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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:34:21 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:34:21 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10360-0.txt b/10360-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..77962b1 --- /dev/null +++ b/10360-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8953 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10360 *** + +KITTY'S CLASS DAY AND OTHER STORIES + +By + +Louisa M. Alcott + +Author of "Little Women," etc. + +Originally published under the title + +"PROVERB STORIES" + +1882 + + + + + + +[Illustration: Deeper in the wood sounded the measured ring of axes] + + + +PREFACE + + +Being forbidden to write anything at present I have collected various +waifs and strays to appease the young people who clamor for more, +forgetting that mortal brains need rest. + +As many girls have asked to see what sort of tales Jo March wrote at +the beginning of her career, I have added "The Baron's Gloves," as a +sample of the romantic rubbish which paid so well once upon a time. If +it shows them what _not_ to write it will not have been rescued from +oblivion in vain. + +L. M. ALCOTT. + + + + +CONTENTS + + KITTY'S CLASS DAY + AUNT KIPP + PSYCHE'S ART + A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS + ON PICKET DUTY + THE BARON'S GLOVES + MY RED CAP + WHAT THE BELLS SAW AND SAID + + + + +PROVERB STORIES + + + + +KITTY'S CLASS DAY + +"A stitch in time saves nine." + + +"O Pris, Pris, I'm really going! Here's the invitation--rough +paper--Chapel--spreads--Lyceum Hall--everything splendid; and Jack to +take care of me!" + +As Kitty burst into the room and performed a rapturous _pas seul_, +waving the cards over her head, sister Priscilla looked up from her +work with a smile of satisfaction on her quiet face. + +"Who invites you, dear?" + +"Why, Jack, of course,--dear old cousin Jack. Nobody else ever thinks +of me, or cares whether I have a bit of pleasure now and then. Isn't +he kind? Mayn't I go? and, O Pris, what _shall_ I wear?" + +Kitty paused suddenly, as if the last all-important question had a +solemnizing effect upon both mind and body. + +"Why, your white muslin, silk sacque, and new hat, of course," began +Pris with an air of surprise. But Kitty broke in impetuously,-- + +"I'll never wear that old muslin again; it's full of darns, up to my +knees, and all out of fashion. So is my sacque; and as for my hat, +though it does well enough here, it would be absurd for Class Day." + +"You don't expect an entirely new suit for this occasion,--do you?" +asked Pris, anxiously. + +"Yes, I do, and I'll tell you how I mean to get it. I've planned +everything; for, though I hardly dreamed of going, I amused myself by +thinking how I could manage if I _did_ get invited." + +"Let us hear." And Pris took up her work with an air of resignation. + +"First, my dress," began Kitty, perching herself on the arm of the +sofa, and entering into the subject with enthusiasm. "I've got the ten +dollars grandpa sent me, and with eight of it I'm going to buy +Lizzie King's organdie muslin. She got it in Paris; but her aunt +providentially--no, unfortunately--died; so she can't wear it, and +wants to get rid of it. She is bigger than I am, you know; so there is +enough for a little mantle or sacque, for it isn't made up. The skirt +is cut off and gored, with a splendid train--" + +"My dear, you don't mean you are going to wear one of those absurd, +new-fashioned dresses?" exclaimed Pris, lifting hands and eyes. + +"I do! Nothing would induce me to go to Class Day without a train. +It's been the desire of my heart to have one, and now I _will_, if +I never have another gown to my back!" returned Kitty, with immense +decision. + +Pris shook her head, and said, "Go on!" as if prepared for any +extravagance after that. + +"We can make it ourselves," continued Kitty, "and trim it with the +same. It's white with blue stripes and daisies in the stripes; the +loveliest thing you ever saw, and can't be got here. So simple, +yet distingué, I know you'll like it. Next, my bonnet,"--here the +solemnity of Kitty's face and manner was charming to behold. "I shall +make it out of one of my new illusion undersleeves. I've never worn +them; and the puffed part will be a plenty for a little fly-away +bonnet of the latest style. I've got blue ribbons to tie it with, and +have only to look up some daisies for the inside. With my extra two +dollars I shall buy my gloves, and pay my fares,--and there I am, all +complete." + +She looked so happy, so pretty, and full of girlish satisfaction, that +sister Pris couldn't bear to disturb the little plan, much as she +disapproved of it. They were poor, and every penny had to be counted. +There were plenty of neighbors to gossip and criticise, and plenty of +friends to make disagreeable remarks on any unusual extravagance. +Pris saw things with the prudent eyes of thirty, but Kitty with the +romantic eyes of seventeen; and the elder sister, in the kindness of +her heart, had no wish to sadden life to those bright young eyes, +or deny the child a harmless pleasure. She sewed thoughtfully for a +minute, then looked up, saying, with the smile that always assured +Kitty the day was won,-- + +"Get your things together, and we will see what can be done. But +remember, dear, that it is both bad taste and bad economy for poor +people to try to ape the rich." + +"You're a perfect angel, Pris; so don't moralize. I'll run and get the +dress, and we'll begin at once, for there is much to do, and only +two days to do it in." And Kitty skipped away, singing "Lauriger +Horatius," at the top of her voice. + +Priscilla soon found that the girl's head was completely turned by the +advice and example of certain fashionable young neighbors. It was in +vain for Pris to remonstrate and warn. + +"Just this once let me do as others do, and thoroughly enjoy myself." +pleaded Kitty; and Pris yielded, saying to herself, "She shall have +her wish, and if she learns a lesson, neither time nor money will be +lost." + +So they snipped and sewed, and planned and pieced, going through all +the alternations of despair and triumph, worry and satisfaction, which +women undergo when a new suit is under way. Company kept coming, for +news of Kitty's expedition had flown abroad, and her young friends +must just run in to hear about it, and ask what she was going to wear; +while Kitty was so glad and proud to tell, and show, and enjoy her +little triumph that many half hours were wasted, and the second day +found much still to do. + +The lovely muslin didn't hold out, and Kitty sacrificed the waist to +the train, for a train she must have or the whole thing would be an +utter failure. A little sacque was eked out, however, and when the +frills were on, it was "ravishing," as Kitty said, with a sigh of +mingled delight and fatigue. The gored skirt was a fearful job, as any +one who has ever plunged into the mysteries will testify; and before +the facing, even experienced Pris quailed. + +The bonnet also was a trial, for when the lace was on, it was +discovered that the ribbons didn't match the dress. Here was a +catastrophe! Kitty frantically rummaged the house, the shops, the +stores of her friends, and rummaged in vain. There was no time to send +to the city, and despair was about to fall on Kitty, when Pris rescued +her by quietly making one of the small sacrifices which were easy to +her because her life was spent for others. Some one suggested a strip +of blue illusion,--and that could be got; but, alas! Kitty had +no money, for the gloves were already bought. Pris heard the +lamentations, and giving up fresh ribbons for herself, pulled her +sister out of a slough of despond with two yards of "heavenly tulle." + +"Now the daisies; and oh, dear me, not one can I find in this +poverty-stricken town," sighed Kitty, prinking at the glass, and +fervently hoping that nothing would happen to her complexion over +night. + +"I see plenty just like those on your dress," answered Pris, nodding +toward the meadow full of young whiteweed. + +"Pris, you're a treasure! I'll wear real ones; they keep well, I know, +and are so common I can refresh my bonnet anywhere. It's a splendid +idea." + +Away rushed Kitty to return with an apron full of American daisies. A +pretty cluster was soon fastened just over the left-hand frizzle of +bright hair, and the little bonnet was complete. + +"Now, Pris, tell me how I look," cried Kitty, as she swept into the +room late that afternoon in full gala costume. + +It would have been impossible for the primmest, the sourest, or the +most sensible creature in the world to say that it wasn't a pretty +sight. The long train, the big chignon, the apology for a bonnet, were +all ridiculous,--no one could deny that,--but youth, beauty, and a +happy heart made even those absurdities charming. The erect young +figure gave an air to the crisp folds of the delicate dress; the +bright eyes and fresh cheeks under the lace rosette made one forget +its size; and the rippling brown hair won admiration in spite of the +ugly bunch which disfigured the girl's head. The little jacket set +"divinely," the new gloves were as immaculate as white kids could be, +and to crown all, Lizzie King, in a burst of generosity, lent Kitty +the blue and white Paris sunshade which she couldn't use herself. + +"Now I could die content; I'm perfect in all respects, and I know Jack +won't be ashamed of me. I really owe it to him to look my best, you +know, and that's why I'm so particular," said Kitty, in an apologetic +tone, as she began to lay away her finery. + +"I hope you will enjoy every minute of the time, deary. Don't forget +to finish running up the facing; I've basted it carefully, and would +do it if my head didn't ache so, I really can't hold it up any +longer," answered Pris, who had worked like a disinterested bee, while +Kitty had flown about like a distracted butterfly. + +"Go and lie down, you dear, kind soul, and don't think of my nonsense +again," said Kitty, feeling remorseful, till Pris was comfortably +asleep, when she went to her room and revelled in her finery till +bedtime. So absorbed was she in learning to manage her train +gracefully, that she forgot the facing till very late. Then, being +worn out with work and worry, she did, what girls are too apt to do, +stuck a pin here and there, and, trusting to Priscilla's careful +bastings, left it as it was, retiring to dream of a certain Horace +Fletcher, whose aristocratic elegance had made a deep impression upon +her during the few evenings she had seen him. + +Nothing could have been lovelier than the morning, and few hearts +happier than Kitty's, as she arrayed herself with the utmost care, and +waited in solemn state for the carriage; for muslin trains and dewy +roads were incompatible, and one luxury brought another. + +"My goodness, where did she get that stylish suit?" whispered Miss +Smith to Miss Jones, as Kitty floated into the station with all sail +set, finding it impossible to resist the temptation to astonish +certain young ladies who had snubbed her in times past, which snubs +had rankled, and were now avenged. + +"I looked everywhere for a muslin for to-day and couldn't find any I +liked, so I was forced to wear my mauve silk," observed Miss Smith, +complacently settling the silvery folds of her dress. + +"It's very pretty, but one ruins a silk at Class Day, you know. I +thought this organdie would be more comfortable and appropriate this +warm day. A friend brought it from Paris, and it's like one the +Princess of Wales wore at the great flower-show this year," returned +Kitty, with the air of a young lady who had all her dresses from +Paris, and was intimately acquainted with the royal family. + +"Those girls" were entirely extinguished by this stroke, and hadn't +a word to say for themselves, while Kitty casually mentioned Horace +Fletcher, Lyceum Hall, and Cousin Jack, for _they_ had only a little +Freshman brother to boast of, and were _not_ going to Lyceum Hall. + +As she stepped out of the cars at Cambridge, Jack opened his honest +blue eyes and indulged in a low whistle of astonishment: for if there +was anything he especially hated, it was the trains, chignons and tiny +bonnets then in fashion. He was very fond of Kitty, and prided himself +on being able to show his friends a girl who was charming, and yet not +over-dressed. + +"She has made a regular guy of herself; I won't tell her so, and the +dear little soul shall have a jolly time in spite of her fuss and +feathers. But I do wish she had let her hair alone and worn that +pretty hat of hers." + +As this thought passed through Jack's mind he smiled and bowed and +made his way among the crowd, whispering as he drew his cousin's arm +through his own,-- + +"Why, Kitty, you're got up regardless of expense, aren't you? I'm so +glad you came, we'll have a rousing good time, and you shall see all +the fun." + +"Oh, thank you, Jack! Do I look nice, really? I tried to be a credit +to you and Pris, and I did have such a job of it. I'll make you laugh +over it some time. A carriage for me? Bless us, how fine we are!" and +Kitty stepped in, feeling that only one thing more was needed to make +her cup overflow. That one thing was speedily vouchsafed, for before +her skirts were smoothly settled, Jack called out, in his hearty +way,-- + +"How are you, Fletcher? If you are bound for Chapel I'll take you up." + +"Thanks; good-morning, Miss Heath." + +It was all done in an instant, and the next thing Kitty knew she was +rolling away with the elegant Horace sitting opposite. How little +it takes to make a young girl happy! A pretty dress, sunshine, and +somebody opposite, and they are blest. Kitty's face glowed and dimpled +with pleasure as she glanced about her, especially when _she_, sitting +in state with two gentlemen all to herself, passed "those girls" +walking in the dust with a beardless boy; she felt that she could +forgive past slights, and did so with a magnanimous smile and bow. + +Both Jack and Fletcher had graduated the year before, but still took +an interest in their old haunts, and patronized the fellows who were +not yet through the mill, at least the Seniors and Juniors; of Sophs +and Freshs they were sublimely unconscious. Greeted by frequent slaps +on the shoulder, and hearty "How are you, old fellows," they piloted +Kitty to a seat in the chapel. An excellent place, but the girl's +satisfaction was marred by Fletcher's desertion, and she could not see +anything attractive about the dashing young lady in the pink bonnet to +whom he devoted himself, "because she was a stranger," Kitty said. + +Everybody knows what goes on in the Chapel, after the fight and +scramble are over. The rustle and buzz, the music, the oratory and the +poem, during which the men cheer and the girls simper; the professors +yawn, and the poet's friends pronounce him a second Longfellow. Then +the closing flourishes, the grand crush, and general scattering. + +Then the fun really begins, as far as the young folks are concerned. +_They_ don't mind swarming up and down stairs in a solid phalanx; they +can enjoy half a dozen courses of salad, ice and strawberries, with +stout gentlemen crushing their feet, anxious mammas sticking sharp +elbows into their sides, and absent-minded tutors walking over them. +They can flirt vigorously in a torrid atmosphere of dinner, dust, +and din; can smile with hot coffee running down their backs, small +avalanches of ice-cream descending upon their best bonnets, and +sandwiches, butter-side down, reposing on their delicate silks. They +know that it is a costly rapture, but they carefully refrain from +thinking of the morrow, and energetically illustrate the Yankee maxim +which bids us enjoy ourselves in our early bloom. + +Kitty did have "a rousing good time;" for Jack was devoted, taking +her everywhere, showing her everything, feeding and fanning her, +and festooning her train with untiring patience. How many forcible +expressions he mentally indulged in as he walked on that unlucky train +we will not record; he smiled and skipped and talked of treading on +flowers in a way that would have charmed Kitty, if some one else had +not been hovering about "The Daisy," as Fletcher called her. + +After he returned, she neglected Jack, who took it coolly, and was +never in the way unless she wanted him. For the first time in her +life, Kitty deliberately flirted. The little coquetries, which are as +natural to a gay young girl as her laughter, were all in full play, +and had she gone no further no harm would have been done. But, +excited by the example of those about her, Kitty tried to enact the +fashionable young lady, and, like most novices, she overdid the part. +Quite forgetting her cousin, she tossed her head, twirled her fan, +gave affected little shrieks at college jokes, and talked college +slang in a way that convulsed Fletcher, who enjoyed the fun immensely. + +Jack saw it all, shook his head and said nothing; but his face +grew rather sober as he watched Kitty, flushed, dishevelled, and +breathless, whirling round Lyceum Hall, on the arm of Fletcher, who +danced divinely, as all the girls agreed. Jack had proposed going, but +Kitty had frowned, so he fell back, leaving her to listen and laugh, +blush and shrink a little at her partner's flowery compliments and +admiring glances. + +"If she stands that long she's not the girl I took her for," thought +Jack, beginning to lose patience. "She doesn't look like my little +Kitty, and somehow I don't feel half so fond and proud of her as +usual. I know one thing, _my_ daughters shall never be seen knocking +about in that style." + +As if the thought suggested the act, Jack suddenly assumed an air of +paternal authority, and, arresting his cousin as she was about to +begin again, he said, in a tone she had never heard before,-- + +"I promised Pris to take care of you, so I shall carry you off to +rest, and put yourself to rights after this game of romps. I advise +you to do the same, Fletcher, or give your friend in the pink bonnet a +turn." + +Kitty took Jack's arm pettishly, but glanced over her shoulder with +such an inviting smile that Fletcher followed, feeling very much like +a top, in danger of tumbling down the instant he stopped spinning. As +she came out Kitty's face cleared, and, assuming her sprightliest air, +she spread her plumage and prepared to descend with effect, for a +party of uninvited _peris_ stood at the gate of this Paradise casting +longing glances at the forbidden splendors within. Slowly, that all +might see her, Kitty sailed down, with Horace, the debonair, in her +wake, and was just thinking to herself, "Those girls won't get over +this very soon, I fancy," when all in one moment she heard Fletcher +exclaim, wrathfully, "Hang the flounces!" she saw a very glossy black +hat come skipping down the steps, felt a violent twitch backward, and, +to save herself from a fall, sat down on the lower step with most +undignified haste. + +It was impossible for the bystanders to help laughing, for there was +Fletcher hopping wildly about, with one foot nicely caught in a muslin +loop, and there sat Kitty longing to run away and hide herself, yet +perfectly helpless, while every one tittered. Miss Jones and Miss +Smith laughed shrilly, and the despised little Freshman completed her +mortification, by a feeble joke about Kitty Heath's new man-trap. It +was only an instant, but it seemed an hour before Fletcher freed her, +and snatching up the dusty beaver, left her with a flushed countenance +and an abrupt bow. + +If it hadn't been for Jack, Kitty would have burst into tears then and +there, so terrible was the sense of humiliation which oppressed her. +For his sake she controlled herself, and, bundling up her torn train, +set her teeth, stared straight before her, and let him lead her in +dead silence to a friend's room near by. There he locked the door, and +began to comfort her by making light of the little mishap. But Kitty +cried so tragically, that he was at his wit's end, till the ludicrous +side of the affair struck her, and she began to laugh hysterically. +With a vague idea that vigorous treatment was best for that feminine +ailment, Jack was about to empty the contents of an ice-pitcher over +her, when she arrested him, by exclaiming, incoherently,-- + +"Oh, don't!--it was so funny!--how can you laugh, you cruel boy?--I'm +disgraced, forever--take me home to Pris, oh, take me home to Pris!" + +"I will, my dear, I will; but first let me right you up a bit; you +look as if you had been hazed, upon my life you do;" and Jack laughed +in spite of himself at the wretched little object before him, for +dust, dancing, and the downfall produced a ruinous spectacle. + +That broke Kitty's heart; and, spreading her hands before her face, +she was about to cry again, when the sad sight which met her eyes +dispelled the gathering tears. The new gloves were both split up the +middle and very dirty with clutching at the steps as she went down. + +"Never mind, you can wash them," said Jack, soothingly. + +"I paid a dollar and a half for them, and they can't be washed," +groaned Kitty. + +"Oh, hang the gloves! I meant your hands," cried Jack, trying to keep +sober. + +"No matter for my hands, I mourn my gloves. But I won't cry any more, +for my head aches now so I can hardly see." And Kitty threw off her +bonnet, as if even that airy trifle hurt her. + +Seeing how pale she looked, Jack tenderly suggested a rest on the old +sofa, and a wet handkerchief on her hot forehead, while he got the +good landlady to send her up a cup of tea. As Kitty rose to comply +she glanced at her dress, and, clasping her hands, exclaimed, +tragically,--"The facing, the fatal facing! That made all the +mischief, for if I'd sewed it last night it wouldn't have ripped +to-day; if it hadn't ripped Fletcher wouldn't have got his foot in it, +I shouldn't have made an object of myself, he wouldn't have gone off +in a rage, and--who knows what might have happened?" + +"Bless the what's-its-name if it has settled him," cried Jack. "He is +a contemptible fellow not to stay and help you out of the scrape he +got you into. Follow his lead and don't trouble yourself about him." + +"Well, he _was_ rather absurd to-day, I allow; but he _has_ got +handsome eyes and hands, and he _does_ dance like an angel," sighed +Kitty, as she pinned up the treacherous loop which had brought +destruction to her little castle in the air. + +"Handsome eyes, white hands, and angelic feet don't make a man. Wait +till you can do better, Kit." + +With an odd, grave look, that rather startled Kitty, Jack vanished, to +return presently with a comfortable cup of tea and a motherly old lady +to help repair damages and soothe her by the foolish little purrings +and pattings so grateful to female nerves after a flurry. + +"I'll come back and take you out to see the dance round the tree when +you've had a bit of a rest," said Jack, vibrating between door and +sofa as if it wasn't easy to get away. + +"Oh, I couldn't," cried Kitty, with a shudder at the bare idea of +meeting any one. "I can't be seen again to-night; let me stay here +till my train goes." + +"I thought it had gone, already," said Jack, with an irrepressible +twinkle of the eye that glanced at the draggled dress sweeping the +floor. + +"How _can_ you joke about it!" and the girl's reproachful eyes filled +with tears of shame. "I know I've been very silly, Jack, but I've had +my punishment, and I don't need any more. To feel that you despise me +is worse than all the rest." + +She ended with a little sob, and turned her face away to hide the +trembling of her lips. At that, Jack flushed up, his eyes shone, +and he stooped suddenly as if to make some impetuous reply. But, +remembering the old lady (who, by the by, was discreetly looking out +of the window), he put his hands in his pockets and strolled out of +the room. + +"I've lost them both by this day's folly," thought Kitty, as Mrs. +Brown departed with the teacup. "I don't care for Fletcher, for I dare +say he didn't mean half he said, and I was only flattered because he +is rich and handsome and the girls glorify him. But I shall miss Jack, +for I've known and loved him all my life. How good he's been to me +to-day! so patient, careful, and kind, though he must have been +ashamed of me. I know he didn't like my dress; but he never said a +word and stood by me through everything. Oh, I wish I'd minded Pris! +then he would have respected me, at least; I wonder if he ever will, +again?" + +Following a sudden impulse, Kitty sprang up, locked the door, and then +proceeded to destroy all her little vanities as far as possible. She +smoothed out her crimps with a wet and ruthless hand; fastened up her +pretty hair in the simple way Jack liked; gave her once cherished +bonnet a spiteful shake, as she put it on, and utterly extinguished it +with a big blue veil. She looped up her dress, leaving no vestige of +the now hateful train, and did herself up uncompromisingly in the +Quakerish gray shawl Pris had insisted on her taking for the evening. +Then she surveyed herself with pensive satisfaction, saying, in the +tone of one bent on resolutely mortifying the flesh,-- + +"Neat but not gaudy; I'm a fright, but I deserve it, and it's better +than being a peacock." + +Kitty had time to feel a little friendless and forlorn, sitting there +alone as twilight fell, and amused herself by wondering if Fletcher +would come to inquire about her, or show any further interest in her; +yet when the sound of a manly tramp approached, she trembled lest it +should be the victim of the fatal facing. The door opened, and with a +sigh of relief she saw Jack come in, bearing a pair of new gloves in +one hand and a great bouquet of June roses in the other. + +"How good of you to bring me these! They are more refreshing than +oceans of tea. You know what I like, Jack; thank you very much" cried +Kitty, sniffing at her roses with grateful rapture. + +"And you know what I like," returned Jack, with an approving glance at +the altered figure before him. + +"I'll never do so any more," murmured Kitty, wondering why she felt +bashful all of a sudden, when it was only cousin Jack. + +"Now put on your gloves, dear, and come out and hear the music: your +train doesn't go for two hours yet, and you mustn't mope here all that +time," said Jack, offering his second gift. + +"How did you know my size?" asked Kitty, putting on the gloves in a +hurry; for though Jack had called her "dear" for years, the little +word had a new sound to-night. + +"I guessed,--no, I didn't, I had the old ones with me; they are no +good now, are they?" and too honest to lie, Jack tried to speak +carelessly, though he turned red in the dusk, well knowing that the +dirty little gloves were folded away in his left breast-pocket at that +identical moment. + +"Oh, dear, no! these fit nicely. I'm ready, if you don't mind going +with such a fright," said Kitty, forgetting her dread of seeing people +in her desire to get away from that room, because for the first time +in her life she wasn't at ease with Jack. + +"I think I like the little gray moth better than the fine butterfly," +returned Jack, who, in spite of his invitation, seemed to find +"moping" rather pleasant. + +"You are a rainy-day friend, and he isn't," said Kitty, softly, as she +drew him away. + +Jack's only answer was to lay his hand on the little white glove +resting so confidingly on his arm, and, keeping it there, they roamed +away into the summer twilight. + +Something had happened to the evening and the place, for both seemed +suddenly endowed with uncommon beauty and interest. The dingy old +houses might have been fairy palaces, for anything they saw to the +contrary; the dusty walks, the trampled grass, were regular Elysian +fields to them, and the music was the music of the spheres, though +they found themselves "Right in the middle of the boom, jing, jing." +For both had made a little discovery,--no, not a little one, the +greatest and sweetest man and woman can make. In the sharp twinge of +jealousy which the sight of Kitty's flirtation with Fletcher gave him, +and the delight he found in her after conduct, Jack discovered how +much he loved her. In the shame, gratitude, and half sweet, half +bitter emotion that filled her heart, Kitty felt that to her Jack +would never be "only cousin Jack" any more. All the vanity, coquetry, +selfishness, and ill-temper of the day seemed magnified to heinous +sins, for now her only thought was, "seeing these faults, he _can't_ +care for me. Oh, I wish I was a better girl!" + +She did not say "for his sake," but in the new humility, the ardent +wish to be all that a woman should be, little Kitty proved how true +her love was, and might have said with Portia,-- + + "For myself alone, I would not be + Ambitious in my wish; but, for you, + I would be trebled twenty times myself; + A thousand times more fair, + Ten thousand times more rich." + +All about them other pairs were wandering under the patriarchal elms, +enjoying music, starlight, balmy winds, and all the luxuries of the +season. If the band had played + + "Oh, there's nothing half so sweet in life + As love's young dream--" + +it is my private opinion that it would have suited the audience to +a T. Being principally composed of elderly gentlemen with large +families, they had not that fine sense of the fitness of things so +charming to see, and tooted and banged away with waltzes and marches, +quite regardless of the flocks of Romeos and Juliets philandering all +about them. + +Under