severely twas a long spell before i could let go forth in the till she d got me up an dressed me but now she leaves things ready and i get em as i want em with my light pair o and i feel very able about myself to what i once did then when returns all she has to do is to push me out here into the kitchen some parts o the year stays out all night them moonlight nights when the dogs are apt to be after the sheep but she don t use herself as hard as she once had to she s well able to hire somebody is but there you can t find no hired man that wants to up before five o clock nowadays t ain t as t was in my time they re liable to fall asleep too and them moonlight nights she s so anxious she can t sleep and out she goes there s a kind of a fold she by a calls it up there in a sheltered spot and she sleeps up in a little shed she s got built it herself for time and when the poor foolish s gets hurt or anything i ve never seen it but she says it s in a lovely spot and always pleasant in any weather you see off other side of the ridge to the south ard where there s houses i used to think some time i d get up to see it again and all them spots she lives in but i sha n t now i m to go back an t ain t i ve kind of got used to disappointments and the poor soul drew a deep sigh vn it was long before we noticed the lapse of time i not only told every circumstance known to me of recent events among the of mrs s neighborhood at the shore but mrs became more and more on her part and went carefully into the descent and personal experience of many acquaintances until between us we had nearly the globe and reached landing from an opposite direction to by a net that in which we had started it was long before my own interest began to flag there was a flavor of the best sort in her definite and descriptive fashion of speech it may be only a fancy of my own that in the sound and value of many words with their lengthened and doubled there is some faint on the coast of the sound of english speech of s time at last mrs thankful gave a suspicious look through the window where do you suppose they be she asked me must ha been off to the far edge o	40
ll be wanting by where f some clothes i suppose she s very looking they does always be wanting new clothes coming out and gave an sigh and suggestive glance at his brother in law deed i m willing to help her get a good start ain t she me own sister s agreed cheerfully we ve been young ourselves too well then tis bad news of old mary bein gone at the farm i always thought if i d go home how i d go along the fields to get the great welcome from her she was one that always liked to hear folks had done well and he looked down at his comfortable clean old clothes as if they but reminded him how poor a young fellow he had come away i m very sorry af ther mary she was a good god save her it was time for her insisted not without sympathy were you wanting her to live forever the poor soul an the said she d the best funeral was ever in the parish of since she it what could one ask more than that and she r aching such an age the cr stop here awhile an you hear all the from she by where s t told over to me all the folks that was there where has she gone wit herself i don t know mary ann he turned his head toward the house and called in a loud complaining tone where s here s then a sweet girlish voice made unexpected reply and a light young figure flitted from the behind him and stood lower down on the green bank what s wanting wit and she stooped quickly like a child to pick some of the as if she had found gold she had a of wild cherry blossom in her dress which she must have found a good way out in the come now and speak to your mother s own brother that s waiting here for you all this time you ve been running over the place commanded mr with some severity an is it me own uncle dear exclaimed with the sweetest most affectionate sincerity oh that me mother could see him too and she dropped on her knees beside the lame little man and kissed him and knelt there looking at him with delight holding his willing hand in both her own by where s t an ain t you got me mother s own looks too oh uncle is it yourself dear i often heard about you and i brought you me mother s heart s love deed i did then it s many a lovely present of a pound you ve sent us an i ve got a thorn stick that grew in the hedge goin up the little rise of ground above the brook sir mother said you d mind the place well when i told you i do then me said with dignity t is the day we au played there together for all we re so scattered now and some dead too god rest them sure you re a nice little an i give you great welcome and the hope you u do well come along wit me now your s jealous to put her two eyes on you an we never getting the news you d come till late this morning i go fetch for you says i to her they be out at s by this time says i oh i m full o yet protested on then uncle and she gave him her strong young hand as he rose an how do you be by where s t asked the pleased old man as they walked i like fine answered the girl gravely she was taller than he though she looked so slender and so young i was very too i home and me mother but i u go back to it some day god willing sir i could n t die wit out seeing me mother again i m all over the place here since daybreak i think i d like work best on the railway and she turned toward him with a resolved and serious look there s no work at all for a girl like you on the said patiently you ve a bit to learn yet sure t is the mill you mane there be work to do i always thought at home when i heard the folks that i d get work on the railway when i d come to indeed sir continued earnestly i was looking at the mills just now and i heard the great n from them i d never be shutting up in mill out of the good air i ve no call to go to jail yet in mill walls perhaps there d be somebody working next me that i d never get to like sir by where a t was something so convinced and decided about these arguments that uncle usually the calm of his young relatives had nothing whatever to say was gently keeping step with his slow gait she had won his heart once for all when she called him by the old boyish name her mother used forty years before when they played together by the wishing brook i wonder do you know a b y named o inquired presently in a somewhat confidential tone a b y that s working on the railway i seen him last night and i coming here he ain t a guard at all but a young fellow that minds the we stopped a long while out there got off the rails and he wit me seeing i was a stranger he said he knew you sir oh yes o i know him well he s a nice b y too answered sir a b y said and her color brightened for an instant but she said no more	40
by t n and his wife came into the kitchen one week day night dressed in their sunday clothes they had been making a visit to their well married daughter in s chair was comfortably tipped back against the wall and who looked somewhat gloomy was putting away the white supper dishes where s demanded after the first you may well say it i m missing her every hour in the day lamented s gone into business on the then so she has said with an air of fond pride he was smoking and in his shirt sleeves his coat lay on the wooden at the other side of the room hand me me old coat there before you sit down i want me pocket he commanded and obeyed mary ann fresh from her journey began at once to give a spirited account of her daughter s best room and general for housekeeping but she suddenly became aware that the tale was of secondary interest by where a t when the stopped for breath there was a polite murmur of admiration but her husband boldly repeated his question where s he insisted and the looked at each other and laughed ourselves is old that s ducks confessed ain t i telling you she s gone into trade on the and he took his pipe from his mouth that after supper pipe which neither prosperity nor was apt to interrupt she s set up for herself the long down there at plains u soon be rich the cr her mind was on it from the first start t was from one o them o b she got the notion the night she come here first a well well she s lost no time ain t she got the i chuckled mr michael who delighted in the activity of others what excuse had she for plains there s no town to it t was a chance on the she to have from the first explained the proud forgetting his pipe altogether twas that she told me the first day she came out an she walking along going home by where wit me to her dinner t was the first speech i had wit tis the mills you mane says i no no uncle says she it ain t the mills at all at au t is on the i m going i t ought she d some wild notion she d soon be laughing at but she settled down very quiet like with here knowing yourselves to be going to and i told her stay as long as she had a mind she d an old apron on her in five minutes time an took hold wit the wash and singing like a out in the yard at the line sit down says she you re not so light stepping as me an i u tell you all the news from home an i ll get the dinner too when i ve done this says she but she s the good cook for such a young thing t is says it as well as she made a that day twas like the ones her mother made sundays she said if they d be lucky in getting a piece of meat twas a fine too she thinks we re all rich over here so we are me dear says i but every one don t have the to believe it for yourselves exclaimed one of th listeners you do be like father by where t always pr that we d best want less than want more he takes honest folks for fools poor man said mary ann who had no patience at any time with new ideas an so she on the next two or free days said without noticing the interruption being as quiet as you d ask and being said by her aunt in everything and she would n t let on she was but she d no of anything but the folks at when there d be nothing to do for an hour she d slip out and be gone wit herself for a little while and be very still in last thursday after supper she ran out but by the time i d done me pipe back she came flying in at the door i m going off to a place called plains to morrow morning on the nine uncle says she do you know where it is says she i do says i t was not far from it i broke me leg wit the dam t was to s house they took me first there s no town there at all tis the only house in it s the would they take me to lodge for a by where t while i d know says she great business what d ye be af ther in a place like that says i s got girls himself an they re all here in the mills goin home saturday nights less there s some show or some dance there s no money out there she laughed then an back to the door and in come from s store the size of himself of bundles what s all this says i t ain t here they belong i bought nothing to day don t be scolding says she and got out of it laughing i m going to be cooking for in the morning says she with her head on one side like a cock you me the price o the fire and i ll pay you in cakes says she and o e she then to bed t was before day i heard her at the stove and i smelt a that made me want to go find it and when i come out in the kitchen she d the table covered with her large and small what s all this me says i ate that says she and	40
back to the her aunt come out then scolding fine and she saw the great she dropped down in a chair like she d faint by where a and her breath all gone we ont ate them in ten days says she no not till the blue mould has struck them all god help us i says she don t bother me says i m goin off with them all on the nine uncle u help me wit me basket uncle ont now says i thought she was up with one o them free days she d have when she was young and the all the one size you could hear the of her a mile away dear says i don t want to be on of me folks and o said all the b was wishing there was somebody would a little place out there at plains with something to ate and the like of a cup of he says tis a good little chance them big trains does all be waiting there tin minutes and fifteen minutes at a time and everybody s hungry i u me luck for a couple o days says i tis no harm an i ve tin shillings o me own that father gave me wit a grand blessing and i i home behind by where a f what you have of o says i look at this now i continued the proud uncle while aunt sat triumphantly watching the astonished audience t is a letter i got from the last friday night and he brought up a small piece of paper from his coat pocket she writes a good hand too dear uncle says she leaves me well thanks be to god i m doing the roaring trade with me cakes au s little boys is selling on the trains i took one pound three the first day t was a great excursion train got stuck fast and they d a hot box on a wheel keeping them an hour and two more trains stopping for them be a very pleasant day in the old country that anybody d take a pound and three shillings dear uncle i want a whole half barrel of that same flour and ten pounds of sugar and i u pay it back on sunday i respects and duty to and all friends this i me in great haste i wrote me dear mother last night and her me first pound god bless her look at that for you now i exclaimed by where t did n t i tell every one here she was fine an smart she u be soon of the announced aunt mary ann who having been energetic herself was pleased to recognize the same quality in others she don t be so afraid of the as the s afraid of her said aunt she have her fling for a while and be glad to go in and get a good chance in the mill and be her plants in the room windows this winter with the rest of the girls come tell us all about and the baby i ain t heard a word about yet she added politely s doing fine an it s a baby she s got a good husband too that i her her own way and the keep of his money every saturday night said mary ann and the little company proceeded to the discussion of a new and hardly less interesting subject but before they parted they spoke again of she s a fine little that little said mr michael thank god none o me is on me they re no more to be let by where t an held than a o fire said aunt mary ann who d ever take the notion to be setting up business out there on the plains s folks look after her sure the same as ourselves insisted uncle as he lighted his pipe again it was like a summer night the kitchen windows were all open the month of may was nearly at an end and there was a sober of in the low fields that lay beyond the village m where s young ny o was asking the question the express had stopped for water and he seemed to be the only passenger this was his day off mrs was sitting on her to rest in the early evening her husband had been promoted from tender to of the great water which was just beginning to be used and there was talk of further improvements and at plains but the good natured wife sensibly declared that the better off a woman was the harder she always had to work by where f she took a long look at who was dressed even more carefully than if it were a sunday this don t be your train she answered in a meditative tone how come you here now all so fine i d like to know riding in the cars like a lord ain t you yet on old f our deed i am mrs you would n t be a boy his day o e where s she s gone up the road a said mrs as if she suddenly turned to practical she s worked hard the day poor and she took the cool of the evening and the last she had left and away with herself i the on the stove for her but she d have none at all at all i the young man turned away and mrs looked after him with an indulgent smile he s a b y she said i d like well if he d give a look at one o me own now would look well walking with him she s so dark he s got money saved i saw the first day he come after the t was the one that baked them was in his	40
and her sister both being here there was deep anxiety in s voice oh i don t know indeed said she s very wake hearted is me mother she d die coming away from the old place and going to sea no i m going to work and go home i ll have presents too for everybody along the road and the children u be running and me and they ll all get from me by where a t is a very poor neighborhood where we live but a lovely sight of the say it ain t often comes home to it but t will be a great day then and the poor old folks all be calling me where s show me sure what have you got for me i ont forget one of them god helping me i said in a passion of tenderness and pity and oh then that i u see me mother in the door i was so close at her side that she slipped her hand into his and neither of them stopped to think about so sweet and natural a pleasure i d like well to help you me said sure an was n t it yourself gave me all me good fortune exclaimed i d be hard hearted an i forgot that so soon and you a boy and me mother often of your mother s folks before ever i thought of coming out i sure and would n t you the good word to your mother about me sometime dear pleaded openly taking the part of lover s hand was still in his they were walking slowly in the summer night i loved you the first word i heard by where t out of your mouth twas like a from home singing to me there in the train i said when i got home that night i d think of no other girl till the day i died oh said frightened with the change of his voice oh t is too soon we never walked out this way before you have to wait for me perhaps you d soon be tired of poor and the likes of one that s all for saving and going home i you marry a girl than me some day she faltered and let go his hand indeed i won t then insisted o stoutly will you let me go home to see me mother said i m being very t is the truth for me i d lose all me courage if it wa n t for the hope of that i will indeed said honestly put out her hand again of her own accord i not say no then she whispered in the dark i can t work long unless i do be happy and well leave me free till the month s end and maybe then i u say yes stop stop she let go s hand and hurried along by herself in by where s the road in a transport of happiness walking very fast to keep up she reached a where he could see her slender shape against the dim western sky wait till i tell you whisper t said eagerly you know there were some of the of the road the and all those big ones came to plains yesterday i did be hearing something said wondering there was a quiet spoken nice old gentleman came asking me at the door for something to eat and i being there t is my time in the morning the early trains does be gone and i ve a fine stretch till the expresses are to the tin and the tin thirty two and the flying i was in a great hurry with word of an excursion coming in the afternoon and me stock very low i d been since four o clock he d no coat on him t was very warm and i thought twas some tramp lucky for me i looked again and i said what are you wanting sir and then i saw he d a beautiful shirt on him and was very quiet and pleasant i came away wit out me breakfast by where says he can you give me something without too much says he do you have of those there that i hear the men talking about there s there sir says i and i u make you a cup of or a cup of coffee as quick as i can says i being pleased at the b giving me a good name to the likes of him he was very hungry too poor man an i ran to mrs to see if she d a piece of and my luck ran before me he sat down in me little place and enjoyed himself well i had no such breakfast in tin years me dear said he at the last very quiet and id and he i back in the chair to rest him and i cleared away being in the great hurry and he asking me how i come there and i him and how long i d been out and i said it was two months and a piece and she being always in me heart i spoke of me mother and all me great hopes then he sat and thought as if his mind to his own business and i on wit me says he to me after a while we re going to build a branch road across country to connect with the great by where s tain roads says he the s going to be right here t will give you a big market for your there be a in the new station do you think you could run it says he very sober i d do my best sir says i i d look out for the best of help do you know sir that was hurt	40
on the and gets a sir i do says he one of the best men that ever worked for this company says he he s me mother s own brother then an he stand by me says i and he asked me me name and wrote it down in a book he got out of the pocket of him you shall have the place if you want it says he i won t forget and off he as quiet as he came tell me who was it said o listening eagerly mr come tumbling in the next minute with water from the well then says he is your fine company gone he is says i i don t know is it some he s a nice man mr he is says i by where s t is the manager of the says he that s who he is sure my apron was all flour and i was in a great rage wit so much to do but i did the best i could for him i d do the same for one so hungry concluded modestly ain t you got the queen s luck exclaimed your fortune s made me dear i u have to come off the road to help you oh two good trades be better than one i answered and the big station nor the branch road are n t building yet what a fine little head you ve got said as they reached the house where the lived and the train was whistling that he meant to take back to town nobody d know from the size of your head there could be so much inside in it i m lucky too serenely no i won t give you me word till the ind of the month you may be seeing another before that and calling me the red headed no i wait a good while and see if the two of us can t do by where a better come run away i ll drop asleep in the road i m up since four o clock making me cakes for b like you the were all and asleep but there was a lamp burning in the kitchen blew it out as she stole into her hot little room she had waited talking eagerly with until they saw t e of the express like a star far down the long line of double track iv the summer was not ended before all the railroad men knew about o s wedding and all his good fortune they at the at first but late in the evenings and his wife were at work building as if they were birds first there was a shed with a broad for the cakes and a table or two and the boys did not fail to notice that had a good work basket ready and was quick to see that a useful button was off or a needed the next fortnight saw a room added to this where had her own stove and cooking went on steadily then there by where was another room witli white muslin curtains at the windows and scarlet beans made haste to themselves to a line of strings for shade would a few feet of clean pine boards from the freight train and within a day or two they seemed to be turned into a wing of the small castle by some easy magic the boys used to lay and keep watch and there was a cheer out of the engine cab and all along the one day when a tidy first appeared and a neat pig his nose through the fence of it the and grew famous customers sent for them from the towns up and down the long railroad line and the story of kind hearted little and her steady young husband was known to a surprising number of persons when the branch road was begun and took a few of their particular friends to board and business was further increased on sunday they always went into town to mass and visited their and and s sister never said that she was tired and almost never was cross she counted her money every saturday night and took it to uncle to put into the bank she had long talks about her mother by where s with uncle and he always wrote home for her when she had no time many a pound went across the sea in the letters and so another summer came and one morning when s train stopped stood at the door of the little house and held a baby in her arms for all the boys to see she was white as a ghost and as happy as a queen i ll be making the again pretty soon she cried cheerfully have courage boys t won t be long first this one be selling them for me on the flying don t you forget it and there was a great ringing of the engine bell a moment after when the train started it was many and many a long month after this that an old man and a young woman and a baby were in a side car along one of the smooth irish roads into county they had left the railroad an hour before they had landed early that morning at the of cork the side car was laden deep with bundles and boxes but the old horse trotted briskly along until the who was driving turned into a that led through a f piece of wild by where pasture ground up toward the dark hills see over there s said the old man looking back s the day i ve it and home again oh i know all this country i l new it well er of you wa n t bom god be thanked you did sir responded the with fervent admiration he was a pleasant looking lad	40