cover of a popular medley, Kitty overheard Fletcher quizzing her +for the amusement of Miss Pinkbonnet, who was evidently making up +for lost time. It was feeble wit, but it put the finishing stroke to +Kitty's vanity, and she dropped a tear in her blue tissue retreat, and +clung to Jack, feeling that she had never valued him half enough. She +hoped he didn't hear the gossip going on at the other side of the tree +near which they stood; but he did, for his hand involuntarily doubled +itself up into a very dangerous-looking fist, and he darted such +fiery glances at the speaker, that, if the thing had been possible. +Fletcher's ambrosial curls would have been scorched off his head. + +"Never mind, and don't get angry, Jack. They are right about one +thing,--the daisies in my bonnet _were_ real, and I _couldn't_ afford +any others. I don't care much, only Pris worked so hard to get me +ready I hate to have my things made fun of." + +"He isn't worth a thrashing, so we'll let it pass this time," said +Jack, irefully, yet privately resolving to have it out with Fletcher +by and by. + +"Why, Kitty, I thought the real daisies the prettiest things about +your dress. Don't throw them away. I'll wear them just to show that +noodle that I prefer nature to art;" and Jack gallantly stuck the +faded posy in his button-hole, while Kitty treasured up the hint so +kindly given for future use. + +If a clock with great want of tact hadn't insisted on telling them +that it was getting late, Kitty never would have got home, for both +the young people felt inclined to loiter about arm in arm through the +sweet summer night forever. + +Jack had meant to say something before she went, and was immensely +surprised to find the chance lost for the present. He wanted to go +home with her and free his mind; but a neighborly old gentleman having +been engaged as escort, there would have been very little satisfaction +in a travelling trio; so he gave it up. He was very silent as they +walked to the station with Dr. Dodd trudging behind them. Kitty +thought he was tired, perhaps glad to be rid of her, and meekly +accepted her fate. But as the train approached, she gave his hand an +impulsive squeeze, and said very gratefully,-- + +"Jack, I can't thank you enough for your kindness to your silly little +cousin; but I never shall forget it, and if I ever can return it in +any way, I will with all my heart." + +Jack looked down at the young face almost pathetic now with weariness, +humility, and pain, yet very sweet, with that new shyness in the +loving eyes, and, stooping suddenly, he kissed it, whispering in a +tone that made the girl's heart flutter,-- + +"I'll tell you how you may return it 'with all your heart,' by and by. +Good-night, my Kitty." + +"Have you had a good time, dear?" asked Pris, as her sister appeared +an hour later. + +"Don't I look as if I had?" and, throwing off her wraps, Kitty +revolved slowly before her that she might behold every portion of the +wreck. "My gown is all dust, crumple, and rags, my bonnet perfectly +limp and flat, and my gloves are ruined; I've broken Lizzie's parasol, +made a spectacle of myself, and wasted money, time, and temper; yet my +Class Day isn't a failure, for Jack is the dearest boy in the world, +and I'm very, very happy!" + +Pris looked at her a minute, then opened her arms without a word, and +Kitty forgot all her little troubles in one great joy. + +When Miss Smith and Miss Jones called a few days after to tell her +that Mr. Fletcher was going abroad, the amiable creatures were +entirely routed by finding Jack there in a most unmistakable +situation. He blandly wished Horace "bon voyage," and regretted that +he wouldn't be there to the wedding in October. Kitty devoted herself +to blushing beautifully, and darning many rents in a short daisy +muslin skirt, "which I intend to wear a great deal, because Jack likes +it, and so do I," she said, with a demure look at her lover, who +laughed as if that was the best joke of the season. + + + + +AUNT KIPP + +"Children and fools speak the truth." + + +I + + +"What's that sigh for, Polly dear?" "I'm tired, mother, tired of +working and waiting. If I'm ever going to have any fun, I want it +_now_ while I can enjoy it." + +"You shouldn't wait another hour if I could have my way; but you +know how helpless I am;" and poor Mrs. Snow sighed dolefully, as she +glanced about the dingy room and pretty Mary turning her faded gown +for the second time. + +"If Aunt Kipp would give us the money she is always talking about, +instead of waiting till she dies, we should be _so_ comfortable. She +is a dreadful bore, for she lives in such terror of dropping dead with +her heart-complaint that she doesn't take any pleasure in life herself +or let any one else; so the sooner she goes the better for all of us," +said Polly, in a desperate tone; for things looked very black to her +just then. + +"My dear, don't say that," began her mother, mildly shocked; but a +bluff little voice broke in with the forcible remark,-- + +"She's everlastingly telling me never to put off till to-morrow what +can be done to-day; next time she comes I'll remind her of that, and +ask her, if she is going to die, why she doesn't do it?" + +"Toady! you're a wicked, disrespectful boy; never let me hear you say +such a thing again about your dear Aunt Kipp." + +"She isn't dear! You know we all hate her, and you are more afraid of +her than you are of spiders,--so now." + +The young personage whose proper name had been corrupted into Toady, +was a small boy of ten or eleven, apple-cheeked, round-eyed, and +curly-headed; arrayed in well-worn, gray knickerbockers, profusely +adorned with paint, glue, and shreds of cotton. Perched on a high +stool, at an isolated table in a state of chaos, he was absorbed in +making a boat, entirely oblivious of the racking tooth-ache which had +been his excuse for staying from school. As cool, saucy, hard-handed, +and soft-hearted a little specimen of young America was Toady as you +would care to see; a tyrant at home, a rebel at school, a sworn foe +to law, order, and Aunt Kipp. This young person was regarded as a +reprobate by all but his mother, sister, and sister's sweetheart, Van +Bahr Lamb. Having been, through much anguish of flesh and spirit, +taught that lying was a deadly sin, Toady rushed to the other extreme, +and bolted out the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, +at all times and places, with a startling abruptness that brought +wrath and dismay upon his friends and relatives. + +"It's wicked to fib; you've whipped that into me and you can't rub it +out," he was wont to say, with vivid recollection of the past tingling +in the chubby portions of his frame. + +"Mind your chips, Toady, and take care what you say to Aunt Kipp, or +you'll be as poor as a little rat all the days of your life," said +Polly, warningly. + +"I don't want her old money, and I'll tell her so if she bothers me +about it. I shall go into business with Van and take care of the whole +lot; so don't you preach, Polly," returned Toady, with as much dignity +as was compatible with a great dab of glue on the end of his snub +nose. + +"Mother, did aunt say anything about coming this week?" asked Polly, +after a pause of intense thought over a breadth with three darns, two +spots, and a burn. + +"Yes; she wrote that she was too feeble to come at present, as she had +such dreadful palpitations she didn't dare stir from her room. So we +are quite safe for the next week at least, and--bless my soul, there +she is now!" + +Mrs. Snow clasped her hands with a gesture of dismay, and sat as if +transfixed by the spectacle of a ponderous lady, in an awe-inspiring +bonnet, who came walking slowly down the street. Polly gave a groan, +and pulled a bright ribbon from her hair. Toady muttered, "Oh, +bother!" and vainly attempted to polish up his countenance with a +fragmentary pocket-handkerchief. + +"Nothing but salt fish for dinner," wailed Mrs. Snow, as the shadow of +the coming event fell upon her. + +"Van will make a fool of himself, and ruin everything," sighed Polly, +glancing at the ring on her finger. + +"I know she'll kiss me; she never _will_ let a fellow alone," growled +Toady, scowling darkly. + +The garden gate clashed, dust flew from the door-mat, a heavy step +echoed in the hall, an imperious voice called "Sophy!" and Aunt Kipp +entered with a flourish of trumpets, for Toady blew a blast through +his fingers which made the bows totter on her bonnet. + +"My dear aunt, I'm very glad to see you," murmured Mrs. Snow, +advancing with a smile of welcome; for though as weak as water gruel, +she was as kind-hearted a little woman as ever lived. + +"What a fib that was!" said Toady, _sotto voce_. + +"We were just saying we were afraid you wouldn't"--began Mary, when a +warning, "Mind now, Polly," caused her to stop short and busy herself +with the newcomer's bag and umbrella. + +"I changed my mind. Theodore, come and kiss me," answered Aunt Kipp, +briefly. + +"Yes'm," was the plaintive reply, and, closing his eyes, Toady awaited +his fate with fortitude. + +But the dreaded salute did not come, for Aunt Kipp exclaimed in +alarm,-- + +"Mercy on us! has the boy got the plague?" + +"No'm, it's paint, and dirt, and glue, and it _won't_ come off," said +Toady, stroking his variegated countenance with grateful admiration +for the stains that saved him. + +"Go and wash this moment, sir. Thank Heaven, _I've_ got no boys," +cried Aunt Kipp. as if boys were some virulent disease which she had +narrowly escaped. + +With a hasty peck at the lips of her two elder relatives, the old lady +seated herself, and slowly removed the awful bonnet, which in shape +and hue much resembled a hearse hung with black crape. + +"I'm glad you are better," said Mary, reverently receiving the +funereal head-gear. + +"I'm _not_ better," cut in Aunt Kipp. "I'm worse, much worse; my days +are numbered; I stand on the brink of the tomb, and may drop at any +moment." + +Toady's face was a study, as he glanced up at the old lady's florid +countenance, down at the floor, as if in search of the above-mentioned +"brink," and looked unaffectedly anxious to see her drop. "Why don't +you, then?" was on his lips; but a frown from Polly restrained him, +and he sat himself down on the rug to contemplate the corpulent +victim. + +"Have a cup of tea, aunt?" said Mrs. Snow. + +"I will." + +"Lie down and rest a little," suggested Polly. + +"I won't." + +"Can we do anything for you?" said both. + +"Take my things away, and have dinner early." + +Both departed to perform these behests, and, leaning back in her +chair, Aunt Kipp reposed. + +"I say, what's a bore?" asked Toady from the rug, where he sat rocking +meditatively to and fro, holding on by his shoe-strings. + +"It's a kind of a pig, very fierce, and folks are afraid of 'em," said +Aunt Kipp, whose knowledge of Natural History was limited. + +"Good for Polly! so you are!" sung out the boy, with the hearty +child's laugh so pleasant to most ears. + +"What do you mean, sir?" demanded the old lady, irefully poking at him +with her umbrella. + +"Why, Polly said you were a bore," explained Toady, with artless +frankness. "You _are_ fat, you know, and fierce sometimes, and folks +are afraid of you. Good, wasn't it?" + +"Very! Mary is a nice, grateful, respectful, loving niece, and I +shan't forget her, she may depend on that," and Aunt Kipp laughed +grimly. + +"May she? well, that's jolly now. She was afraid you wouldn't give her +the money; so I'll tell her it's all right;" and innocent Toady nodded +approvingly. + +"Oh, she expects some of my money, does she?" + +"Course she does; ain't you always saying you'll remember us in your +will, because father was your favorite nephew, and all that? I'll tell +you a secret, if you won't let Polly know I spoke first. You'll find +it out to-night, for you 'd see Van and she were sweethearts in a +minute." + +"Sweethearts?" cried Aunt Kipp, turning red in the face. + +"Yes'm. Van settled it last week, and Polly's been so happy ever +since. Mother likes it, and _I_ like it, for I'm fond of Van, though +I do call him Baa-baa, because he looks like a sheep. We all like it, +and we 'd all say so, if we were not afraid of you. Mother and Polly, +I mean; of course we men don't mind, but we don't want a fuss. You +won't make one, will you, now?" + +Anything more expressive of brotherly good-will, persuasive frankness, +and a placid consciousness of having "fixed it," than Toady's dirty +little face, it would be hard to find. Aunt Kipp eyed him so fiercely +that even before she spoke a dim suspicion that something was wrong +began to dawn on his too-confiding soul. + +"_I_ don't like it, and I'll put a stop to it. I won't have any +ridiculous baa-baas in my family. If Mary counts on my money to begin +housekeeping with, she'll find herself mistaken; for not one penny +shall she have, married or single, and you may tell her so." + +Toady was so taken aback by this explosion that he let go his +shoe-strings, fell over with a crash, and lay flat, with shovel and +tongs spread upon him like a pall. In rushed Mrs. Snow and Polly, to +find the boy's spirits quite quenched, for once, and Aunt Kipp in a +towering passion. It all came out in one overwhelming flood of words, +and Toady fled from the storm to wander round the house, a prey to +the deepest remorse. The meekness of that boy at dinner-time was so +angelic that Mrs. Snow would have feared speedy translation for him, +if she had not been very angry. Polly's red eyes, and Aunt Kipp's +griffinesque expression of countenance, weighed upon his soul so +heavily, that even roly-poly pudding failed to assuage his trouble, +and, taking his mother into the china-closet, he anxiously inquired +"if it was all up with Polly?" + +"I'm afraid so, for aunt vows she will make a new will to-morrow, and +leave every penny to the Charitable Rag-bag Society," sighed Mrs. +Snow. + +"I didn't mean to do it, I truly didn't! I thought I'd just 'give her +a hint,' as you say. She looked all right, and laughed when I told her +about being a bore, and I thought she liked it. If she was a man, I'd +thrash her for making Polly cry;" and Toady shook his fist at Aunt +Kipp's umbrella, which was an immense relief to his perturbed spirit. + +"Bless the boy! I do believe he would!" cried Mrs. Snow, watching the +little turkey-cock with maternal pride. "You can't do that: so just be +careful and not make any more mischief, dear." + +"I'll try, mother; but I'm always getting into scrapes with Aunt Kipp. +She's worse than measles, any day,--such an old aggrawater! Van's +coming this afternoon, won't he make her pleasant again?" + +"Oh, dear, no! He will probably make things ten times worse, he's so +bashful and queer. I'm afraid our last chance is gone, deary, and we +must rub along as we have done." + +One sniff of emotion burst from Toady, and for a moment he laid his +head in the knife-tray, overcome with disappointment and regret. +But scorning to yield to unmanly tears, he was soon himself again. +Thrusting his beloved jackknife, with three blades and a file, into +Polly's hand, he whispered, brokenly,-- + +"Keep it forever 'n' ever; I'm awful sorry!" Then, feeling that the +magnitude of this sacrifice atoned for everything, he went to watch +for Van,--the forlorn hope to which he now clung. + + +II + + +"Sophy, I'm surprised at your want of judgment. Do you really mean +to let your girl marry this Lamb? Why, the man's a fool!" began Aunt +Kipp, after dinner, by way of opening a pleasant conversation with her +relatives. + +"Dear me, aunt! how can you know that, when you never saw him?" mildly +returned Mrs. Snow. + +"I've heard of him, and that's enough for me. I've a deal of +penetration in judging character, and I tell you Van Bahr Lamb is a +fool." + +The amiable old lady thought this would rouse Polly, against whom her +anger still burned hotly. But Polly also possessed penetration; +and, well knowing that contradiction would delight Aunt Kipp, she +completely took the wind out of her sails, by coolly remarking,-- + +"I like fools." + +"Bless my heart! what does the girl mean?" ejaculated Aunt Kipp. + +"Just what I say. If Van is a fool, I prefer simpletons to wiseacres. +I know he is shy and awkward, and does absurd things now and then. But +I also know that he has the kindest heart that ever was; is unselfish, +faithful and loving; that he took good care of his old parents till +they died, and never thought of himself while they needed him. He +loves me dearly; will wait for me a dozen years, if I say so, and work +all his days to make me happy. He's a help and comfort to mother, a +good friend to Toady, and I love and respect and am proud of him, +though you do say he is a fool," cried Polly heartily. + +"And you insist on marrying him?" demanded Aunt Kipp. + +"Yes, I do." + +"Then I wish a carriage immediately," was the somewhat irrelevant +reply. + +"Why, aunt, you don't mean to go so soon?" cried Mrs. Snow, with a +reproachful glance at the rebellious Polly. + +"Far from it. I wish to see Judge Banks about altering my will," was +the awful answer. + +Polly's face fell; her mother gave a despairing sigh; Toady, who had +hovered about the door, uttered a suppressed whistle of dismay; and +Mrs. Kipp looked about her with vengeful satisfaction. + +"Get the big carryall and old Bob, so the boy can drive, and all of +you come; the trip will do you good." + +It was like Aunt Kipp to invite her poor relations to go and "nip +their own noses off," as she elegantly expressed it. It was a party of +pleasure that just suited her, for all the fun was on her side. She +grew affable at once, was quite pressing in her invitation, regretted +that Sophy was too busy to go, praised Polly's hat; and professed +herself quite satisfied with "that dear boy" for a driver. The "dear +boy" distorted his young countenance frightfully behind her back, but +found a balm for every wound in the delight of being commander of the +expedition. + +The big carryall appeared, and, with much creaking and swaying Mrs. +Kipp was got into the back seat, where the big bonnet gloomed like a +thunder-cloud. Polly, in a high state of indignation, which only made +her look ten times prettier, sat in front with Toady, who was a sight +to see as he drove off with his short legs planted against the boot, +his elbows squared, and the big whip scientifically cracking now +and then. Away they went, leaving poor Mrs. Snow to bewail herself +dismally after she had smiled and nodded them out of sight. + +"Don't go over any bridges or railroad crossings or by any saw-mills," +said the old lady, as if the town could be suddenly remodelled to suit +her taste. + +"Yes'm," returned Toady, with a crack which would have done honor to a +French postilion. + +It was a fine day, and the young people would have enjoyed the ride in +spite of the breakers ahead, if Aunt Kipp hadn't entertained the +girl with a glowing account of the splendors of her own wedding, and +aggravated the boy by frequent pokes and directions in the art of +driving, of which she was of course, profoundly ignorant. Polly +couldn't restrain a tear or two, in thinking of her own poor little +prospects, and Toady was goaded to desperation. + +"I'll give her a regular shaking up; it'll make her hold her tongue +and do her good," he said to himself, as a stony hill sloped +temptingly before him. + +A sly chuck, and some mysterious manoeuvre with the reins, and Bob +started off at a brisk trot, as if he objected to the old lady as much +as her mischievous little nephew. + +"Hold him in! Keep a taut rein! Lord 'a mercy, he's running away!" +shrieked Aunt Kipp, or tried to shriek, for the bouncing and bumping +jerked the words out of her mouth with ludicrous incoherency. + +"I am holding him, but he _will_ go," said Toady, with a wicked +triumph in his eye as he glanced back at Polly. + +The next minute the words were quite true; for, as he spoke, two or +three distracted hens flew squalling over the wall and scattered +about, under, over, and before the horse, as only distracted hens +could do. It was too much for Bob's nerves; and, taking matters into +his own hands, or feet, rather, he broke into a run, and rattled the +old lady over the stones with a velocity which left her speechless. + +Polly laughed, and Toady chuckled, as they caught glimpses of the +awful bonnet vibrating wildly in the background, and felt the frantic +clutchings of the old lady's hands. But both grew sober as a shrill +car-whistle sounded not far off; and Bob, as if possessed by an +evil spirit, turned suddenly into the road that led to the railroad +crossing. + +"That will do, Toady; now pull up, for we can't get over in time," +said Polly, glancing anxiously toward the rapidly approaching puffs of +white smoke. + +"I can't, Polly,--I really can't," cried the boy, tugging with all his +might, and beginning to look scared. + +Polly lent her aid; but Bob scarcely seemed to feel it, for he had +been a racer once, and when his blood was up he was hard to handle. +His own good sense might have checked him, if Aunt Kipp hadn't +unfortunately recovered her voice at this crisis, and uttered a +succession of the shrillest screams that ever saluted mortal ears. +With a snort and a bound Bob dashed straight on toward the crossing, +as the train appeared round the bend. + +"Let me out! Let me out! Jump! Jump!" shrieked Aunt Kipp, thrusting +her head out of the window, while she fumbled madly for the +door-handle. + +"O Toady, save us! save us!" gasped Polly, losing her presence of +mind, and dropping the reins to cling to her brother, with a woman's +instinctive faith in the stronger sex. + +But Toady held on manfully, though his arms were nearly pulled off, +for "Never say die," was his motto, and the plucky little lad wouldn't +show fear before the women. + +"Don't howl; we'll do it! Hi, Bob!" and with a savage slash of the +whip, an exciting cry, a terrible reeling and rattling, they _did_ do +it; for Bob cleared the track at a breakneck pace, just in time for +the train to sweep swiftly by behind them. + +Aunt Kipp dropped in a heap, Polly looked up at her brother, with a +look which he never forgot; and Toady tried to say, stoutly, "It's all +right!" with lips that were white and dry in spite of himself. + +"We shall smash up at the bridge," he muttered, as they tore through +the town, where every one obligingly shouted, waved their hats, and +danced about on the sidewalks, doing nothing but add to Bob's fright +and the party's danger. But Toady was wrong,--they did not smash up at +the bridge; for, before they reached the perilous spot, one man had +the sense to fly straight at the horse's head and hold on till the +momentary check enabled others to lend a hand. + +The instant they were safe, Polly, like a regular heroine, threw +herself into the arms of her dishevelled preserver, who of course was +Van, and would have refreshed herself with hysterics if the sight of +Toady hadn't steadied her. The boy sat as stiff and rigid as a wooden +figure till they took the reins from him; then all the strength seemed +to go out of him, and he leaned against his sister, as white and +trembling as she, whispering with an irrepressible sob,-- + +"O Polly, wasn't it horrid? Tell mother I stood by you like a man. Do +tell her that!" + +If any one had had time or heart to laugh, they certainly would have +done it when, after much groping, heaving, and hoisting. Mrs. Kipp +was extricated and restored to consciousness; for a more ludicrously +deplorable spectacle was seldom seen. Quite unhurt, though much +shaken, the old lady insisted on believing herself to be dying, and +kept the town in a ferment till three doctors had pronounced her +perfectly well able to go home. Then the perversity of her nature +induced her to comply, that she might have the satisfaction of dying +on the way, and proving herself in the right. + +Unfortunately she did not expire, but, having safely arrived, went to +bed in high dudgeon, and led Polly and her mother a sad life of it for +two weary days. Having heard of Toady's gallant behavior, she solemnly +ordered him up to receive her blessing. But the sight of Aunt Kipp's +rubicund visage, surrounded by the stiff frills of an immense +nightcap, caused the irreverent boy to explode with laughter in his +handkerchief, and to be hustled away by his mother before Aunt Kipp +discovered the true cause of his convulsed appearance. + +"Ah! poor dear, his feelings are too much for him. He sees my doom +in my face, and is overcome by what you refuse to believe. I shan't +forget that boy's devotion. Now leave me to the meditations befitting +these solemn hours." + +Mrs. Snow retired, and Aunt Kipp tried to sleep; but the murmur of +voices, and the sound of stifled laughter in the next room disturbed +her repose. + +"They are rejoicing over my approaching end, knowing that I haven't +changed my will. Mercenary creatures, don't exult too soon! there's +time yet," she muttered; and presently, unable to control her +curiosity, she crept out of bed to listen and peep through the +keyhole. + +Van Bahr Lamb did look rather like a sheep. He had a blond curly +head, a long face, pale, mild eyes, a plaintive voice, and a general +expression of innocent timidity strongly suggestive of animated +mutton. But Baa-baa was a "trump," as Toady emphatically declared, and +though every one laughed at him, every one liked him, and that is +more than can be said of many saints and sages. He adored Polly, was +dutifully kind to her mother, and had stood by T. Snow, Jr., in many +an hour of tribulation with fraternal fidelity. Though he had long +blushed, sighed, and cast sheep's eyes at the idol of his affections, +only till lately had he dared to bleat forth his passion. Polly loved +him because she couldn't help it; but she was proud, and wouldn't +marry till Aunt Kipp's money was hers, or at least a sure prospect +of it; and now even the prospect of a prospect was destroyed by +that irrepressible Toady. They were talking of this as the old lady +suspected, and of course the following conversation afforded her +intense satisfaction. + +"It's a shame to torment us as she does, knowing how poor we are and +how happy a little of her money would make us. I'm tired of being a +slave to a cruel old woman just because she's rich. If it was not for +mother, I declare I'd wash my hands of her entirely, and do the best I +could for myself." + +"Hooray for Polly! I always said let her money go and be jolly without +it," cried Toady, who, in his character of wounded hero, reposed with +a lordly air on the sofa, enjoying the fragrance of the opodeldoc with +which his strained wrists were bandaged. + +"It's on your account, children, that I bear with aunt's temper as I +do. I don't want anything for myself, but I really think she owes it +to your dear father, who was devoted to her while he lived, to provide +for his children when he couldn't;" after which remarkably spirited +speech for her, Mrs. Snow dropped a tear, and stitched away on a small +trouser-leg which was suffering from a complicated compound fracture. + +"Don't you worry about me, mother; I'll take care of myself and you +too," remarked Toady, with the cheery belief in impossibilities which +makes youth so charming. + +"Now, Van, tell us what to do, for things have come to such a pass +that we must either break away altogether or be galley-slaves as long +as Aunt Kipp lives," said Polly, who was a good deal excited about the +matter. + +"Well, really, my dear, I don't know," hesitated Van, who did know +what _he_ wanted, but thought it might be selfish to urge it. "Have +you tried to soften your aunt's heart?" he asked, after a moment's +meditation. + +"Good gracious, Van, she hasn't got any," cried Polly, who firmly +believed it. + +"It's hossified," thoughtfully remarked Toady, quite unconscious of +any approach to a joke till every one giggled. + +"You've had hossification enough for one while, my lad," laughed Van. +"Well, Polly, if the old lady has no heart you'd better let her go, +for people without hearts are not worth much." + +"That's a beautiful remark, Van, and a wise one. I just wish she could +hear you make it, for she called you a fool," said Polly, irefully. + +"Did she? Well, I don't mind, I'm used to it," returned Van, placidly; +and so he was, for Polly called him a goose every day of her life, and +he enjoyed it immensely. + +"Then you think, dear, if we stopped worrying about aunt and her +money, and worked instead of waiting, that we shouldn't be any poorer +and might be a great deal happier than we are now?" asked Polly, +making a pretty little tableau as she put her hand through Van's arm +and looked up at him with as much love, respect, and reliance as if he +had been six feet tall, with the face of an Apollo and the manners of +a Chesterfield. + +"Yes, my dear, I do, for it has troubled me a good deal to see you so +badgered by that very uncomfortable old lady. Independence is a very +nice thing, and poverty isn't half as bad as this sort of slavery. But +you are not going to be poor, nor worry about anything. We'll just be +married and take mother and Toady home and be as jolly as grigs, and +never think of Mrs. K. again,--unless she loses her fortune, or +gets sick, or comes to grief in any way. We'd lend her a hand then, +wouldn't we, Polly?" and Van's mild face was pleasant to behold as he +made the kindly proposition. + +"Well, we'd think of it," said Polly, trying not to relent, but +feeling that she was going very fast. + +"Let's do it!" cried Toady, fired with the