was just in front and led down to a stone bridge which crossed the river to the busy village beyond the air was fresh and cool at that early hour the wind had changed after a season of dry hot weather it was just the morning for a good bit of gossip with a neighbor but summer was almost done and by bold words at the bridge the friends were not their respective acquaintances had grown tired of hearing the story of the quarrel and the novelty of such a pleasing excitement had long been over mrs was away at a handful of and mrs and solitary sighed as she listened to the iron she was by nature and she had an impulse to go in and sit down as she used at the end of the table the poor thing is mad at me yet i know that from the sounds of her iron t was a shame for her to go picking a quarrel with the likes of me and mrs sighed heavily and stepped down into her flower plot to the distressed back into their places inside the fence the seed had been sent her from the old country and this was the first year they had come into full bloom she had been hoping that the sight of them would melt mrs s heart into some expression of friendliness since they had come from adjoining in old county the goat lifted his head and gazed at his enemy with mild interest he was now by the roadside and the had proved bitter in his mouth by bold words at the bridge mrs stood looking at him over the fence glad of even a goat s company go long there see that fine little ahead now she advised him forgetful of his oh to think i ve nobody to to the day i at that moment a woman came in sight round the turn of the road she was a stranger a fellow country woman and she carried a large newspaper bundle and a heavy mrs stepped out of the flower bed toward the gate and waited there until the stranger came up and stopped to ask a question ann began don t live here do she she don t answered the mistress of the house with dignity i t ought she didn t you don t know where she lives do you i don t said mrs i don t know mind i u find her t is a fine day ma am mrs could hardly bear to let the stranger go away she watched her far down the hill toward the bridge before she turned to go into the house she seated herself by the side window next mrs s and gave herself to her thoughts by bold words at the bridge the sound of the had stopped when the came to the gate and it had not begun again mrs had gone to her front door the hem of her dress could be plainly seen and the of her apron and she was watching the stranger quite out of sight she even came out to the and for the first time in many weeks looked with friendly intent toward her neighbor s house then she also came and sat down at her side window mrs s heart began to leap with excitement bad to her foolishness she does be af ther wanting to come round i not make it too for her said mrs seizing a piece of sewing and to look up i don t know who ann is perhaps herself does having lived in it five or six years longer than me perhaps she knew this woman by her looks and the heart is out of her with wanting to know what she asked from me she can sit there then and let her irons grow cold i there was living down by the brick mill when i first come here neighbors to s folks continued mrs by bold words at the bridge more and more con ly ought to know the they being her cousins t was a fine loud talking sure might well enough have heard her inquiring of me and have stepped out and said if she knew ann and satisfied a poor stranger that was hunting the town over no i don t know one in the name of ann so i don t said mrs aloud and there s nobody i can ask a civil question with every one that ought to be me neighbors stopping their mouths and keeping black t was got all the twas got the on me nose responded mrs quite unexpectedly she was looking at the window where mrs sat behind the screen of blue they were both conscious that mrs made a definite of peace that one was a very civil spoken that passed by just now announced mrs handsomely the subject of the quarrel and coming frankly to the subject of present interest t is a poor day for ann she find that out before she gets far in the place by bold words at the bridge ann was here once then god rest them i there was two ann mother and daughter lived down by s when i first come here they died in the one year too t is most thirty years ago said in her most friendly tone i u find her says the poor as if she d only to look indeed she s got the boldness reported mary peace being fully restored t was to s she d go first and they all moved to la twelve years ago and all she u get from one would be the address of the ry there was plenty here knowing to ann began once that is one i ve seen long ago but i can t name her yet did she say who she was asked the	40
neighbor she did n t i m sorry f pr the poor too continued mrs in the same spirit of friendliness she d the look of one who came hoping to make a nice visit and find friends and a fine bundle she d the looks as if she d lately come out very decent but old fashioned her bonnet was made at home ways did ye mind i lay it by bold words at the bridge was bought in cork when it was new or maybe twas from a good shop in or or some o those old places if she d seemed satisfied to wait i d made her the offer of a cup of but off she with great courage i don t know but i slip on me bonnet in the and go find her said with hospitable warmth i ve seen her before perhaps t was long ago at home indeed i thought of it myself said mrs with approval we d best wait perhaps till she d be coming back there s no train now till three o clock she might stop here till the five and we find out all about her she u have a very day she is did you see that old goat the best of me that all the day she asked eagerly afraid that the conversation might come to an end at any moment but mrs took no notice of so trivial a subject me is all getting ripe she announced with an air of satisfaction there s a big one must be ate now while we can it s down in the cellar itself by bold words at the bridge an i d like to be dropping it getting down the stairs twas picking it i was before breakfast itself having begun to crack open himself was the b y that loved a an i ain t got the heart to look at it alone over will ye mary deed then an i will said mrs whose face was close against the them old vines was no good way did you see how one of them had the and away up on the entirely wit its great flowers an there come a rain on em and so they all i d no call to grow such great things in my piece up all the goodness from me beautiful m that afternoon the friends sat together and keeping an eye on the road they had so much to talk over and found each other so agreeable that it was impossible to dwell with much regret upon the long when the was only half finished the stranger of the morning with her large by bold words at the bridge die and the heavy was seen making her way up the hill she wore such a weary and disappointed look that she was and invited in by both the women and being proved by mrs to be an old acquaintance she joined them at their feast yes i was here seventeen years ago for the last time she explained i was working in and i came over and spent a fortnight with then i home that year to mind me old mother and she lived to past ninety i d nothing to keep me then and i was always america so back i come to it but all me old and neighbors is changed and gone this is the first welcome i ve got yet from one tis a beautiful welcome too i get me apron out of me bundle by your mrs con ly you ve a strong resemblance to s folks dear being cousins well t is a fine thing to have good neighbors you an mrs is very pleasant here so close together well we does be having a hasty word now and then ma am confessed mrs but ourselves is good neighbors this by bold words at the bridge years a quarrel s about nothing friends it don t count for much it don t most quarrels is the same way said the stranger who did not like but accepted a cup of hot tea sure it always takes two to make a quarrel and but one to end it that s what me mother always told me that never gave one a cross word in her life t is a beautiful repeated mrs for the seventh time sure i plant a few seed myself next year me is no good all me foolish pride wit em maybe the land don t suit em but glory be to god me is the size of the house an you u the pick of the best mrs con ly what s friends or that they should ever make any trouble answered mrs handsomely and the great was forever ended but the stranger innocent that she was the of peace could hardly understand why insisted upon her staying all night and talking over old times and why the two women put on their by bold words at the bridge and walked one on either hand to see the town with her that evening as they crossed the bridge they looked at each other and then began to laugh well i missed it the most on sundays going all alone to mass confessed mary i m glad there s no one here seeing us go over so i am t was ourselves had bold words at the bridge once that we ve got the laugh about now explained mrs politely to the stranger by s lady one day many years ago the old judge house wore an unwonted look of and the high green garden was bright with june flowers under the elms in the large shady front yard you might see some chairs placed near together as they often used to be when the family were all at home and life was going on with eager talk and	40
pleasure making when the elder judge the grandfather used to quote that great author dr johnson and say to his girls be brisk be splendid and be public one of the chairs had a crimson silk shawl thrown carelessly over its straight back and a by who looked in through the gate between the tall gate posts with their white might think that this piece of shining east indian color was a huge red lily that had suddenly against the bush there were certain windows by lady thrown wide open that were usually shut and their curtains were blowing free in the light wind of a summer afternoon it looked as if a large household had returned to the old house to fill the best rooms and find them full of cheer it was evident to every one in town that miss to use the village phrase had company she was the last of her family and was by no means old but being the last and to live with people much older than herself she had formed all the habits of a serious elderly person ladies of her age something past thirty often wore discreet caps in those days especially if they were married but being single miss clung to youth in this respect making the one concession of keeping her waving chestnut hair as smooth and stiffly arranged as possible she had been the dutiful companion of her father and mother in their latest years all her elder brothers and sisters having married and gone or died and gone out of the old house now that she was left alone it seemed quite the best thing frankly to accept the fact of age and to turn more resolutely than ever to the companionship of duty and serious books she was more by s lady ous and given to routine than her elders themselves as sometimes happened when the daughters of new england were brought up wholly in the society of their elders at thirty five she had more reluctance than her mother to face an occasion certainly more than her grandmother who had preserved some cheerful inheritance of and from times there was something about the look of the crimson silk shawl in the front yard to make one suspect that the sober customs of the best house in a quiet new england village were all being set at defiance and once when the mistress of the house came to stand in her own doorway she wore the pleased but somewhat apprehensive look of a guest in these days new england life held the necessity of much dignity and discretion of behavior there was the truest hospitality and good cheer in au occasional but it was sometimes a self conscious hospitality followed by an inexorable return to both of diet and of behavior miss belonged to the very days of new england those which perhaps held the most for the learned pro by s f the most limited interpretation of the word and the indifference to large things the outbreak of a desire for larger religious freedom caused at first a most determined reaction toward especially in small and quiet villages like intently busy with their own concerns it was high time for a little to begin its work in this moment when the great impulses of the war for liberty had died away and those of the coming war for patriotism and a new freedom had hardly yet begun the dull interior the changed life of the old house whose former seemed to have fallen sound asleep really these larger conditions and a little had made its easily recognized appearance in the shape of a light hearted girl she was miss s young boston cousin who half amused and half impatient at the unnecessary sober of her hostess and of in general had set herself to the difficult task of cousin looked on at a succession of ingenious and on the whole innocent attempts at pleasure as she might have looked on at the by a lady of a who easily a ball of for the of a bird or a wind blown leaf and who may at any moment the fringe of a sacred in preference to either with her mischievous appealing eyes with her old songs and her seemed the more delightful and even reasonable because she was so kind to everybody and because she was a beauty she had the gift of most charming manners there was all the unconscious lovely ease and grace that had come with the good breeding of her city home where many pleasant people came and went she had no fear one had almost said no respect of the individual and she did not need to think of herself cousin turned cold with apprehension when she saw the minister coming in at the front gate and wondered in agony if were properly attired to go to the door and would by any chance hear the it was who delighted to have anything happen ran to the door to welcome the mr as if he were a congenial friend of her own age she could behave with more or less propriety during the stately first visit and even con by lady to it with modest mirth and to the confession that the guest had a tenor voice though sadly out of practice but when the minister departed a little flattered and hoping that he had not expressed himself too strongly for a upon the poems of and feeling the unusual stir of gallantry in his proper heart it was who caught the honored hat of the late judge from its last resting place in the hall and holding it securely in both hands the minister s self conscious entrance she copied his and anxious expression in the dim parlor in such delicious fashion that miss who could not always a ready spark of the original sin of humor laughed aloud	40
my dear she exclaimed severely the next moment i am ashamed of your being so and then laughed again and took the affecting old hat and carried it back to its place i would not have had any one else see you for the world she said sorrowfully as she returned feeling quite self possessed again to the parlor doorway but still sat in the minister s chair with her small feet placed as his stiff boots had been by s lady and a copy of his solemn expression before they came to speaking of and of the i wish i had asked him if he would be so kind as to the said a little at the discovery that her cousin would consent to laugh no more there are all those ripe on the top branches i can climb as high as he but i can t reach far enough from the last branch that will bear me the minister is so long and thin i don t know what mr ton would have thought of you he is a very serious young man said cousin still ashamed of her laughter will get the for you or one of the men i should not like to have mr think you were frivolous a young lady of your opportunities but had escaped through the hall and out at the garden door at the mention of s name miss sighed anxiously and then smiled in spite of her deep convictions as she shut the blinds and tried to make the house look solemn again the front door might be shut but the garden door at the other end of the broad hall was wide open upon the large by s lady garden where the last of the red and white and the golden lilies and the first of the tall blue lent their colors in generous fashion the straight box borders were all in fresh and shining green of their new leaves and there was a fragrance of the old garden s inmost life and soul blowing from the blossoms on a long it was now late in the afternoon and the sun was low behind great apple trees at the garden s end which threw their shadows over the short turf of the green the cherry trees stood at one side in full sunshine and miss who presently came to the garden steps to watch like a hen at the water s edge saw her cousin s pretty figure in its white dress of india muslin hurrying across the grass she was accompanied by the tall shape of the new maid who dull and indifferent to every one else showed a surprising and to the young guest ought to be in the dining room already slow as she is it wants but half an hour of tea time said miss as she turned and went into the shaded house it was s duty to wait at table and there had been many scenes by s lady and defeated efforts toward her education was certainly very clumsy and she seemed the because she had replaced her aunt a most person who had but lately married a farm and its prosperous owner it must be confessed that miss was a most bewildering and that her pupil s brain was easily confused and prone to the coming of had been somewhat dreaded by reason of this service but the guest took no notice of or futile gestures at the first tea table except to establish friendly relations with on her own account by a smile they were about the same age and next morning before cousin came down showed by a word and a quick touch the right way to do something that had gone wrong and been impossible to understand the night before a moment later the anxious mistress came in without suspicion but s eyes were as affectionate as a dog s and there was a new look of on her face this dreaded guest was a friend after all and not a foe come from proud boston to confound her ignorance and patient efforts by a the two young creatures mistress and maid were hurrying across the i can t reach the explained politely and i think that miss ought to send some to the minister he has just made us a call why you have n t been crying again yes m said sadly miss always loves to send something to the minister she acknowledged with interest as if she did not wish to be asked to explain these latest tears we arrange some of the best in a pretty dish i u show you how and you shall carry them over to the after tea said cheerfully and accepted the with pleasure life was beginning to hold moments of something like delight in the last few days you ll spoil your pretty dress miss gave shy warning and miss stood back and held up her skirts with unusual care while the country girl in her heavy blue checked began to climb the cherry tree like a boy down came the scarlet fruit like bright rain into the green grass by s lady break some nice twigs with the and leaves together oh you re a duck and flushed with delight and looking far more like a thin and solemn blue came rustling down to earth again and gathered the spoils into her clean apron that night at tea during her s temporary absence miss announced as if by way of apology that she thought was beginning to understand something about her work her aunt was a treasure she never had to be told anything twice but has been as clumsy as a calf said the precise mistress of the house i have been afraid sometimes that i never could teach her anything i was quite ashamed to have you come just now and find me so	40
unprepared to entertain a visitor oh will learn fast enough because she cares so much said the visitor eagerly i think she is a dear good girl i do hope that she will never go away i think she does things better every day cousin added with all her kind young heart the china closet door was open a little way and heard by a lady every word from that moment she not only knew what love was like but she knew love s dear to have come from a stony hill farm and a bare small wooden house was like a cave s coming to make a permanent home in an art museum such had seemed the and elegance of miss fine s fashion of life and s simple brain was slow enough in its processes and but with this sympathetic ally and this exquisite miss who believed in her all difficulties appeared to vanish later that evening no longer or hopeless returned from her polite errand to the minister and stood with a sort of triumph before the two ladies who were sitting in the front doorway as if they were waiting for visitors still in her white muslin and red ribbons and miss in a thin black silk being happily self f ul in the greatness of the moment s manners were perfect and she looked for once almost pretty and quite as young as she was the minister came to the door himself and returned his thanks he said that were always his favorite fruit and he by b lady was much obliged to both miss and miss he kept me waiting a few minutes while he got this book ready to send to you miss what are you saying i have sent him nothing i exclaimed miss much astonished what does she mean only a few explained i thought mr would like them after his afternoon of parish calls and i arranged them before tea and i sent them with our compliments oh i am very glad you did said miss wondering but much relieved i was afraid no it was none of my mischief answered i did not think that would be ready to go so soon i should have shown you how pretty they looked among their green leaves we put them in one of your best white dishes with the edge shall show you to morrow mamma always likes to have them so s fingers were busy with the hard knot of a parcel see this cousin i she proudly as disappeared by a lady round the comer of the house beaming with the pleasures of adventure and success look the minister has sent me a book sermons on what sermons it is so dark that i can t quite see it must be his sermons on the seriousness of life they are the only ones he has printed i believe said miss with much pleasure they are considered very fine he pays you a great compliment my dear i feared that he noticed your girlish levity i behaved beautifully while he stayed insisted ministers are only men but she blushed with pleasure it was certainly something to receive a book from its author and such a tribute made her of more value to the whole household the minister was not only a man but a bachelor and was at the age that best loves conquest it was at any rate comfortable to be in cousin s good graces do ask the kind gentleman to tea i he needs a little cheering up begged the in india muslin as she laid the shiny black volume of sermons on the stone with an air of approval but as if they had quite finished their mission by a perhaps i shall if as much as she has within the last day or two miss promised it is something i always dread a little when i am all alone but i think mr likes to come he so n these were the days of long visits before affectionate friends thought it quite worth while to take a hundred miles journey merely to dine or to pass a night in one another s houses lingered through the pleasant weeks of early summer and departed unwillingly at last to join her family at the white hills where they had gone like other of high social station to pass the month of august out of town the happy hearted young guest left many friends behind her and promised each that she would come back again next year she left the minister a rejected lover as well as the of the academy but with their pride and it may have been with wider upon the world and a less narrow sympathy both for their own work in life and by s lady for their neighbors work and even miss herself had lost some of the unnecessary and prejudice which had begun to a naturally good and open mind and affectionate heart she was conscious of feeling younger and more free and not so lonely nobody had ever been so gay so fascinating or so kind as so full of social resource so simple and in her friendliness the light of her young life cast no shadow on either young or old companions her pretty clothes never seemed to make other girls look dull or out of fashion when she went away up the street in miss s carriage to take the slow train toward boston and the of the new house where her mother waited impatiently with a group of southern friends it seemed as if there would never be any more or parties in and as if society had nothing left to do but to grow old and get ready for winter came into miss s bedroom that last morning and it was easy to see that she had been crying she looked just as she	40
did in that first sad week of by a lady and despair all for love s sake she had been learning to do many things and to do them exactly right her eyes had grown quick to see the smallest chance for personal service nobody could be more humble and devoted she looked years older than and wore already a touching air of you spoil me you dear i said from the bed i don t know what they wiu say at home i am so spoiled went on opening the blinds to let in the brightness of the summer morning but she did not speak you are getting on splendidly aren t you continued the little mistress you have tried so hard that you make me ashamed of myself at first you crammed all the flowers together and now you make them look beautiful last night cousin was so pleased when the table was so charming and i told her that you did everything yourself every bit won t you keep the flowers fresh and pretty in the house i come back it s so much pleasanter for miss and you feed my little won t you they re growing so tame by s lady oh yes miss and looked almost angry for a moment then she burst into tears and covered her face with her apron i could n t understand a single thing when i first came i never had been anywhere to see anything and miss p ne frightened me when she talked it was you made me think i could ever learn i wanted to keep the place count of mother and the little boys we re dreadful hard pushed has been good in the kitchen she said she ought to have patience with me for she was awkward herself when she first came laughed she looked so pretty under the white curtains i dare say tells the truth she said i wish you had told me about your mother when i come again some day we drive up country as you call it to see her i wish you would think of me sometimes after i go away won t you promise and the bright young face suddenly grew grave i have hard times myself i don t always learn things that i ought to learn i don t always put things straight i wish you would n t forget me ever and would just believe in me i think it does help more than anything by s lady f i won t forget said slowly i shall think of you every day she spoke almost with indifference as if she had been asked to dust a room but she turned aside quickly and pulled the little mat under the hot water quite out of its former then she hastened away down the long white entry weeping as she went iii to lose out of sight the friend whom one has loved and lived to please is to lose joy out of life but if love is true there comes presently a higher joy of pleasing the ideal that is to say the perfect friend the same old happiness is lifted to a higher level as for the girl who stayed behind in nobody s life could seem to those who could not she was slow of step and her eyes were almost always downcast as if intent upon incessant toil but they startled you when she looked up with their shining light she was capable of the happiness of holding fast to a great sentiment the satisfaction of trying to please one whom she truly loved she never thought of trying to make other by a lady people pleased with herself all she lived for was to do the best she could for others and to to an ideal which grew at last to be like a saint s vision a heavenly figure painted upon the sky on sunday in summer sat by the window of her chamber a little room which looked into the side yard and the great branches of an she never sat in the old wooden rocking chair except on sundays like this it belonged to the day of rest and to happy meditation she wore her plain black dress and a clean white apron and held in her lap a little wooden box with a brass ring on top for a handle she was past sixty years of age and looked even older but there was the same look on her face that it had sometimes worn in she was the same her hands were old looking and work worn but her face still shone it seemed like yesterday that had gone away and it was more than forty years war and peace had brought their changes and great anxieties the face of the earth was by floods and fire the faces of by lady mistress and maid were by smiles and tears and in the sky the stars shone on as if nothing had happened the village of added a few pages to its history the minister preached the people listened now and then a funeral crept along the street and now and then the bright face of a little child rose above the horizon of a family miss lived on in the large white house which gained more and more distinction because it suffered no changes save successive and a new railing about its stately roof miss herself had moved far beyond the of an anxious youth she had long ago made all her and settled all necessary questions her scheme of life was as as the miniature landscape of a garden and as easily kept in order the only important change she would ever be capable of making was the final change to another and a better world and for that nature itself would gently provide and her own innocent life hardly any great social	40