thought of privy conspiracy +and rebellion. "Mother would be so comfortable with Polly, and +I'd help Van in the store, when I've learned that confounded +multiplication table," he added with a groan; "and if Aunt Kipp comes +a visiting, we'll just say 'Not at home,' and let her trot off again." + +"It sounds very nice, but aunt will be dreadfully offended and I don't +wish to be ungrateful," said Mrs. Snow, brightening visibly. + +"There's no ingratitude about it," cried Van. "She might have done +everything to make you love, and respect, and admire her, and been a +happy, useful, motherly, old soul; but she didn't choose to, and now +she must take the consequences. No one cares for her, because she +cares for nobody; her money's the plague of her life, and not a single +heart will ache when she dies." + +"Poor Aunt Kipp!" said Polly, softly. + +Mrs. Snow echoed the words, and for a moment all thought pitifully of +the woman whose life had given so little happiness, whose age had won +so little reverence, and whose death would cause so little regret. +Even Toady had a kind thought for her, as he broke the silence, saying +soberly,-- + +"You'd better put tails on my jackets, mother; then the next time we +get run away with, Aunt Kipp will have something to hold on by." + +It was impossible to help laughing at the recollection of the old lady +clutching at the boy till he had hardly a button left, and at the +paternal air with which he now proposed a much-desired change of +costume, as if intent on Aunt Kipp's future accommodation. + +Under cover of the laugh, the old lady stole back to bed, wide awake, +and with subjects enough to meditate upon now. The shaking up had +certainly done her good, for somehow the few virtues she possessed +came to the surface, and the mental shower-bath just received had +produced a salutary change. Polly wouldn't have doubted her aunt's +possession of a heart, if she could have known the pain and loneliness +that made it ache, as the old woman crept away; and Toady wouldn't +have laughed if he had seen the tears on the face, between the big +frills, as Aunt Kipp laid it on the pillow, muttering, drearily,-- + +"I might have been a happy, useful woman, but I didn't choose to, and +now it's too late." + +It _was_ too late to be all she might have been, for the work of +seventy selfish years couldn't be undone in a minute. But with regret, +rose the sincere wish to earn a little love before the end came, and +the old perversity gave a relish to the reformation, for even while +she resolved to do the just and generous thing, she said to herself,-- + +"They say I've got no heart; I'll show 'em that I have: they don't +want my money; I'll _make_ 'em take it: they turn their backs on me; +I'll just render myself so useful and agreeable that they can't do +without me." + + +III + + +Aunt Kipp sat bolt upright in the parlor, hemming a small +handkerchief, adorned with a red ship, surrounded by a border of +green monkeys. Toady suspected that this elegant article of dress was +intended for him, and yearned to possess it; so, taking advantage of +his mother's and Polly's absence, he strolled into the room, and, +seating himself on a high, hard chair, folded his hands, crossed his +legs, and asked for a story with the thirsting-for-knowledge air which +little boys wear in the moral story-books. + +Now Aunt Kipp had one soft place in her heart, though it _was_ +partially ossified, as she very truly declared, and Toady was +enshrined therein. She thought there never was such a child, and loved +him as she had done his father before him, though the rack wouldn't +have forced her to confess it. She scolded, snubbed, and predicted +he'd come to a bad end in public; but she forgave his naughtiest +pranks, always brought him something when she came, and privately +intended to make his future comfortable with half of her fortune. +There was a dash and daring, a generosity and integrity, about the +little fellow, that charmed her. Sophy was weak and low-spirited, +Polly pretty and headstrong, and Aunt Kipp didn't think much of either +of them; but Toady defied, distracted, and delighted her, and to Toady +she clung, as the one sunshiny thing in her sour, selfish old age. + +When he made his demure request, she looked at him, and her eyes began +to twinkle, for the child's purpose was plainly seen in the loving +glances cast upon the pictorial pocket-handkerchief. + +"A story? Yes, I'll tell you one about a little boy who had a kind +old--ahem!--grandma. She was rich, and hadn't made up her mind who she'd +leave her money to. She was fond of the boy,--a deal fonder than he +deserved,--for he was as mischievous a monkey as any that ever lived +in a tree, with a curly tail. He put pepper in her snuff-box,"--here +Toady turned scarlett,--"he cut up her bestt frisette to make a mane +for his rocking-horse,"--Toady opened his mouth impulsively, but shut +it again without betraying himself--"he repeated rude things to her, +and called her 'an old aggrewater,'"--here Toady wriggled in his +chair, and gave a little gasp. + +"If you are tired I won't go on," observed Aunt Kipp, mildly. + +"I'm not tired, 'm; it's a very interesting story," replied Toady, +with a gravity that nearly upset the old lady. + +"Well, in spite of all this, that kind, good, forgiving grandma left +that bad boy twenty thousand dollars when she died. What do you think +of that?" asked Aunt Kipp, pausing suddenly with her sharp eye on him. + +"I--I think she was a regular dear," cried Toady, holding on to the +chair with both hands, as if that climax rather took him off his legs. + +"And what did the boy do about it?" continued Aunt Kipp, curiously. + +"He bought a velocipede, and gave his sister half, and paid his +mother's rent, and put a splendid marble cherakin over the old lady, +and had a jolly good time, and--" + +"What in the world is a cherakin?" laughed Aunt Kipp, as Toady paused +for breath. + +"Why, don't you know? It's a angel crying, or pointing up, or flapping +his wings. They have them over graves; and I'll give you the biggest +one I can find when you die. But I'm not in a _very_ great hurry to +have you." + +"Thankee, dear; I'm in no hurry, myself. But, Toady, the boy did wrong +in giving his sister half; she didn't deserve _any_; and the grandma +left word she wasn't to have a penny of it." + +"Really?" cried the boy, with a troubled face. + +"Yes, really. If he gave her any he lost it all; the old lady said so. +Now what do you think?" asked Aunt Kipp, who found it impossible to +pardon Polly,--perhaps because she was young, and pretty, and much +beloved. + +Toady's eyes kindled, and his red cheeks grew redder still, as he +cried out defiantly,-- + +"I think she was a selfish pig,--don't you?" + +"No, I don't, sir; and I'm sure that little boy wasn't such a fool as +to lose the money. He minded his grandma's wishes, and kept it all." + +"No, he didn't," roared Toady, tumbling off his chair in great +excitement. "He just threw it out a winder, and smashed the old +cherakin all to bits." + +Aunt Kipp dropped her work with a shrill squeak, for she thought the +boy was dangerous, as he stood before her, sparring away at nothing as +the only vent for his indignation. + +"It isn't an interesting story," he cried; "and I won't hear any more; +and I won't have your money if I mayn't go halves with Polly; and I'll +work to earn more than that, and we'll all be jolly together, and you +may give your twenty thousand to the old rag-bags, and so I tell you, +Aunt Kipp." + +"Why, Toady, my boy, what's the matter?" cried a mild voice at the +door, as young Lamb came trotting up to the rescue. + +"Never you mind, Baa-baa; I shan't do it; and it's a mean shame Polly +can't have half; then she could marry you and be so happy," blubbered +Toady, running to try to hide his tears of disappointment in the +coat-skirts of his friend. + +"Mr. Lamb, I suppose you _are_ that misguided young man?" said Aunt +Kipp, as if it was a personal insult to herself. + +"Van Bahr Lamb, ma'am, if you please. Yes, thank you," murmured +Baa-Baa, bowing, blushing, and rumpling his curly fleece in bashful +trepidation. + +"Don't thank me," cried the old lady. "I'm not going to give you +anything,--far from it. I object to you altogether. What business have +you to come courting my niece?" + +"Because I love her, ma'am," returned Van, with unexpected spirit. + +"No, you don't; you want her money, or rather my money. She depends +on it; but you'll both be disappointed, for she won't have a penny of +it," cried Aunt Kipp, who, in spite of her good resolutions, found it +impossible to be amiable all at once. + +"I'm glad of it!" burst out Van, indignant at her accusation. "I +didn't want Polly for the money; I always doubted if she got it; and I +never wished her to make herself a slave to anybody. I've got enough +for all, if we're careful; and when my share of the Van Bahr property +comes, we shall live in clover." + +"What's that? What property are you talking of?" demanded Aunt Kipp, +pricking up her ears. + +"The great Van Bahr estate, ma'am. There has been a long lawsuit about +it, but it's nearly settled, and there isn't much doubt that we shall +get it. I am the last of our branch, and my share will be a large +one." + +"Oh, indeed! I wish you joy," said Aunt Kipp, with sudden affability; +for she adored wealth, like a few other persons in the world. "But +suppose you don't get it, how then?" + +"Then I shall try to be contented with my salary of two thousand, and +make Polly as happy as I can. Money doesn't _always_ make people happy +or agreeable, I find." And Van looked at Aunt Kipp in a way that would +have made her hair stand erect if she had possessed any. She stared +at him a moment, then, obeying one of the odd whims that made an +irascible weathercock of her, she said, abruptly,-- + +"If you had capital should you go into business for yourself, Mr. +Lambkin?" + +"Yes, ma'am, at once," replied Van, promptly. + +"Suppose you lost the Van Bahr money, and some one offered you a tidy +little sum to start with, would you take it?" + +"It would depend upon who made the offer, ma'am," said Van, looking +more like a sheep than ever, as he stood staring in blank surprise. + +"Suppose it was me, wouldn't you take it?" asked Aunt Kipp, blandly, +for the new fancy pleased her. + +"No, thank you, ma'am," said Van, decidedly. + +"And why not, pray?" cried the old lady, with a shrillness that made +him jump, and Toady back to the door precipitately. + +"Because, if you'll excuse my speaking plainly, I think you owe +anything you may have to spare to your niece, Mrs. Snow;" and, having +freed his mind, Van joined Toady, ready to fly if necessary. + +"You're an idiot, sir," began Aunt Kipp, in a rage again. + +"Thank you, ma'am." And Van actually laughed and bowed in return for +the compliment. + +"Hold your tongue, sir," snapped the old lady. "You're a fool and +Sophy is another. She's no strength of mind, no sense about anything; +and would make ducks and drakes of my money in less than no time if I +gave it to her, as I've thought of doing." + +"Mrs. Kipp, you forget who you are speaking to. Mrs. Snow's sons love +and respect her if you don't, and they won't hear anything untrue +or unkind said of a good woman, a devoted mother, and an almost +friendless widow." + +Van wasn't a dignified man at all, but as he said that with a sudden +flash of his mild eyes, there was something in his face and manner +that daunted Aunt Kipp more than the small fist belligerently shaken +at her from behind the sofa. The poor old soul was cross, and worried, +and ashamed of herself, and being as feeble-minded as Sophy in many +respects, she suddenly burst into tears, and, covering her face with +the gay handkerchief, cried as if bent on floating the red ship in a +sea of salt water without delay. + +"I'm a poor, lonely, abused old woman," she moaned, with a green +monkey at each eye. "No one loves me, or minds me, or thanks me when +I want to help 'em. My money's only a worryment and a burden, and I +don't know what to do with it, for people I don't want to leave it to +ought to have it, and people I do like won't take it. Oh, deary me, +what _shall_ I do! what shall I do!" + +"Shall I tell you, ma'am?" asked Van, gently, for, though she was a +very provoking old lady, he pitied and wished to help her. + +A nod and a gurgle seemed to give consent, and, boldly advancing, Van +said, with blush and a stammer, but a very hearty voice,-- + +"I think, ma'am, if you'd do the right thing with your money you'd be +at ease and find it saved a deal of worry all round. Give it to Mrs. +Snow; she deserves it, poor lady, for she's had a hard time, and done +her duty faithfully. Don't wait till you are--that is, till you--well, +till you in point of fact die, ma'am. Give it now, and enjoy the +happiness it will make. Give it kindly, let them see you're glad to +do it, and I am sure you'll find them grateful; I'm sure you won't be +lonely any more, or feel that you are not loved and thanked. Try it, +ma'am, just try it," cried Van, getting excited by the picture he +drew. "And I give you my word I'll do my best to respect and love you +like a son, ma'am." + +He knew that he was promising a great deal, but for Polly's sake he +felt that he could make even that Herculean effort. Aunt Kipp was +surprised and touched; but the contrary old lady couldn't make up her +mind to yield so soon, and wouldn't have done it if Toady hadn't taken +her by storm. Having a truly masculine horror of tears, a very tender +heart under his tailless jacket, and being much "tumbled up and down +in his own mind" by the events of the week, the poor little lad felt +nerved to attempt any novel enterprise, even that of voluntarily +embracing Aunt Kipp. First a grimy little hand came on her shoulder, +as she sat sniffing behind the handkerchief; then, peeping out, she +saw an apple-cheeked face very near her own, with eyes full of pity, +penitence, and affection; and then she heard a choky little voice say +earnestly,-- + +"Don't cry, aunty; I'm sorry I was rude. Please be good to Mother and +Polly, and I'll love and take care of you, and stand by you all my +life. Yes, I'll--I'll _kiss_ you, I will, by George!" And with one +promiscuous plunge the Spartan boy cast himself into her arms. + +That finished Aunt Kipp; she hugged him dose, and cried out with a +salute that went off like a pistol-shot,-- + +"Oh, my dear, my dear! this is better than a dozen cherakins!" + +When Toady emerged, somewhat flushed and tumbled, Mrs. Snow, Polly, +and Van were looking on with faces full of wonder, doubt, and +satisfaction. To be an object of interest was agreeable to Aunt +Kipp; and, as her old heart was really softened, she met them with a +gracious smile, and extended the olive-branch generally. + +"Sophy, I shall give my money to _you_ at once and entirely, only +asking that you'll let me stay with you when Polly's gone. I'll do my +best to be agreeable, and you'll bear with me because I'm a cranky, +solitary old woman, and I loved your husband." + +Mrs. Snow hugged her on the spot, and gushed, of course, murmuring +thanks, welcomes, and promises in one grateful burst. + +"Polly, I forgive you; I consent to your marriage, and will provide +your wedding finery. Mr. Lamb, you are not a fool, but a very +excellent young man. I thank you for saving my life, and I wish you +well with all my heart. You needn't say anything. I'm far from strong, +and all this agitation is shortening my life." + +Polly and Van shook her hand heartily, and beamed upon each other like +a pair of infatuated turtle-doves with good prospects. + +"Toady, you are as near an angel as a boy can be. Put a name to +whatever you most wish for in the world, and it's yours," said Aunt +Kipp, dramatically waving the rest away. + +With his short legs wide apart, his hands behind him, and his rosy +face as round and radiant as a rising sun, Toady stood before the fire +surveying the scene with the air of a man who has successfully carried +through a difficult and dangerous undertaking, and wasn't proud. His +face brightened, then fell, as he heaved a sigh, and answered, with a +shake of his curly head,-- + +"You can't give me what I want most. There are three things, and I've +got to wait for them all." + +"Gracious me, what are they?" cried the old lady, good-naturedly, for +she felt better already. + +"A mustache, a beaver, _and_ a sweetheart," answered Toady, with his +eyes fixed wistfully on Baa-baa, who possessed all these blessings, +and was particularly enjoying the latter at that moment. + +How Aunt Kipp did laugh at this early budding of romance in her +pet! And all the rest joined her, for Toady's sentimental air was +irresistible. + +"You precocious chick! I dare say you will have them all before we +know where we are. Never mind, deary; you shall have my little watch, +and the silver-headed cane with a _boar's_ head on it," answered the +old lady, in high good-humor. "You needn't blush, dear; I don't bear +malice; so let's forget and forgive. I shall settle things to-morrow, +and have a free mind. You are welcome to my money, and I hope I shall +live to see you all enjoy it." + +So she did; for she lived to see Sophy plump, cheery, and care-free; +Polly surrounded by a flock of Lambkins; Van in possession of a +generous slice of the Van Bahr fortune; Toady revelling in the objects +of his desire; and, best of all, she lived to find that it is never +too late to make oneself useful, happy, and beloved. + + + + +PSYCHE'S ART + +"Handsome is that handsome does." + + +I + + +Once upon a time there raged in a certain city one of those +fashionable epidemics which occasionally attack our youthful +population. It wasn't the music mania, nor gymnastic convulsions, nor +that wide-spread malady, croquet. Neither was it one of the new dances +which, like a tarantula-bite, set every one a twirling, nor stage +madness, nor yet that American lecturing influenza which yearly sweeps +over the land. No, it was a new disease called the Art fever, and it +attacked the young women of the community with great violence. + +Nothing but time could cure it, and it ran its course to the dismay, +amusement, or edification of the beholders, for its victims did all +manner of queer things in their delirium. They begged potteries +for clay, drove Italian plaster-corkers out of their wits with +unexecutable orders got neuralgia and rheumatism sketching perched on +fences and trees like artistic hens, and caused a rise in the price of +bread, paper, and charcoal, by their ardor in crayoning. They covered +canvas with the expedition of scene-painters, had classes, lectures, +receptions, and exhibitions, made models of each other, and rendered +their walls hideous with bad likenesses of all their friends. Their +conversation ceased to be intelligible to the uninitiated, and they +prattled prettily of "chiaro oscuro, French sauce, refraction of the +angle of the eye, seventh spinus process, depth and juiciness of +color, tender touch, and a good tone." Even in dress the artistic +disorder was visible; some cast aside crinoline altogether, and +stalked about with a severe simplicity of outline worthy of Flaxman. +Others flushed themselves with scarlet, that no landscape which they +adorned should be without some touch of Turner's favorite tint. Some +were _blue_ in every sense of the word, and the heads of all were +adorned with classic braids, curls tied Hebe-wise, or hair dressed a +la hurricane. + +It was found impossible to keep them safe at home, and, as the fever +grew, these harmless maniacs invaded the sacred retreats where artists +of the other sex did congregate, startling those anchorites with +visions of large-eyed damsels bearing portfolios in hands delicately +begrimed with crayon, chalk, and clay, gliding through the corridors +hitherto haunted only by shabby paletots, shadowy hats, and cigar +smoke. This irruption was borne with manly fortitude, not to say +cheerfulness, for studio doors stood hospitably open as the fair +invaders passed, and studies from life were generously offered them in +glimpses of picturesque gentlemen posed before easels, brooding over +master-pieces in "a divine despair," or attitudinizing upon couches as +if exhausted by the soarings of genius. + +An atmosphere of romance began to pervade the old buildings when the +girls came, and nature and art took turns. There were peepings and +whisperings, much stifled laughter and whisking in and out; not to +mention the accidental rencontres, small services, and eye telegrams, +which somewhat lightened the severe studies of all parties. + +Half a dozen young victims of this malady met daily in one of the +cells of a great art beehive called "Raphael's Rooms," and devoted +their shining hours to modelling fancy heads, gossiping the while; for +the poor things found the road to fame rather dull and dusty without +such verbal sprinklings. + +"Psyche Dean, you've had an adventure! I see it in your face; so tell +it at once, for we are stupid as owls here to-day," cried one of the +sisterhood, as a bright-eyed girl entered with some precipitation. + +"I dropped my portfolio, and a man picked it up, that's all." replied +Psyche, hurrying on her gray linen pinafore. + +"That won't do; I know something interesting happened, for you've been +blushing, and you look brisker than usual this morning," said the +first speaker, polishing off the massive nose of her Homer. + +"It wasn't anything," began Psyche a little reluctantly. "I was coming +up in a hurry when I ran against a man coming down in a hurry. My +portfolio slipped, and my papers went flying all about the landing. Of +course we both laughed and begged pardon, and I began to pick them +up, but he wouldn't let me; so I held the book while he collected the +sketches. I saw him glance at them as he did so, and that made me +blush, for they are wretched things, you know." + +"Not a bit of it; they are capital, and you are a regular genius, as +we all agree," cut in the Homeric Miss Cutter. + +"Never tell people they are geniuses unless you wish to spoil them," +returned Psyche severely. "Well, when the portfolio was put to rights +I was going on, but he fell to picking up a little bunch of violets +I had dropped; you know I always wear a posy into town to give me +inspiration. I didn't care for the dusty flowers, and told him so, and +hurried away before any one came. At the top of the stairs I peeped +over the railing, and there he was, gathering up every one of those +half-dead violets as carefully as if they had been tea-roses." + +"Psyche Dean, you have met your fate this day!" exclaimed a third +damsel, with straw-colored tresses, and a good deal of weedy shrubbery +in her hat, which gave an Ophelia-like expression to her sentimental +countenance. + +Psyche frowned and shook her head, as if half sorry she had told her +little story. + +"Was he handsome?" asked Miss Larkins, the believer in fate. + +"I didn't particularly observe." + +"It was the red-headed man, whom we call Titian: he's always on the +stairs." + +"No, it wasn't; his hair was brown and curly," cried Psyche, +innocently falling into the trap. + +"Like Peerybingle's baby when its cap was taken off," quoted Miss +Dickenson, who pined to drop the last two letters of her name. + +"Was it Murillo, the black-eyed one?" asked the fair Cutter, for the +girls had a name for all the attitudinizers and promenaders whom they +oftenest met. + +"No, he had gray eyes, and very fine ones they were too," answered +Psyche, adding, as if to herself, "he looked as I imagine Michael +Angelo might have looked when young." + +"Had he a broken nose, like the great Mike?" asked an irreverent +damsel. + +"If he had, no one would mind it, for his head is splendid; he took +his hat off, so I had a fine view. He isn't handsome, but he'll _do_ +something," said Psyche, prophetically, as she recalled the strong, +ambitious face which she had often observed, but never mentioned +before. + +"Well, dear, considering that you didn't 'particularly look' at the +man, you've given us a very good idea of his appearance. We'll call +him Michael Angelo, and he shall be your idol. I prefer stout old +Rembrandt myself, and Larkie adores that dandified Raphael," said the +lively Cutter, slapping away at Homer's bald pate energetically, as +she spoke. + +"Raphael is a dear, but Rubens is more to my taste now," returned Miss +Larkins. "He was in the hall yesterday talking with Sir Joshua, who +had his inevitable umbrella, like a true Englishman. Just as I came +up, the umbrella fell right before me. I started back; Sir Joshua +laughed, but Rubens said, 'Deuce take it!' and caught up the umbrella, +giving me a never-to-be-forgotten look. It was perfectly thrilling." + +"Which,--the umbrella, the speech, or the look?" asked Psyche, who was +not sentimental. + +"Ah, you have no soul for art in nature, and nature in art," sighed +the amber-tressed Larkins. "I have, for I feed upon a glance, a tint, +a curve, with exquisite delight. Rubens is adorable (_as a study_); +that lustrous eye, that night of hair, that sumptuous cheek, are +perfect. He only needs a cloak, lace collar, and slouching hat to be +the genuine thing." + +"This isn't the genuine thing by any means. What _does_ it need?" said +Psyche, looking with a despondent air at the head on her stand. + +Many would have pronounced it a clever thing; the nose was strictly +Greek, the chin curved upward gracefully, the mouth was sweetly +haughty, the brow classically smooth and low, and the breezy hair well +done. But something was wanting; Psyche felt that, and could have +taken her Venus by the dimpled shoulders, and given her a hearty +shake, if that would have put strength and spirit into the lifeless +face. + +"Now _I_ am perfectly satisfied with my Apollo, though you all insist +that it is the image of Theodore Smythe. He says so himself, and +assures me it will make a sensation when we exhibit," remarked Miss +Larkins, complacently caressing the ambrosial locks of her Smythified +Phebus. + +"What shall you do if it does not?" asked Miss Cutter, with elegance. + +"I shall feel that I have mistaken my sphere, shall drop my tools, +veil my bust, and cast myself into the arms of Nature, since Art +rejects me;" replied Miss Larkins, with a tragic gesture and an +expression which strongly suggested that in her eyes nature meant +Theodore. + +"She must have capacious arms if she is to receive all Art's rejected +admirers. Shall I be one of them?" + +Psyche put the question to herself as she turned to work, but somehow +ambitious aspirations were not in a flourishing condition that +morning; her heart was not in tune, and head and hands sympathized. +Nothing went well, for certain neglected home-duties had dogged +her into town, and now worried her more than dust, or heat, or the +ceaseless clatter of tongues. Tom, Dick, and Harry's unmended hose +persisted in dancing a spectral jig before her mental eye, mother's +querulous complaints spoilt the song she hummed to cheer herself, and +little May's wistful face put the goddess of beauty entirely out of +countenance. + +"It's no use; I can't work till the clay is wet again. Where is +Giovanni?" she asked, throwing down her tools with a petulant gesture +and a dejected air. + +"He is probably playing truant in the empty upper rooms, as usual. I +can't wait for him any longer, so I'm doing his work myself," answered +Miss Dickenson, who was tenderly winding a wet bandage round her +Juno's face, one side of which was so much plumper than the other that +it looked as if the Queen of Olympus was being hydropathically treated +for a severe fit of ague. + +"I'll go and find the little scamp; a run will do me good; so will a +breath of air and a view of the park from the upper windows." + +Doffing her apron, Psyche strolled away up an unfrequented staircase +to the empty apartments, which seemed to be too high even for the +lovers of High Art. On the western side they were shady and cool, and, +leaning from one of the windows, Psyche watched the feathery tree-tops +ruffled by the balmy wind, that brought spring odors from the hills, +lying green and sunny far away. Silence and solitude were such +pleasant companions that the girl forgot herself, till a shrill +whistle disturbed her day-dreams, and reminded her what she came for. +Following the sound she found the little Italian errand-boy busily +uncovering a clay model which stood in the middle of a scantily +furnished room near by. + +"He is not here; come and look; it is greatly beautiful," cried +Giovanni, beckoning with an air of importance. + +Psyche did look and speedily forgot both her errand and herself. It +was the figure of a man, standing erect, and looking straight +before him with a wonderfully lifelike expression. It was neither a +mythological nor a historical character, Psyche thought, and was glad +of it, being tired to death of gods and heroes. She soon ceased to +wonder what it was, feeling only the indescribable charm of something +higher than beauty. Small as her knowledge was, she could see and +enjoy the power visible in every part of it; the accurate anatomy of +the vigorous limbs, the grace of the pose, the strength and spirit in +the countenance, clay though it was. A majestic figure, but the spell +lay in the face, which, while it suggested the divine, was full of +human truth and tenderness, for pain and passion seemed to have passed +over it, and a humility half pathetic, a courage half heroic seemed to +have been born from some great loss or woe. + +How long she stood there Psyche did not know. Giovanni went away +unseen, to fill his water-pail, and in the silence she just stood and +looked. Her eyes kindled, her color rose, despondency and discontent +vanished, and her soul was in her face, for she loved beauty +passionately, and all that was best and truest in her did honor to the +genius of the unknown worker. + +"If I could do a thing like that, I'd die happy!" she exclaimed +impetuously, as a feeling of despair came over her at the thought of +her own poor attempts. + +"Who did it, Giovanni?" she asked, still looking up at the grand face +with unsatisfied eyes. + +"Paul Gage." + +It was not the boy's voice, and, with a start, Psyche turned to see +her Michael Angelo, standing in the doorway, attentively observing +her. Being too full of artless admiration to think of herself just +yet, she neither blushed nor apologized, but looked straight at him, +saying heartily,-- + +"You have done a wonderful piece of work, and I envy you more than I +can tell!" + +The enthusiasm in her face, the frankness of her manner, seemed to +please him, for there was no affectation about either. He gave her a +keen, kind glance out of the "fine gray eyes," a little bow, and a +grateful smile, saying quietly,--"Then my Adam is not a failure in +spite of his fall?" + +Psyche turned from the sculptor to his model with increased admiration +in her face, and earnestness in her voice, as she exclaimed +delighted,-- + +"Adam! I might have known it was he. O sir, you have indeed succeeded, +for you have given that figure the power and pathos of the first man +who sinned and suffered, and began again." + +"Then I am satisfied." That was all he said, but the look he gave his +work was a very eloquent one, for it betrayed that he had paid the +price of success in patience and privation, labor and hope. + +"What can one do to learn your secret?" asked the girl wistfully, for +there was nothing in the man's manner to disturb her self-forgetful +mood, but much to foster it, because to the solitary worker this +confiding guest was as welcome as the doves who often hopped in at his +window. + +"Work and wait, and meantime feed heart, soul, and imagination with +the best food one can get," he answered slowly, finding it impossible +to give a receipt for genius. + +"I can work and wait a long time to gain my end; but I don't know +where to find the food you speak of?" she answered, looking at him +like a hungry child. + +"I wish I could tell you, but each needs different fare, and each must +look for it in different places." + +The kindly tone and the sympathizing look, as well as the lines in his +forehead, and a few gray hairs among the brown, gave Psyche courage to +say more. + +"I love beauty so much that I not only want to possess it myself, +but to gain the power of seeing it in all things, and the art of +reproducing it with truth. I have tried very hard to do it, but +something is wanting; and in spite of my intense desire I never get +on." + +As she spoke the girl's eyes filled and fell in spite of herself, and +turning a little with sudden shamefacedness she saw, lying on the +table beside her among other scraps in manuscript and print, the +well-known lines,-- + + "I slept, and dreamed that life was beauty; + I woke, and found that life was duty. + Was thy dream then a shadowy lie? + Toil on, sad heart, courageously, + And thou shall find thy dream to be + A noonday light and truth to thee." + +She knew them at a glance, had read them many times, but now they came +home to her with sudden force, and, seeing that his eye had followed +hers, she said in her impulsive fashion.-- + +"Is doing one's duty a good way to feed heart, soul, and imagination?" + +As if he had caught a glimpse of what was going on in her mind, Paul +answered emphatically,-- + +"Excellent; for if one is good, one is happy, and if happy, one can +work well. Moulding character is the highest sort of sculpture, and +all of us should learn that art before we touch clay or marble." + +He spoke with the energy of a man who believed what he said, and did +his best to be worthy of the rich gift bestowed upon him. The sight +of her violets in a glass of water, and Giovanni staring at her with +round eyes, suddenly recalled Psyche to a sense of the proprieties +which she had been innocently outraging for the last ten minutes. A +sort of panic seized her; she blushed deeply, retreated precipitately +to the door, and vanished, murmuring thanks and apologies as she went. + +"Did you find him? I thought you had forgotten," said Miss Dickenson, +now hard at work. + +"Yes, I found him. No, I shall not forget," returned Psyche, thinking +of Gage, not Giovanni. + +She stood before her work eying it intently for several minutes; then, +with an expression of great contempt for the whole thing, she suddenly +tilted her cherished Venus on to the floor, gave the classical face +a finishing crunch, and put on her hat in a decisive manner, saying +briefly to the dismayed damsels,-- + +"Good-by, girls; I shan't come any more, for I'm going to work at home +hereafter." + + +II + + +The prospect of pursuing artistic studies at home was not brilliant, +as one may imagine when I mention that Psyche's father was a painfully +prosaic man, wrapt in flannel, so to speak; for his woollen mills left +him no time for anything but sleep, food, and newspapers. Mrs. Dean +was one of those exasperating women who pervade their mansions like +a domestic steam-engine one week and take to their sofas the next, +absorbed by fidgets and foot-stoves, shawls and lamentations. There +were three riotous and robust young brothers, whom it is unnecessary +to describe except by stating that they were _boys_ in the broadest +sense of that delightful word. There was a feeble little sister, whose +patient, suffering face demanded constant love and care to mitigate +the weariness of a life of pain. And last, but not least by any means, +there were two Irish ladies, who, with the best intentions imaginable, +produced a universal state of topsy-turviness when left to themselves +for a moment. + +But being very much in earnest about doing her duty, not because it +_was_ her duty, but as a means toward an end, Psyche fell to work with +a will, hoping to serve both masters at once. So she might have done, +perhaps, if flesh and blood had been as plastic as clay, but the live +models were so exacting in their demands upon her time and strength, +that the poor statues went to the wall. Sculpture and sewing, calls +and crayons, Ruskin and receipt-books, didn't work well together, and +poor Psyche found duties and desires desperately antagonistic. Take a +day as a sample. + +"The washing and ironing are well over, thank goodness, mother quiet, +the boys out of the way, and May comfortable, so I'll indulge myself +in a blissful day after my own heart," Psyche said, as she shut +herself into her little studio, and prepared to enjoy a few hours of +hard study and happy day-dreams. + +With a book on her lap, and her own round white arm going through all +manner of queer evolutions, she was placidly repeating, "Deltoides, +Biceps, Triceps, Pronator, Supinator, Palmanis, Flexor carpi +ulnaris--" + +"Here's Flexis what-you-call-ums for you," interrupted a voice, which +began in a shrill falsetto and ended in a gruff bass, as a flushed, +dusty, long-legged boy burst in, with a bleeding hand obligingly +extended for inspection. + +"Mercy on us, Harry! what have you done to yourself now? Split your +fingers with a cricket-ball again?" cried Psyche, as her arms went up +and her book went down. + +"I just thrashed one of the fellows because he got mad and said father +was going to fail." + +"O Harry, is he?" + +"Of course he isn't! It's hard times for every one, but father will +pull through all right. No use to try and explain it all; girls can't +understand business; so you just tie me up, and don't worry," was the +characteristic reply of the young man, who, being three years her +junior, of course treated the weaker vessel with lordly condescension. + +"What a dreadful wound! I hope nothing is broken, for I haven't +studied the hand much yet, and may do mischief doing it up," said +Psyche, examining the great grimy paw with tender solicitude. + +"Much good your biceps, and deltoids, and things do you, if you can't +right up a little cut like that," squeaked the ungrateful hero. + +"I'm not going to be a surgeon, thank heaven; I intend to make +perfect hands and arms, not mend damaged ones," retorted Psyche, in a +dignified tone, somewhat marred by a great piece of court-plaster on +her tongue. + +"I should say a surgeon could improve _that_ perfect thing, if he +didn't die a-laughing before he began," growled Harry, pointing with +a scornful grin at a clay arm humpy with muscles, all carefully +developed in the wrong places. + +"Don't sneer, Hal, for you don't know anything about it. Wait a few +years and see if you're not proud of me." + +"Sculp away and do something, then I'll hurrah for your mud-pies +like a good one;" with which cheering promise the youth left, having +effectually disturbed his sister's peaceful mood. + +Anxious thoughts of her father rendered "biceps, deltoids, and things" +uninteresting, and hoping to compose her mind, she took up The Old +Painters and went on with the story of Claude Lorraine. She had just +reached the tender scene where,-- + +"Calista gazed with enthusiasm, while she looked like a being of +heaven rather than earth. 'My friend,' she cried, 'I read in thy +picture thy immortality!' As she spoke, her head sunk upon his bosom, +and it was several moments before Claude perceived that he supported a +lifeless form." + +"How sweet!" said Psyche, with a romantic sigh. + +"Faith, and swate it is, thin!" echoed Katy, whose red head had just +appeared round the half opened door. "It's gingy-bread I'm making the +day, miss, and will I be puttin' purlash or sallyrathis into it, if ye +plase?" + +"Purlash, by all means," returned the girl, keeping her countenance, +fearing to enrage Katy by a laugh; for the angry passions of the +red-haired one rose more quickly than her bread. + +As she departed with alacrity to add a spoonful of starch and a pinch +of whiting to her cake, Psyche, feeling better for her story and her +smile, put on her bib and paper cap and fell to work on the deformed +arm. An hour of bliss, then came a ring at the door-bell, followed by +Biddy to announce callers, and add that as "the mistress was in her +bed, miss must go and take care of 'em." Whereat "miss" cast down her +tools in despair, threw her cap one way, her bib another, and went in +to her guests with anything but a rapturous welcome. + +Dinner being accomplished after much rushing up and down stairs with +trays and messages for Mrs. Dean, Psyche fled again to her studio, +ordering no one to approach under pain of a scolding. All went well +till, going in search of something, she found her little sister +sitting on the floor with her cheek against the studio door. + +"I didn't mean to be naughty, Sy, but mother is asleep, and the boys +all gone, so I just came to be near you; it's so lonely everywhere," +she said, apologetically, as she lifted up the heavy head that always +ached. + +"The boys are very thoughtless. Come in and stay with me; you are such +a mouse you won't disturb me. Wouldn't you like to play be a model and +let me draw your arm, and tell you all about the nice little bones and +muscles?" asked Psyche, who had the fever very strong upon her just +then. + +May didn't look as if the proposed amusement overwhelmed her with +delight, but meekly consented to be perched upon a high stool with +one arm propped up by a dropsical plaster cherub, while Psyche drew +busily, feeling that duty and pleasure were being delightfully +combined. + +"Can't you hold your arm still, child? It shakes so I can't get it +right," she said, rather impatiently. + +"No, it will tremble 'cause it's weak. I try hard, Sy, but there +doesn't seem to be much strongness in me lately." + +"That's better; keep it so a few minutes and I'll be done," cried the +artist, forgetting that a few minutes may seem ages. + +"My arm is so thin you can see the bunches nicely,--can't you?" + +"Yes, dear." + +Psyche glanced up at the wasted limb, and when she drew again there +was a blur before her eyes for a minute. + +"I wish I was as fat as this white boy; but I get thinner every day +somehow, and pretty soon there won't be any of me left but my little +bones," said the child, looking at the winged cherub with sorrowful +envy. + +"Don't, my darling; don't say that," cried Psyche, dropping her work +with a sudden pang at her heart. "I'm a sinful, selfish girl to keep +you here! you're weak for want of air; come out and see the chickens, +and pick dandelions, and have a good romp with the boys." + +The weak arms were strong enough to clasp Psyche's neck, and the tired +face brightened beautifully as the child exclaimed, with grateful +delight,-- + +"Oh, I'd like it very much! I wanted to go dreadfully; but everybody +is so busy all the time. I don't want to play, Sy; but just to lie on +the grass with my head in your lap while you tell stories and draw me +pretty things as you used to." + +The studio was deserted all that afternoon, for Psyche sat in the +orchard drawing squirrels on the wall, pert robins hopping by, +buttercups and mosses, elves and angels; while May lay contentedly +enjoying sun and air, sisterly care, and the "pretty things" she loved +so well. Psyche did not find the task a hard one; for this time her +heart was in it, and if she needed any reward she surely found it; for +the little face on her knee lost its weary look, and the peace and +beauty of nature soothed her own troubled spirit, cheered her heart, +and did her more good than hours of solitary study. + +Finding, much to her own surprise, that her fancy was teeming with +lovely conceits, she did hope for a quiet evening. But mother wanted a +bit of gossip, father must have his papers read to him, the boys had +lessons and rips and grievances to be attended to, May's lullaby could +not be forgotten, and the maids had to be looked after, lest burly +"cousins" should be hidden in the boiler, or lucifer matches among +the shavings. So Psyche's day ended, leaving her very tired, rather +discouraged, and almost heart-sick with the shadow of a coming sorrow. + +All summer she did her best, but accomplished very little, as she +thought; yet this was the teaching she most needed, and in time she +came to see it. In the autumn May died, whispering, with her arms +about her sister's neck,-- + +"You make me so happy, Sy, I wouldn't mind the pain if I could stay a +little longer. But if I can't, good-by, dear, good-by." + +Her last look and word and kiss were all for Psyche, who felt then +with grateful tears that her summer had not been wasted; for the smile +upon the little dead face was more to her than any marble perfection +her hands could have carved. + +In the solemn pause which death makes in every family, Psyche said, +with the sweet self-forgetfulness of a strong yet tender nature,-- + +"I must not think of myself, but try to comfort them;" and with this +resolution she gave herself heart and soul to duty, never thinking of +reward. + +A busy, anxious, humdrum winter, for, as Harry said, "it was hard +times for every one." Mr. Dean grew gray with the weight of business +cares about which he never spoke; Mrs. Dean, laboring under the +delusion that an invalid was a necessary appendage to the family, +installed herself in the place the child's death left vacant, and the +boys needed much comforting, for the poor lads never knew how much +they loved "the baby" till the little chair stood empty. All turned to +Sy for help and consolation, and her strength seemed to increase with +the demand upon it. Patience and cheerfulness, courage and skill came +at her call like good fairies who had bided their time. Housekeeping +ceased to be hateful, and peace reigned in parlor and kitchen while +Mrs. Dean, shrouded in shawls, read Hahnemann's Lesser Writings on her +sofa. Mr. Dean sometimes forgot his mills when a bright face came +to meet him, a gentle hand smoothed the wrinkles out of his anxious +forehead, and a daughterly heart sympathized with all his cares. The +boys found home very pleasant with Sy always there ready to "lend a +hand," whether it was to make fancy ties, help conjugate "a confounded +verb," pull candy, or sing sweetly in the twilight when all thought of +little May and grew quiet. + +The studio door remained locked till her brothers begged Psyche to +open it and make a bust of the child. A flush of joy swept over her +face at the request, and her patient eyes grew bright and eager, as +a thirsty traveller's might at the sight or sound of water. Then it +faded as she shook her head, saying with a regretful sigh, "I'm afraid +I've lost the little skill I ever had." + +But she tried, and with great wonder and delight discovered that she +could work as she had never done before. She thought the newly found +power lay in her longing to see the little face again; for it grew +like magic under her loving hands, while every tender memory, sweet +thought, and devout hope she had ever cherished, seemed to lend their +aid. But when it was done and welcomed with tears and smiles, and +praise more precious than any the world could give, then Psyche said +within herself, like one who saw light at last,-- + +"He was right; doing one's duty _is_ the way to feed heart, soul, and +imagination; for if one is good, one is happy, and if happy, one can +work well." + + +III + + +"She broke her head and went home to come no more," was Giovanni's +somewhat startling answer when Paul asked about Psyche, finding that +he no longer met her on the stairs or in the halls. He understood what +the boy meant, and with an approving nod turned to his work again, +saying, "I like that! If there is any power in her, she has taken the +right way to find it out, I suspect." + +How she prospered he never asked; for, though he met her more +than once that year, the interviews were brief ones in street, +concert-room, or picture-gallery, and she carefully avoided speaking +of herself. But, possessing the gifted eyes which can look below the +surface of things, he detected in the girl's face something better +than beauty, though each time he saw it, it looked older and more +thoughtful, often anxious and sad. + +"She is getting on," he said to himself with a cordial satisfaction +which gave his manner a friendliness as grateful to Psyche as his wise +reticence. + +Adam was finished at last, proved a genuine success, and Paul heartily +enjoyed the well-earned reward for years of honest work. One blithe +May morning, he slipped early into the art-gallery, where the statue +now stood, to look at his creation with paternal pride. He was quite +alone with the stately figure that shone white against the purple +draperies and seemed to offer him a voiceless welcome from its marble +lips. He gave it one loving look, and then forgot it, for at the feet +of his Adam lay a handful of wild violets, with the dew still on +them. A sudden smile broke over his face as he took them up, with the +thought, "She has been here and found my work good." + +For several moments he stood thoughtfully turning the flowers to and +fro in his hands; then, as if deciding some question within himself, +he said, still smiling,-- + +"It is just a year since she went home; she must have accomplished +something in that time; I'll take the violets as a sign that I may go +and ask her what." + +He knew she lived just out of the city, between the river and the +mills, and as he left the streets behind him, he found more violets +blooming all along the way like flowery guides to lead him right. +Greener grew the road, balmier blew the wind, and blither sang the +birds, as he went on, enjoying his holiday with the zest of a boy, +until he reached a most attractive little path winding away across the +fields. The gate swung invitingly open, and all the ground before it +was blue with violets. Still following their guidance he took the +narrow path, till, coming to a mossy stone beside a brook, he sat down +to listen to the blackbirds singing deliciously in the willows over +head. Close by the stone, half hidden in the grass lay a little book, +and, taking it up he found it was a pocket-diary. No name appeared on +the fly-leaf, and, turning the pages to find some clue to its owner, +he read here and there enough to give him glimpses into an innocent +and earnest heart which seemed to be learning some hard lesson +patiently. Only near the end did he find the clue in words of his own, +spoken long ago, and a name. Then, though longing intensely to know +more, he shut the little book and went on, showing by his altered face +that the simple record of a girl's life had touched him deeply. + +Soon an old house appeared nestling to the hillside with the river +shining in the low green meadows just before it. + +"She lives there," he said, with as much certainty as if the pansies +by the door-stone spelt her name, and, knocking, he asked for Psyche. + +"She's gone to town, but I expect her home every minute. Ask the +gentleman to walk in and wait, Katy," cried a voice from above, where +the whisk of skirts was followed by the appearance of an inquiring eye +over the banisters. + +The gentleman did walk in, and while he waited looked about him. The +room, though very simply furnished, had a good deal of beauty in it, +for the pictures were few and well chosen, the books such as never +grow old, the music lying on the well-worn piano of the sort which is +never out of fashion, and standing somewhat apart was one small statue +in a recess full of flowers. Lovely in its simple grace and truth was +the figure of a child looking upward as if watching the airy flight of +some butterfly which had evidently escaped from the chrysalis still +lying in the little hand. + +Paul was looking at it with approving eyes when Mrs. Dean appeared +with his card in her hand, three shawls on her shoulders, and in her +face a somewhat startled expression, as if she expected some novel +demonstration from the man whose genius her daughter so much admired. + +"I hope Miss Psyche is well," began Paul, with great discrimination if +not originality. + +The delightfully commonplace remark tranquillized Mrs. Dean at once, +and, taking off the upper shawl with a fussy gesture, she settled +herself for a chat. + +"Yes, thank heaven, Sy is well. I don't know what would become of us +if she wasn't. It has been a hard and sorrowful year for us with Mr. +Dean's business embarrassments, my feeble health, and May's death. +I don't know that you were aware of our loss, sir;" and unaffected +maternal grief gave sudden dignity to the faded, fretful face of the +speaker. + +Paul murmured his regrets, understanding better now the pathetic words +on a certain tear-stained page of the little book still in his pocket. + +"Poor dear, she suffered everything, and it came very hard upon Sy, +for the child wasn't happy with any one else, and almost lived in +her arms," continued Mrs. Dean, dropping the second shawl to get her +handkerchief. + +"Miss Psyche has not had much time for art-studies this year, I +suppose?" said Paul, hoping to arrest the shower, natural as it was. + +"How could she with two invalids, the housekeeping, her father and the +boys to attend to? No, she gave that up last spring, and though it was +a great disappointment to her at the time, she has got over it now, I +hope," added her mother, remembering as she spoke that Psyche even now +went about the house sometimes pale and silent, with a hungry look in +her eyes. + +"I am glad to hear it," though a little shadow passed over his face +as Paul spoke, for he was too true an artist to believe that any work +could be as happy as that which he loved and lived for. "I thought +there was much promise in Miss Psyche, and I sincerely believe that +time will prove me a true prophet," he said, with mingled regret and +hope in his voice, as he glanced about the room, which betrayed the +tastes still cherished by the girl. + +"I'm afraid ambition isn't good for women; I mean the sort that makes +them known by coming before the public in any way. But Sy deserves +some reward, I'm sure, and I know she'll have it, for a better +daughter never lived." + +Here the third shawl was cast off, as if the thought of Psyche, or the +presence of a genial guest had touched Mrs. Dean's chilly nature with +a comfortable warmth. + +Further conversation was interrupted by the avalanche of boys which +came tumbling down the front stairs, as Tom, Dick, and Harry shouted +in a sort of chorus,-- + +"Sy, my balloon has got away; lend us a hand at catching him!" + +"Sy, I want a lot of paste made, right off." + +"Sy, I've split my jacket down the back; come sew me up, there's a +dear!" + +On beholding a stranger the young gentlemen suddenly lost their +voices, found their manners, and with nods and grins took themselves +away as quietly as could be expected of six clumping boots and an +unlimited quantity of animal spirits in a high state of effervescence. +As they trooped off, an unmistakable odor of burnt milk pervaded the +air, and the crash of china, followed by an Irish wail, caused Mrs. +Dean to clap on her three shawls again and excuse herself in visible +trepidation. + +Paul laughed quietly to himself, then turned sober and said, "Poor +Psyche!" with a sympathetic sigh. He roamed about the room impatiently +till the sound of voices drew him to the window to behold the girl +coming up the walk with her tired old father leaning on one arm, the +other loaded with baskets and bundles, and her hands occupied by a +remarkably ugly turtle. + +"Here we are!" cried a cheery voice, as they entered without observing +the new-comer. "I've done all my errands and had a lovely time. There +is Tom's gunpowder, Dick's fishhooks, and one of Professor Gazzy's +famous turtles for Harry. Here are your bundles, mother dear, and, +best of all, here's father home in time for a good rest before dinner. +I went to the mill and got him." + +Psyche spoke as if she had brought a treasure; and so she had, +for though Mr. Dean's face usually was about as expressive as the +turtle's, it woke and warmed with the affection which his daughter had +fostered till no amount of flannel could extinguish it. His big hand +patted her cheek very gently as he said, in a tone of fatherly love +and pride,-- + +"My little Sy never forgets old father, does she?" + +"Good gracious me, my dear, there's such a mess in the kitchen! Katy's +burnt up the pudding, put castor-oil instead of olive in the salad, +smashed the best meat-dish, and here's Mr. Gage come to dinner," cried +Mrs. Dean in accents of despair as she tied up her head in a fourth +shawl. + +"Oh, I'm so glad; I'll go in and see him a few minutes, and then I'll +come and attend to everything; so don't worry, mother." + +"How did you find me out?" asked Psyche as she shook hands with her +guest and stood looking up at him with all the old confiding frankness +in her face and manner. + +"The violets showed me the way." + +She glanced at the posy in his button-hole and smiled. + +"Yes, I gave them to Adam, but I didn't think you would guess. I +enjoyed your work for an hour to-day, and I have no words strong +enough to express my admiration." + +"There is no need of any. Tell me about yourself: what have you been +doing all this year?" he asked, watching with genuine satisfaction the +serene and sunny face before him, for discontent, anxiety, and sadness +were no longer visible there. + +"I've been working and waiting," she began. + +"And succeeding, if I may believe what I see and hear and read," he +said, with an expressive little wave of the book as he laid it down +before her. + +"My diary! I didn't know I had lost it. Where did you find it?" + +"By the brook where I stopped to rest. The moment I saw your name I +shut it up. Forgive me, but I can't ask pardon for reading a few pages +of that little gospel of patience, love, and self-denial." + +She gave him a reproachful look, and hurried the telltale book out of +sight as she said, with a momentary shadow on her face,-- + +"It has been a hard task; but I think I have learned it, and am just +beginning to find that my dream _is_ 'a noonday light and truth,' to +me." + +"Then you do not relinquish your hopes, and lay down your tools?" he +asked, with some eagerness. + +"Never! I thought at first that I could not serve two masters, but +in trying to be faithful to one I find I am nearer and dearer to the +other. My cares and duties are growing lighter every day (or I have +learned to bear them better), and when my leisure does come I shall +know how to use it, for my head is full of ambitious plans, and I feel +that I can do something _now_." + +All the old enthusiasm shone in her eyes, and a sense of power +betrayed itself in voice and gesture as she spoke. + +"I believe it," he said heartily. "You have learned the secret, as +that proves." + +Psyche looked at the childish image as he pointed to it, and into her +face there came a motherly expression that made it very sweet. + +"That little sister was so dear to me I could not fail to make her +lovely, for I put my heart into my work. The year has gone, but I +don't regret it, though this is all I have done." + +"You forget your three wishes; I think the year has granted them." + +"What were they?" + +"To possess beauty in yourself, the power of seeing it in all things, +and the art of reproducing it with truth." + +She colored