event had ruffled the easy current of life since d marriage to this miss had gone stately in appearance and carrying by s lady gifts of some old family silver bore the crest but not without some protest in her heart against the of married life was so equal to a happy independence and even to the assistance of other lives grown strangely dependent upon her quick sympathies and instinctive that it was hard to let her sink her personality in the affairs of another yet a brilliant english match was not without its attractions to an old fashioned like miss and herself was happy one day there had come a letter to in which her very heart seemed to beat with love and self forgetfulness to tell cousin of such new happiness and high hope tell all that i say about my dear jack wrote the eager girl please show my letter to and tell her that i shall come home next summer and bring the and best man in the world to i have told him all about the dear house and the dear garden there never was such a lad to reach for with his six foot two miss wondering a little gave the letter to who took it deliberately and as if she wondered by s lady too and went away to read it slowly by herself cried over it and felt a strange sense of loss and pain it hurt her heart a little to read about the cherry picking her idol seemed to be less her own since she had become the idol of a stranger she never had taken such a letter in her hands before but love at last prevailed since miss was happy and she kissed the last page where her name was written feeling and laid the envelope on miss s secretary without a word the most generous love cannot but long for and had the joy of being remembered she was not forgotten when the day of the wedding drew near but she never knew that miss had asked if cousin would not bring to town she should like to have there to see her married she would help about the flowers wrote the happy girl i know she will like to come and i ask mamma to plan to have some one take her all about boston and make her have a pleasant time after the hurry of the great day is over cousin thought it was very kind by s lady and exactly like but would be out of her element it was most and girlish to have thought of such a thing s mother would be far from wishing for any unnecessary guest just then in the part of her household and it was best not to speak of the invitation some day should go to boston if she did well but not now did not forget to ask if had come and was astonished by the indifference of the answer it was the first thing which reminded her that she was not a fairy princess having everything her own way in that last day before the wedding she knew that would have loved to be near for she could not help understanding in that moment of her own happiness the love that was hidden in another heart next day this happy young princess the bride cut a piece of a great cake and put it into a pretty box that had held one of her wedding presents with eager voices calling her and all her friends about her and her mother s face growing more and more wistful at the thought of parting she still lingered and ran to take one or two trifles from her dressing table a little mirror and by lady some tiny that would remember and one of the pretty handkerchiefs marked with her maiden name these she put in the box too it was half a girlish and fancy but she could not help trying to share her happiness and s life was so plain and dull she whispered a message and put the little into cousin s hand for as she said good by she was very fond of cousin she smiled with a gleam of her old f im s puzzled look and tall awkward figure seemed to stand suddenly before her eyes as she promised to come again to impatient voices called to her lover was at the door and she hurried away leaving her old home and her gladly if she had only known it as she kissed cousin they were never going to see each other again until they were old women the first step that she took out of her father s house that day married and full of hope and joy was a step that led her away from the green elms of boston common and away from her own country and those she loved best to a brilliant much varied foreign life and to nearly all the sorrows and nearly all the by a joys that the heart of one woman could hold or know on sunday used to sit by the window in and hold the wooden box which a favorite young brother who afterward died at sea had made for her and she used to take out of it the pretty httle box with a gilded cover that had held the piece of wedding cake and the small and the bit of a mirror in its silver case as for the handkerchief with the narrow lace edge once in two or three years she sprinkled it as if it were a flower and spread it out in the sun on the old green and sat near by in the to watch lest some bold robin or cherry bird should seize it and fly away iv miss was often congratulated upon the good fortune of having such a and friend as	40
as time went on this gaunt woman always thin always slow gained a dignity of behavior and simple of look which suited the charm and dignity of the ancient house she was unconsciously beautiful by s lady like a saint like the of a lonely tree which lives to shelter lives and to stand quietly in its place there was such rustic and constancy belonging to her such beautiful powers of apprehension such such gentleness for those who were troubled or sick all these gifts and graces hid in her heart she never joined the church because she thought she was not good enough but life was such a passion and happiness of service that it was impossible not to be devout and she was always in her humble place on in the back next the door sh had been educated by a remembrance s young eyes forever looked at her from a gay girlish face s sweet patience in teaching her own awkwardness could never be forgotten i owe everything to miss said half aloud as she sat alone by the window she had said it to herself a thousand times when she looked in the little mirror she always hoped to see some faint reflection of but there was only her own brown old new england face to look back at her by s miss went less and less often to pay visits to her friends in boston there were very few friends left to come to and make long visits in the summer and life grew more and more monotonous now and then there came news from across the sea and messages of remembrance letters that were closely written on thin sheets of paper and that spoke of lords and ladies of great journeys of the death of little children and the proud of boys at school of the wedding of s only daughter but even that had happened years ago these things seemed far away and vague as if they belonged to a story and not to life itself the true links with the past were quite different there was the flock of ground that had begun to feed every morning scattered for them from the side while miss watched from the dining room window and they were counted and cherished year by year miss herself had many fixed habits but little or imagination and so at last it was who took thought for her mistress and gave freedom to her own good taste after a while without any one s by s lady observing the change the every day ways of doing things in the house came to be the stately ways that had once belonged only to the entertainment of guests happily both mistress and maid seized all possible chances for hospitality yet miss nearly always sat alone at her exquisitely served table with its fresh flowers and the beautiful old china which handled so lovingly that there was no good excuse for keeping it hidden on closet shelves every year when the old cherry trees were in fruit carried the round white old english dish with a edge full of pointed green leaves and scarlet to the minister and his wife never quite understood why every year he blushed and looked so conscious of the pleasure and thanked as if he had received a very particular attention there was no pretty suggestion toward the pursuit of the fine art of housekeeping in s limited acquaintance with newspapers that she did not adopt there was no refined old custom of the housekeeping that she consented to let go and every day as she had promised she thought of miss oh many times in every day whether this thing would please her or that be likely by s lady to fall in with her fancy or ideas of fitness as far as was possible the rare news that reached through an occasional letter or the talk of guests was made part of s own life the history of her own heart a worn old geography often stood open at the map of europe on the in her room and a little old fashioned gilt button set with a bit of glass like a that had broken and fallen from the of one of s dresses was used to mark the city of her dwelling place in the changes of a life followed her lady all about the map sometimes the button was at paris and sometimes at once to her great anxiety it remained long at st for such a slow scholar was not at last since everything about life in these foreign towns was of interest to her faithful heart she satisfied her own mind as she threw to the tame it was all part of the same thing and for the same affectionate reasons lady one sunday afternoon in early summer miss came hurrying along the entry that led to s room and called two or three times before its could reach the door miss looked unusually cheerful and excited and she held something in her hand where are you she called again come quick i have something to tell you here i am miss said who had only stopped to put her precious box in the drawer and to shut the geography who do you think is coming this very night at half past six we must have everything as nice as we can i must see at once do you remember my cousin who has lived abroad so long miss the honorable mrs she is now yes i remember her answered a little pale i knew that she was in this country and i had written to ask her to come for a long visit continued miss who did not often explain things even to though she was always conscientious about the kind by lady messages that were sent back by grateful guests she that she means to anticipate	40
her visit by a few days and come to me at once the heat is beginning in town i suppose i having been a foreigner so long she does not mind on sunday do you think will be prepared we must have tea a little later yes miss said she wondered that she could speak as usual there was such a ringing in her ears i shall have time to pick some fresh miss is so fond of our why i had forgotten said miss a little puzzled by something quite unusual in s face we must expect to find mrs a good deal changed it is a great many years since she was here i have not seen her since her wedding and she has had a great deal of trouble poor girl you had better open the parlor chamber and make it ready before you go down it is all ready said i can carry some of those little sweet roses upstairs before she comes yes you are always thoughtful said miss with unwonted feeling by s lady did not answer she glanced at the she had never really suspected before that miss knew nothing of the love that had been in her heart all these years it was half a pain and half a golden joy to keep such a secret she could hardly bear this moment of surprise presently the news gave wings to her willing feet when the cook who never had known miss went to the parlor an hour later on some errand to her old mistress she discovered that this stranger guest must be a very important person she had never seen the tea table look exactly as it did that night and in the parlor itself there were fresh boughs in the old east india and lilies in the hall and flowers everywhere as if there were some high miss sat by the window watching in her best dress looking stately and calm she seldom went out now and it was almost time for the carriage was just coming in from the garden with the and with more flowers in her apron it was a bright cool evening in june the golden sang in the elms and the sun was going down behind the apple trees at by s lady the foot of the garden the beautiful old house stood wide open to the long expected guest i think that i shall go down to the gate said miss looking at for approval and nodded and they went together slowly down the broad front walk there was a sound of horses and wheels on the roadside turf could not see at first she stood back inside the gate behind the white bushes as the carriage came miss was there she was holding out both arms and taking a tired bent little figure in black to her heart oh my miss is an old woman like me and gave a pitiful sob she had never dreamed it would be like this this was the one thing she could not bear where are you called miss will bring these in you have not forgotten my good then mrs looked up and smiled just as she used to smile in the old days the young eyes were there still in the changed face and miss had come that night waited in her lady s room just as she used humble and silent by lady and went through with the old loving services the long years seemed like days at last she lingered a moment trying to think of something else that might be done then she was going silently away but called her back she suddenly knew the whole story and could hardly speak oh my dear she cried won t you kiss me good night oh have you remembered like this all these long years i by the dog in the early dusk of a warm september evening the were flitting to and fro as if it were still summer under the great elm that brown s house on the road brown himself and his old friend and neighbor john york were leaning against the fence frost keeps o e late don t it said john york i laughed when i first heard about the i thought t was so unusual late in the season turned out well however everybody i noticed was with a palm leaf fan guess they found em useful under the tent t was a master hot day i saw old lady price with her hands full o those free as if she was in a stock against next summer well i expect she live to enjoy em i was right here where i m now and i see her as she was goin by this by the dog said brown laughing and settling himself comfortably against the fence as if they had chanced upon a welcome subject of conversation i hailed her same s i do where are you bound to day ma am says i i m goin over as fur as centre says she i m goin to see my poor dear jane i want to her grief her husband mr has passed away so much the better says l no i never i about it till says she an she looked up at me real kind of pleasant and begun to laugh i hear he s left property says she to pull her face down solemn i give her the fifty cents she wanted to borrow to make up her car fare and other expenses an she stepped off like a girl down tow ds the this afternoon as you know i d promised the boys that i d take em over to see the and would n t do none of us any good but we must see the too an when we d just got posted on one o the best high seats mother	40
she me and i looked right down front two three by the dog rows an if there wa n t mis price spectacles an all with her head right up in the air the best time you ever see i laughed right out she had n t taken no time to see jane she wa n t no grief for nobody till she d seen the there says i i do like to have anybody keep their young s i mis price come over to see our folks before breakfast said john york wife said she was about the but she wanted to know first if they couldn t oblige her with a few o as how she d got to pay a visit wife thought t was a bosom pin or like that but turned out she wanted the skirt of a dress most anything would do she said i thought she looked extra well off said with an indulgent smile the lord very handsome for such i do declare i she ain t had no visible means o support these ten or fifteen years back but she don t up in winter no more than we do nor dry up in summer interrupted his friend i never did see such an able hand to talk by the dog good company and she s obliging an useful when the women folks have their extra work continued brown kindly t ain t much for a well off neighborhood like this to support that old my mother used to say she kind of helped the work along by of it here she comes now must have taken the last train after she had supper with jane you stay still we re goin to hear all about it the small thin figure of mrs price had to be hailed twice before she could be stopped i wish you a good neighbors she said i have been to the house of find jane in after the asked brown with equal seriousness excellent show was n t it for so late in the season oh beautiful it was beautiful i declare answered the pleased spectator readily why i did n t see you nor mis brown yes i felt it best to refresh my mind an wear a cheerful countenance when i see jane i was able to divert her mind able she was glad i went i told her i d made an effort t was by tee dog so she had to lose the a left property if he did die away from home on a foreign shore you don t mean that s left anything exclaimed john york with interest while brown put both hands deep into his pockets and leaned back in a still more satisfactory position against the he enjoyed poor health answered mrs price after a moment of deliberation as if she must take time to think never was one that nor yet jane s got some memories o the past that s a good deal better than others but he died out in or so she heard and he s left a very able dog one he set a great deal by jane said last time he was to home he that dog at fifty dollars there now jane says i right to her when she told me if i could fifty dollars for that dog i certain would perhaps some o the folks would like to buy him they ve taken in a stream o money this day but jane ain t never inclined to listen to advice t is a dreadful poor spirited i don t want no right o in him myself by the dog a good dog s worth tain said john york handsomely if he is a good dog added brown i would n t have parted with old here for a good deal of money when he was right in his best days but a dog like him s like one of the family stop an have some supper won t ye mis price as the thin old creature was flitting again at that same moment this kind invitation was repeated from the door of the house and mrs price turned in and always inclined at the open gate it was a month later and a whole autumn s length colder when the two men were coming home from a long tramp through the woods they had been making a solemn inspection of a wood lot that they owned together and had now visited their and boundaries and settled the great question of cutting or not cutting some large pines when it was well decided that a few years growth would be no disadvantage to the timber they had eaten an excellent cold luncheon and rested from their labors by the dog i don t feel a day older n ever i did when i get out in the woods this way announced john york who was a dusty looking little man a prudent person who had been of the town at least a dozen times no more do i agreed his companion who was large and jovial and open handed more like a lucky sea captain than a farmer after a slender tree with a heavy stone he had succeeded in getting down a of late hanging nuts which had escaped the and was now snapping them back one by one to a among some little frost bitten brown had a wonderfully pleasant way of getting on with all sorts of animals even men after a while they rose and went their way these two companions stopping here and there to look at a possible s hole or to strike a few hopeful blows at a hollow tree with the light axe which had carried to blaze new marks on some of the line trees on the farther edge of their possessions sometimes they stopped to admire the	40
size of an old or to talk about out the young pines at last they were not very far from the entrance to the great tract of the yellow by the dog sunshine came in much brighter against the tall trunks them with golden light high among the still branches presently they came to a great ledge and cracked into mysterious here s where we used to get all the said john york i have n t seen a this great while spite o your courage knocking on the trees up back here you know that night we got the four fat ones we started em near here so the dog could get after em when they come out at night to go hold on john and mr brown got up from the log where he had just sat down to rest and went to the ledge and looked carefully all about when he came back he was much excited and beckoned his friend away in a stage whisper i guess you see a before you re much older he proclaimed i ve thought it looked lately as if there d been one about my place and there s plenty o signs here right in their old haunts couple o heads an a lot o feathers might be a fox interrupted john york might be a answered mr brown i m goin to have him too i ve by tee dog been at every old hollow tree i passed but i never thought o this place we come right o e to morrow night i guess john an see if we can t get him t is an extra handy place for em to den in old times the folks always called it a good place they ve been so ce o these late years that i ve thought little about em i ever liked so well as a hunt he must be a big old f by his tracks i see here in this smooth dirt just like a baby s trouble is we lack a good dog said john york anxiously after he had made an eager inspection i don t know where in the world to get one either there ain t no such a dog about as your but you ve let him get spoilt these days i don t see him leave the yard you ought to keep the women folks from of him so he ought to ve lasted a good spell longer he s no use for now that s certain accepted the rebuke meekly john york was a calm man but he now grew very fierce under such a provocation nobody likes to be in a hunt oh s too old anyway explained the affectionate master i ve by the dog been wishing all this afternoon i d brought him but i didn t think anything about him as we came away i ve got so used to seeing him about the yard t would have been a real treat for old if he could have kept up used to be at my heels the whole time he could n t follow us anyway up here i should n t wonder if he could insisted john with a humorous glance at his old friend who was much too heavy and huge of for quick over rough ground john york himself had grown lighter as he had grown older i tell you one thing we could do he hastened to suggest there s that dog of s don t you know the old lady told us that day she went over to how high he was valued most o s important business was done in the fall goin out by night with fellows from the mills he was just the kind of a worthless do nothing that s sure to have an extra smart dog i expect jane s got him now perhaps we could get him by to morrow night let one o my boys go over i why jane s come bag an bag by the dog to spend the winter with her mother exclaimed brown springing to his feet like a boy i ve had it in mind to tell you two or three times this afternoon and then something else has flown it out of my head i let my john henry take the long wagon an go down to the this to fetch her an her goods up the old lady come in early while we were to breakfast and to hear her lofty talk you d thought t would taken a couple o four horse to move her i told john henry he might take that wagon and fetch up what light stuff he could and see how much else there was an then i d make further arrangements she said jane d see me well satisfied an rode off pleased to death i see em about eight after the train was in they d got jane with em smaller n ever and there was a trunk tied up with a rope and a small roll o and and a chair the old lady was on tight to a bird cage with in it yes an i see the dog too in behind he appeared kind of timid he s a dog but he ain t stump they hauled up out front o the house and mother an i went by the dog right out mis price always expects to have notice taken she was in great said jane concluded to sell off most of her stuff rather n have the care of it she d told the folks that mis had a beautiful sofa and a lot o nice chairs and two framed pictures that would fix up the house complete and invited us all to come over and see em there she seemed just as pleased with the bird cage disappointments don t appear	40