deeply under the glance which accompanied the threefold +compliment, and answered with grateful humility,-- + +"You are very kind to say so; I wish I could believe it." Then, as if +anxious to forget herself, she added rather abruptly,-- + +"I hear you think of giving your Adam a mate,--have you begun yet?" + +"Yes, my design is finished, all but the face." + +"I should think you could image Eve's beauty, since you have succeeded +so well with Adam's." + +"The features perhaps, but not the expression. That is the charm of +feminine faces, a charm so subtile that few can catch and keep it. I +want a truly womanly face, one that shall be sweet and strong without +being either weak or hard. A hopeful, loving, earnest face with a +tender touch of motherliness in it, and perhaps the shadow of a grief +that has softened but not saddened it." + +"It will be hard to find a face like that." + +"I don't expect to find it in perfection; but one sometimes sees faces +which suggest all this, and in rare moments give glimpses of a lovely +possibility." + +"I sincerely hope you will find one then," said Psyche, thinking of +the dinner. + +"Thank you; _I_ think I have." + +Now, in order that every one may be suited, we will stop here, and +leave our readers to finish the story as they like. Those who prefer +the good old fashion may believe that the hero and heroine fell in +love, were married, and lived happily ever afterward. But those who +can conceive of a world outside of a wedding-ring may believe that the +friends remained faithful friends all their lives, while Paul won fame +and fortune, and Psyche grew beautiful with the beauty of a serene and +sunny nature, happy in duties which became pleasures, rich in the art +which made life lovely to herself and others, and brought rewards in +time. + + + + +A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS + +"A handful of good life is worth a bushel of learning." + + +"Dear Emily,--I have a brilliant idea, and at once hasten to share it +with you. Three weeks ago I came up here to the wilds of Vermont to +visit my old aunt, also to get a little quiet and distance in which +to survey certain new prospects which have opened before me, and to +decide whether I will marry a millionnaire and become a queen of +society, or remain 'the charming Miss Vaughan' and wait till the +conquering hero comes. + +"Aunt Plumy begs me to stay over Christmas, and I have consented, as I +always dread the formal dinner with which my guardian celebrates the +day. + +"My brilliant idea is this. I'm going to make it a real old-fashioned +frolic, and won't you come and help me? You will enjoy it immensely I +am sure, for Aunt is a character. Cousin Saul worth seeing, and Ruth +a far prettier girl than any of the city rose-buds coming out this +season. Bring Leonard Randal along with you to take notes for his new +books; then it will be fresher and truer than the last, clever as it +was. + +"The air is delicious up here, society amusing, this old farmhouse +full of treasures, and your bosom friend pining to embrace you. Just +telegraph yes or no, and we will expect you on Tuesday. + +"Ever yours, + +"SOPHIE VAUGHAN." + + +"They will both come, for they are as tired of city life and as fond +of change as I am," said the writer of the above, as she folded her +letter and went to get it posted without delay. + +Aunt Plumy was in the great kitchen making pies; a jolly old soul, +with a face as ruddy as a winter apple, a cheery voice, and the +kindest heart that ever beat under a gingham gown. Pretty Ruth was +chopping the mince, and singing so gaily as she worked that the +four-and-twenty immortal blackbirds could not have put more music into +a pie than she did. Saul was piling wood into the big oven, and Sophie +paused a moment on the threshold to look at him, for she always +enjoyed the sight of this stalwart cousin, whom she likened to a Norse +viking, with his fair hair and beard, keen blue eyes, and six feet of +manly height, with shoulders that looked broad and strong enough to +bear any burden. + +His back was toward her, but he saw her first, and turned his flushed +face to meet her, with the sudden lighting up it always showed when +she approached. + +"I've done it, Aunt; and now I want Saul to post the letter, so we can +get a speedy answer." + +"Just as soon as I can hitch up, cousin;" and Saul pitched in his last +log, looking ready to put a girdle round the earth in less than forty +minutes. + +"Well, dear, I ain't the least mite of objection, as long as it +pleases you. I guess we can stan' it ef your city folks can. I presume +to say things will look kind of sing'lar to 'em, but I s'pose that's +what they come for. Idle folks do dreadful queer things to amuse 'em;" +and Aunt Plumy leaned on the rolling-pin to smile and nod with a +shrewd twinkle of her eye, as if she enjoyed the prospect as much as +Sophie did. + +"I shall be afraid of 'em, but I'll try not to make you ashamed of +me," said Ruth, who loved her charming cousin even more than she +admired her. + +"No fear of that, dear. They will be the awkward ones, and you must +set them at ease by just being your simple selves, and treating them +as if they were every-day people. Nell is very nice and jolly when she +drops her city ways, as she must here. She will enter into the spirit +of the fun at once, and I know you'll all like her. Mr. Randal is +rather the worse for too much praise and petting, as successful people +are apt to be, so a little plain talk and rough work will do him good. +He is a true gentleman in spite of his airs and elegance, and he will +take it all in good part, if you treat him like a man and not a lion." + +"I'll see to him," said Saul, who had listened with great interest to +the latter part of Sophie's speech, evidently suspecting a lover, and +enjoying the idea of supplying him with a liberal amount of "plain +talk and rough work." + +"I'll keep 'em busy if that's what they need, for there will be a +sight to do, and we can't get help easy up here. Our darters don't +hire out much. Work to home till they marry, and don't go gaddin' +'round gettin' their heads full of foolish notions, and forgettin' all +the useful things their mothers taught 'em." + +Aunt Plumy glanced at Ruth as she spoke, and a sudden color in the +girl's cheeks proved that the words hit certain ambitious fancies of +this pretty daughter of the house of Basset. + +"They shall do their parts and not be a trouble; I'll see to that, +for you certainly are the dearest aunt in the world to let me take +possession of you and yours in this way," cried Sophie, embracing the +old lady with warmth. + +Saul wished the embrace could be returned by proxy, as his mother's +hands were too floury to do more than hover affectionately round the +delicate face that looked so fresh and young beside her wrinkled one. +As it could not be done, he fled temptation and "hitched up" without +delay. + +The three women laid their heads together in his absence, and Sophie's +plan grew apace, for Ruth longed to see a real novelist and a fine +lady, and Aunt Plumy, having plans of her own to further, said "Yes, +dear," to every suggestion. + +Great was the arranging and adorning that went on that day in the +old farmhouse, for Sophie wanted her friends to enjoy this taste of +country pleasures, and knew just what additions would be indispensable +to their comfort; what simple ornaments would be in keeping with the +rustic stage on which she meant to play the part of prima donna. + +Next day a telegram arrived accepting the invitation, for both the +lady and the lion. They would arrive that afternoon, as little +preparation was needed for this impromptu journey, the novelty of +which was its chief charm to these _blasé_ people. + +Saul wanted to get out the double sleigh and span, for he prided +himself on his horses, and a fall of snow came most opportunely +to beautify the landscape and add a new pleasure to Christmas +festivities. + +But Sophie declared that the old yellow sleigh, with Punch, the +farm-horse, must be used, as she wished everything to be in keeping; +and Saul obeyed, thinking he had never seen anything prettier than his +cousin when she appeared in his mother's old-fashioned camlet cloak +and blue silk pumpkin hood. He looked remarkably well himself in his +fur coat, with hair and beard brushed till they shone like spun gold, +a fresh color in his cheek, and the sparkle of amusement in his eyes, +while excitement gave his usually grave face the animation it needed +to be handsome. + +Away they jogged in the creaking old sleigh, leaving Ruth to make +herself pretty, with a fluttering heart, and Aunt Plumy to dish up a +late dinner fit to tempt the most fastidious appetite. + +"She has not come for us, and there is not even a stage to take us up. +There must be some mistake," said Emily Herrick, as she looked about +the shabby little station where they were set down. + +"That is the never-to-be-forgotten face of our fair friend, but the +bonnet of her grandmother, if my eyes do not deceive me," answered +Randal, turning to survey the couple approaching in the rear. + +"Sophie Vaughan, what do you mean by making such a guy of yourself?" +exclaimed Emily, as she kissed the smiling face in the hood and stared +at the quaint cloak. + +"I'm dressed for my part, and I intend to keep it up. This is our +host, my cousin, Saul Basset. Come to the sleigh at once, he will see +to your luggage," said Sophie, painfully conscious of the antiquity of +her array as her eyes rested on Emily's pretty hat and mantle, and the +masculine elegance of Randal's wraps. + +They were hardly tucked in when Saul appeared with a valise in +one hand and a large trunk on his shoulder, swinging both on to a +wood-sled that stood near by as easily as if they had been hand-bags. + +"That is your hero, is it? Well, he looks it, calm and comely, +taciturn and tall," said Emily, in a tone of approbation. + +"He should have been named Samson or Goliath; though I believe it was +the small man who slung things about and turned out the hero in the +end," added Randal, surveying the performance with interest and a +touch of envy, for much pen work had made his own hands as delicate as +a woman's. + +"Saul doesn't live in a glass house, so stones won't hurt him. +Remember sarcasm is forbidden and sincerity the order of the day. You +are country folks now, and it will do you good to try their simple, +honest ways for a few days." + +Sophie had no time to say more, for Saul came up and drove off with +the brief remark that the baggage would "be along right away." + +Being hungry, cold and tired, the guests were rather silent during the +short drive, but Aunt Plumy's hospitable welcome, and the savory fumes +of the dinner awaiting them, thawed the ice and won their hearts at +once. + +"Isn't it nice? Aren't you glad you came?" asked Sophie, as she led +her friends into the parlor, which she had redeemed from its primness +by putting bright chintz curtains to the windows, hemlock boughs +over the old portraits, a china bowl of flowers on the table, and a +splendid fire on the wide hearth. + +"It is perfectly jolly, and this is the way I begin to enjoy myself," +answered Emily, sitting down upon the home-made rug, whose red flannel +roses bloomed in a blue list basket. + +"If I may add a little smoke to your glorious fire, it will be quite +perfect. Won't Samson join me?" asked Randal, waiting for permission, +cigar-case in hand. + +"He has no small vices, but you may indulge yours," answered Sophie, +from the depths of a grandmotherly chair. + +Emily glanced up at her friend as if she caught a new tone in her +voice, then turned to the fire again with a wise little nod, as if +confiding some secret to the reflection of herself in the bright brass +andiron. + +"His Delilah does not take this form. I wait with interest to discover +if he has one. What a daisy the sister is. Does she ever speak?" asked +Randal, trying to lounge on the haircloth sofa, where he was slipping +uncomfortably about. + +"Oh yes, and sings like a bird. You shall hear her when she gets over +her shyness. But no trifling, mind you, for it is a jealously guarded +daisy and not to be picked by any idle hand," said Sophie warningly, +as she recalled Ruth's blushes and Randal's compliments at dinner. + +"I should expect to be annihilated by the big brother if I attempted +any but the 'sincerest' admiration and respect. Have no fears on that +score, but tell us what is to follow this superb dinner. An apple bee, +spinning match, husking party, or primitive pastime of some sort, I +have no doubt." + +"As you are new to our ways I am going to let you rest this evening. +We will sit about the fire and tell stories. Aunt is a master hand +at that, and Saul has reminiscences of the war that are well worth +hearing if we can only get him to tell them." + +"Ah, he was there, was he?" + +"Yes, all through it, and is Major Basset, though he likes his plain +name best. He fought splendidly and had several wounds, though only a +mere boy when he earned his scars and bars. I'm very proud of him for +that," and Sophie looked so as she glanced at the photograph of +a stripling in uniform set in the place of honor on the high +mantel-piece. + +"We must stir him up and hear these martial memories. I want some new +incidents, and shall book all I can get, if I may." + +Here Randal was interrupted by Saul himself, who came in with an +armful of wood for the fire. + +"Anything more I can do for you, cousin?" he asked, surveying the +scene with a rather wistful look. + +"Only come and sit with us and talk over war times with Mr. Randal." + +"When I've foddered the cattle and done my chores I'd be pleased to. +What regiment were you in?" asked Saul, looking down from his lofty +height upon the slender gentleman, who answered briefly,-- + +"In none. I was abroad at the time." + +"Sick?" + +"No, busy with a novel." + +"Took four years to write it?" + +"I was obliged to travel and study before I could finish it. These +things take more time to work up than outsiders would believe." + +"Seems to me our war was a finer story than any you could find in +Europe, and the best way to study it would be to fight it out. If you +want heroes and heroines you'd have found plenty of 'em there." + +"I have no doubt of it, and shall be glad to atone for my seeming +neglect of them by hearing about your own exploits. Major." + +Randal hoped to turn the conversation gracefully, but Saul was not +to be caught, and left the room, saying, with a gleam of fun in his +eye,-- + +"I can't stop now; heroes can wait, pigs can't." + +The girls laughed at this sudden descent from the sublime to the +ridiculous, and Randal joined them, feeling his condescension had not +been unobserved. + +As if drawn by the merry sound Aunt Plumy appeared, and being +established in the rocking-chair fell to talking as easily as if she +had known her guests for years. + +"Laugh away, young folks, that's better for digestion than any of the +messes people use. Are you troubled with dyspepsy, dear? You didn't +seem to take your vittles very hearty, so I mistrusted you was +delicate," she said, looking at Emily, whose pale cheeks and weary +eyes told the story of late hours and a gay life. + +"I haven't eaten so much for years, I assure you, Mrs. Basset; but +it was impossible to taste all your good things. I am not dyspeptic, +thank you, but a little seedy and tired, for I've been working rather +hard lately." + +"Be you a teacher? or have you a 'perfessun,' as they call a trade +nowadays?" asked the old lady in a tone of kindly interest, which +prevented a laugh at the idea of Emily's being anything but a beauty +and a belle. The others kept their countenances with difficulty, and +she answered demurely,-- + +"I have no trade as yet, but I dare say I should be happier if I had." + +"Not a doubt on't, my dear." + +"What would you recommend, ma'am?" + +"I should say dressmakin' was rather in your line, ain't it? Your +clothes is dreadful tasty, and do you credit if you made 'em +yourself." and Aunt Plumy surveyed with feminine interest the simple +elegance of the travelling dress which was the masterpiece of a French +modiste. + +"No, ma'am, I don't make my own things, I'm too lazy. It takes so much +time and trouble to select them that I have only strength left to wear +them." + +"Housekeepin' used to be the favorite perfessun in my day. It ain't +fashionable now, but it needs a sight of trainin' to be perfect in all +that's required, and I've an idee it would be a sight healthier and +usefuller than the paintin' and music and fancy work young women do +nowadays." + +"But every one wants some beauty in their lives, and each one has a +different sphere to fill, if one can only find it." + +"'Pears to me there's no call for so much art when nater is full of +beauty for them that can see and love it. As for 'spears' and so on, +I've a notion if each of us did up our own little chores smart and +thorough we needn't go wanderin' round to set the world to rights. +That's the Lord's job, and I presume to say He can do it without any +advice of ourn." + +Something in the homely but true words seemed to rebuke the three +listeners for wasted lives, and for a moment there was no sound but +the crackle of the fire, the brisk click of the old lady's knitting +needles, and Ruth's voice singing overhead as she made ready to join +the party below. + +"To judge by that sweet sound you have done one of your 'chores' very +beautifully, Mrs. Basset, and in spite of the follies of our day, +succeeded in keeping one girl healthy, happy and unspoiled," said +Emily, looking up into the peaceful old face with her own lovely one +full of respect and envy. + +"I do hope so, for she's my ewe lamb, the last of four dear little +girls; all the rest are in the burying ground 'side of father. I don't +expect to keep her long, and don't ought to regret when I lose her, +for Saul is the best of sons; but daughters is more to mothers +somehow, and I always yearn over girls that is left without a broodin' +wing to keep 'em safe and warm in this world of tribulation." + +Aunt Plumy laid her hand on Sophie's head as she spoke, with such a +motherly look that both girls drew nearer, and Randal resolved to put +her in a book without delay. + +Presently Saul returned with little Ruth hanging on his arm and shyly +nestling near him as he took the three-cornered leathern chair in the +chimney nook, while she sat on a stool close by. + +"Now the circle is complete and the picture perfect. Don't light the +lamps yet, please, but talk away and let me make a mental study +of you. I seldom find so charming a scene to paint," said Randal, +beginning to enjoy himself immensely, with a true artist's taste for +novelty and effect. + +"Tell us about your book, for we have been reading it as it comes out +in the magazine, and are much exercised about how it's going to +end," began Saul, gallantly throwing himself into the breach, for a +momentary embarrassment fell upon the women at the idea of sitting for +their portraits before they were ready. + +"Do you really read my poor serial up here, and do me the honor to +like it?" asked the novelist, both flattered and amused, for his work +was of the aesthetic sort, microscopic studies of character, and +careful pictures of modern life. + +"Sakes alive, why shouldn't we?" cried Aunt Plumy. "We have some +eddication, though we ain't very genteel. We've got a town libry, kep +up by the women mostly, with fairs and tea parties and so on. We have +all the magazines reg'lar, and Saul reads out the pieces while Ruth +sews and I knit, my eyes bein' poor. Our winter is long and evenins +would be kinder lonesome if we didn't have novils and newspapers to +cheer 'em up." + +"I am very glad I can help to beguile them for you. Now tell me what +you honestly think of my work? Criticism is always valuable, and I +should really like yours, Mrs. Basset," said Randal, wondering what +the good woman would make of the delicate analysis and worldly wisdom +on which he prided himself. + +Short work, as Aunt Plumy soon showed him, for she rather enjoyed +freeing her mind at all times, and decidedly resented the insinuation +that country folk could not appreciate light literature as well as +city people. + +"I ain't no great of a jedge about anything but nat'ralness of books, +and it really does seem as if some of your men and women was dreadful +uncomfortable creaters. 'Pears to me it ain't wise to be always +pickin' ourselves to pieces and pryin' into things that ought to +come gradual by way of experience and the visitations of Providence. +Flowers won't blow worth a cent ef you pull 'em open. Better wait and +see what they can do alone. I do relish the smart sayins, the odd ways +of furrin parts, and the sarcastic slaps at folkses weak spots. But +massy knows, we can't live on spice-cake and Charlotte Ruche, and I +do feel as if books was more sustainin' ef they was full of every-day +people and things, like good bread and butter. Them that goes to the +heart and ain't soon forgotten is the kind I hanker for. Mis Terry's +books now, and Mis Stowe's, and Dickens's Christmas pieces,--them is +real sweet and cheerin', to my mind." + +As the blunt old lady paused it was evident she had produced a +sensation, for Saul smiled at the fire, Ruth looked dismayed at +this assault upon one of her idols, and the young ladies were both +astonished and amused at the keenness of the new critic who dared +express what they had often felt. Randal, however, was quite composed +and laughed good-naturedly, though secretly feeling as if a pail of +cold water had been poured over him. + +"Many thanks, madam; you have discovered my weak point with surprising +accuracy. But you see I cannot help 'picking folks to pieces,' as you +have expressed it; that is my gift, and it has its attractions, as the +sale of my books will testify. People like the 'spice-bread,' and as +that is the only sort my oven will bake, I must keep on in order to +make my living." + +"So rumsellers say, but it ain't a good trade to foller, and I'd chop +wood 'fore I'd earn my livin' harmin' my feller man. 'Pears to me I'd +let my oven cool a spell, and hunt up some homely, happy folks to +write about; folks that don't borrer trouble and go lookin' for holes +in their neighbors' coats, but take their lives brave and cheerful; +and rememberin' we are all human, have pity on the weak, and try to +be as full of mercy, patience and lovin' kindness as Him who made +us. That sort of a book would do a heap of good; be real warmin' and +strengthening and make them that read it love the man that wrote it, +and remember him when he was dead and gone." + +"I wish I could!" and Randal meant what he said, for he was as tired +of his own style as a watch-maker might be of the magnifying glass +through which he strains his eyes all day. He knew that the heart was +left out of his work, and that both mind and soul were growing morbid +with dwelling on the faulty, absurd and metaphysical phases of life +and character. He often threw down his pen and vowed he would write no +more; but he loved ease and the books brought money readily; he was +accustomed to the stimulant of praise and missed it as the toper +misses his wine, so that which had once been a pleasure to himself and +others was fast becoming a burden and a disappointment. + +The brief pause which followed his involuntary betrayal of discontent +was broken by Ruth, who exclaimed, with a girlish enthusiasm that +overpowered girlish bashfulness,-- + +"_I_ think all the novels are splendid! I hope you will write hundreds +more, and I shall live to read 'em." + +"Bravo, my gentle champion! I promise that I will write one more at +least, and have a heroine in it whom your mother will both admire and +love," answered Randal, surprised to find how grateful he was for the +girl's approval, and how rapidly his trained fancy began to paint the +background on which he hoped to copy this fresh, human daisy. + +Abashed by her involuntary outburst, Ruth tried to efface herself +behind Saul's broad shoulder, and he brought the conversation back to +its starting-point by saying in a tone of the most sincere interest,-- + +"Speaking of the serial, I am very anxious to know how your hero comes +out. He is a fine fellow, and I can't decide whether he is going to +spoil his life marrying that silly woman, or do something grand and +generous, and not be made a fool of." + +"Upon my soul, I don't know myself. It is very hard to find new +finales. Can't you suggest something, Major? then I shall not be +obliged to leave my story without an end, as people complain I am +rather fond of doing." + +"Well, no, I don't think I've anything to offer. Seems to me it isn't +the sensational exploits that show the hero best, but some great +sacrifice quietly made by a common sort of man who is noble without +knowing it. I saw a good many such during the war, and often wish I +could write them down, for it is surprising how much courage, goodness +and real piety is stowed away in common folks ready to show when the +right time comes." + +"Tell us one of them, and I'll bless you for a hint. No one knows the +anguish of an author's spirit when he can't ring down the curtain on +an effective tableau," said Randal, with a glance at his friends to +ask their aid in eliciting an anecdote or reminiscence. + +"Tell about the splendid fellow who held the bridge, like Horatius, +till help came up. That was a thrilling story, I assure you," answered +Sophie, with an inviting smile. + +But Saul would not be his own hero, and said briefly: + +"Any man can be brave when the battle-fever is on him, and it only +takes a little physical courage to dash ahead." He paused a moment, +with his eyes on the snowy landscape without, where twilight was +deepening; then, as if constrained by the memory that winter scene +evoked, he slowly continued,-- + +"One of the bravest things I ever knew was done by a poor fellow who +has been a hero to me ever since, though I only met him that night. +It was after one of the big battles of that last winter, and I was +knocked over with a broken leg and two or three bullets here and +there. Night was coming on, snow falling, and a sharp wind blew over +the field where a lot of us lay, dead and alive, waiting for the +ambulance to come and pick us up. There was skirmishing going on not +far off, and our prospects were rather poor between frost and fire. I +was calculating how I'd manage, when I found two poor chaps close by +who were worse off, so I braced up and did what I could for them. One +had an arm blown away, and kept up a dreadful groaning. The other +was shot bad, and bleeding to death for want of help, but never +complained. He was nearest, and I liked his pluck, for he spoke +cheerful and made me ashamed to growl. Such times make dreadful brutes +of men if they haven't something to hold on to, and all three of us +were most wild with pain and cold and hunger, for we'd fought all day +fasting, when we heard a rumble in the road below, and saw lanterns +bobbing round. That meant life to us, and we all tried to holler; two +of us were pretty faint, but I managed a good yell, and they heard it. + +"'Room for one more. Hard luck, old boys, but we are full and must +save the worst wounded first. Take a drink, and hold on till we come +back,' says one of them with the stretcher. + +"'Here's the one to go,' I says, pointin' out my man, for I saw by the +light that he was hard hit. + +"'No, that one. He's got more chances than I, or this one; he's young +and got a mother; I'll wait,' said the good feller, touchin' my arm, +for he 'd heard me mutterin' to myself about this dear old lady. We +always want mother when we are down, you know." + +Saul's eyes turned to the beloved face with a glance of tenderest +affection, and Aunt Plumy answered with a dismal groan at the +recollection of his need that night, and her absence. + +"Well, to be short, the groaning chap was taken, and my man left. I +was mad, but there was no time for talk, and the selfish one went off +and left that poor feller to run his one chance. I had my rifle, and +guessed I could hobble up to use it if need be; so we settled back to +wait without much hope of help, everything being in a muddle. And wait +we did till morning, for that ambulance did not come back till next +day, when most of us were past needing it. + +"I'll never forget that night. I dream it all over again as plain as +if it was real. Snow, cold, darkness, hunger, thirst, pain, and all +round us cries and cursing growing less and less, till at last only +the wind went moaning over that meadow. It was awful! so lonesome, +helpless, and seemingly God-forsaken. Hour after hour we lay there +side by side under one coat, waiting to be saved or die, for the wind +grew strong and we grew weak." + +Saul drew a long breath, and held his hands to the fire as if he felt +again the sharp suffering of that night. + +"And the man?" asked Emily, softly, as if reluctant to break the +silence. + +"He _was_ a man! In times like that men talk like brothers and show +what they are. Lying there, slowly freezing, Joe Cummings told +me about his wife and babies, his old folks waiting for him, all +depending on him, yet all ready to give him up when he was needed. A +plain man, but honest and true, and loving as a woman; I soon saw that +as he went on talking, half to me and half to himself, for sometimes +he wandered a little toward the end. I've read books, heard sermons, +and seen good folks, but nothing ever came so close or did me so