to trouble her no more than a butterfly i kind of like the old i don t mean to see her want they let us have the dog said john york i don t know but i give a quarter for him and we let em have a good piece o the you really way up here by night asked brown looking reproachfully at his more comrade i be answered john york i was afraid you was only talking and might back out returned the cheerful heavy weight with a chuckle now we ve got things all fixed i feel more like it than ever i tell you there s just boy enough left inside of me i clean up my old gun to morrow and you look by the dog right after your n i dare say the boys have took good care of em for us but they don t know what we do about and we u bring em all along and show em a little fun all right said john york as as if they were going to look after a piece of business for the town and they gathered up the axe and other light possessions and started toward home m the two friends whether by accident or design came out of the woods some distance from their own houses but very near to the low little gray dwelling of mrs price they crossed the pasture and climbed over the fence at the foot of her small sandy piece of land and knocked at the door there was a light already in the kitchen mrs price and jane e appeared at once eagerly hospitable anybody sick asked mrs price with instant sympathy happened i hope oh no said both the men we came to talk about your dog by the dog to morrow night explained brown feeling for the moment amused at his eager errand we got on track of a just now up in the woods and we thought we d give our boys a little treat you shall have fifty cents an welcome and a good piece o the yes square brown we can let you have the dog as well as not interrupted mrs price delighted to grant a favor poor departed he set everything by him as a dog he always said a dog s capital was au in his reputation you have to be dreadful careful an not lose him urged mrs yes sir he s a proper dog as ever walked the earth but he s terrible weak minded about most anybody used to travel off twelve or fourteen miles after him to him back when he wa n t able somebody d speak to him decent or fling a whip lash as they drove by an off he d on three legs right after the wagon but said he would n t trade him for no dog he ever was acquainted with trouble is is awful ce i guess he ain t out o practice said john york i guess he u by the dog when he strikes the come we must be along tow ds home i feel like a good supper you tie him up to morrow afternoon so we shall be sure to have him he turned to say to mrs price who stood smiling at the door land dear he won t away you ll find him right there the wood box and the stove where he is now hold the light jane they can t see their way out to the road i fetch him over to ye in good season she called out by way of farewell t will save ye third of a mile extra walk no jane you let me do it if you please i ve got a mother s heart the gentlemen will excuse us for you re all the child i ve got an your prosperity is the same as mine iv the great night of the hunt was frosty and still with only a dim light from the new moon john york and his boys and brown whose excitement was very great set forth across the fields toward the dark woods the men seemed younger and than the boys there was a by the dog burst of laughter when john henry brown and his little brother appeared with the dog of the late mr which had promptly run away home again after mrs price had him over in the afternoon the had tied a string round his neck at which they pulled vigorously from time to time to urge him forward perhaps he found the night too cold at any rate he stopped short in the frozen every few minutes lifting one foot and a little half a dozen times he came near to up mr brown and making him fall at full length poor tiger poor tiger said the good natured when somebody said that the dog did n t act as if he were much used to being out by night he be all right when he once gets track of the but when they were fairly in the woods tiger s distress was perfectly genuine the long rays of light from the old fashioned of pierced tin went round and round making a tall ghost of every tree and strange shadows went darting in and out behind the pines the woods were like an interminable room where the darkness made a high ceiling the by the dog clean frosty smell of the pen fields was changed for a warmer air damp with the heavy of moss and fallen leaves there was something wild and delicious in the forest in that hour of night the men and boys on silently in single file as if they followed the flickering light instead of carrying it the dog fell back by instinct as did his companions into the easy familiarity of forest life he	40
ran beside them and watched eagerly as they chose a safe place to leave a coat or two and a basket he seemed to be an affectionate dog now that he had made acquaintance with his masters seems to me he don t exactly know what he s about said one of the york boys scornfully we must have struck that s track somewhere in we get through an heap up a little for a fire if you turn to and help said his father i ve always noticed that nobody can give so much good advice about a piece o work as a new hand when you ve as many as your uncle brown an me you won t feel so certain you be the one to take the dog up round the ledge there he scent the by the dog quick enough then we u tend to this part o the business you may come too john henry said the indulgent father and they set off together silently with the dog he followed well enough now his tail and ears were drooping even more than usual but he along as bravely as he could much excited at john henry s heels like one of those great soldiers who are all until the battle is well begun a minute later the father and son came hurrying back breathless and stumbling over roots and bushes the fire was lighted and sending a great glow higher and higher among the trees he s off i he s struck a track he was off like a major i mr brown which way d he go asked everybody right out toward the fields like s not the old fellow was just starting after more of our fowls i m glad we come early he can t have got far yet we can t do but wait now boys i ll set right down here soon as the trees you hear the by the dog dog sing now i tell you said john york with great enthusiasm that night your father an me got those four we ve told you about they come right back here to the ledge i don t know but they will now t was a dreadful cold night i know we did n t get home till past three o clock in the either you remember don t you i do said how old worked that night i could n t see out of his eyes nor hardly wag his clever old tail for two days thorns in both his fore and the last took a piece right out of his off shoulder why did n t you let come tonight father asked the younger boy i think he knew was up he was round at a great rate when i come out of the yard i did n t know but he might make trouble for the other dog answered after a moment s silence he felt almost to the faithful creature and had been missing him all the way there s a bark and they all stopped to listen the fire was leaping higher they all sat near it and talking by turns by the dog there is apt to be a good deal of waiting in a hunt if was young as he used to be i d him to tree any that ever run said the master this smart creature o s can t beat him i know the poor old fellow s seems to be going two three times he s run out at me right in broad day an when i come up the yard toward the house and i did pity him dreadfully he was so when he found out what he d done s a dog that s got an awful lot o pride he went right out behind the long barn the last time and would n t come in for nobody when they called him to supper till i went out myself and made it up with him no he can t see very weu now can t he s heavy too he s got too to tackle a smart i expect even if he could do the tall said john york with sympathy they have to get a master grip with their teeth through a s thick this time o year no the young folks gets au the good chances after a while and he looked round at the faces of his boys who fed by the dog the fire and rejoiced in being promoted to the society of their elders on equal terms ain t it time we heard from the dog and they au listened while the fire snapped and the sap whistled in some green sticks i hear him said john henry suddenly and faint and far away there came the sound of a desperate bark there is a bark that means attack and there is a bark that means only foolish excitement they ain t far said my gracious he s right after him i don t know s i expected that poor looking dog to be so smart you can t tell by their looks quick as he scented the game up here in the rocks off he put perhaps it ain t any matter if they ain t stump long s they re dogs he did n t look heavy enough to me i tell you he means business hear that bark i they all bark alike after a john york was as excited as anybody the guns laid out to hand boys i told you we d ought to follow he commanded if it s tiie old fellow that belongs here he may put in any minute but there was again a long silence and state of suspense the chase had turned another way there by the dog were faint distant the fire burned low and fell together with	40
a shower of sparks the smaller boys began to grow chilly and sleepy when there was a and rustle and snapping of twigs close at hand then the gasp of a breathless dog two dim shapes rushed by a shower of bark fell and a dog began to sing at the foot of the great twisted pine not fifty feet away for tiger the boys but the dog s voice filled all the woods it might have echoed to the mountain tops there was the old they could all see him half way up the tree flat to the great limb they heaped the fire with dry branches till it high now they lost him in a shadow as he twisted about the tree john york fired and brown fired and the boys took a turn at the guns while john henry started to climb a neighboring oak but at last it was who brought the to ground with a lucky shot and the dog stopped his bark and frantic leaping in the and after an astonishing moment of silence crept out a proud victor to his master s feet goodness alive who s this good for by the dog you old handsome why i ll be hanged if it ain t old boys it old i but could not speak another word they all crowded round the wistful clumsy old dog whose eyes shone bright though his breath was au gone each man patted him and praised him and said they ought to have all the time that it could be nobody but he it was some minutes before brown could trust himself to do anything but pat the sleek old head that was always ready to his hand he must have overheard us i guess he d have come if he d dropped dead half way proclaimed john henry like a prince of the house and his tail as if in honest assent as he lay at his master s side they sat together while the fire was brightened again to make a good light for the hunt supper and had a good half of everything that found its way into his master s hand it was toward midnight when the procession set forth toward home with the two across the fields by the dog the next morning was bright and warm after the hard frost of the night before old was asleep on the in the and his master stood in the yard and saw neighbor price come along the road in her best array with a gay holiday air well now she said eagerly you wa n t out very late last night was you i got up myself to let tiger in he come home au beat out about a quarter past nine i expect you had n t no kind o trouble the the boys was me he weighed most thirty pounds oh no kind o trouble said keeping the great secret gallantly you got the things i sent over bless your heart yes i i d a sight rather have all that good pork an potatoes than any o your wild meat said mrs price smiling with prosperity you see now jane she s given in she did n t re know but t was au talk of bout that dog s bein fifty dollars she says she can t cope with a dog same s he could an she s given me the money you an john york sent over this by the dog an i did n t know but what you d lend me another half a so i could both go to centre an return an see if i could n t make a sale o tiger right over there where they au know about him it s right in the season now s my time ain t it well a little late said shaking laughter as he took the desired sum of money out of his pocket he seems to be a clever dog round the house i don t know s i want to harbor him all winter answered the frankly striking into a good gait as she started off toward the station by aunt no said mrs hand speaking wistfully no we never were in the habit of keeping christmas at our house mother died when we were all young she would have been the one to keep up with all new ideas but father and grandmother were folks and well you know how t was then miss nobody took much notice of the day except to wish you a merry christmas they did n t do much to make it merry certain answered miss sometimes nowadays i hear folks o bein with all the christmas work they have to do well others think that it makes a lovely chance for all that you get an opportunity to speak your kind f right out answered mrs hand with a bright smile but there i i shall always keep new year s day too it won t do no by to have an extra day kept an made pleasant and there s many of the real old folks have got pretty things to remember about new year s day aunt s just one of em said miss she s always very if i don t get up to see her last year i missed it on account of a light fall o snow that seemed to make the too bad an she sent a neighbor s boy way down from the mount in to see if i was sick her her to the house altogether now an i have her on my mind a good deal how anybody does get of those that lives alone as they get older i i up only last night with a start if aunt s house should get or anything what she would do way up there all	40
alone i was half i s pose but i could n t seem to settle down until i got up an went upstairs to the north garret window to see if i could see any light but the mountains was all dark an safe same s usual i remember last time i was there that her chimney needed and i spoke to her about it the bricks looked poor in some places can you see the your north by aunt window asked mrs hand a yes m it s a great comfort that i can answered her companion i have often wished we were near enough to have her make me some sort o signal in case she needed help i used to plead with her to come down and spend the with me but she told me one day i might as well try to fetch down one o the old an i believe t was true your aunt is a very self contained person observed mrs hand oh very i exclaimed the elderly niece with a pleased look aunt laughs an says she expects the time will come when age compel her to have me move up an take care of her and last time i was there she looked up real funny an says i do know i m most sometimes that i feel myself to look for ard to it t was a good deal from aunt an i so esteemed it she ought to have you there now said mrs hand you d both make a by it but i don t expect she needs to save as much as some there i i know just how you both f i like to have my own by aunt home an do everything just my way too and the friends laughed and looked at each other affectionately there was old mr left no debts an no money when he died said mrs hand t was over to his niece s last summer he had a little money in his an when the bill for funeral expenses in there was just exactly enough some item or other made it come to so many dollars an eighty four cents and lo an behold i there was eighty four cents in a little separate pocket beside the neat fold o bills as if the old gentleman had known beforehand his niece could n t help to save her she said the old gentleman died as as he lived she did n t expect he had any money an was prepared to pay for everything herself she s very well off t was funny certain said miss i expect he felt comfortable he had that money by him t is a comfort when au s said and done specially to folks that s old a sad look her face for an instant and then she smiled and rose to take leave looking at her hostess to see if there were anything more to be said by aunt i hope to come out square myself she said by way of farewell but there are times when i feel doubtful mrs hand was evidently considering something and waited a moment or two before she spoke suppose we both walk up to see your aunt new year s day if it ain t too windy and the snow keeps off she proposed i could n t rise the hill if twas a windy day we could take a hearty breakfast an start in good season i d rather walk than ride the road s so rough this time o year oh what a person you are to think o things i did so dread goin way up there all alone said i m no hand to go off alone an i had it before me so i really got to dread it i do so enjoy it after i get there aunt an she s always so much better than i expect to find her well we start early said mrs hand cheerfully and so they parted as miss went down the foot path to the gate she sent grateful thoughts back to the little sitting room she had just left how doors are opened she exclaimed to herself here i ve been so poor an by aunt distressed at the year with as it were that i could n t think o even goin to make poor old aunt a friendly call i ll manage to make some kind of a little pleasure too an for dear mis hand use what you ve got mother always used to say when every sort of an emergency come up an i may only have wishes to give but i make em good ones ii the first day of the year was clear and bright as if it were a new year s pattern of what winter can be at its very best the two friends were prepared for changes of weather and met each other well wrapped in their winter and with sufficient brown tied securely over their they ignored for some time the plain truth that each carried something under her arm the were rounded out suspiciously especially miss s but each respected the other s air of secrecy the narrow road was frozen in deep but a smooth trodden little foot path that ran along its edge was very inviting to the mrs hand walked first and by aunt miss followed and they were talking busily nearly all the way so that they had to stop for breath now and then at the tops of the little hills it was not a hard walk there were a good many almost level stretches through the woods in spite of the fact that they should be a very great deal higher when they reached mrs s door i do declare what a nice day t is an such pretty said mrs hand	40
with satisfaction seems to me as if my feet went o themselves i have to toil so when i walk that i can t enjoy when i get to a place it s partly this beautiful air said sometimes such nice air comes just before a fall of snow don t it seem to make anybody feel young again and to take all your troubles away mrs hand was a comfortable well to do soul who seldom worried about anything but something in her companion s tone touched her heart and she glanced and saw a pained look in s thin face it was a moment for confidence why you speak as if something distressed your mind said the elder woman kindly by aunt i ain t one that has myself on my mind as a usual thing but it does seem now as if i was goin to have it very hard said well i ve been anxious before is it anything wrong about your property mrs hand ventured to ask only that i ain t got any answered trying to speak t was all i could do to pay my last quarter s rent twelve dollars i sold my all but this one that had run away at the time an now i m her up to aunt just as nice as i know how i thought you was carrying said mrs hand in her usual tone for me i ve got a couple o my i thought the old lady might like em one we can eat for our dinner and one she shall have to keep but were n t you unwise to sacrifice your poultry you always need eggs and don t cost much to keep why yes i shall miss em said but you see i had to do every way to get my rent money now the shop s shut down i have n t got any way of anything and i spent what little i ve saved through the summer your aunt ought to know it by aunt an ought to help you said mrs hand you re a real foolish person i must say i expect you do for her when she ought to do for you she s old an she s all the near relation i ve got said the little woman i ve always felt the time would come when she d need me but it s been her great pleasure to live alone an feel free i shall get along somehow but i shall have it hard somebody may want help for a spell this winter but i m afraid i shall have to give up my house t ain t as if i owned it i don t know just what to do but there ll be a way mrs hand shifted her two to the other arm and stepped across to the other side of the road where the ground looked a little no i wouldn t worry if i was you she said there i suppose if twas me i should worry a good deal more i i expect i should lay awake nights but answered nothing and they came to a steep place in the road and found another subject for conversation at the top your aunt don t know we re coming asked the chief guest of the occasion oh no i never send her word said by aunt miss she d be so desirous to get everything ready just as she used to she never seemed to make any trouble o company she always appeared so easy and pleasant and let you set with her while she made her preparations said mrs hand with great approval some has such a dreadful way of making you feel and you can t always send word you re i did have a visit once that s always been a lesson to me t was years ago i don t know s i ever told you i don t believe you ever did responded the listener to this somewhat indefinite well t was one hot summer afternoon i set forth an took a great long walk way over to mis s on the between the ma sh and s comer the doctor was that way an he give me a lift that it some at the last but i never should have started if i d known t was so far i had been all summer to go and every time i saw mis sundays she d say about it we wa n t very well acquainted but always friendly she moved here from hill by aunt oh yes i used to know her said with interest well now she did give me a beautiful welcome when i got there continued mrs hand t was about four o clock in the afternoon an i told her i d come to accept her invitation if twas convenient an the doctor had been called several miles beyond and expected to be detained but he was goin to pick me up as he returned about seven twas very kind of him she took me right in and she did appear so pleased an i must go right into the best room where t was cool and she said she d have tea early and i should have to excuse her a short time i asked her not to make any difference and if i could n t assist her but she said no i must just take her as i found her and she give me a large fan and off she went there i was glad to be still and rest where t was cool an i set there in the chair an enjoyed it for a while an i heard her at the oven door out beyond an out some dishes she was a brisk little woman an i thought i d caution her when she	40
it was hardly past the middle of the morning and there was no excuse for moving it was the long hour between the end of her slow morning work and the appointed time for beginning to get dinner she was so stiff and lame that this hour s rest was usually most welcome but to day she sat as if it were sunday and did not take up her old shallow basket of rags from the side of her i do hope make out to up to see me this afternoon as usual she continued i know t ain t so easy for her to get up the hill as it used to be but i by aunt do seem to want to see some o my own folks i wish t i d thought to send her word i expected her when went back after he came up here with the flour i d like to have had her come prepared to stop two or three days a little perched on the outside and his head sideways to look in and then impatiently at the glass the old woman laughed at him with childish pleasure and felt it was pleasant at that moment to see the life in even a bird s bright eye sign of a stranger she said as he his wings and flew away in a hurry i must throw out some for em it s getting to be hard for the birds she looked past the trees of her little orchard now with seeing eyes and followed the long forest slopes that led downward to the country she could see the two white of village and the map of fields and pastures along the valley beyond and the great hills across the valley to the westward the scattered houses looked like toys that had been scattered by children she knew their lights by night and watched the smoke of by aunt their chimneys by day far to the northward were higher mountains and these were already white with snow winter was already in sight but to day the wind was in the south and the snow seemed only part of a great picture i do hope the cold keep off a while longer thought mrs i don t know how i m going to get along after the deep snow comes the little dog suddenly as if he had had a bad dream and after giving a few anxious he began to bark his mistress tried as usual to appeal to his better feelings t ain t nobody tiger she said can t you have some patience maybe it s some foolish boys that s about with their guns but tiger kept on and even took the trouble to in on his short legs barking all the way he looked at her and then turned and ran out again then she saw him go hurrying down to the bars as if it were an occasion of unusual interest i guess somebody is he don t act as if t were a kind o noise must really be somebody in our lane and by aunt mrs smoothed her apron and gave an anxious housekeeper s glance round the kitchen none of her state visitors the minister or the ever came in the morning country people are usually too busy to go visiting in the presently two figures appeared where the road came out of the woods the two women already known to the story but very surprising to mrs the short thin one was easily recognized as and the taller stout one was soon discovered to be mrs hand their old friend s heart was in a glow as the guests approached they could see her pale face with its thin white hair framed under the close black silk handkerchief there she is at her window away exclaimed mrs hand but by the time they reached the she stood waiting to meet them why you two dear s she said with a beaming smile i don t know when i ve ever been so glad to see folks i had a kind of left all alone f this an i didn t even make bold to be certain o you though it looked so pleasant come right in an set down by aunt you re all out o breath ain t you mis hand mrs led the way with eager hospitality she was the little bent old creature her head was quick and alert and her eyes were bright with excitement and feeling but the rest of her was much the worse for age she could hardly move poor soul as if she had only a make believe of a body under a shoulder shawl and thick she got back to her chair again and the guests took off their in the bedroom and returned discreet and in their black dresses the lonely kitchen was with society at last to its mistress s heart s content they talked as fast as possible about the weather and how warm it had been walking up the mountain and how cold it had been a year ago that day when had been kept at home by a and missed her visit and i ain t seen you now aunt since the twenty eighth of september but i ve thought of you a great deal and looked forward to more n usual she ended with an affectionate glance at the pleased old face by the window by aunt i ve been to see you dear and how you was on said aunt kindly and i take it as a great attention to have you come to day mis hand she added turning again towards the more distinguished guest we have to put one thing against another i should hate dreadfully to live anywhere except on a high hill farm as i was bom an raised but there ain	40
t the chance to neighbor that has an i do seem to have more lonely hours than i used to when i was younger i don t know but i shall soon be too old to live alone and she turned to her niece with an expectant lovely look and smiled back i often wish i could run in an see you every day aunt she answered i have been so to mrs hand there how anybody does relish company when they don t have but a little of it i exclaimed aunt i am all alone to day there is going to be a match somewhere the other side o the mountain an that does my begged off to go when he brought the milk unusual early this he s about here all the fore part of the day but by aunt he don t go off with the boys very often and i like to have him have a little sport t was new year s day anyway he s a good boy for my wants why i wish you happy new year said springing up with unusual spirit why that s just what we come to say and we like to have forgot all about it i she kissed her aunt and stood a minute holding her hand with a soft affectionate touch mrs hand rose and kissed mrs and it was a moment of ceremony and deep feeling i always like to keep the day said the old hostess as they seated themselves and drew their chairs a little nearer together than before you see i was brought up to it and father made a good deal of it he said he liked to make it pleasant and give the year a fair start i can see him now how he used to be standing there by the fireplace when we came out o the two early in the morning an he always made out poor s he was to give us some little present and he d heap em up on the comer o the an we d stand front of him in a row and mother be bustling about breakfast by aunt one year he give me a beautiful copy o the life o general in a green cover i ve got it now but we child n bout read it to pieces an one year a nice piece o blue ribbon an that was your mother had a pink one father was real kind to his child n i thought o them early days when i first up this and i could n t help up then to the comer o the shelf just as i used to look there s so beautiful as to have a bright childhood to look back to said mrs hand sometimes i think child n has too hard a time now all the responsibility is put on to em since they take the lead o what to do an what they want and get to be so an twas happier in the old days when the fathers an mothers done the they say things have changed said aunt but staying right here i don t know much of any world but my own world did not in this conversation but sat in her straight backed chair with folded hands and the air of a good child the little old dog had followed by her in and now lay sound asleep again at her feet the front breadth of her black dress looked rusty and old in the sunshine that across it and the aunt s sharp eyes saw this and saw the careful was as neat as wax but she looked as if the frost had struck her i declare she s along in years thought aunt she begins to look sort o set and dried up does she ought n t to live all alone she s one that needs company at this moment looked up with new interest now aunt she said in her pleasant voice i don t want you to forget to tell me if there ain t some or i can do whilst i m here i know your hands trouble you some an i may s well tell you we re bent on all day an a good visit mis hand an me thank ye kindly said the old woman i do want a little done before long but t ain t no use to a good holiday her face took a resolved expression i m goin to m ke other arrangements she said no you need n t come up here to pass new year s day an be put right down to i make out to do what by aunt i need an to on my hooks an eyes i get to thread me up a good lot o needles every little while an that helps me a good deal why can t you step into the best room an bring out the chair i seem to want mis hand to have it i opened the window to let the sun in awhile said the niece as she returned it felt cool in there an shut up i thought of it not long before you come said mrs looking gratified once the taking of such a liberty would have been very provoking to her why it does seem good to have somebody think o things an take right hold like that i m sure you would if you were down at my house said blushing aunt i don t suppose you could feel as if t would be best to come down an pass the winter with me just the cold weather i mean you d see more folks to amuse you an i do think of you so anxious these long winter nights there was a terrible silence in the room	40
and miss felt her heart begin to beat very fast she did not dare to look at her at first by aunt presently the silence was broken aunt had been gazing out of the window and she turned towards them a little paler and older than before and smiling sadly well dear i u do just as you say she answered i m beat by age at last but i ve had my own way for eighty five years come the month o march an last winter i did use to lay awake an worry in the long storms i m kind o humble now about alone to what i was once at this moment a new light shone in her face i don t expect you d be to come up here an stay till spring not if i had s folks stop for you to ride to every pleasant sunday an take you down to the comers plenty o other times besides she said no i m too old to move now i should be down to the village if you come an stay with me all i have shall be yours mis hand hears me say it oh don t you think o that you re all i ve got near to me in the world an i come an welcome said though the thought of her own little home gave a hard at her heart yes aunt i u by aunt come an we be real comfortable together i ve been sometimes be best for both said mrs hand and so the great question was settled and suddenly without too much excitement it became a thing of the we must be o dinner said aunt i wish i was better prepared but there s nice eggs an pork an potatoes an you girls can take hold an help at this moment the roast chicken and the best were offered and kindly accepted and before another hour had gone they were sitting at their new year feast which mrs decided to be quite proper for the queen before the guests departed when the sun was getting low aunt called her niece to her side and took hold of her hand don t you make it too long now said she i shall be ye every day till you come but you must n t f what a set old thing i be had the kindest of hearts and was always longing for somebody to love and care for her aunt s very age and helplessness seemed to beg for pity by aunt this is saturday you may expect me the early part of the week and thank you too aunt said mrs hand stood by with deep sympathy it s the proper thing she announced calmly you d both of you be a sight happier and truth is s wild an reckless an needs somebody to stand right over her mis i guess she u try an behave but there there s no and they all laughed then the new year guests said farewell and started off down the mountain road they looked back more than once to see aunt s face at the window as she watched them out of sight miss was full of excitement she looked as happy as a child i feel as if we d gained the battle of said mrs hand i ve really had a most beautiful time you an your aunt must n t to invite me up some time again to spend another day by the night before thanks giving i there was a sad heart in the low dark little house that stood humbly by the roadside under some tall small as her house was old mrs found it too large for herself alone she only needed the kitchen and a tiny bedroom that led out of it and there still remained the best room and a bedroom with the low garret overhead there had been a time after she was left alone when mrs could help those who were poorer than herself she was strong enough not only to do a woman s work inside her house but almost a man s work outside in her piece of garden ground at last sickness and age had come hand in hand those two enemies of the poor and together they had wasted her strength and substance she had always been looked up to by her neighbors as being independent but now she was left lame by the night before footed and lame handed with a debt to carry and her bare land and the house ill to stand the siege of time for a while she managed to get on but at last it began to be whispered about that there was no use for any one so proud it was easier for the whole town to care for her than for a few neighbors and mrs had better go to the before winter and be done with it at this terrible suggestion her brave heart seemed to stand stiu the people whom she cared for most happened to be poor and she could no longer go into their to make herself of use the very elms overhead seemed to say oh no i as they groaned in the late autumn winds and there was something appealing even to the strange by in the look of the little gray house with mrs s pale worried face at the window n some one has said that are days to make other people happy in but sometimes when they come they seem to be full of shadows and the power of giving joy to others that right which by the night before ought to the heart the most indifferent sympathy sometimes even this seems to be withdrawn so poor old mary ann sat at her window on the afternoon before and felt herself poor and sorrowful	40
indeed across the frozen road she looked eastward over a great stretch of cold meadow land brown and wind swept and crossed by icy it seemed to her as if before this in all the troubles that she had known and carried there had always been some hope to hold as if she had never looked poverty full in the face and seen its cold and pitiless look before she looked anxiously down the road with a horrible shrinking and dread at the thought of being asked out of pity to join in some feast but there was nobody coming with gifts in hand once she had been full of love for such days whether at home or abroad but something chilled her very heart now her nearest neighbor had been foremost of those who wished her to go to the town farm and he had said more than once that it was the only sensible thing but john was waiting impatiently to get her tiny farm into his own hands he had ad by the night before some money upon it in her extremity and pretended that there was still a debt after he cleared her wood lot to pay himself back he would plough over the graves in the field comer and fell the great elms and waited now like a spider for his poor prey he often reproached her for being too generous to worthless people in the past and coming to be a charge to others now oh if she could only die in her own house and not suffer the pain of and dependence i it was just at sunset and as she looked out hopelessly across the gray fields there was a sudden gleam of light far away on the low hills beyond the clouds opened in the west and let the sunshine through one lovely gleam shot swift as an arrow and brightened a far cold where it fell and at the same moment a sudden gleam of hope brightened the winter landscape of her heart there was said mary ann softly he was a soldier s son left an orphan and distressed old john but i could n t see the poor boy in want i kept him that year after he got hurt spite o what anybody said an by the night before he helped me what little he could he said i was the only mother he d ever had i m goin out west mother says he i sha n t come back till i get rich an then he d look at me an laugh so pleasant and boyish he wa n t one that liked to write i don t think he was very well when i heard there it s most four years ago now i always thought if he got sick or anything i should have a good home for him to come to there s poor the deaf one too he won t have any place to welcome him the light faded out of doors and again mrs s troubles stood before her yet it was not so dark as it had been in her sad heart she stiu sat by the window hoping now in spite of herself instead of fearing and a curious feeling of and made her feel not so much as light headed i feel just as if was goin to happen she said poor perhaps he s o me if he s it was dark now out of doors and there were tiny against the window it was beginning to snow and the great elms in the rising wind overhead by the night before m a dead limb of one of the old trees had fallen that autumn and poor as it might be it was mrs s own and she had burnt it most there was only a small left but at least she could have the luxury of a fire she had a feeling that it was her last night at home and with strange began to fill the stove as she used to do in better days it get me good an warm she said still talking to herself as lonely people do an i go to bed early it s on to storm the snow faster and faster against the window and she sat alone thinking in the dark there s lots of folks i love she said once they d be sorry i ain t got nobody to come an no supper the night afore i m dreadful glad they don t know and she drew a little nearer to the fire and laid her head back in the old rocking chair it seemed only a moment before there was a loud knocking and somebody lifted the latch of the door the fire shone bright by the night before through the front of the stove and made a little light in the room but mary ann up frightened and bewildered who s there she called as she found her and went to the door she was only conscious of her one great fear they ve come to take me to the she said and burst into tears there was a tall man not john who seemed to fill the narrow doorway come let me in he said it s a cold night you did n t expect me did you mother dear me what is it she faltered stepping back as he came in and dropping her be i i was a about oh there what was i a t ain t true no i ve made some kind of a mistake yes and this was the man who kept the and she would go without complaint they might have given her notice but she must not fret sit down sir she said turning toward him with touching patience you have to give me a little time if i d been	40
are almost wholly overlooked it is fi om a high jf thi importance of this class in the moral worth of our country that i have addressed my remarks especially to them and in order to do so with more effect i have ventured to penetrate into the familiar scenes of domestic life and have thus endeavoured to lay bare some of the causes which frequently lie hidden at the root of general conduct had i not known before the commencement of this work its progress would soon have convinced me that in order to perform my task with preface and i must all idea of what b called fine writing because the very nature of the duty i have undertaken me to the consideration of subjects too minute in themselves to admit of their being upon with eloquence by the writer too familiar to produce upon the reader any startling effect had i even felt within myself a for treating any subject in this manner i should have been willing in this instance to resign all opportunity of such display if by so doing i could more clearly point out to my by what means they may best meet that pressing of the times which so demands a fresh exercise of moral power on their part to win back to the homes of england the boasted felicity for which they once were anxious as i am to avoid the charge of unnecessary trifling on a subject so serious as the moral worth of the women of england there is beyond this a consideration of far higher importance to which i would invite the candid attention of the serious part of the public while i offer what appears to me a sufficient apology for having written a book on the subject of morals without having made it strictly religious i should be sorry indeed if by so preface doing i brought upon myself the suspicion of yielding for one moment to the belief that there is any other sure foundation for good morals than correct religious principle but i do believe that with the divine blessing a foundation may be laid in early life before the heart has been illuminated by divine truth or has experienced its power for those domestic habits and relative duties which in after life will materially assist the development of the christian character and i am the more convinced of this because we sometimes see in sincere and devoted christians such peculiarities of conduct as materially hinder their usefulness such habits as they themselves would be glad to escape from but which continue to cling around them in their earthly course like the of weeds in the traveller s path it may perhaps more fully illustrate my view of this important subject to say that those who would train up young people without the cultivation of moral habits trusting solely to the future influence of religion upon their hearts are like who while they wait for their bark to be safely guided out to sea allow their sails to swing idly in the wind their to become entangled and the preface ix general of their vessel to suffer injury and decay so that when the pilot on board they lose much of the advantage of his services and fail to derive the anticipated benefit from his presence all that i would venture to recommend with regard to morals is that the order and right government of the vessel should as far as is possible be maintained so that when the hope of better and guidance is realized and the heavenly pilot in his own good time arrives all things may be ready nothing out of order and nothing wanting for a safe and prosperous voyage it is therefore solely to the cultivation of habits that i have confined my attention to the minor morals of domestic life and i have done this because there are so many pens than mine employed in teaching and the essential truths of religion because there is an evident tendency in society as it exists in the present day to overlook these minor points and because it is impossible for them to be neglected without serious injury to the christian character contents chapter l characteristics of the women of england chapter n of the women of england chapter in modem education chapter iv dress and manners chapter v conversation of the women of england m chapter vi conversation chapter domestic habits consideration and kindness chapter viii domestic habits consideration and kindness chapter ix domestic habits consideration and kindness chapter x domestic consideration and kindness chapter xl social love of admiration chapter public pecuniary integrity chapter xiii habits and intellectual employment of time balance of women of england chapter i of the of country has its peculiar characteristics not only of climate and scenery of public institutions and laws but every country has also its character upon which is founded its true title to a station either high or low in the scale of nations the national characteristics of england are the perpetual boast of her patriotic sons and there is one especially which it all british subjects not only to in but to cherish and maintain leaving the justice of her laws the extent of her commerce and the amount of her resources to the orator the and the political there yet remains one of the noblest features in her national character which may not be regarded as within the compass of a woman s understanding and the province of a woman s pen it is the domestic character of england the home comforts and fireside virtues for which she is so justly celebrated these i hope to be able to speak of without presumption as intimately of associated with and dependent upon the moral feelings and habits of the women of this favoured country it	41
is therefore in reference to these alone that i shall endeavour to treat the subject of england s and in order to do this with more precision it is necessary to draw the line of observation within a circle and to describe what are the characteristics of the women of england i ought perhaps in strict propriety to say what were their characteristics because i would justify the of a work like this by first that the women of england are in their moral character and that false notions of refinement are rendering them less influential less useful and less happy than they were in speaking of what english women were i would not be understood to refer to what they were a century ago in the way of mental improvement have greatly increased during this period in with moral discipline these are invaluable but i consider the two as having been combined in the greatest perfection in the general average of women who have now attained to middle or rather advanced age when the cultivation of the mental faculties had so far advanced as to take of the moral by leaving no time for domestic usefulness and the practice of personal exertion in the way of general happiness the character of the women of england assumed a aspect which is now beginning to tell upon society in the sickly the feeble frames and the useless habits of the rising generation the women of in stating this humiliating fact i must be blind indeed to the most cheering aspect of modern society not to perceive that there are signal instances of women who carry about with them into every sphere of domestic duty even the most humble and obscure the accomplishments and of modern education and who deem it rather an honour than a degradation to be permitted to add to the sum of human happiness by the of mind and manners over the homely and aspect of every day existence such however do not constitute the majority of the female population of great britain by far the greater portion of the young ladies for they are no longer of the present day are distinguished by a morbid list lo ss w of mind and body except when under the influence of a constant for excitement and an eagerness to escape from every thing like practical and individual duty of course i speak of those whose minds are not under the influence of religious principle would ib t the exception could extend to all who to be governed by this principle gentle delicate and amiable as many young ladies are it seems an task to attempt to rouse them from their summer dream and were it not that wintry days will come and the surface of life be and the even she who the smallest bark be put upon the inquiry for what port she is really bound were it not that the cry of utter helplessness is of no avail in from the waters of and the plea of ignorance unheard upon the far extending and deep of ocean of experience and the question of perpetually sounding like the voice of a warning spirit above the storms and the of this lower world i would be one of the very last to call the back to a consciousness of present things but this state of indifference my sisters must not be you have deep you have urgent claims a nation s moral wealth is in your keeping let us inquire then in what way it may be best preserved let us consider what you are and have been and by what peculiarities of feeling and habit you have been able to throw so much additional weight into the scale of your country s worth in order to speak with precision of the characteristics of any class of people it is necessary to confine our attention as much as possible to that portion of the class where such characteristics are most prominent and avoiding the two extremes where circumstances not peculiar to that are supposed to operate to take the middle or inter portion as a specimen of the whole napoleon was accustomed to speak of the english nation as a nation of and when we consider the number the and the respectability of that portion of the inhabitants who are directly or in directly connected with our trade and it does indeed appear to constitute the mass of english society and may justly be considered as exhibiting the most striking and proofs of what are the peculiar character of the people of england it is not therefore from the aristocracy of the land that the characteristics of english women should be taken because the higher the thb of ly and the the of communication with other countries the more are foreign manner and modes of thinking and acting common to that class of society in other countries neither is it amongst the and most laborious of the community that we can with propriety look for those strong features of which stamp the moral character of different nations because the of mere physical wants and the pressure of and necessary labour naturally induce a certain degree of resemblance in social feelings and domestic habits amongst people to whatever country they may belong in looking around then upon our nation of shop keep ers we readily perceive that by dividing society into three classes as regards what is commonly called rank the middle class must include so vast a portion of the int li and moral power of the country at large that it may not be the pillar of our nation s strength its base being the important class of the laborious poor and its rich and highly ornamental capital the ancient nobility of the land in no other country is society thus beautifully and england should beware of any from the order and of her national column	41