much +good as seeing this man die. He had one chance and gave it cheerfully. +He longed for those he loved, and let 'em go with a good-by they +couldn't hear. He suffered all the pains we most shrink from without a +murmur, and kept my heart warm while his own was growing cold. It's +no use trying to tell that part of it; but I heard prayers that night +that meant something, and I saw how faith could hold a soul up when +everything was gone but God." + +Saul stopped there with a sudden huskiness in his deep voice, and when +he went on it was in the tone of one who speaks of a dear friend. + +"Joe grew still by and by, and I thought he was asleep, for I felt his +breath when I tucked him up, and his hand held on to mine. The cold +sort of numbed me, and I dropped off, too weak and stupid to think or +feel. I never should have waked up if it hadn't been for Joe. When I +came to, it was morning, and I thought I was dead, for all I could see +was that great field of white mounds, like graves, and a splendid sky +above. Then I looked for Joe, remembering; but he had put my coat back +over me, and lay stiff and still under the snow that covered him like +a shroud, all except his face. A bit of my cape had blown over it, and +when I took it off and the sun shone on his dead face, I declare to +you it was so full of heavenly peace I felt as if that common man had +been glorified by God's light, and rewarded by God's 'Well done.' +That's all." + +No one spoke for a moment, while the women wiped their eyes, and Saul +dropped his as if to hide something softer than tears. + +"It was very noble, very touching. And you? how did you get off at +last?" asked Randal, with real admiration and respect in his usually +languid face. + +"Crawled off," answered Saul, relapsing into his former brevity of +speech. + +"Why not before, and save yourself all that misery?" + +"Couldn't leave Joe." + +"Ah, I see; there were two heroes that night." + +"Dozens, I've no doubt. Those were times that made heroes of men, and +women, too." + +"Tell us more;" begged Emily, looking up with an expression none of +her admirers ever brought to her face by their softest compliments or +wiliest gossip. + +"I've done my part. It's Mr. Randal's turn now;" and Saul drew himself +out of the ruddy circle of firelight, as if ashamed of the prominent +part he was playing. + +Sophie and her friend had often heard Randal talk, for he was an +accomplished _raconteur_, but that night he exerted himself, and was +unusually brilliant and entertaining, as if upon his mettle. The +Bassets were charmed. They sat late and were very merry, for +Aunt Plumy got up a little supper for them, and her cider was as +exhilarating as champagne. When they parted for the night and Sophie +kissed her aunt, Emily did the same, saying heartily,-- + +"It seems as if I'd known you all my life, and this is certainly the +most enchanting old place that ever was." + +"Glad you like it, dear. But it ain't all fun, as you'll find out +to-morrow when you go to work, for Sophie says you must," answered +Mrs. Basset, as her guests trooped away, rashly promising to like +everything. + +They found it difficult to keep their word when they were called at +half past six next morning. Their rooms were warm, however, and +they managed to scramble down in time for breakfast, guided by the +fragrance of coffee and Aunt Plumy's shrill voice singing the good old +hymn-- + + "Lord, in the morning Thou shalt hear + My voice ascending high." + +An open fire blazed on the hearth, for the cooking was done in +the lean-to, and the spacious, sunny kitchen was kept in all its +old-fashioned perfection, with the wooden settle in a warm nook, the +tall clock behind the door, copper and pewter utensils shining on the +dresser, old china in the corner closet and a little spinning wheel +rescued from the garret by Sophie to adorn the deep window, full of +scarlet geraniums, Christmas roses, and white chrysanthemums. + +The young lady, in a checked apron and mob-cap, greeted her friends +with a dish of buckwheats in one hand, and a pair of cheeks that +proved she had been learning to fry these delectable cakes. + +"You do 'keep it up' in earnest, upon my word; and very becoming it +is, dear. But won't you ruin your complexion and roughen your hands if +you do so much of this new fancy-work?" asked Emily, much amazed at +this novel freak. + +"I like it, and really believe I've found my proper sphere at last. +Domestic life seems so pleasant to me that I feel as if I'd better +keep it up for the rest of my life," answered Sophie, making a pretty +picture of herself as she cut great slices of brown bread, with the +early sunshine touching her happy face. + +"The charming Miss Vaughan in the role of a farmer's wife. I find it +difficult to imagine, and shrink from the thought of the wide-spread +dismay such a fate will produce among her adorers," added Randal, as +he basked in the glow of the hospitable fire. + +"She might do worse; but come to breakfast and do honor to my +handiwork," said Sophie, thinking of her worn-out millionnaire, and +rather nettled by the satiric smile on Randal's lips. + +"What an appetite early rising gives one. I feel equal to almost +anything, so let me help wash cups," said Emily, with unusual energy, +when the hearty meal was over and Sophie began to pick up the dishes +as if it was her usual work. + +Ruth went to the window to water the flowers, and Randal followed to +make himself agreeable, remembering her defence of him last night. +He was used to admiration from feminine eyes, and flattery from soft +lips, but found something new and charming in the innocent delight +which showed itself at his approach in blushes more eloquent than +words, and shy glances from eyes full of hero-worship. + +"I hope you are going to spare me a posy for to-morrow night, since +I can be fine in no other way to do honor to the dance Miss Sophie +proposes for us," he said, leaning in the bay window to look down +on the little girl, with the devoted air he usually wore for pretty +women. + +"Anything you like! I should be so glad to have you wear my flowers. +There will be enough for all, and I've nothing else to give to people +who have made me as happy as cousin Sophie and you," answered Ruth, +half drowning her great calla as she spoke with grateful warmth. + +"You must make her happy by accepting the invitation to go home with +her which I heard given last night. A peep at the world would do you +good, and be a pleasant change, I think." + +"Oh, very pleasant! but would it do me good?" and Ruth looked up with +sudden seriousness in her blue eyes, as a child questions an elder, +eager, yet wistful. + +"Why not?" asked Randal, wondering at the hesitation. + +"I might grow discontented with things here if I saw splendid houses +and fine people. I am very happy now, and it would break my heart to +lose that happiness, or ever learn to be ashamed of home." + +"But don't you long for more pleasure, new scenes and other friends +than these?" asked the man, touched by the little creature's loyalty +to the things she knew and loved. + +"Very often, but mother says when I'm ready they will come, so I wait +and try not to be impatient." But Ruth's eyes looked out over the +green leaves as if the longing was very strong within her to see more +of the unknown world lying beyond the mountains that hemmed her in. + +"It is natural for birds to hop out of the nest, so I shall expect to +see you over there before long, and ask you how you enjoy your first +flight," said Randal, in a paternal tone that had a curious effect on +Ruth. + +To his surprise, she laughed, then blushed like one of her own roses, +and answered with a demure dignity that was very pretty to see. + +"I intend to hop soon, but it won't be a very long flight or very far +from mother. She can't spare me, and nobody in the world can fill her +place to me." + +"Bless the child, does she think I'm going to make love to her," +thought Randal, much amused, but quite mistaken. Wiser women had +thought so when he assumed the caressing air with which he beguiled +them into the little revelations of character he liked to use, as the +south wind makes flowers open their hearts to give up their odor, then +leaves them to carry it elsewhere, the more welcome for the stolen +sweetness. + +"Perhaps you are right. The maternal wing is a safe shelter for +confiding little souls like you, Miss Ruth. You will be as comfortable +here as your flowers in this sunny window," he said, carelessly +pinching geranium leaves, and ruffling the roses till the pink petals +of the largest fluttered to the floor. + +As if she instinctively felt and resented something in the man which +his act symbolized, the girl answered quietly, as she went on with her +work, "Yes, if the frost does not touch me, or careless people spoil +me too soon." + +Before Randal could reply Aunt Plumy approached like a maternal hen +who sees her chicken in danger. + +"Saul is goin' to haul wood after he's done his chores, mebbe you'd +like to go along? The view is good, the roads well broke, and the day +uncommon fine." + +"Thanks; it will be delightful, I dare say," politely responded the +lion, with a secret shudder at the idea of a rural promenade at 8 A.M. +in the winter. + +"Come on, then; we'll feed the stock, and then I'll show you how to +yoke oxen," said Saul, with a twinkle in his eye as he led the way, +when his new aide had muffled himself up as if for a polar voyage. + +"Now, that's too bad of Saul! He did it on purpose, just to please +you, Sophie," cried Ruth presently, and the girls ran to the window to +behold Randal bravely following his host with a pail of pigs' food in +each hand, and an expression of resigned disgust upon his aristocratic +face. + +"To what base uses may we come," quoted Emily, as they all nodded and +smiled upon the victim as he looked back from the barn-yard, where he +was clamorously welcomed by his new charges. + +"It is rather a shock at first, but it will do him good, and Saul +won't be too hard upon him, I'm sure," said Sophie, going back to her +work, while Ruth turned her best buds to the sun that they might be +ready for a peace-offering to-morrow. + +There was a merry clatter in the big kitchen for an hour; then Aunt +Plumy and her daughter shut themselves up in the pantry to perform +some culinary rites, and the young ladies went to inspect certain +antique costumes laid forth in Sophie's room. + +"You see, Em, I thought it would be appropriate to the house and +season to have an old-fashioned dance. Aunt has quantities of ancient +finery stowed away, for great-grandfather Basset was a fine old +gentleman and his family lived in state. Take your choice of the +crimson, blue or silver-gray damask. Ruth is to wear the worked muslin +and quilted white satin skirt, with that coquettish hat." + +"Being dark, I'll take the red and trim it up with this fine lace. +You must wear the blue and primrose, with the distracting high-heeled +shoes. Have you any suits for the men?" asked Emily, throwing herself +at once into the all-absorbing matter of costume. + +"A claret velvet coat and vest, silk stockings, cocked hat and +snuff-box for Randal. Nothing large enough for Saul, so he must wear +his uniform. Won't Aunt Plumy be superb in this plum-colored satin and +immense cap?" + +A delightful morning was spent in adapting the faded finery of the +past to the blooming beauty of the present, and time and tongues flew +till the toot of a horn called them down to dinner. + +The girls were amazed to see Randal come whistling up the road with +his trousers tucked into his boots, blue mittens on his hands, and an +unusual amount of energy in his whole figure, as he drove the oxen, +while Saul laughed at his vain attempts to guide the bewildered +beasts. + +"It's immense! The view from the hill is well worth seeing, for the +snow glorifies the landscape and reminds one of Switzerland. I'm going +to make a sketch of it this afternoon; better come and enjoy the +delicious freshness, young ladies." + +Randal was eating with such an appetite that he did not see the +glances the girls exchanged as they promised to go. + +"Bring home some more winter-green, I want things to be real nice, and +we haven't enough for the kitchen," said Ruth, dimpling with girlish +delight as she imagined herself dancing under the green garlands in +her grandmother's wedding gown. + +It was very lovely on the hill, for far as the eye could reach lay the +wintry landscape sparkling with the brief beauty of sunshine on virgin +snow. Pines sighed overhead, hardy birds flitted to and fro, and in +all the trodden spots rose the little spires of evergreen ready for +its Christmas duty. Deeper in the wood sounded the measured ring of +axes, the crash of falling trees, while the red shirts of the men +added color to the scene, and a fresh wind brought the aromatic breath +of newly cloven hemlock and pine. + +"How beautiful it is! I never knew before what winter woods were like. +Did you, Sophie?" asked Emily, sitting on a stump to enjoy the novel +pleasure at her ease. + +"I've found out lately; Saul lets me come as often as I like, and this +fine air seems to make a new creature of me," answered Sophie, looking +about her with sparkling eyes, as if this was a kingdom where she +reigned supreme. + +"Something is making a new creature of you, that is very evident. I +haven't yet discovered whether it is the air or some magic herb among +that green stuff you are gathering so diligently;" and Emily laughed +to see the color deepen beautifully in her friend's half-averted face. + +"Scarlet is the only wear just now, I find. If we are lost like babes +in the woods there are plenty of redbreasts to cover us with leaves," +and Randal joined Emily's laugh, with a glance at Saul, who had just +pulled his coat off. + +"You wanted to see this tree go down, so stand from under and I'll +show you how it's done," said the farmer, taking up his axe, not +unwilling to gratify his guests and display his manly accomplishments +at the same time. + +It was a fine sight, the stalwart man swinging his axe with +magnificent strength and skill, each blow sending a thrill through the +stately tree, till its heart was reached and it tottered to its fall. +Never pausing for breath Saul shook his yellow mane out of his eyes, +and hewed away, while the drops stood on his forehead and his arm +ached, as bent on distinguishing himself as if he had been a knight +tilting against his rival for his lady's favor. + +"I don't know which to admire most, the man or his muscle. One doesn't +often see such vigor, size and comeliness in these degenerate days," +said Randal, mentally booking the fine figure in the red shirt. + +"I think we have discovered a rough diamond. I only wonder if Sophie +is going to try and polish it," answered Emily, glancing at her +friend, who stood a little apart, watching the rise and fall of the +axe as intently as if her fate depended on it. + +Down rushed the tree at last, and, leaving them to examine a crow's +nest in its branches, Saul went off to his men, as if he found the +praises of his prowess rather too much for him. + +Randal fell to sketching, the girls to their garland-making, and for +a little while the sunny woodland nook was full of lively chat and +pleasant laughter, for the air exhilarated them all like wine. +Suddenly a man came running from the wood, pale and anxious, saying, +as he hastened by for help, "Blasted tree fell on him! Bleed to death +before the doctor comes!" + +"Who? who?" cried the startled trio. + +But the man ran on, with some breathless reply, in which only a name +was audible--"Basset." + +"The deuce it is!" and Randal dropped his pencil, while the girls +sprang up in dismay. Then, with one impulse, they hastened to the +distant group, half visible behind the fallen trees and corded wood. + +Sophie was there first, and forcing her way through the little crowd +of men, saw a red-shirted figure on the ground, crushed and bleeding, +and threw herself down beside it with a cry that pierced the hearts of +those who heard it. + +In the act she saw it was not Saul, and covered her bewildered face as +if to hide its joy. A strong arm lifted her, and the familiar voice +said cheeringly,-- + +"I'm all right, dear. Poor Bruce is hurt, but we've sent for help. +Better go right home and forget all about it." + +"Yes, I will, if I can do nothing;" and Sophie meekly returned to her +friends who stood outside the circle over which Saul's head towered, +assuring them of his safety. + +Hoping they had not seen her agitation, she led Emily away, leaving +Randal to give what aid he could and bring them news of the poor +wood-chopper's state. + +Aunt Plumy produced the "camphire" the moment she saw Sophie's pale +face, and made her lie down, while the brave old lady trudged briskly +off with bandages and brandy to the scene of action. On her return she +brought comfortable news of the man, so the little flurry blew over +and was forgotten by all but Sophie, who remained pale and quiet all +the evening, tying evergreen as if her life depended on it. + +"A good night's sleep will set her up. She ain't used to such things, +dear child, and needs cossetin'," said Aunt Plumy, purring over her +until she was in her bed, with a hot stone at her feet and a bowl of +herb tea to quiet her nerves. + +An hour later when Emily went up, she peeped in to see if Sophie was +sleeping nicely, and was surprised to find the invalid wrapped in a +dressing-gown writing busily. + +"Last will and testament, or sudden inspiration, dear? How are you? +faint or feverish, delirious or in the dumps! Saul looks so anxious, +and Mrs. Basset hushes us all up so, I came to bed, leaving Randal to +entertain Ruth." + +As she spoke Emily saw the papers disappear in a portfolio, and Sophie +rose with a yawn. + +"I was writing letters, but I'm sleepy now. Quite over my foolish +fright, thank you. Go and get your beauty sleep that you may dazzle +the natives to-morrow." + +"So glad, good night;" and Emily went away, saying to herself, +"Something is going on, and I must find out what it is before I leave. +Sophie can't blind _me_." + +But Sophie did all the next day, being delightfully gay at the dinner, +and devoting herself to the young minister who was invited to meet +the distinguished novelist, and evidently being afraid of him, gladly +basked in the smiles of his charming neighbor. A dashing sleigh-ride +occupied the afternoon, and then great was the fun and excitement over +the costumes. + +Aunt Plumy laughed till the tears rolled down her cheeks as the girls +compressed her into the plum-colored gown with its short waist, +leg-of-mutton sleeves, and narrow skirt. But a worked scarf hid all +deficiencies, and the towering cap struck awe into the soul of the +most frivolous observer. + +"Keep an eye on me, girls, for I shall certainly split somewheres or +lose my head-piece off when I'm trottin' round. What would my blessed +mother say if she could see me rigged out in her best things?" and +with a smile and a sigh the old lady departed to look after "the +boys," and see that the supper was all right. + +Three prettier damsels never tripped down the wide staircase than the +brilliant brunette in crimson brocade, the pensive blonde in blue, or +the rosy little bride in old muslin and white satin. + +A gallant court gentleman met them in the hall with a superb bow, +and escorted them to the parlor, where Grandma Basset's ghost was +discovered dancing with a modern major in full uniform. + +Mutual admiration and many compliments followed, till other ancient +ladies and gentlemen arrived in all manner of queer costumes, and the +old house seemed to wake from its humdrum quietude to sudden music and +merriment, as if a past generation had returned to keep its Christmas +there. + +The village fiddler soon struck up the good old tunes, and then the +strangers saw dancing that filled them with mingled mirth and envy; it +was so droll, yet so hearty. The young men, unusually awkward in their +grandfathers' knee-breeches, flapping vests, and swallow-tail coats, +footed it bravely with the buxom girls who were the prettier for their +quaintness, and danced with such vigor that their high combs stood +awry, their furbelows waved wildly, and their cheeks were as red as +their breast-knots, or hose. + +It was impossible to stand still, and one after the other the city +folk yielded to the spell, Randal leading off with Ruth, Sophie swept +away by Saul, and Emily being taken possession of by a young giant of +eighteen, who spun her around with a boyish impetuosity that took her +breath away. Even Aunt Plumy was discovered jigging it alone in the +pantry, as if the music was too much for her, and the plates and +glasses jingled gaily on the shelves in time to Money Musk and +Fishers' Hornpipe. + +A pause came at last, however, and fans fluttered, heated brows were +wiped, jokes were made, lovers exchanged confidences, and every nook +and corner held a man and maid carrying on the sweet game which is +never out of fashion. There was a glitter of gold lace in the back +entry, and a train of blue and primrose shone in the dim light. There +was a richer crimson than that of the geraniums in the deep window, +and a dainty shoe tapped the bare floor impatiently as the brilliant +black eyes looked everywhere for the court gentleman, while their +owner listened to the gruff prattle of an enamored boy. But in the +upper hall walked a little white ghost as if waiting for some shadowy +companion, and when a dark form appeared ran to take its arm, saying, +in a tone of soft satisfaction,-- + +"I was so afraid you wouldn't come!" + +"Why did you leave me, Ruth?" answered a manly voice in a tone of +surprise, though the small hand slipping from the velvet coat-sleeve +was replaced as if it was pleasant to feel it there. + +A pause, and then the other voice answered demurely,-- + +"Because I was afraid my head would be turned by the fine things you +were saying." + +"It is impossible to help saying what one feels to such an artless +little creature as you are. It does me good to admire anything so +fresh and sweet, and won't harm you." + +"It might if--" + +"If what, my daisy?" + +"I believed it," and a laugh seemed to finish the broken sentence +better than the words. + +"You may, Ruth, for I do sincerely admire the most genuine girl I have +seen for a long time. And walking here with you in your bridal white I +was just asking myself if I should not be a happier man with a home +of my own and a little wife hanging on my arm than drifting about the +world as I do now with only myself to care for." + +"I know you would!" and Ruth spoke so earnestly that Randal was both +touched and startled, fearing he had ventured too far in a mood of +unwonted sentiment, born of the romance of the hour and the sweet +frankness of his companion. + +"Then you don't think it would be rash for some sweet woman to take me +in hand and make me happy, since fame is a failure?" + +"Oh, no; it would be easy work if she loved you. I know some one--if I +only dared to tell her name." + +"Upon my soul, this is cool," and Randal looked down, wondering if the +audacious lady on his arm could be shy Ruth. + +If he had seen the malicious merriment in her eyes he would have been +more humiliated still, but they were modestly averted, and the face +under the little hat was full of a soft agitation rather dangerous +even to a man of the world. + +"She is a captivating little creature, but it is too soon for anything +but a mild flirtation. I must delay further innocent revelations or I +shall do something rash." + +While making this excellent resolution Randal had been pressing the +hand upon his arm and gently pacing down the dimly lighted hall +with the sound of music in his ears, Ruth's sweetest roses in his +button-hole, and a loving little girl beside him, as he thought. + +"You shall tell me by and by when we are in town. I am sure you will +come, and meanwhile don't forget me." + +"I am going in the spring, but I shall not be with Sophie," answered +Ruth, in a whisper. + +"With whom then? I shall long to see you." + +"With my husband. I am to be married in May." + +"The deuce you are!" escaped Randal, as he stopped short to stare at +his companion, sure she was not in earnest. + +But she was, for as he looked the sound of steps coming up the back +stairs made her whole face flush and brighten with the unmistakable +glow of happy love, and she completed Randal's astonishment by running +into the arms of the young minister, saying with an irrepressible +laugh, "Oh, John, why didn't you come before?" + +The court gentleman was all right in a moment, and the coolest of +the three as he offered his congratulations and gracefully retired, +leaving the lovers to enjoy the tryst he had delayed. But as he went +down stairs his brows were knit, and he slapped the broad railing +smartly with his cocked hat as if some irritation must find vent in a +more energetic way than merely saying, "Confound the little baggage!" +under his breath. + +Such an amazing supper came from Aunt Plumy's big pantry that the city +guests could not eat for laughing at the queer dishes circulating +through the rooms, and copiously partaken of by the hearty young +folks. + +Doughnuts and cheese, pie and pickles, cider and tea, baked beans and +custards, cake and cold turkey, bread and butter, plum pudding and +French bonbons, Sophie's contribution. + +"May I offer you the native delicacies, and share your plate? Both +are very good, but the china has run short, and after such vigorous +exercise as you have had you must need refreshment. I'm sure I do!" +said Randal, bowing before Emily with a great blue platter laden with +two doughnuts, two wedges of pumpkin pie and two spoons. + +The smile with which she welcomed him, the alacrity with which she +made room beside her and seemed to enjoy the supper he brought, was so +soothing to his ruffled spirit that he soon began to feel that there +is no friend like an old friend, that it would not be difficult to +name a sweet woman who would take him in hand and would make him happy +if he cared to ask her, and he began to think he would by and by, it +was so pleasant to sit in that green corner with waves of crimson +brocade flowing over his feet, and a fine face softening beautifully +under his eyes. + +The supper was not romantic, but the situation was, and Emily found +that pie ambrosial food eaten with the man she loved, whose eyes +talked more eloquently than the tongue just then busy with a doughnut. +Ruth kept away, but glanced at them as she served her company, and her +own happy experience helped her to see that all was going well in that +quarter. Saul and Sophie emerged from the back entry with shining +countenances, but carefully avoided each other for the rest of the +evening. No one observed this but Aunt Plumy from the recesses of her +pantry, and she folded her hands as if well content, as she murmured +fervently over a pan full of crullers, "Bless the dears! Now I can die +happy." + +Every one thought Sophie's old-fashioned dress immensely becoming, and +several of his former men said to Saul with blunt admiration, "Major, +you look to-night as you used to after we'd gained a big battle." + +"I feel as if I had," answered the splendid Major, with eyes much +brighter than his buttons, and a heart under them infinitely prouder +than when he was promoted on the field of honor, for his Waterloo was +won. + +There was more dancing, followed by games, in which Aunt Plumy shone +pre-eminent, for the supper was off her mind and she could enjoy +herself. There were shouts of merriment as the blithe old lady twirled +the platter, hunted the squirrel, and went to Jerusalem like a girl of +sixteen; her cap in a ruinous condition, and every seam of the purple +dress straining like sails in a gale. It was great fun, but at +midnight it came to an end, and the young folks, still bubbling over +with innocent jollity, went jingling away along the snowy hills, +unanimously pronouncing Mrs. Basset's party the best of the season. + +"Never had such a good time in my life!" exclaimed Sophie, as the +family stood together in the kitchen where the candles among the +wreaths were going out, and the floor was strewn with wrecks of past +joy. + +"I'm proper glad, dear. Now you all go to bed and lay as late as you +like to-morrow. I'm so kinder worked up I couldn't sleep, so Saul and +me will put things to rights without a mite of noise to disturb you;" +and Aunt Plumy sent them off with a smile that was a benediction, +Sophie thought. + +"The dear old soul speaks as if midnight was an unheard-of hour for +Christians to be up. What would she say if she knew how we seldom go +to bed till dawn in the ball season? I'm so wide awake I've half a +mind to pack a little. Randal must go at two, he says, and we shall +want his escort," said Emily, as the girls laid away their brocades in +the press in Sophie's room. + +"I'm not going. Aunt can't spare me, and there is nothing to go for +yet," answered Sophie, beginning to take the white chrysanthemums out +of her pretty hair. + +"My dear child, you will die of ennui up here. Very nice for a week +or so, but frightful for a winter. We are going to be very gay, and +cannot get on without you," cried Emily dismayed at the suggestion. + +"You will have to, for I'm not coming. I am very happy here, and so +tired of the frivolous life I lead in town, that I have decided to +try a better one," and Sophie's mirror reflected a face full of the +sweetest content. + +"Have