there never was a more short sighted view of society than that by which the women of our country have learned to look with envious eyes upon their in rank to rival their to imitate their manners and to pine for the luxuries they enjoy and consequently to look down with contempt upon the and means a of of happiness the women of england were once better satisfied with that of divine wisdom by which they were placed in their proper sphere they were satisfied to do with their own hands what they now leave undone or that they cannot have others to do for them a system of philosophy was once in france by which it was attempted to be proved that so much of the power and the cleverness of man was to his hand that but for a slight in the formation of this organ in some of the inferior animals they would have been entitled to rank in the same class with him whatever may be said of the of man s hand i believe the feminine of being able to use the hand willingly and well has a great deal to do with the moral influence of woman the personal services she is thus enabled to render her value in the domestic circle and when such services are performed with the energy of a sound understanding and the grace of an accomplished above all with the disinterested kindness of a generous heart they not only the but confer happiness as well as obligation indeed so great is the charm of personal attentions arising from the heart that women of the highest rank in society and far removed fix m the necessity of individual exertion are frequently observed to adopt habits of personal kindness towards others not only as the means of giving pleasure but as a natural and grateful relief to the of their own affections there is a principle in woman s love that renders it im of possible for her to be satisfied without actually doing something for the object of her i speak only of woman in her refined and elevated character vanity can itself with admiration and selfishness can feed upon services received but woman s love is an overflowing and fountain that must be perpetually om the source of its own it needs but slight experience to know that the mere act of loving our does little towards the promotion of their happiness the human heart is not so as to continue to believe in affection without practical proof thus the of mutual kind offices a confidence which cannot be made to grow out of any other foundation and while gratitude is added to the connecting link the character on each side is strengthened by the personal energy required for the performance of every duty there may exist great sympathy kindness and benevolence of feeling without the power of bringing any of these emotions into exercise for the benefit of others they exist as emotions only and thus the means which appear to us as the most gracious and of any that could have been adopted by our heavenly father for rousing us into necessary exertion are permitted to die away fruitless and in the breast where they ought to have as a blessing and a means of happiness to others it is not uncommon to find amiable individuals who sink under a weight of and suffer from innate selfishness a gradual of mind perpetually their own inability to do good it would be to doubt their sincerity in these regrets we so ov therefore only conclude that the want of habits of personal usefulness has rendered them mentally and physically whereas had the same individuals been early accustomed to bodily exertion promptly and cheerfully performed on the spur of the moment without waiting to question whether it was agreeable or not the very act of exertion would have become a pleasure and the benevolent purpose to which such exertions might be applied a source of the highest enjoyment time was when the women of england were accustomed almost from their childhood to the constant employment of their hands it might be sometimes in elaborate works of fancy now for their want of taste and stiu more frequently in household now fallen into from their with modern refinement i cannot speak with praise of all the objects on which they bestowed their attention but if it were possible t would write in characters of gold the fact that the habits of industry and personal exertion thus acquired gave them a strength and dignity of character a er of usefulness and a of doing good which the higher theories of modern education fail to impart they were in some instances less qualified for travelling on the continent without an but the women of whom i am speaking seldom went abroad their sphere of action was at their own fire sides and the world in which they moved was one where pleasure of the highest purest order naturally and necessarily arises out of acts of duty faithfully performed perhaps it may be necessary to be more specific in ths women of describing the class of women to which this work relates it is then strictly speaking to those who to that great mass of the population of england which is connected with trade and in order to make the application more direct to that portion of it who are to the services of from one to four who on the one hand enjoy the advantages of a liberal education and on the other have no to family rank it is however impossible but that many from these lines of must occur in consequence of the great change in their pecuniary circumstances which many families during a short period experience and the indefinite order of rank and station in which the of me are enjoyed or its endured there is	41
also this peculiarity to be taken into account in our view of english society that the acquisition of wealth with the advantages it is all that is necessary for advancement to aristocratic dignity while on the other hand so completely is the nation dependent upon her commercial resources that it is no uncommon thing to see individuals who lately amongst the aristocracy suddenly driven by the failure of some bank or some speculation into the lowest walks of life and compelled to mingle with the laborious poor these ts are strong evidence in favour of a system of conduct that would enable all women to sink gracefully and without murmuring against providence into a lower grade of society it is easy to learn to enjoy but it is not easy to learn to suffer any woman of respectable education possessing a well of regulated mind might move with ease and dignity into a higher sphere than that to which she had heen accustomed hut few women whose hands have heen idle all their lives can feel themselves compelled to do the necessary labour of a household without a feeling of indescribable hardship too frequently productive of a secret murmuring against the by which she was reduced to such a lot it is from the class of females above described that we naturally look for the highest tone of moral feeling because they are at the same time removed from the pressing necessities of absolute poverty and admitted to the intellectual privileges of the great and thus while they enjoy every facility in the way of acquiring knowledge it is their still higher privilege not to be from the domestic duties which call forth the best energies of the where abound and there is a hired hand for every kindly office it would be a work of for the mistress of the house to step forward and assist with her own but where are few and the individuals who compose the household are thrown upon the tion of the mothers wives and daughters for their daily comfort innumerable channels are opened for the of those floods of human kindness which it is one of the happiest and most duties of woman to administer to the weary frame and to pour into the wounded mind it is perhaps the nearest approach we can make towards any thing like a definition of what is most striking in the characteristics of the women of england to say that the of nature of their domestic circumstances is such as to invest their characters with the recommendation of in energy of thought and benevolence of feeling with all the of family comfort and social enjoyment resting upon them and by those troops of who throng the halls of the and the great they are kept alive to the necessity of making their own personal exertions to the great end of the happiness of those around them they cannot sink into or suffer any of their daily duties to be neglected but some beloved member of the household is made to feel the consequences by enduring which it is alike their pride and their pleasure to remove the frequently of domestic life admit of no delay when the performance of any kindly office has to be asked for and re it loses more than half its charm it is therefore strictly in keeping with the fine tone of an elevated character to be beforehand with expectation and thus to show by the most delicate yet most effectual of all human means that the object of attention even when unheard and unseen has been the subject of kind and affectionate by experience in these apparently minute affairs a woman of kindly feeling and properly mind soon to her actions also according to the principles of true wisdom and hence arises that energy of thought for which the women of england are so peculiarly distinguished every passing event however insignificant to the eye of the world has its crisis every occurrence its emergency every cause its effect and upon these she has ti of to calculate with precision or the machinery of household comfort is arrested in its movements and thrown into dis order woman however would but ill supply the place appointed her by providence were she endowed with no other faculties than those of in action and energy of thought valuable as these may be they would render her but a cold and cheerless companion without the kindly affections and tender offices that human life it is a high privilege then which the women of england enjoy to be necessarily and by the force of circumstances thrown upon their affections for the rule of their conduct in daily ufe what shall i do to gratify myself to be admired or to vary the tenor of my existence are not the questions which a woman of right feeling asks on first to the of the day much more congenial to the highest attributes of woman s character are inquiries such as these how shall i endeavour through this day to turn the time the health and the means permitted me to enjoy to the best account is any one sick i must visit their chamber without delay and try to give their apartment an air of comfort by arranging such things as the wearied nurse may not have thought of is any one about to set off on a journey i must see that the early meal is spread ro prepare it with my own hands in order that the servant who was working late last night may profit by unbroken rest did i fail in what was kind or considerate to any of the family yesterday i meet her this morning with a cordial welcome and show in the most way i can that i am anxious to for the past was any one ex the of england by the last day s exertion i	41
will be an hour before them this morning and let them see that their labour is so much in advance or if nothing extraordinary occurs to claim my attention i will meet the family with a consciousness that being the least engaged of any member of it i am consequently the most at to devote myself to the general good of the whole by cheerful conversation myself to the tone of feeling and leading those who are least happy to think and speak of what will make them more so who can believe that days months and years spent in a continual course of thought and action similar to this will not produce a powerful effect upon the character and not upon the individual who thinks and acts alone but upon all to whom her influence extends in short the customs of english society have so constituted women the of the comfort of their homes that like the of old they cannot allow the lamp they cherish to be extinguished or to fail for want of oil without an equal share of degradation to their names in other countries where the domestic lamp is voluntarily put out in order to allow the women to resort to the opera or the festival they are not only careless about their home comforts but necessarily ignorant of the high degree of excellence to which they might be raised in england there is a kind of science of good household management which if it consisted merely in keeping the house respectable in its physical character might be left to the working out of hired hands but happily for the women of england there is a philosophy in this science of by which all their highest and best feelings are called into exercise not only must the house be neat and clean but it must be so ordered as to suit the tastes of all as far as may be without annoyance or offence to any not only must a constant system of activity be established but peace must be preserved or happiness will be destroyed not only must elegance be called in to adorn and the whole but strict integrity must be maintained by the calculation as to lawful means and self and self must be made the yielding point in every disputed case not only must an appearance of outward order and comfort be kept up but around every domestic scene there must be a strong wall of confidence which no internal suspicion can no external enemy break through good household management conducted on this plan is indeed a science well worthy of attention it so much as to invest it with an air of difficulty on the first view but no woman can reasonably complain of because nature has endowed the sex with so lively and acute that where is the impulse and principle the foundation upon which they act experience will soon teach them by what means they may best accomplish the end they have in view they will soon learn by experience that selfishness produces selfishness that with every hour of indulgence that what is left undone because it is difficult to day will be doubly difficult to morrow that kindness and compassion to answer any desirable end must one be practical the other delicate in its nature that affection of t be kept alive by to its necessities and above all that religion must be recommended by of character and conduct it is the strong evidence of truths like these wrought out of their daily experience and forced upon them as of action which renders the women of england what they are or rather were and which fits them for becoming able instruments in the promotion of public and private good for all must allow that it is to the exertions and faithful labours of women o this class that england chiefly owes the support of some of her noblest and most institutions while it is to their and that the unfortunate and afflicted are indebted for the only sympathy the only kind attention that ever reaches their obscure or cheerfulness and comfort through the solitary chambers of suffering and sickness the only aid that the victims of and want the only consolation that ever visits the desolate and degraded in their wretchedness and despair i acknowledge there are noble instances in the annals of english history and perhaps never more than at the present day g women of the highest rank their time and their property to objects of benevolence but from the nature of their early habits and domestic circumstances they are upon the whole less fitted for practical usefulness than those who move within a lower sphere i am also fully sensible of the which abound amongst the poor and often have i been led to compare the actual of merit of the magnificent of those who know not one comfort the less with that of the poor man s offering and the widow s stiu my opinion remains the same that in the situation of the middle class of women in england are combined advantages in the formation of character to which they owe much of their distinction and their country much of her moral worth the true english woman accustomed to bear about with her her energies for daily use her affections for daily happiness and her delicate for in the discovery of what is best to do or to leave undone by this means an insight into human nature a power of and a readiness of application of the right means to the desired end which not only render her the most valuable friend but the most delightful of fireside companions because she is thus enabled to point the moral and adorn the simplest tale with all those formed ideas which arise out of actual experience and the contemplation of truth amongst their other characteristics the women of england are	41
frequently spoken of as in their manners and in their affections but their and embarrassed manner as frequently a delicacy that the most refined and elevated sentiment to their acts of duty and regard and those know them best are compelled to acknowledge that all the passions the deepest and the highest aspirations of humanity may be found within the brooding quiet of an english woman s heart thb women of there are flowers that burst upon us and the eye with the splendour of their beauty we gaze until we are dazzled and then turn away remembering nothing but their gorgeous hues there are others that refresh the traveller by the sweetness they but he has to search for the source of his delight he finds it amongst green leaves it may be less lovely than he had anticipated in its form and colour but oh how welcome is the memory of that flower when the evening breeze is again made fragrant with its perfume it is thus that the virtues of the female character force themselves upon our regard so that the woman herself is nothing in comparison with her attributes and we remember less the celebrated than her who made us happy nor is it by their frequent and services alone that english women are distinguished the proportion of them were and thoughtful readers it was not with them a point of importance to every book that was written as soon as it came out they were satisfied to single out the best and making themselves with every page conversed with the writer as with a friend and felt that with minds superior but yet to their own they could make friends indeed in this manner their solitude was cheered their hours of labour and m conversation rendered at once and instructive this was preserved from the of common place by the peculiar nature of their social and mental habits they were accustomed to think for ov deprived in some measure of access to what might he esteemed the highest authorities in matters of sentiment and taste they drew their conclusions from reasoning and their reasoning from actual observation it is true their sphere of observation was ic compared with that of the individual who the means of from court to court and of mixing with the polished society of every nation but an acute vision directed to immediate objects whatever they may be will discover as much of the wonders of creation and supply the intelligent mind with food for reflection as valuable as that which is the result of a widely extended view where the objects though more numerous are consequently less distinct thus the domestic woman moving in a comparatively limited circle is not necessarily confined to a number of ideas but can often upon subjects of mere local interest with a vigour of intellect a freshness of feeling and a of fancy which create in the mind of the stranger a perfect longing to be admitted into the home associations from whence are derived such a world of amusement and so a from the duties of life it is not from the acquisition of ideas but from the of them that conversation its greatest charm thus an exceedingly well informed may be tedious while one who is comparatively ignorant as regards mere facts having brought to bear upon every subject contemplated a lively imagination combined with a sound judgment and a memory stored not only with dates thb of land and historical events but with strong and clear impressions of familiar things may the attention of his hearers and them for the time into a distinctness of impression which a degree of delightful complacency both to his hearers and to the himself in the exercise of this kind of tact the women of england when they can be induced to cast off their shyness and reserve are peculiarly excellent and there is consequently an originality in their humour a firmness in their reasoning and a tone of delicacy in their scarcely to be found elsewhere in the same degree and combined in the same manner nor should it ever be forgotten in speaking of their peculiar merits that the freshness and the charm of their conversation is reserved for their own for moments when the wearied frame is most in need of when the mind is thrown upon its own resources for the restoration of its exhausted powers and when home associations and home affections are the which the wounded spirit needs but above all other characteristics of the women of england the strong moral feeling even their most trifling and familiar actions ought to be mentioned as most to the maintenance of that high place which they so justly claim in the society of their native land the apparent coldness and reserve of english women ought only to be regarded as a means adopted for the preservation of their purity of mind an evil if you choose to call it so but an evil of so mild a nature in comparison with that which it wards off that it may with truth be said to lean to virtue s side of i have said before that the sphere of a domestic woman s observation is she is therefore sensible of defects within that sphere which to a more extended vision would be if she looked abroad for her happiness she would be less disturbed by any falling off at home if her interest and her energies were diffused through a wider range she would be less alive to the claims upon her attention it is possible she may sometimes attach too much importance to the of her own domestic world especially when her mind is imperfectly cultivated and informed but on the other hand there arises from the same cause a scrupulous a of the means of happiness a delicacy of perception a purity of mind and a dignified of	41
their good will by assuring them that all which is most lovely poetical and interesting nay even heroic in women its existence from the source i am now about to open to their view with all the ability i am able to command and would it were a for their the kind of encouragement i would hold out to them is however of a nature so widely different from the compliments to which they are too much accustomed that i feel the difficulty existing in the present day of a ambition in the female mind without the aid of public praise or printed records of the actual product of their exertions the sphere of woman s happiest and most influence is a domestic one but it is not easy to even to her quiet and virtues that of approbation which they really deserve without exciting a desire to the homely household duties of the family circle to practise such as are more th op conspicuous and consequently more of an harvest of applause i say this with all kindness and i desire to say it all gentleness to the young the and am at the same time that my perception of the temptation to which they are exposed my value for the principle that is able to withstand it and my tion of those noble minded women who are able to carry forward with patience and perseverance the public offices of benevolence without sacrificing their home duties and who thus prove to the world that the of female character is a combination of private and public virtue of domestic charity and zeal for the and eternal happiness of the whole human race no one can be farther than the writer of these pages from wishing to point out as objects of those domestic who because of some between operations and the natural tone and character of their own minds prefer the kitchen to the of their own free choice employ their whole lives in the constant bustle of providing for mere animal appetite and waste their ingenuity in the creation of new wants and wishes which all their faculties again are to supply this class of individuals have by a sad mistake in our been called and hence in some degree may arise the reception which this valuable word is apt to meet with in female society it does not require much consideration to perceive that these are not the women to give a high moral tone to the national character of england yet so entirely do human d actions derive their dignity or their meanness from the motives by which they are prompted that it is no tion of truth to say the most may be by the self sacrifice the patience the cheerful submission to duty with which it is performed thus a high minded and intellectual woman is never more truly great than when willingly and performing kind offices for the sick and much as may be said and said justly in praise of the public virtues of women the voice of nature is so powerful in every human heart that could the question of superiority on these two points be universally proposed a response would be heard throughout the world in favour of woman in her private and domestic character nor would the higher and more powers of use fulness with which women are endowed suffer from want of exercise did they devote themselves to their duties i am rather inclined to think they would receive additional vigour from the healthy tone of their own minds and the leisure and liberty afforded by the regularity of their household affairs time would never hang heavily on their hands but each moment being with care and every agent acting under their influence being properly chosen and instructed they would find ample opportunity to go forth on errands of mercy secure that in their absence the machinery they had set in motion would still continue to work and to work well but if on the other hand all was and neglect at home filial appeals domestic comforts husbands sons and brothers referred to servants for all the little offices of social kindness in order thb women of england that the ladies of the family might hurry away at the appointed time to some committee room scientific lecture or public assembly however the object for which they met there would be sufficient cause why their cheeks should be with the blush of burning shame when they heard the women of england and their virtues spoken of in that high tone of approbation and applause which those who only to be about their master s business will feel little pleasure in listening to and which those whose charity has not begun at home ought never to appropriate to themselves it is a widely mistaken notion to suppose that the sphere of usefulness recommended here is a humiliating and degraded one as if the earth that and in its lovely bosom the roots of all the plants and trees which ornament the garden of the world feeding them from her secret with supplies that never fail were less important in the economy of vegetation than the sun that brings to light their and their flowers or the genial atmosphere that their growth and their perfume upon the earth to carry out the still further it is but just to give the preference to that element which in the absence of all other circumstances not its support but when the sun is and the showers forget to fall and winds go forth and the hand of culture is withdrawn still opens out its hidden fountains and up its resources to to cherish and sustain it would be an easy and a grateful task thus by and illustration to prove the various and io of peculiarities of woman did not the utility of the present	41