you lost your mind? experienced religion? or any other dreadful +thing? You always were odd, but this last freak is the strangest of +all. What will your guardian say, and the world?" added Emily in the +awe-stricken tone of one who stood in fear of the omnipotent Mrs. +Grundy. + +"Guardy will be glad to be rid of me, and I don't care that for the +world," cried Sophie, snapping her fingers with a joyful sort of +recklessness which completed Emily's bewilderment. + +"But Mr. Hammond? Are you going to throw away millions, lose your +chance of making the best match in the city, and driving the girls of +our set out of their wits with envy?" + +Sophie laughed at her friend's despairing cry, and turning round said +quietly,-- + +"I wrote to Mr. Hammond last night, and this evening received my +reward for being an honest girl. Saul and I are to be married in the +spring when Ruth is." + +Emily fell prone upon the bed as if the announcement was too much +for her, but was up again in an instant to declare with prophetic +solemnity,-- + +"I knew something was going on, but hoped to get you away before you +were lost. Sophie, you will repent. Be warned, and forget this sad +delusion." + +"Too late for that. The pang I suffered yesterday when I thought Saul +was dead showed me how well I loved him. To-night he asked me to stay, +and no power in the world can part us. Oh! Emily, it is all so sweet, +so beautiful, that _everything_ is possible, and I know I shall be +happy in this dear old home, full of love and peace and honest hearts. +I only hope you may find as true and tender a man to live for as my +Saul." + +Sophie's face was more eloquent than her fervent words, and Emily +beautifully illustrated the inconsistency of her sex by suddenly +embracing her friend, with the incoherent exclamation, "I think I +have, dear! Your brave Saul is worth a dozen old Hammonds, and I do +believe you are right." + +It is unnecessary to tell how, as if drawn by the irresistible magic +of sympathy, Ruth and her mother crept in one by one to join the +midnight conference and add their smiles and tears, tender hopes and +proud delight to the joys of that memorable hour. Nor how Saul, unable +to sleep, mounted guard below, and meeting Randal prowling down to +soothe his nerves with a surreptitious cigar found it impossible to +help confiding to his attentive ear the happiness that would break +bounds and overflow in unusual eloquence. + +Peace fell upon the old house at last, and all slept as if some magic +herb had touched their eyelids, bringing blissful dreams and a glad +awakening. + +"Can't we persuade you to come with us, Miss Sophie?" asked Randal +next day, as they made their adieux. + +"I'm under orders now, and dare not disobey my superior officer," +answered Sophie, handing her Major his driving gloves, with a look +which plainly showed that she had joined the great army of devoted +women who enlist for life and ask no pay but love. + +"I shall depend on being invited to your wedding, then, and yours, +too, Miss Ruth," added Randal, shaking hands with "the little +baggage," as if he had quite forgiven her mockery and forgotten his +own brief lapse into sentiment. + +Before she could reply Aunt Plumy said, in a tone of calm conviction, +that made them all laugh, and some of them look conscious,-- + +"Spring is a good time for weddin's, and I shouldn't wonder ef there +was quite a number." + +"Nor I;" and Saul and Sophie smiled at one another as they saw how +carefully Randal arranged Emily's wraps. + +Then with kisses, thanks and all the good wishes that happy hearts +could imagine, the guests drove away, to remember long and gratefully +that pleasant country Christmas. + + + + +ON PICKET DUTY + +"Better late than never." + + +"What air you thinkin' of, Phil?" + +"My wife, Dick." + +"So was I! Ain't it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little +women, when they get a quiet spell like this?" + +"Fortunate for us that we do get it, and have such memories to keep +us brave and honest through the trials and temptations of a life like +ours." + +October moonlight shone clearly on the solitary tree, draped with +gray moss, scarred by lightning and warped by wind, looking like a +venerable warrior, whose long campaign was nearly done; and underneath +was posted the guard of four. Behind them twinkled many camp-fires on +a distant plain, before them wound a road ploughed by the passage of +an army, strewn with the relics of a rout. On the right, a sluggish +river glided, like a serpent, stealthy, sinuous, and dark, into a +seemingly impervious jungle; on the left, a Southern swamp filled the +air with malarial damps, swarms of noisome life, and discordant sounds +that robbed the hour of its repose. The men were friends as well as +comrades, for though gathered from the four quarters of the Union, +and dissimilar in education, character, and tastes, the same spirit +animated all; the routine of camp-life threw them much together, and +mutual esteem soon grew into a bond of mutual good fellowship. + +Thorn was a Massachusetts volunteer; a man who seemed too early old, +too early embittered by some cross, for, though grim of countenance, +rough of speech, cold of manner, a keen observer would have soon +discovered traces of a deeper, warmer nature hidden behind the +repellent front he turned upon the world. A true New Englander, +thoughtful, acute, reticent, and opinionated; yet earnest withal, +intensely patriotic, and often humorous, despite a touch of Puritan +austerity. + +Phil, the "romantic chap," as he was called, looked his character to +the life. Slender, swarthy, melancholy-eyed, and darkly-bearded; with +feminine features, mellow voice, and alternately languid or vivacious +manners. A child of the South in nature as in aspect, ardent and +proud; fitfully aspiring and despairing; without the native energy +which moulds character and ennobles life. Months of discipline and +devotion had done much for him, and some deep experience was fast +ripening the youth into a man. + +Flint, the long-limbed lumberman, from the wilds of Maine, was a +conscript who, when government demanded his money or his life, +calculated the cost, and decided that the cash would be a dead loss +and the claim might be repeated, whereas the conscript would get both +pay and plunder out of government, while taking excellent care +that government got very little out of him. A shrewd, slow-spoken, +self-reliant specimen, was Flint; yet something of the fresh flavor of +the backwoods lingered in him still, as if Nature were loath to give +him up, and left the mark of her motherly hand upon him, as she leaves +it in a dry, pale lichen, on the bosom of the roughest stone. + +Dick "hailed" from Illinois, and was a comely young fellow, full of +dash and daring; rough and rowdy, generous and jolly, overflowing with +spirits and ready for a free fight with all the world. + +Silence followed the last words, while the friendly moon climbed up +the sky. Each man's eye followed it, and each man's heart was busy +with remembrances of other eyes and hearts that might be watching and +wishing as theirs watched and wished. In the silence, each shaped for +himself that vision of home that brightens so many camp-fires, haunts +so many dreamers under canvas roofs, and keeps so many turbulent +natures tender by memories which often are both solace and salvation. + +Thorn paced to and fro, his rifle on his shoulder, vigilant and +soldierly, however soft his heart might be. Phil leaned against the +tree, one hand in the breast of his blue jacket, on the painted +presentment of the face his fancy was picturing in the golden circle +of the moon. Flint lounged on the sward, whistling softly as he +whittled at a fallen bough. Dick was flat on his back, heels in air, +cigar in mouth, and some hilarious notion in his mind, for suddenly he +broke into a laugh. + +"What is it, lad?" asked Thorn, pausing in his tramp, as if willing to +be drawn from the disturbing thought that made his black brows lower +and his mouth look grim. + +"Thinkin' of my wife, and wishin' she was here, bless her heart! set +me rememberin' how I see her fust, and so I roared, as I always do +when it comes into my head." + +"How was it? Come, reel off a yarn, and let's hear houw yeou hitched +teams," said Flint, always glad to get information concerning his +neighbors, if it could be cheaply done. + +"Tellin' how we found our wives wouldn't be a bad game, would it, +Phil?" + +"I'm agreeable; but let's have your romance first." + +"Devilish little of that about me or any of my doin's. I hate +sentimental bosh as much as you hate slang, and should have been a +bachelor to this day if I hadn't seen Kitty jest as I did. You see, +I'd been too busy larkin' round to get time for marryin', till a +couple of years ago, when I did up the job double-quick, as I'd like +to do this thunderin' slow one, hang it all!" + +"Halt a minute till I give a look, for this picket isn't going to be +driven in or taken while I'm on guard." + +Down his beat went Thorn, reconnoitring river, road, and swamp, +as thoroughly as one pair of keen eyes could do it, and came back +satisfied, but still growling like a faithful mastiff on the watch; +performances which he repeated at intervals till his own turn came. + +"I didn't have to go out of my own State for a wife, you'd better +believe," began Dick, with a boast, as usual; "for we raise as fine a +crop of girls thar as any State in or out of the Union, and don't mind +raisin' Cain with any man who denies it. I was out on a gunnin' tramp +with Joe Partridge, a cousin of mine,--poor old chap! he fired his +last shot at Gettysburg, and died game in a way he didn't dream of the +day we popped off the birds together. It ain't right to joke that way; +I won't if I can help it; but a feller gets awfully kind of heathenish +these times, don't he?" + +"Settle up them scores byme-by; fightin' Christians is scurse raound +here. Fire away, Dick." + +"Well, we got as hungry as hounds half a dozen mile from home, and +when a farmhouse hove in sight, Joe said he 'd ask for a bite, and +leave some of the plunder for pay. I was visitin' Joe, didn't know +folks round, and backed out of the beggin' part of the job; so he went +ahead alone. We'd come out of the woods behind the house, and while +Joe was foragin', I took a reconnoissance. The view was fust-rate, for +the main part of it was a girl airin' beds on the roof of a stoop. +Now, jest about that time, havin' a leisure spell, I'd begun to think +of marryin', and took a look at all the girls I met, with an eye to +business. I s'pose every man has some sort of an idee or pattern of +the wife he wants; pretty and plucky, good and gay was mine, but I'd +never found it till I see Kitty; and as she didn't see me, I had the +advantage and took an extra long stare." + +"What was her good p'ints, hey?" + +"Oh, well, she had a wide-awake pair of eyes, a bright, jolly sort +of a face, lots of curly hair tumblin' out of her net, a trig little +figger, and a pair of the neatest feet and ankles that ever stepped. +'Pretty,' thinks I; 'so far so good.' The way she whacked the pillers, +shook the blankets, and pitched into the beds was a caution; specially +one blunderin' old feather-bed that wouldn't do nothin' but sag round +in a pigheaded sort of way, that would have made most girls get mad +and give up. Kitty didn't, but just wrastled with it like a good one, +till she got it turned, banged, and spread to suit her; then she +plumped down in the middle of it, with a sarcy little nod and chuckle +to herself, that tickled me mightily. 'Plucky,' thinks I, 'better +'n' better.' Jest then an old woman came flyin' out the back-door, +callin', 'Kitty! Kitty! Squire Partridge's son's here, 'long with a +friend; been gunnin', want luncheon, and I'm all in the suds; do come +down and see to 'em.' + +"'Where are they?' says Kitty, scrambling up her hair and settlin' her +gown in a jiffy, as women have a knack of doin', you know. + +"'Mr. Joe's in the front entry; the other man's somewheres round, +Billy says, waitin' till I send word whether they can stop. I darsn't +till I'd seen you, for I can't do nothin', I'm in such a mess,' says +the old lady. + +"'So am I, for I can't get in except by the entry window, and he'll +see me,' says Kitty, gigglin' at the thoughts of Joe. + +"'Come down the ladder, there's a dear. I'll pull it round and keep it +stiddy,' says the mother. + +"'Oh, ma, don't ask me!' says Kitty, with a shiver. 'I'm dreadfully +scared of ladders since I broke my arm off this very one. It's so +high, it makes me dizzy jest to think of.' + +"'Well, then, I'll do the best I can; but I wish them boys was to +Jericho!' says the old lady, with a groan, for she was fat and hot, +had her gown pinned up, and was in a fluster generally. She was goin' +off rather huffy, when Kitty called out,-- + +"'Stop, ma! I'll come down and help you, only ketch me if I tumble.' + +"She looked scared but stiddy, and I'll bet it took as much grit for +her to do it as for one of us to face a battery. It don't seem much to +tell of, but I wish I may be hit if it wasn't a right down dutiful +and clever thing to see done. When the old lady took her off at the +bottom, with a good motherly hug, 'Good,' thinks I; 'what more do you +want?'" + +"A snug little property wouldn't a ben bad, I reckon," said Flint. + +"Well, she had it, old skin-flint, though I didn't know or care about +it then. What a jolly row she'd make if she knew I was tellin' the +ladder part of the story! She always does when I get to it, and makes +believe cry, with her head in my breast-pocket, or any such handy +place, till I take it out and swear I'll never do so ag'in. Poor +little Kit, I wonder what she's doin' now. Thinkin' of me, I'll bet." + +Dick paused, pulled his cap lower over his eyes, and smoked a minute +with more energy than enjoyment, for his cigar was out and he did not +perceive it. + +"That's not all, is it?" asked Thorn, taking a fatherly interest in +the younger man's love passages. + +"Not quite. 'Fore long, Joe whistled, and as I always take short cuts +everywhar, I put in at the back-door, jest as Kitty come trottin' out +of the pantry with a big berry-pie in her hand. I startled her, she +tripped over the sill and down she come; the dish flew one way, the +pie flopped into her lap, the juice spatterin' my boots and her clean +gown. I thought she'd cry, scold, have hysterics, or some confounded +thing or other; but she jest sat still a minute, then looked up at +me with a great blue splash on her face, and went off into the +good-naturedest gale of laughin' you ever heard in your life. That +finished me. 'Gay,' thinks I; 'go in and win.' So I did; made love +hand over hand, while I stayed with Joe; pupposed a fortnight after, +married her in three months, and there she is, a tiptop little woman, +with a pair of stunnin' boys in her arms!" + +Out came a well-worn case, and Dick proudly displayed the likeness of +a stout, much bejewelled young woman with two staring infants on her +knee. In his sight, the poor picture was a more perfect work of art +than any of Sir Joshua's baby-beauties, or Raphael's Madonnas, and the +little story needed no better sequel than the young father's praises +of his twins, the covert kiss he gave their mother when he turned +as if to get a clearer light upon the face. Ashamed to show the +tenderness that filled his honest heart, he hummed "Kingdom Coming," +relit his cigar, and presently began to talk again. + +"Now, then, Flint, it's your turn to keep guard, and Thorn's to tell +his romance. Come, don't try to shirk; it does a man good to talk of +such things, and we're all mates here." + +"In some cases it don't do any good to talk of such things; better let +'em alone," muttered Thorn, as he reluctantly sat down, while Flint as +reluctantly departed. + +With a glance and gesture of real affection, Phil laid his hand upon +his comrade's knee, saying in his persuasive voice, "Old fellow, +it _will_ do you good, because I know you often long to speak of +something that weighs upon you. You've kept us steady many a time, +and done us no end of kindnesses; why be too proud to let us give our +sympathy in return, if nothing more?" + +Thorn's big hand closed over the slender one upon his knee, and the +mild expression, so rarely seen upon his face, passed over it as he +replied,-- + +"I think I could tell you almost anything if you asked me that way, +my boy. It isn't that I am too proud,--and you're right about my +sometimes wanting to free my mind,--but it's because a man of forty +don't just like to open out to young fellows, if there is any danger +of their laughing at him, though he may deserve it. I guess there +isn't now, and I'll tell you how I found my wife." + +Dick sat up, and Phil drew nearer, for the earnestness that was in +the man dignified his plain speech, and inspired an interest in his +history, even before it was begun. Looking gravely at the river and +never at his hearers, as if still a little shy of confidants, yet +grateful for the relief of words, Thorn began abruptly:-- + +"I never hear the number eighty-four without clapping my hand to my +left breast and missing my badge. You know I was on the police in New +York, before the war, and that's about all you do know yet. One bitter +cold night I was going my rounds for the last time, when, as I turned +a corner, I saw there was a trifle of work to be done. It was a bad +part of the city, full of dirt and deviltry; one of the streets led to +a ferry, and at the corner an old woman had an apple-stall. The poor +soul had dropped asleep, worn out with the cold, and there were her +goods left with no one to watch 'em. Somebody was watching 'em. +however; a girl, with a ragged shawl over her head, stood at the mouth +of an alley close by, waiting for a chance to grab something. I'd seen +her there when I went by before, and mistrusted she was up to some +mischief; as I turned the corner, she put out her hand and cribbed an +apple. She saw me the minute she did it, but neither dropped it nor +ran, only stood stock still with the apple in her hand till I came up. + +"'This won't do, my girl,' said I. I never could be harsh with 'em, +poor things! She laid it back and looked up at me with a miserable +sort of a smile, that made me put my hand in my pocket to fish for a +ninepence before she spoke. + +"'I know it won't,' she says. 'I didn't want to do it, it's so mean, +but I'm awful hungry, sir.' + +"'Better run home and get your supper, then.' + +"'I've got no home.' + +"'Where do you live?' + +"'In the street.' + +"'Where do you sleep?' + +"'Anywhere; last night in the lock-up, and I thought I'd get in there +again, if I did that when you saw me. I like to go there, it's warm +and safe.' + +"'If I don't take you there, what will you do?' + +"'Don't know. I could go over there and dance again as I used to, but +being sick has made me ugly, so they won't have me, and no one else +will take me because I have been there once.' + +"I looked where she pointed, and thanked the Lord that they wouldn't +take her. It was one of those low theatres that do so much damage to +the like of her; there was a gambling place one side of it, an eating +saloon the other. I was new to the work then, but though I'd heard +about hunger and homelessness often enough, I'd never had this sort of +thing, nor seen that look on a girl's face. A white, pinched face hers +was, with frightened, tired-looking eyes, but so innocent! She wasn't +more than sixteen, had been pretty once, I saw, looked sick and +starved now, and seemed just the most helpless, hopeless little thing +that ever was. + +"'You 'd better come to the Station for to-night, and we'll see to you +to-morrow,' says I. + +"'Thank you, sir,' says she, looking as grateful as if I'd asked her +home. I suppose I did speak kind of fatherly. I ain't ashamed to say I +felt so, seeing what a child she was; nor to own that when she put her +little hand in mine, it hurt me to feel how thin and cold it was. We +passed the eating-house where the red lights made her face as rosy as +it ought to have been; there was meat and pies in the window, and the +poor thing stopped to look. It was too much for her; off came her +shawl, and she said in that coaxing way of hers,-- + +"'I wish you'd let me stop at the place close by and sell this; +they'll give a little for it, and I'll get some supper. I've had +nothing since yesterday morning, and maybe cold is easier to bear than +hunger.' + +"'Have you nothing better than that to sell?' I says, not quite sure +that she wasn't all a humbug, like so many of 'em. She seemed to see +that, and looked up at me again with such innocent eyes, I couldn't +doubt her when she said, shivering with something beside the cold,-- + +"'Nothing but myself.' Then the tears came, and she laid her head +clown on my arm, sobbing,--'Keep me! oh, do keep me safe somewhere!'" + +Thorn choked here, steadied his voice with a resolute hem! but could +only add one sentence more,-- + +"That's how I found my wife." + +"Come, don't stop thar. I told the whole o' mine, you do the same. +Whar did you take her? how'd it all come round?" + +"Please tell us, Thorn." + +The gentler request was answered presently, very steadily, very +quietly. + +"I was always a soft-hearted fellow, though you wouldn't think it now, +and when that little girl asked me to keep her safe, I just did it. +I took her to a good woman whom I knew, for I hadn't any women folks +belonging to me, nor any place but that to put her in. She stayed +there till spring working for her keep, growing brighter, prettier, +every day, and fonder of me, I thought. If I believed in witchcraft, I +shouldn't think myself such a fool as I do now, but I don't believe in +it, and to this day I can't understand how I came to do it. To be sure +I was a lonely man, without kith or kin, had never had a sweetheart in +my life, or been much with women since my mother died. Maybe that's +why I was so bewitched with Mary, for she had little ways with her +that took your fancy and made you love her whether you would or no. +I found her father was an honest fellow enough, a fiddler in some +theatre; that he'd taken good care of Mary till he died, leaving +precious little but advice for her to live on. She'd tried to get +work, failed, spent all she had, got sick, and was going to the bad, +as the poor souls can hardly help doing with so many ready to give +them a shove. It's no use trying to make a bad job better; so the long +and short of it was, I thought she loved me; God knows I loved her! +and I married her before the year was out." + +"Show us her picture; I know you've got one; all the fellows have, +though half of 'em won't own up." + +"I've only got part of one. I once saved my little girl, and her +picture once saved me." + +From an inner pocket Thorn produced a woman's housewife, carefully +untied it, though all its implements were missing but a little +thimble, and from one of its compartments took a flattened bullet and +the remnants of a picture. + +"I gave her that the first Christmas after I found her. She wasn't as +tidy about her clothes as I liked to see, and I thought if I gave her +a handy thing like this, she'd be willing to sew. But she only made +one shirt for me, and then got tired, so I keep it like an old fool, +as I am. Yes, that's the bit of lead that would have done for me, if +Mary's likeness hadn't been just where it was." + +"You'll like to show her this when you go home, won't you?" said Dick, +as he took up the bullet, while Phil examined the marred picture, and +Thorn poised the little thimble on his big finger, with a sigh. + +"How can I, when I don't know where she is, and camp is all the home +I've got!" + +The words broke from him like a sudden groan, when some old wound is +rudely touched. Both of the young men started, both laid back the +relics they had taken up, and turned their eyes from Thorn's face, +across which swept a look of shame and sorrow, too significant to be +misunderstood. Their silence assured him of their sympathy, and, as if +that touch of friendliness unlocked his heavy heart, he eased it by +a full confession. When he spoke again, it was with the calmness of +repressed emotion, a calmness more touching to his mates than the most +passionate outbreak, the most pathetic lamentation; for the coarse +camp-phrases seemed to drop from his vocabulary; more than once his +softened voice grew tremulous, and to the words "my little girl," +there went a tenderness that proved how dear a place she still +retained in that deep heart of his. + +"Boys, I've gone so far; I may as well finish; and you'll see I'm not +without some cause for my stern looks and ways; you'll pity me, and +from you I'll take the comfort of it. It's only the old story,--I +married her, worked for her, lived for her, and kept my little girl +like a lady. I should have known that I was too old and sober for a +young thing like that, for the life she led before the pinch came +just suited her. She liked to be admired, to dress and dance and make +herself pretty for all the world to see; not to keep house for a quiet +man like me. Idleness wasn't good for her, it bred discontent; then +some of her old friends, who'd left her in her trouble, found her out +when better times came round, and tried to get her back again. I was +away all day, I didn't know how things were going, and she wasn't open +with me, afraid she said; I was so grave, and hated theatres so. She +got courage finally to tell me that she wasn't happy; that she wanted +to dance again, and asked me if she mightn't. I'd rather have had her +ask me to put her in a fire, for I _did_ hate theatres, and was bred +to; others think they're no harm. I do; and knew it was a bad life for +a girl like mine. It pampers vanity, and vanity is the Devil's help +with such; so I said No, kindly at first, sharp and stern when she +kept on teasing. That roused her spirit. 'I will go!' she said, one +day. 