be filled up by other hands time will prove to them they written if not by any direct by their example their conversation and the natural influence of mind on mind experience will prove to them they have written and the of what they have written will be up either for or against them amongst the records of eternity it is therefore not only false in reasoning but wrong in principle for women to assert as they not do with a degree of that they have no influence an influence either with good or evil they must have and though the one may be above their ambition and the other beyond their fears by to obtain an influence which be to society they ot assume a bad one just in the same proportion as their selfishness or o mind render them in youth an easy prey to species of temper in middle age the of mental disease and long before the curtain of death their from the world a burden and a to society at large a superficial might rank with this class many of those women who pass to and upon the earth with noiseless step whose names are never heard and who even in society if they attempt to speak have scarcely the ability to command an attentive audience yet amongst this class are found striking and noble instances of women who apparently feeble and when called into action by pressing and peculiar circumstances can accomplish great and glorious purposes supported and carried forward by that most valuable of all power and just in proportion as women cultivate this faculty under the blessing of heaven of all personal attractions and by any high in learning or art is their influence over their fellow creatures and consequently their power of doing good it is not to be presumed that women possess more moral power than men but happily for them such are their early impressions associations and general position in the that their moral feelings are less liable to be by the pecuniary objects which too often constitute the chief end of man and which even under the of better principle necessarily engage a large portion of his thoughts tub of there are many humble minded women not remarkable for any particular intellectual who yet possess so clear a sense of the right and wrong of individual actions as to be of essential service in the judgments of their husbands brothers or sons in those intricate affairs in which it is sometimes difficult to worldly wisdom from religious duty to men belongs the potent i had almost said the consideration of worldly and it is constantly their steps closing their ears against the voice of conscience and them with the promise of peace where peace was never found long before the boy has learned to in the dignity of the man his has become to the habit of with supreme importance all considerations relating to the ac of wealth he hears on the sabbath and on ed occasions when men meet for that especial purpose of a god to be worshipped a to be trusted in and a holy law to be observed but he sees before him every day and every hour a strife which is nothing less than deadly to the highest impulses of the soul another the of the of this world and believing rather what men do than what they preach he too soon to mingle with the living mass and to unite his labors with theirs to unite alas there is no union in the great field of action in which he is engaged but envy and hatred and opposition to the close of the day every man s hand against his brother and each to himself not merely by upon his foe but by the place of his weaker brother of who by his side from not having brought an equal portion of strength unto the conflict and who is consequent ly borne down by numbers hurried over and forgotten this may be an extreme but it is scarcely an exaggerated picture of the engagements of men of business in the present day and surely they now need more than ever all the assistance which providence has kindly provided to win them away from this warfare to remind them that they are hastening on towards a world into which none of the treasures they are can be admitted and next to those influences which operate through the medium of revelation or through the mysterious of divine love i have little hesitation in saying that the society of woman in her highest moral capacity is best calculated to this purpose how often has man returned to his home with a mind confused by the many voices which in the the exchange or the public assembly have addressed themselves to his selfishness or his worldly pride and while his integrity was shaken and his resolution gave way beneath the pressure of apparent necessity or the of he has corrected before the clear eye of woman as it looked directly to the naked truth and detected the lurking evil of the act he was about to commit nay so potent may have become this secret influence that he may have borne it about with him like a kind of second conscience for mental reference and spiritual counsel in moments of trial and when the of the world were around him and temptations from within and without have over the witness in his own the women of bosom he has thought of the who sat alone guarding the fireside comforts of his distant home and the remembrance of her character clothed in moral beauty has scattered the clouds before his mental vision and sent him back to that beloved home a wiser and a better man the women of england possessing the grand privilege of being better instructed than those of any other country	41
in the of domestic comfort have obtained a degree of importance in society far beyond what their virtues would appear to claim the long established customs of their country have placed in their hands the high and holy duty of and protecting the minor morals of life from whence springs all that is elevated in purpose and glorious in action the sphere of their direct personal influence is central and consequently small but its extreme operations are as widely extended as the range of human feeling they may be less striking in society than some of the women of other countries and may feel themselves on brilliant and stirring occasions as simple rude and in the popular science of excitement but as far as the noble daring of britain has sent forth her adventurous sons and that is to every point of danger on the globe they have borne along with them a generosity a and a moral courage derived in no small measure from the female influence of their native country it is a fact well worthy of our most serious attention and one which bears immediately upon the subject under consideration that the present state of our national of is such as to indicate that the influence o woman in the growing evils of society is about to be more needed than ever in our imperfect state of being we seldom attain any great or national good without its accompaniment of evil and every improvement proposed for the general has upon some individual or some class of individuals an effect which it requires a fresh exercise of energy and principle to guard against thus the great of communication not only throughout our own country but with distant parts of the world are rousing men of every description to exertion in the field of competition in which they are engaged so that their whole being is becoming swallowed up in efforts and calculations relating to their pecuniary success if to grow or indifferent in the race were only to lose the goal many would be glad to pause but such is the nature of commerce and trade as at present carried on in this country that to in exertion ia altogether to fail i would fain hope and believe of my countrymen that many of the rational and enlightened would now be willing to reap smaller gains if by so doing they could enjoy more leisure but a business only half attended to soon ceases to be a business at all and the man of enlightened understanding who his for the sake of hours of leisure must be content to spend them in the s department of a jail thus it is not with single individuals that the blame can be made to rest the fault is in the system and happy will it be for thousands of immortal souls when this system shall correct itself in the mean time may it not be said to thb of be the especial duty of women to look around them and see in what way they can this evil by calling back the attention of man to those spots in his existence by which the growth of his moral feelings have been and his heart improved we cannot believe of the fathers who watched over our childhood of the husbands who shared our intellectual pursuits of the brothers who went hand in hand with us in our love of poetry and nature that they are all gone over to the side of that there does not in some comer of their hearts a secret longing to return yet every morning brings the same hurried and indifferent parting every evening the same speechless until we almost fail to recognise the man in the machine english homes have been much boasted of by english le both at home and abroad what would a foreigner think of those neat and sometimes elegant which form a circle of comparative around our cities and our trading towns what would he think when told that the fathers of those families have not time to see their children except on the sabbath day and that the mothers impatient and anxious to consult them about some of their domestic plans have to wait perhaps for days before they can find them for five minutes disengaged either from actual exertion or from that sleep which necessarily upon them immediately the over excitement of the day has permitted them a moment of repose and these are rational intellectual and beings a course of discipline by which they are to be fitted for eternal existence what woman influence of can look on without asking is there nothing i can do to call them back surely there is but it never can be done by the cultivation of those faculties which contribute only to selfish gratification since her society is shared for so short a time she must endeavour to make those moments more rich in blessing and since her influence is limited to so small a range of immediate operation it should be rendered so potent as to mingle with the whole existence of those she loves will an increase of intellectual or a higher style of accomplishments this purpose will the common place of morning calls or an interminable range of superficial reading enable them to assist their brothers their husbands or their sons in becoming happier and better men no let the aspect of society be what it may man is a social being and beneath the hard surface he puts on to fit him for the wear and tear of every day he has a heart as true to the kindly of our nature as that of woman as true though not as suddenly awakened to every passing call he has therefore need of all her services and under the pressure of the present times he needs them more than ever to foster in his nature and	41
establish in his character that higher tone of feeling without which he can enjoy nothing beyond a kind of animal existence but with which he may faithfully pursue the necessary of the day and keep as it were a separate soul for his family his social duty and his god there is another point of consideration by which this necessity for a higher degree of female influence is greatly in the of and it is one which much that is interesting to those who to be the of their country s worth the british throne being now by a female sovereign the promise of whose early years seems to form a new era in the annals of our nation and to inspire with brighter hopes and firmer confidence the of her expectant people it is surely not a time for the female part of the community to foil away from the high standard of moral excellence to which they have been accustomed to look in the formation of their domestic habits rather let them show forth the benefits arising from their more enlightened systems of education by proving to their youthful sovereign that whatever plan she may think it right to sanction for the moral advancement of her subjects and the promotion of their true interests as an intelligent and happy people will be welcomed by every female heart throughout her realm and supported in every british home by the female influence prevailing there it will be the business of the writer through the whole of the succeeding pages of this work to endeavour to point out how the women of england may render this important service not only to the members of their own but to the community at large and if i fail in them to bring as with one mind their united powers to stem the popular torrent now threatening to the strong foundation of england s moral worth it will not be for want of earnestness in the cause but because i am not endowed with talent equal to the task of chapter iii education on the subject of modem education i cannot help entertaining a fear lest some remarks i may in feel constrained to make should be into towards that truly and laborious portion of the community employed in conducting this education and pursuing with what is generally believed to be the best method of training up the young wo men of the present day such however is the real state of my own sentiments that i have long been accustomed to consider this class of individuals as not only entitled to the highest pecuniary consideration but equally so to the first place in society to the gratitude of their fellow creatures and to the respect of mankind in general who both as in and as a community are deeply indebted to them for their and often ill services a woman of cultivated understanding and correct religious principle when engaged in the responsible task of the rising generation in reality fills one of the most responsible stations to which a human being can as of ai nothing can more indicate a low state of public than the vulgar and with which the agents employed in education are sometimes it is with what is taught not with those who teach that i am daring enough to find fault it may be that i am taking an and prejudiced view of the subject yet such is the strong conviction of my own mind that i cannot rest without attempting to prove that the present education of the women of england does not fit for faithfully performing the duties which upon them immediately after their leaving school and throughout i the of their after lives does not convert them helpless children into such characters as all women foe in order to be either esteemed or admired nor are their teachers for this it is the fashion of the day it is the ambition of the times that all people should as far as possible learn all things of which the human intellect takes and what would be the consternation of parents whose daughter should return home to them from school in modem accomplishments to whom her should say it is true i have been unable to make your child a either in french or latin nor is she very apt at the use of the but she has been pre eminent amongst my scholars for her freedom from selfishness and she possesses a nobility of feeling that will never allow her to be the victim of meanness or the slave of desires in order to ascertain what kind of education is most effective in making woman what she ought to be the best of method is to inquire into the character station and duties of woman throughout the largest portion of earthly career and then ask for what she is most valued admired and beloved in answer to this i have little hesitation in saying for her di look at all the whether of romance or reality at all the female characters that are held up to universal admiration at all who have gone down to honoured graves amongst the tears and the of their have these been the ed the accomplished women the women who could speak many languages who could solve problems and systems of philosophy no or if they have they have been women who were dignified with the majesty of moral greatness women who regarded not themselves their own or their own of pain but who with an almost energy could under foot every that between them and the accomplishment of some great object upon which their hopes were fixed while that object was wholly with their own personal exaltation or enjoyment and related only to some beloved object whose was their sorrow whose good their gain woman with all her of minute her weakness	41
maturity he must have learned to mould the clay and have thus become familiar with the practice of his art and shall this universally acknowledged system of instruction to which we are indebted for all that is excellent in art and admirable in science be neglected in the education of the young christian alone shall he be taught the bare theory of his religion and left to work out its practice as he can shall he be instructed in what he is to believe and not assisted in doing also the will of his heavenly father we all know that it is not easy to practise even the simplest rule of right when we have not been to do so and the longer we are before begin to our conduct by the of religion the more difficult it will be to acquire such habits as are calculated to and show forth the purity and excellence of its principles there is one important between the acquisition of knowledge and the acquisition of good habits which of itself ought to be to a greater the of degree of attention to the latter when the little pupil first begins her education her mind is a total blank as r as relates to the different branches of study into which she is about to be introduced and there is consequently nothing to oppose she is not in favour of any false system of grammar or geography and the ideas presented to her on these subjects are consequently willingly received and adopted as her own how different is the moral state of the child selfishness with her existence has attained an alarming growth and all the other passions and inherent in her nature taking their natural course have strengthened with her advance towards maturity and are ready to assume an aspect too formidable to afford any prospect of their being easily brought into yet notwithstanding this difference the whole machinery of education is brought to bear upon the intellectual part of her nature and her moral feelings are left to the training of the play ground where personal influence rather than right feeling too frequently her and places her either high or low in the ranks of her companions it is true she is very seriously and properly corrected when convicted of having done wrong and an admirable system of morals is in the school but the subject i would complain of is that no means have yet been adopted for making the practice of this system the object of highest importance in our schools no adequate means have been adopted for the generosity the high the integrity of the children who pursue their education at school until they leave it at the age of k education of sixteen when their moral i either for good or evil must have attained considerable growth let us single out from any particular a child who has been there from the years of ten to fifteen and reckon if it can be reckoned the pains that have been spent in making that child a in latin have the same pains been spent in making her disinterested j kind and yet what man is there in existence who would not rather his wife should be free from selfishness than be able to read without the use of a dictionary there is no reason however why both these desirable ends should not be aimed at and as the child in self denial forbearance generosity and disinterested kindness it might be her reward to advance in the acquisition of languages or of whatever it might be thought most desirable for her to attain if i am told there would not be time for all the discipline re for the practice of morals i ask in reply how much do most young ladies learn at school for which never find any use in after life and for which it is not probable from their circumstances that they ever should let the hours spent upon music by those who have no ear upon drawing by those who might almost be said to have no eye upon languages by those who never speak any other than their mother tongue be added together year after year and an of wasted time will present itself sufficient to alarm those who axe sensible of its value and of the awful responsibility of i g it aright it is that the teachers or even the parents the women of themselves should always know the future destiny of the child but there is an appropriate sphere for women to move in from which those of the middle class in england seldom very widely this sphere has duties and occupations of its own from which no woman can shrink without and disgrace and the question is are women prepared for these duties and occupations by what they learn at school for my own part i know not how education deserves the name if it does not prepare the individual whom it influences for filling her appointed station in the best possible manner what for instance should we think of a school for sailors in which nothing was taught but the fine arts or for in which the students were only instructed in the theory of sound with regard to the women of england i have already ventured to assert that the quality for which above all others they are esteemed and valued is their m kind a selfish woman may not be regarded as a monster especially in that sphere of life where there is a constant demand made upon her services but how are women taught at school to forget themselves and to cultivate that high tone of generous feeling to which the world is so much indebted for the hope and the joy and the consolation which the influence and of woman is able to throughout its very deserts visiting as with blessed sunshine the of	41
the wretched and the poor and sharing cheerfully the lot of the in what school or under what system of modem n of tion can it be said that the chief aim of the teachers the object to which their laborious exertions are mainly is to correct the evil of selfishness in the hearts of their improved methods of charging and the memory are eagerly sought out and pursued at any cost of time and patience if not of health itself but who ever thinks of establishing a selfish class amongst the j of her establishment or of the and dis i of the school to such as have exhibited the most instances of self denial for the benefit of others it may be objected to this plan that virtue ought to be its own reward and that honours and rewards to the most in a moral point of view would be likely to induce a degree of self complacency wholly inconsistent with christian i am aware that in our imperfect state no plan can be laid down for the promotion of good with which evil will not be liable to mix all i contend for is that the same system of discipline with the same end in view should be begun and carried on at school as that to which the scholar will necessarily be subjected in after life and that throughout the training of her years the same standard of merit should be adopted as she will find herself compelled to look up to when released firom that training and sent forth into the world to think and act for at school it has been the business of every day to raise herself above her companions by greater than theirs in after life it will be the business of every day to give place to others to think of their happiness and to the women of make sacrifices of her own to promote it if such acts of self denial when practised at school should the of her mind hy the approbation they what will they do in the world she is about to enter the unanimous opinion of mankind both in this and ih past ages is in their favour and where she must perpetually hear woman spoken of in terms of the highest tion not fi r her learning but for her disinterested kind ness her earnest zeal in the happiness of fellow creatures and the patience and forbearance with which she studies to affliction and relieve distress t would it not be safer then to begin at a very early age to make the practice of these virtues the chief object of their lives guarding at the same time against any self complacency that might attach to the performance of them by keeping always before their view higher and noble instances of virtue in others and especially by a strict and constant reference to the utter of all human merit in comparison with the mercy and forgiveness that must ever impose a debt of gratitude upon our own souls taking into consideration the various and peculiarities of woman i am inclined to think that the sphere which of all others admits of the highest develop ment of her character is the chamber of sickness and how frequently and mournfully familiar are the scenes in which she is thus called to act and feel let the private history of every declare there is but a very small proportion of the daughters of farmers and trades people in england who are ever called upon for their latin their italian or even education of for their french hut all women in this sphere of life are to he called upon to visit and care for the sick and if in the hour of weakness and of suffering they prove to be with any means of and wholly ignorant of the most judicious and suitable mode of offering relief and consolation they are indeed deficient in one of the highest in the way of usefulness to which a woman can to the serious difficulties which many women experience from this cause i would propose as a substitute for some useless accomplishments that english girls should be made acquainted with the most striking phenomena of some of the familiar and frequently to which the human frame is liable with the most approved methods of treatment and by this knowledge so far as relates to general principles i have little doubt but it might be made an interesting and highly useful branch of education i am far from wishing them to interfere with the province of the physician the more they know the less likely they will be to do this the office of a judicious nurse is all i would recommend them to to and to the same department of instruction should be added the whole science of that delicate and difficult which forms so important a part of the attendant s duty nor let these observations call forth a smile upon the rosy lips that are yet by fever by consumption fair reader there have been those who would have given at the moment almost half their worldly wealth o have been able to provide a morsel for a be thb of loved sufferer who have met the inquiring eye that asked for it knew not what and that expressed by its anxious look an almost childish longing for what they were unable to supply not because the means were denied but simply because they were too ignorant of the nature and necessities of illness to form any practical idea of what would be most suitable and most approved perhaps in their they mentioned the only thing they were acquainted with and that was just the most repulsive what then have they done allowed the faint and feeble sufferer to go on wishing it had been her lot to ml under the care of any other nurse how	41
but the number of languid and young ladies who now upon our murmuring and at every claim thb women of england upon their personal exertions is to me a truly melancholy spectacle and one which demands the attention of a be and enlightened public even more perhaps than some of those great national schemes in which the people and the government are alike interested it is but rarely now that we meet with a really healthy woman and highly as intellectual may be i think all will allow that no can be of much value without the power of bringing them into use the i would point out between the exercise of tiie intellect and that of the moral feelings is this it has o pleased the all wise of our lives that the duties he has laid down for the right government of the human family have in their very nature something that and the soul so that instead of being weary of well doing the character becomes strengthened the and the whole sphere of enlarged who has not felt a long conflict between duty and inclination when at last the determination has been formed and duty has been submitted io not but from very love to the father of who alone can judge what will eventually promote the good of his weak and short sighted creatures from reverence for his holy laws and from gratitude to the of mankind has not felt a sudden impulse of and delight as they were enabled to make this decision a spring ing up as it were of the soul from the low cares and en of this world to a higher and purer state of where the motives and feelings under which the choice has been made will be appreciated and approved but education of where every that could have been brought forward to a different choice would have been rejected at the bar of eternal justice it is not the applause of man that can reach the heart under such circumstances no human eye is wished for to look in upon our self denial or to witness the sacrifice we make the good we have attempted to do may even il in its effect we know that the result is not with us but with him who in secret and who has left us in of this encouraging assurance inasmuch as ye do it unto one of these ye do it unto me was the human mind ever or the human exhausted by feelings of kindness no the hour of true refreshment and is that in which we do our duty whatever it may be cheerfully and humbly as in the sight of god not ourselves upon our own merit or great results but with a upon his promises and devout aspirations to be ever in working out his holy will in the pursuit of intellectual we cannot en courage ourselves throughout the day nor revive our energies at night by saying it is for the love of my heavenly father that i do this but as a very little child may be taught for the love of a lost parent to avoid what that parent would have so the young may be cheered and led onward in the path of duty by the same principle connecting every action of their lives in which good and evil may be blended with the condemnation or approval of their father who is there is no principle in our nature which at the flame mn women of fl time and and so much as the principle of gratitude and it ought ever to be in our blessings that gratitude has been made the foundation of christian morality the ancient philosophers hi d their system of morals and a beautiful one it was but it had this defect it had no sure foundation sometimes shifting from to the rights of man and thus having no fixed and character the happier system under which we are privileged to live has all the advantages acknowledged by the philosophers of old with this great and merciful addition that it is peculiarly calculated to wind itself in with our affections by being founded upon gratitude and thus to excite in with the practice of all it those emotions of mind which are most to our happiness let us imagine a little community of young women amongst whom to do an act of disinterested kindness should be an object of the highest ambition and where to do any act of pure selfishness tending however to the injury of another should be regarded as the deepest disgrace where they should be accustomed to consider their time not as their own but lent them solely for the purpose of their fellow creatures and where those who were known to exercise the greatest charity and forbearance should be looked upon as the most exalted individual in the whole community would these girls be weary would they be discontented and the experiment remains to be tried it is a frequent and popular remark that girls are less to manage in than boys and so education th y but when their parents go on to say that girls less anxiety are safer and more easily brought up i am disposed to think such parents look with too superficial a view to the conduct of their children before the world rather than the state of their hearts before god it is true that girls have little temptation generally speaking to vice they are so hemmed in and guarded by the rules of society that they must be destitute almost of the common feelings of human nature to be willing any consideration to sacrifice their good name but do such parents ever ask how much of evil may be cherished and indulged in and the good name retained i am aware that amongst the of women there is more than amongst men more	41
of ignorance or natural of mind are effectual to the exercise of any considerable degree of influence in society an ignorant woman who has not the good sense to keep silent or a weak woman pleased with her own are scarcely less than humiliating to those who from acquaintance or family have the misfortune to be with them yet it is surprising how far a small measure of talent or of mental cultivation may be made to extend in the way of giving pleasure wh n accompanied by good taste good sense and good feeling especially with that feeling which leads the mind from di motives into an regard to the good and the happiness of others the more we r upon this subject the more we must be convinced that there is a system of discipline required for women totally distinct firom what is called the learning and of of the schools and that unless they can be prepared for their in life by some process calculated to fit them for performing its domestic duties the time bestowed upon their education will be found in after life to have been wholly inadequate to procure for them either habits of usefulness or a healthy tone of mind it would appear from a superficial observation of the views of domestic and social duty about to be presented that in the estimation of the writer the great business of a woman s life was to make herself agreeable for so minute are some of the points which properly engage her at that they scarcely seem to bear upon the great ob of doing good yet when we reflect that by giving pleasure in an innocent and manner innumerable channels are opened for instruction assistance or consolation we cease to regard as cant the smallest of those means by which a woman can render herself an object either of or disgust first then and most familiar to common observation is her personal appearance and in this case vanity more potent in woman s heart than selfishness renders it an object of general to be so adorned as best to meet and gratify the public taste without inquiring too into the motive the custom as such must be commended for like many of the minor virtues of women though scarcely taken note of in its immediate presence it is sorely missed when absent a careless or woman for instance is one of the most repulsive objects in creation and such is the force of opinion in favour of the of taste and feeling in the female sex thai thb of no power of intellect or di lay of learning can to men for the want of or neatness in the women with whom they associate in domestic life in to them might the wreath or laurel wave in glorious triumph oyer locks and wo the heroine whose even of the deepest blue betrayed a lurking hole it is however a subject too serious for jest and ought to be regarded by all women with earnest solicitude that they may constantly maintain in their own persons that strict attention to good taste and delicacy of feeling which affords the evidence of delicacy of mind a quality without which no woman ever was or ever will be charming let her appear in company with what accomplishments she may let her charm by her musical talents attract by her beauty or by her wit if there steal from underneath her the soiled hem the tattered or even the coarse garment out of keeping with her external finery imagination naturally carries the observer to her dressing room her private habits and even to her inner mind where it is almost impossible to that the same want of order and purity does not prevail it is a but most injurious mistake to suppose that all women must be splendidly and dressed to themselves to general approbation in order to do this how many in the sphere of life to which these remarks apply are literally destitute of comfort both in their hearts and in their homes for the struggle between parents and children to raise the means on one hand and to obtain them either by argument or on the and op other is but one amongst the many sources of discord and individual suffering which mark out the excess of artificial wants as the great evil of the present times a very slight acquaintance with the sentiments and tone of conversation amongst men might convince whose minds are open to conviction that their admiration is not to be obtained by the display of any kind of extravagance in dress there may be occasional instances of ihe contrary but the praise most liberally and bestowed by men upon the dress of women is that it is neat becoming or in good taste the human mind is influenced by association while immediate impression is all that it takes of at the moment thus a splendidly dressed woman entering the parlour of a farm house or a s drawing room bursts upon the sight as an and almost spectacle and we are scarcely aware that the we experience arises from a conviction of how much the gorgeous fabric must have cost the in time and thought and money especially when we know that the same individual is under the necessity of spending her morning hours in operations and is or ought to be the of her husband s daily there is scarcely any object in art or nature calculated to excite our admiration which may not from being ill placed excite our ridicule or disgust each individual article of clothing worn by this woman may be superb in itself but there is a want of fitness and harmony in the whole from which we turn away the women of perhaps there are no single objects in themselves so beautiful as flowers and it might seem difficult to find a tion	41
in which they could be otherwise yet i have seen and seen with a feeling almost like pity at the conclusion of a feast fair rose leaves and sweet floating amidst such elements that all their beauty was and they were fit only to be cast away with the refuse of gross matter in which they were involved admiration of a beautiful object how intense it may be cannot impart that high tone of intellectual enjoy ment which arises from our admiration of fitness and beauty combined and thus the richest silk and the finest lace when worn are beautifully articles but nothing more while therefore on the one hand there is a moral degradation in the consciousness of wearing soiled or garments or in being in any way below the average of personal decency there is on the other a gross of good taste in assuming for the middle classes of society whose occupations are closely connected with the means of bodily the same of personal ornament as belongs with more propriety to those who enjoy the luxury of giving orders without any necessity for farther occupation of time or thought the most frequently of woman s life arise from cases which religion does not immediately reach and in which she is still expected to decide properly and act agreeably without any other law than that of good taste for her guide good taste is therefore most essential to the of her dress and general appearance and wherever any striking of this principle appears a n or the is immediately with the idea that a very rule of her life and conduct is wanting it is not all who possess this guide within themselves but an attentive observation human life and character especially a due regard to the beauty of fitness would enable all to avoid giving in this particular way the regard to fitness here recommended is a duty of much more serious importance than would at first sight appear since it a consideration which cannot too be presented to the mind of what and who we are what is the station we are appointed to fill and what the objects for which we are living behold yon gorgeous fabric in the distance with its rainbow hues and gems and shining a of beauty crowns the whole and ornaments on frail silvery threads glitter and wave and tremble at every moving breath surely the countenance of below and his gentle wings at her approach the spectacle advances it is not health nor youth nor beauty that we see but poor helpless miserable old age we gaze and a shudder comes over us for death is grinning in the background and we hear his voice triumphantly exclaiming this is mine look at that moving garden and those waving as they pass along the aisle of the church or the chapel they form the of a christian thb of the mother of a family and this is the day appointed for of that to which christians are invited to come in and k of spirit to rate the love of their who though he was rich for their became poor who himself and became obedient unto death to purchase their fr n the penalty of sin and the bondage of the world we would earnestly hope that in the greater number of such cases as these the error is in the judgment the mockery assumed but would not the habit of self examination followed up by serious inquiry ing our real and individual position in society as moral agents and immortal beings be a likely means of the ridicule that age is ill prepared to bear and what is of infinitely more consequence of preventing the scandal that religion has too much cause to charge upon he friends t it happens that women in the middle class of society are not entirely free from in their manner of speaking as well as other by which it may easily be discovered that their interests are local and their means of information of limited extent in short that they are persons who have but uttle acquaintance with the polite or fashionable world and yet they may be persons highly and important in their own sphere very little either of esteem or importance however to their characters where their ingenuity is to maintain what they to be a fashionable or elegant exterior and which in with their dialect and occupations renders them but to and of much like the chimney queen out for a may day the question occurs to the for what or for whom has such a person mistaken herself while had she been dressed in a plain substantial costume corresponding with her mind and habits she might have been known at once and respected for what she really was a rational independent and valuable member of society it is not by any means the smallest of the services required by christian charity to point out to our fellow how they may avoid being ridiculous perhaps a higher degree of intellectual dignity would raise us all above the weakness of being moved to laughter by so slight a cause but such is the constitution of the general order of minds that they are less entertained by the most pointed than by those striking and an which seem to imply that has mistaken itself for elegance for beauty age for youth i pretend not to defend this to turn so serious a mistake into jest i merely say that such a does exist and what is amongst the of our nature that it sometimes itself most in the very individuals who in their turn are furnishing food for merriment to others the laughing might have reasoned thus let them all laugh on they will cure each other but the question does ridicule correct the evil most assuredly it does not it does something more	41
however it like a poison in the bosom where it falls and the peace of many an amiable but ill judging candidate for thb of public admiration especially are its victims and its prey and well do they learn under the secret of envy jealousy and pride how to make this engine of discord play upon each other when we listen to the familiar conversation of women especially of those whose minds are by vulgarity and by the higher principles of religion we find that a very large portion of their time and attention is bestowed upon the subject of dress not of their own dress merely but of that of their neighbours and looking farther we find what is more astonishing that there in with the same subject a degree of and ambition which call fi many of the evil passions that are ever ready to spring into action and mar the pleasant pictures of social life in awakening these the ridicule already alluded to is a powerful agent for like the most injurious of it so nearly to the truth as to set contradiction at defiance thus there are few persons who would not rather be than and thus the wounds inflicted by ridicule are the most difficult to heal and the last to be forgiven surely then it is worth paying some regard to the of fitness and in order to the consequences necessarily from every striking from these rules and the women of england possess many advantages in the cultivation of their natural powers of and reason for them to ascertain the precise position of this line of conduct which it is so important to to observe they are free from many of the national prejudices entertained by aim or the women of other countries and they enjoy the privilege of being taught to look up to a higher i standard of morals for the right guidance of their conduct it is to them therefore that we look for what rational and useful women ought to be not only in the of christian character but in the minor points of social domestic and individual duty much that has been said on the subject of dress is equally to that of manners fitness and are here as well as in the former instance the general rule for of what value is elegance in a cottage or the display of animal strength at a european court in the middle walks of life an easy manner free from affectation on the one hand and on the other is all that is required and such are or ought to be the occupations of all women of this class as most happily to induce such habits of activity and free agency as would effectually preserve them from the two extremes of coldness and frivolous absurdity the grand error of the day seems to be that of calling themselves ladies when it ought to be their ambition to be women who fill a place and occupy a post members of the of the fabric of society the minor wheels and secret springs of the great machine of human life and action which move nor with full effect to the accomplishment of any great or noble purpose while with the lovely burdens and by the attitudes of those useless members of the community who cast them the of england fe selves about on every hand in the vain hope of being valued e ud admired for doing nothing i amongst the changes introduced by modem taste it is r not the least striking that all the daughters of trades people when sent to school are no longer girls but young ladies the linen whose worthy her daily post behind the counter receives her child from mrs s establishment a young lady at the same elegant and expensive music and italian are taught to smith whose father in tar mouth and there is the butcher s daughter too perhaps the most lady like of them all the manners of these young ladies naturally take their tone and character from the ridiculous of modem refinement the butcher s daughter is seized with at the spectacle of raw meat smith is incapable of existing within the atmosphere of her father s home and the child of the linen with a merchant s clerk to avoid the dire necessity of assisting in her father s shop what a catalogue of miseries might be made out as the consequence of this mistaken ambition of the women of england to be ladies they may be md refined women too for when did either gentleness or true refinement a woman for her proper duties but that assumption of delicacy which them for the real business of life is more to be dreaded in its fatal influence upon their happiness than the most disease with which they could be afflicted it is needless to say that women of this morbid character have no influence they are so occupied with and of the of their own personal miseries that they have no time to think of the sin and the sorrow existing in the world around them whatever is proposed to them in the way of doing good is sure to meet with a weary murmuring denial for if the hundred and one objections arising out of other fancied causes should be there are their endless and inexhaustible nerves alas alas that english women should ever have found themselves out to be possessed of nerves not the most exquisite creation of the poet s fancy was ever supposed to be more susceptible of pain than is now the highly educated young lady who upon a couch in an apartment slightly separated from that in which her father his goods and but one remove from the sphere of her mother s toil how different from this feeble discontented helpless thing is the woman who	41
shows by her noble bearing that she knows her true position in society and who knows also that the virtue and the value to her character must be in exact proportion to the benefit she upon her fellow creatures above all who feels that the only being who is capable of knowing what is ultimately best has seen meet to place her exactly where the powers of her mind and the purposes of her hfe may be made most to his merciful and wise designs not the meanest nor the most homely personal aspect can conceal the worth and the dignity of such a woman and whatever that position with which she has made herself so well acquainted may be she will find that her influence extends to its remotest r thb of england it is impossible to say what the manners of such a woman are in the cottage in the court in the daily and performance of social services they are and must be by the same attributes general supported by dignity a high sense of duty over every tendency to selfish indulgence and to the performance of every kind of practical good a degree of self respect without which no talent can be and no purpose rendered firm yet along with this a far higher degree of respect for others exhibited in modes of deference and of consideration as various as the different characters whose good or whose happiness are the subjects of her care and lastly that sweet sister of benevolence charity f without which no woman ever yet could make her self a desirable companion or friend it may be said that these virtues not modes of con but how much of virtue particularly that of charity may be implied and understood by what is commonly called manner that which in the present day is considered the highest in this branch of conduct is a lady like manner and it is one that well deserves the attention of all who wish to recommend themselves who wish as all must do to ward off insulting and court consideration there are however many impressions conveyed to the minds of others by mere manner far exceeding this in interest and importance what for in is so to the afflicted as a manner the direct expression of sympathy might possibly give pain but there is a manner and happy are they who possess it which a to the dress and manners of boast and associations intervening like of sunshine between their seasons of perplexity and care but the manners i would earnestly recommend to my are of a character calculated to convey an idea of much more than refinement they are manners to which a high degree of moral influence belongs inasmuch as they inspire confidence command esteem and contribute to the general sum of human happiness is the leading feature in this class of manners not only to the circumstances of the person who acts and speaks but also to the circumstances of those upon whom such speech or action a light careless manner is sometimes thought exceedingly charming and when it from youth and innocence can scarcely fail to please but when such a manner is affected by a woman of ponderous personal weight of naturally grave countenance and responsible station in society none can avoid being struck with the obvious and few can avoid being moved to laughter or contempt in english society it frequently happens that persons of humble and homely station in early life are raised by the acquisition of wealth to the of luxurious indulgence how absurd in such cases is that assumption of delicacy and of aristocratic dignity which we too often see and which is sure to give rise to every variety of remark upon what they and their have been self importance or a prevailing consciousness of is the most universal to the of agreeable manners a woman of delicate feelings and the women of england cultivated who goes into company determined to he interested rather than to interest can scarcely fail to please we are assured however that in this respect there is something very in the present state of society all desire to make an impression none to be impressed and thus the social intercourse of every day is rendered wearisome if not disgusting by the constant struggle of each party to assume the same relative position an instance relating immediately to an animal of inferior grade in the creation to man but bearing some to the case in point is told by a traveller whose party having shot several old took home their young ones to the camp where he was stationed he amused himself in the evening by watching these little animals which had been so accustomed to be and carried about by their parents that they expected the same services from each other and by their efforts to obtain assistance from those who in an equal degree required it from them formed themselves into a tumultuous heap and nearly worried each other to death it might be to compare the tumult of feeling the weariness and the to happiness experienced by these animals to that which is produced by the general desire to make an impression in modem society but none can be blind to the fact that a determination to be pleased in company is the means of giving pleasure as well as of receiving it a young lady who has not had an opportunity of conversing of playing or of showing off in any other way is almost sure to return from an evening party complaining of ain of its and discontented with herself as well as with every one beside ask her if such and such and intelligent persons were not present and she answers yes ask her if they did not converse and converse pleasantly and still she answers tes what then the fact is she	41

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