'Not while you are my wife,' I answered back; and neither said +any more, but she gave me a look I didn't think she could, and I +resolved to take her away from temptation before worse came of it. + +"I didn't tell her my plan; but I resigned my place, spent a week or +more finding and fixing a little home for her out in the wholesome +country, where she'd be safe from theatres and disreputable friends, +and maybe learn to love me better when she saw how much she was to +me. It was coming summer, and I made things look as home-like and as +pretty as I could. She liked flowers, and I fixed a garden for her; +she was fond of pets, and I got her a bird, a kitten, and a dog to +play with her; she fancied gay colors and tasty little matters, so I +filled her rooms with all the handsome things I could afford, and when +it was done, I was as pleased as any boy, thinking what happy times +we'd have together and how pleased she'd be. Boys, when I went to tell +her and to take her to her little home, she was gone." + +"Who with?" + +"With those cursed friends of her; a party of them left the city just +then; she was wild to go; she had money now, and all her good looks +back again. They teased and tempted her; I wasn't there to keep her, +and she went, leaving a line behind to tell me that she loved the old +life more than the new; that my house was a prison, and she hoped I'd +let her go in peace. That almost killed me; but I managed to bear it, +for I knew most of the fault was mine; but it was awful bitter to +think I hadn't saved her, after all." + +"Oh, Thorn! what did you do?" + +"Went straight after her; found her dancing in Philadelphia, with +paint on her cheeks, trinkets on her neck and arms, looking prettier +than ever; but the innocent eyes were gone, and I couldn't see my +little girl in the bold, handsome woman twirling there before the +footlights. She saw me, looked scared at first, then smiled, and +danced on with her eyes upon me, as if she said,-- + +"'See! I'm happy now; go away and let me be.' + +"I couldn't stand that, and got out somehow. People thought me mad, or +drunk; I didn't care, I only wanted to see her once in quiet and try +to get her home. I couldn't do it then nor afterwards by fair means, +and I wouldn't try force. I wrote to her, promised to forgive her, +begged her to come back, or let me keep her honestly somewhere away +from me. But she never answered, never came, and I have never tried +again." + +"She wasn't worthy of you, Thorn; you jest forgit her." + +"I wish I could! I wish I could!" In his voice quivered an almost +passionate regret, and a great sob heaved his chest, as he turned his +face away to hide the love and longing, still so tender and so strong. + +"Don't say that, Dick; such fidelity should make us charitable for +its own sake. There is always time for penitence, always certainty of +pardon. Take heart, Thorn, you may not wait in vain, and she may yet +return to you." + +"I know she will! I've dreamed of it, I've prayed for it; every battle +I come out of safe makes me surer that I was kept for that, and when +I've borne enough to atone for my part of the fault, I'll be repaid +for all my patience, all my pain, by finding her again. She knows how +well I love her still, and if there comes a time when she is sick and +poor and all alone again, then she'll remember her old John, then +she'll come home and let me take her in." + +Hope shone in Thorn's melancholy eyes, and long-suffering, +all-forgiving love beautified the rough, brown face, as he folded his +arms and bent his gray head on his breast, as if the wanderer were +already come. + +The emotion which Dick scorned to show on his own account was freely +manifested for another, as he sniffed audibly, and, boy-like, drew his +sleeve across his eyes. But Phil, with the delicate perception of a +finer nature, felt that the truest kindness he could show his friend +was to distract his thoughts from himself, to spare him any comments, +and lessen the embarrassment which would surely follow such unwonted +confidence. + +"Now I'll relieve Flint, and he will give you a laugh. Come on, Hiram, +and tell us about your Beulah." + +The gentleman addressed had performed his duty by sitting on a fence +and "righting up" his pockets, to beguile the tedium of his exile. +Before his multitudinous possessions could be restored to their native +sphere, Thorn was himself again, and on his feet. + +"Stay where you are, Phil; I like to tramp, it seems like old times, +and I know you're tired. Just forget all this I've been saying, and go +on as before. Thank you, boys! thank you," and with a grasp of the two +hands extended to him, he strode away along the path already worn by +his own restless feet. + +"It's done him good, and I'm glad of that; but I'd like to see the +little baggage that bewitched the poor old boy, wouldn't you, Phil?" + +"Hush! here's Flint." + +"What's up naow? want me tew address the meetin', hey? I'm willin', +only the laugh's ruther ag'inst me, ef I tell that story; expect +you'll like it all the better fer that." Flint coiled up his long +limbs, put his hands in his pockets, chewed meditatively for a moment, +and then began, with his slowest drawl:-- + +"Waal, sir, it's pretty nigh ten year ago, I was damster daown tew +Oldtaown, clos't to Banggore. My folks lived tew Bethel; there was +only the old man, and Aunt Siloam, keepin' house fer him, seein' as I +was the only chick he hed. I hedn't heared from 'em fer a long spell, +when there come a letter sayin' the old man was breakin' up. He'd said +it every spring fer a number er years, and I didn't mind it no more'n +the breakin' up er the river; not so much, jest then; fer the gret +spring drive was comin' on, and my hands was tew full to quit work all +tew oncet. I sent word I'd be 'long 'fore a gret while, and byme-by I +went. I ought tew hev gone at fust; but they'd sung aout 'Wolf!' so +often I warn't scared; an' sure 'nuff the wolf did come at last. +Father hed been dead and berried a week when I got there, and aunt +was so mad she wouldn't write, nor scurcely speak tew me for a +consider'ble spell. I didn't blame her a mite, and felt jest the wust +kind; so I give in every way, and fetched her raound. Yeou see I bed +a cousin who'd kind er took my place tew hum while I was off, an' +the old man hed left him a good slice er his money, an' me the farm, +hopin' to keep me there. He'd never liked the lumberin' bizness, an' +hankered arfter me a sight, I faound. Waal, seem' haow 'twas, I tried +tew please him, late as it was; but ef there was ennything I did +spleen ag'inst it was farmin', 'specially arfter the smart times I'd +ben hevin', up Oldtaown way. Yeou don't know nothin' abaout it; but ef +yeou want tew see high dewin's, jest hitch onto a timber-drive an' go +it daown along them lakes and rivers, say from Kaumchenungamooth tew +Punnobscot Bay. Guess yeou'd see a thing or tew, an' find livin' on a +log come as handy as ef you was born a turtle. + +"Waal, I stood it one summer; but it was the longest kind of a job. +Come fall I turned contry, darned the farm, and vaowed I'd go back tew +loggin'. Aunt hed got fond er me by that time, and felt dreadful bad +abaout my leavin' on her. Cousin Siah, as we called Josiah, didn't +cotton tew the old woman, though he did tew her cash; but we hitched +along fust-rate. She was 'tached tew the place, hated tew hev it let +or sold, thought I'd go to everlastin' rewin ef I took tew lumberin' +ag'in, an' hevin' a tidy little sum er money all her own, she took +a notion tew buy me off. 'Hiram,' sez she, 'ef yeou'll stay to hum, +merry some smart girl, an' kerry on the farm, I'll leave yeou the hull +er my fortin. Ef yeou don't, I'll leave every cent on't tew Siah, +though he ain't done as waal by me as yeou hev. Come,' sez she, 'I'm +breakin' up like brother; I shan't wurry any one a gret while, and +'fore spring I dessay you'll hev cause tew rejice that yeou done as +Aunt Si counselled yeou.' + +"Now, that idee kinder took me, seem' I hedn't no overpaourin' love +fer cousin; but I brewdid over it a spell 'fore I 'greed. Fin'lly, I +said I'd dew it, as it warn't a hard nor a bad trade; and begun to +look raound fer Mis Flint, Jr. Aunt was dreadf'l pleased; but 'mazin' +pertickler as tew who was goin' tew stan' in her shoes, when she was +fetched up ag'inst the etarnal boom. There was a sight er likely +womenfolks raound taown; but aunt she set her foot daown that Mis +Flint must be smart, pious, an' good-natered; harnsome she didn't say +nothin' abaout, bein' the humliest woman in the State er Maine. I hed +my own calk'lations on that p'int, an' went sparkin' two or three er +the pootiest gals, all that winter. I warn't in no hurry, fer merryin' +is an awful resky bizness; an' I wan't goan to be took in by nobuddy. +Some haouw I couldn't make up my mind which I'd hev, and kept dodgin', +all ready to slew raound, an' hitch on tew ary one that seemed +likeliest. 'Long in March, aunt, she ketched cold, took tew her bed, +got wuss, an' told me tew hurry up, fer nary cent should I hev, ef I +warn't safely merried 'fore she stepped out. I thought that was ruther +craoudin' a feller; but I see she was goan sure, an' I'd got inter a +way er considerin' the cash mine, so that it come hard to hear abaout +givin' on 't up. Off I went that evenin' an' asked Almiry Nash ef +she'd hev me. No, she wouldn't; I'd shilly-shallyed so long, she'd got +tired er waitin' and took tew keepin' company with a doctor daown ter +Banggore, where she'd ben visitin' a spell. I didn't find that as hard +a nub to swaller, as I'd a thought I would, though Almiry was the +richest, pootiest, and good-naterest of the lot. Aunt larfed waal, an' +told me tew try ag'in; so a couple er nights arfter, I spruced up, an' +went over to Car'line Miles's; she was as smart as old cheese, an' +waal off in tew the barg'in. I was just as sure she'd hev me, as I be +that I'm gittin' the rewmatiz a settin' in this ma'sh. But that minx, +Almiry, hed ben and let on abaout her own sarsy way er servin' on +me, an' Car'line jest up an' said she warn't goan to hev annybuddy's +leavin's; so daown I come ag'in. + +"Things was gettin' desper't by that time; fer aunt was failin' rapid, +an' the story hed leaked aout some way, so the hull taown was gigglin' +over it. I thought I'd better quit them parts; but aunt she showed me +her will all done complete, 'sceptin the fust name er the legatee. +'There,' sez she, 'it all depends on yeou, whether that place is took +by Hiram or Josiah. It's easy done, an' so it's goan tew stan till the +last minit.' That riled me consid'able, an' I streaked off tew May +Jane Simlin's. She wan't very waal off, nor extra harnsome, but she +was pious the worst kind, an' dreadf'l clever to them she fancied. +But I was daown on my luck ag'in; fer at the fust word I spoke of +merryin', she showed me the door, an' give me to understan' that she +couldn't think er hevin' a man that warn't a church-member, that +hadn't experienced religion, or even ben struck with conviction, an' +all the rest on't. Ef anny one hed a wanted tew hev seen a walkin' +hornet's nest, they could hev done it cheap that night, as I went hum. +I jest bounced intew the kitchen, chucked my hat intew one corner, +my coat intew 'nother, kicked the cat, cussed the fire, drawed up a +chair, and set scaoulin' like sixty, bein' tew mad fer talkin'. The +young woman that was nussin' aunt,--Bewlah Blish, by name,--was a +cooking grewel on the coals, and 'peared tew understan' the mess I was +in; but she didn't say nothin', only blowed up the fire, fetched me a +mug er cider, an' went raound so kinder quiet, and sympathizing that I +found the wrinkles in my temper gettin' smoothed aout 'mazin' quick; +an' fore long I made a clean breast er the hull thing. Bewlah larfed, +but I didn't mind her doin' on't, for she sez, sez she, real sort o' +cunnin',-- + +"'Poor Hiram! they didn't use yeou waal. Yeou ought to hev tried some +er the poor an' humly girls; they'd a been glad an' grateful fer such +a sweetheart as yeou be.' + +"I was good-natered ag'in by that time, an' I sez, larfin' along with +her, 'Waal, I've got three mittens, but I guess I might's waal hev +'nother, and that will make two pair complete. Say, Bewlah, will yeou +hev me?' + +"'Yes, I will.' sez she. + +"'Reelly?' sez I. + +"'Solemn trew,' sez she. + +"Ef she'd up an' slapped me in the face, I shouldn't hev ben more +throwed aback, fer I never mistrusted she cared two chips for me. I +jest set an' gawped; fer she was 'solemn trew,' I see that with half +an eye, an' it kinder took my breath away. Bewlah drawed the grewel +off the fire, wiped her hands, an' stood lookin' at me a minnet, then +she sez, slow an' quiet, but tremblin' a little, as women hev a way er +doin', when they've consid'able steam aboard,-- + +"'Hiram, other folks think lumberin' has spilt yeou; _I_ don't; they +call you rough an' rewd; _I_ know you've got a real kind heart fer +them as knows haow tew find it. Them girls give yeou up so easy, +'cause they never loved yeou, an' yeou give them up 'cause you only +thought abaout their looks an' money. I'm humly, an' I'm poor; but +I've loved yeou ever sence we went a-nuttin' years ago, an' yeou shook +daown fer me, kerried my bag, and kissed me tew the gate, when all the +others shunned me, 'cause my father drank an' I was shabby dressed, +ugly, an' shy. Yeou asked me in sport, I answered in airnest; but I +don't expect nothin' unless yeou mean as I mean. Like me, Hiram, or +leave me, it won't make no odds in my lovin' of yeou, nor helpin' of +yeou, ef I kin.' + +"'Tain't easy tew say haouw I felt, while she was goin' on that way, +but my idees was tumblin' raound inside er me, as ef half a dozen dams +was broke loose all tew oncet. One think was ruther stiddier 'n the +rest, an' that was that I liked Bewlah more 'n I knew. I begun tew see +what kep' me loafin' tew hum so much, sence aunt was took daown; why I +wan't in no hurry tew git them other gals, an' haow I come tew pocket +my mittens so easy arfter the fust rile was over. Bewlah _was_ humly, +poor in flesh, dreadful freckled, hed red hair, black eyes, an' a gret +mold side of her nose. But I'd got wonted tew her; she knowed my ways, +was a fust rate housekeeper, real good-tempered, and pious without +flingin' on't in yer face. She was a lonely creeter,--her folks bein' +all dead but one sister, who didn't use her waal, an' somehow I kinder +yearned over her, as they say in Scripter. For all I set an' gawped, I +was coming raound fast, though I felt as I used tew, when I was goin' +to shoot the rapids, kinder breathless an' oncertin, whether I'd come +aout right side up or not. Queer, warn't it?" + +"Love, Flint; that was a sure symptom of it." + +"Waal, guess 'twas; anyway I jumped up all of a sudden, ketched Bewlah +raound the neck, give her a hearty kiss, and sung aout, 'I'll dew it +sure's my name's Hi Flint!' The words was scarcely out of my maouth, +'fore daown come Dr. Parr. He' d ben up tew see aunt, an' said she +wouldn't last the night threw, prob'ly. That give me a scare er the +wust kind; an' when I told doctor haow things was, he sez, kinder +jokin',-- + +"'Better git merried right away, then. Parson Dill is tew come an' see +the old lady, an' he'll dew both jobs tew oncet.' + +"'Will yeou, Bewlah?' sez I. + +"'Yes, Hiram, to 'blige yeou,' sez she. + +"With that, I put it fer the license; got it, an' was back in less 'n +half an haour, most tuckered aout with the flurry of the hull concern. +Quick as I'd been, Bewlah hed faound time tew whip on her best gaoun, +fix up her hair, and put a couple er white chrissanthymums intew +her hand'chif pin. Fer the fust time in her life, she looked +harnsome,--leastways _I_ thought so,--with a pretty color in her +cheeks, somethin' brighter'n a larf shinin' in her eyes, and her lips +smilin' an' tremblin', as she come to me an' whispered so's't none er +the rest could hear,-- + +"'Hiram, don't yeou dew it, ef yeou'd ruther not. I've stood it a gret +while alone, an' I guess I can ag'in.' + +"Never yeou mind what I said or done abaout that; but we was merried +ten minutes arfter, 'fore the kitchen fire, with Dr. Parr an' aour +hired man, fer witnesses; an' then we all went up tew aunt. She was +goan fast, but she understood what I told her, hed strength tew fill +up the hole in the will, an' to say, a-kissin' Bewlah, 'Yeou'll be a +good wife, an' naow yeou ain't a poor one.' + +"I couldn't help givin' a peek tew the will, and there I see not Hiram +Flint nor Josiah Flint, but Bewlah Flint, wrote every which way, but +as plain as the nose on yer face. 'It won't make no odds, dear,' +whispered my wife, peekin' over my shoulder. 'Guess it won't!' sez I, +aout laoud; 'I'm glad on't, and it ain't a cent more'n yeou derserve.' + +"That pleased aunt. 'Riz me, Hiram,' sez she; an' when I'd got her +easy, she put her old arms raound my neck, an' tried to say, 'God +bless you, dear--,' but died a doin' of it; an' I ain't ashamed +tew say I boohooed real hearty, when I laid her daown, fer she was +dreadf'l good tew me, an' I don't forgit her in a hurry." + +"How's Bewlah?" asked Dick, after the little tribute of respect all +paid to Aunt Siloam's memory, by a momentary silence. + +"Fust-rate! that harum-scarum venter er mine was the best I ever made. +She's done waal by me, hes Bewlah; ben a grand good housekeeper, kin +kerry on the farm better 'n me, any time, an' is as dutif'l an' lovin' +a wife as,--waal, as annything that _is_ extra dutif'l and lovin'." + +"Got any boys to brag of?" + +"We don't think much o' boys daown aour way; they're 'mazin' resky +stock to fetch up,--alluz breakin' baounds, gittin' intew the paound, +and wurryin' your life aout somehaow 'nother. Gals naow doos waal; +I've got six o' the likeliest the is goin', every one on 'em is the +very moral of Bewlah,--red hair, black eyes, quiet ways, an' a mold +'side the nose. Baby's ain't growed yet; but I expect tew see it in a +consid'able state o' forrardness, when I git hum, an' wouldn't miss it +fer the world." + +The droll expression of Flint's face, and the satisfied twang of his +last words, were irresistible. Dick and Phil went off into a shout of +laughter; and even Thorn's grave lips relapsed into a smile at the +vision of six little Flints with their six little moles. As if the +act were an established ceremony, the "paternal head" produced his +pocket-book, selected a worn black-and-white paper, which he spread in +his broad palm, and displayed with the air of a connoisseur. + +"There, thet's Bewlah! we call it a cuttin'; but the proper name's a +silly-hoot, I b'leeve. I've got a harnsome big degarrytype tew hum, +but the heft on't makes it bad tew kerry raound, so I took this. I +don't tote it abaout inside my shirt, as some dew,--it ain't my way; +but I keep it in my wallet long with my other valleu'bles, and guess I +set as much store by it as ef it was all painted up, and done off to +kill." + +The "silly-hoot" was examined with interest, and carefully stowed away +again in the old brown wallet, which was settled in its place with a +satisfied slap; then Flint said briskly,-- + +"Naouw, Phil, yeou close this interestin' and instructive meeting; and +be spry, fer time's most up." + +"I haven't much to tell, but must begin with a confession which I have +often longed but never dared to make before, because I am a coward." + +"Sho! who's goan to b'leeve that o' a man who fit like a wild-cat, wuz +offered permotion on the field, and reported tew headquarters arfter +his fust scrimmage. Try ag'in, Phil." + +"Physical courage is as plentiful as brass buttons, nowadays, but +moral courage is a rarer virtue; and I'm lacking in it, as I'll prove. +You think me a Virginian; I'm an Alabamian by birth, and was a Rebel +three months ago." + +This confession startled his hearers, as he knew it would, for he +had kept his secret well. Thorn laid his hand involuntarily upon his +rifle, Dick drew off a little, and Flint illustrated one of his own +expressions, for he "gawped." Phil laughed that musical laugh of his, +and looked up at them with his dark face waking into sudden life, as +he went on:-- + +"There's no treason in the camp, for I'm as fierce a Federalist as any +of you now, and you may thank a woman for it. When Lee made his raid +into Pennsylvania, I was a lieutenant in the--well, never mind what +regiment, it hasn't signalized itself since, and I'd rather not hit my +old neighbors when they are down. In one of the skirmishes during our +retreat, I got a wound and was left for dead. A kind old Quaker found +and took me home; but though I was too weak to talk, I had my senses +by that time, and knew what went on about me. Everything was in +confusion, even in that well-ordered place: no surgeon could be got at +first, and a flock of frightened women thee'd and thou'd one another +over me, but hadn't wit enough to see that I was bleeding to death. +Among the faces that danced before my dizzy eyes was one that seemed +familiar, probably because no cap surrounded it. I was glad to have +it bending over me, to hear a steady voice say, 'Give me a bandage, +quick!' and when none was instantly forthcoming to me, the young lady +stripped up a little white apron she wore, and stanched the wound in +my shoulder. I was not as badly hurt as I supposed, but so worn-out, +and faint from loss of blood, they believed me to be dying, and so did +I, when the old man took off his hat and said,-- + +"Friend, if thee has anything to say, thee had better say it, for thee +probably has not long to live.' + +"I thought of my little sister, far away in Alabama, fancied she came +to me, and muttered, 'Amy, kiss me good-by.' The women sobbed at that; +but the girl bent her sweet compassionate face to mine, and kissed me +on the forehead. That was my wife." + +"So you seceded from Secession right away, to pay for that +lip-service, hey?" + +"No, Thorn, not right away,--to my shame be it spoken. I'll tell +you how it came about. Margaret was not old Bent's daughter, but a +Massachusetts girl on a visit, and a long one it proved, for she +couldn't go till things were quieter. While she waited, she helped +take care of me; for the good souls petted me like a baby when they +found that a Rebel could be a gentleman. I held my tongue, and behaved +my best to prove my gratitude, you know. Of course, I loved Margaret +very soon. How could I help it? She was the sweetest woman I had ever +seen, tender, frank, and spirited; all I had ever dreamed of and +longed for. I did not speak of this, nor hope for a return, because I +knew she was a hearty Unionist, and thought she only tended me from +pity. But suddenly she decided to go home, and when I ventured to wish +she would stay longer, she would not listen, and said, 'I must not +stay; I should have gone before.' + +"The words were nothing, but as she uttered them the color came up +beautifully over all her face, and her eyes filled as they looked away +from mine. Then I knew that she loved me, and my secret broke out +against my will. Margaret was forced to listen, for I would not let +her go, but she seemed to harden herself against me, growing colder, +stiller, statelier, as I went on, and when I said in my desperate +way,-- + +"'You should love me, for we are bid to love our enemies,' she flashed +an indignant look at me and said,-- + +"'I will not love what I cannot respect! Come to me a loyal man, and +see what answer I shall give you.' + +"Then she went away. It was the wisest thing she could have done, +for absence did more to change me than an ocean of tears, a year +of exhortations. Lying there, I missed her every hour of the day, +recalled every gentle act, kind word, and fair example she had given +me. I contrasted my own belief with hers, and found a new significance +in the words honesty and honor, and, remembering her fidelity to +principle, was ashamed of my own treason to God and to herself. +Education, prejudice, and interest, are difficult things to overcome, +and that was the hottest fight I ever passed through, for as I tell +you, I was a coward. But love and loyalty won the day, and, asking no +quarter, the Rebel surrendered." + +"Phil Beaufort, you're a brick!" cried Dick, with a sounding slap on +his comrade's shoulder. + +"A brand snatched from the burnin'. Hallelujah!" chanted Flint, +seesawing with excitement. + +"Then you went to find your wife? How? Where?" asked Thorn, forgetting +vigilance in interest. + +"Friend Bent hated war so heartily that he would have nothing to do +with paroles, exchanges, or any martial process whatever, but bade me +go when and where I liked, remembering to do by others as I had been +done by. Before I was well enough to go, however, I managed, by means +of Copperhead influence and returned prisoners, to send a letter to my +father and receive an answer. You can imagine what both contained; and +so I found myself penniless, but not poor, an outcast, but not alone. +Old Bent treated me like a prodigal son, and put money in my purse; +his pretty daughters loved me for Margaret's sake, and gave me a +patriotic salute all round when I left them, the humblest, happiest +man in Pennsylvania. Margaret once said to me that this was the time +for deeds, not words; that no man should stand idle, but serve the +good cause with head, heart, and hand, no matter in what rank; for +in her eyes a private fighting for liberty was nobler than a dozen +generals defending slavery. I remembered that, and, not having +influential friends to get me a commission, enlisted in one of her own +Massachusetts regiments, knowing that no act of mine would prove my +sincerity like that. You should have seen her face when I walked in +upon her, as she sat alone, busied with the army work, as I'd so often +seen her sitting by my bed; it showed me all she had been suffering +in silence, all I should have lost had I chosen darkness instead of +light. She hoped and feared so much she could not speak, neither could +I, but dropped my cloak, and showed her that, through love of her, I +had become a soldier of the Union. How I love the coarse blue uniform! +for when she saw it, she came to me without a word and kept her +promise in a month." + +"Thunder! what a harnsome woman!" exclaimed Flint, as Phil, opening +the golden case that held his talisman, showed them the beautiful, +beloved face of which he spoke. + +"Yes! and a right noble woman too. I don't deserve her, but I will. We +parted on our wedding-day, for orders to be _off_ came suddenly, and +she would not let me go until I had given her my name to keep. We were +married in the morning, and at noon I had to go. Other women wept as +we marched through the city, but my brave Margaret kept her tears till +we were gone, smiling and waving her hand to me,--the hand that wore +the wedding-ring,--till I was out of sight. That image of her is +before me day and night, and day and night her last words are ringing +in my ears,-- + +"'I give you freely, do your best. Better a true man's widow than a +traitor's wife.' + +"Boys, I've only stood on the right side for a month; I've only fought +one battle, earned one honor; but I believe these poor achievements +are an earnest of the long atonement I desire to make for +five-and-twenty years of blind transgression. You say I fight well. +Have I not cause to dare much?--for in owning many slaves, I too +became a slave; in helping to make many freemen, I liberate myself. +You wonder why I refused promotion. Have I any right to it yet? Are +there not men who never sinned as I have done, and beside whose +sacrifices mine look pitifully small? You tell me I have no ambition. +I have the highest, for I desire to become God's noblest work,--an +honest man,--living, to make Margaret happy in a love that every hour +grows worthier of her own,--dying to make death proud to take me." + +Phil had risen while he spoke, as if the enthusiasm of his mood lifted +him into the truer manhood he aspired to attain. Straight and strong +he stood up in the moonlight, his voice deepened by unwonted +energy, his eye clear and steadfast, his whole face ennobled by the +regenerating power of this late loyalty to country, wife, and self, +and bright against the dark blue of his jacket shone the pictured +face, the only medal he was proud to wear. + +Ah, brave, brief moment, cancelling years of wrong! Ah, fair and fatal +decoration, serving as a mark for a hidden foe! The sharp crack of a +rifle broke the stillness of the night, and with those hopeful words +upon his lips, the young man sealed his purpose with his life. + + + + +THE BARON'S GLOVES; + +OR, + +AMY'S ROMANCE + +"All is fair in love and war." + + +I + +HOW THEY WERE FOUND + + +"What a long sigh! Are you tired, Amy?" + +"Yes, and disappointed as well. I never would have undertaken this +journey if I had not thought it would be full of novelty, romance, and +charming adventures." + +"Well, we have had several adventures." + +"Bah! losing one's hat in the Rhine, getting left at a dirty little +inn, and having our pockets picked, are not what I call adventures. I +wish there were brigands in Germany--it needs something of that sort +to enliven its stupidity." + +"How can you call Germany stupid when you have a scene like this +before you?" said Helen, with a sigh of pleasure, as she looked from +the balcony which overhangs the Rhine at the hotel of the "Three +Kings" at Coblentz. Ehrenbreitstein towered opposite, the broad river +glittered below, and a midsummer moon lent its enchantment to the +landscape. + +As she spoke, her companion half rose from the low chair where she +lounged, and showed the pretty, piquant face of a young girl. She +seemed in a half melancholy, half petulant mood; and traces of recent +illness were visible in the languor of her movements and the pallor of +her cheeks. + +"Yes, it is lovely; but I want adventures and romance of some sort +to make it quite perfect. I don't care what, if something would only +happen." + +"My dear, you are out of spirits and weary now, to-morrow you'll be +yourself again. Do not be ungrateful to uncle or unjust to yourself. +Something pleasant will happen, I've no doubt. In fact, something +_has_ happened that you may make a little romance out of, perhaps, for +lack of a more thrilling adventure." + +"What do you mean?" and Amy's listless face brightened. + +"Speak low; there are balconies all about us, and we may be +overheard," said Helen, drawing nearer after an upward glance. + +"What is the beginning of a romance?" whispered Amy, eagerly. + +"A pair of gloves. Just now, as I stood here, and you lay with your +eyes shut, these dropped from the balcony overhead. Now amuse yourself +by weaving a romance out of them and their owner." + +Amy seized them, and stepping inside the window, examined them by the +candle. + +"A gentleman's gloves, scented with violets! Here's a little hole +fretted by a ring on the third finger. Bless me! here are the +initials, 'S.P.,' stamped on the inside, with a coat of arms below. +What a fop to get up his gloves in this style! They are exquisite, +though. Such a delicate color, so little soiled, and so prettily +ornamented! Handsome hands wore these. I'd like to see the man." + +Helen laughed at the girl's interest, and was satisfied if any trifle +amused her _ennui_. + +"I will send them back by the _kellner_, and in that way we may +discover their owner," she said. + +But Amy arrested her on the way to the door. + +"I've a better plan; these waiters are so stupid you'll get nothing +out of them. Here's the hotel book sent up for our names; let us look +among the day's arrivals and see who 'S.P.' is. He came to-day, I'm +sure, for the man said the rooms above were just taken, so we could +not have them." + +Opening the big book, Amy was soon intently poring over the long list +of names, written in many hands and many languages. + +"I've got it! Here he is--oh, Nell, he's a baron! Isn't that charming? +'Sigismund von Palsdorf, Dresden.' We _must_ see him, for I know he's +handsome, if he wears such distracting gloves." + +"You'd better take them up yourself, then." + +"You know I can't do that; but I shall ask the man a few questions, +just to get an idea what sort of person the baron is. Then I shall +change my mind and go down to dinner; shall look well about me, and if +the baron is agreeable I shall make uncle return the gloves. He will +thank us, and I can say I've known a real baron. That will be so nice +when we go home. Now, don't be duennaish and say I'm silly, but let me +do as I like, and come and dress." + +Helen submitted, and when the gong pealed through the house, Major +Erskine marched into the great _salle à manger_, with a comely niece +on each arm. The long tables were crowded, and they had to run the +gauntlet of many eyes as they made their way to the head of the upper +table. Before she touched her soup, Amy glanced down the line of +faces opposite, and finding none that answered the slight description +elicited from the waiter, she leaned a little forward to examine those +on her own side of the table. Some way down sat several gentlemen, and +as she bent to observe them, one did the same, and she received an +admiring glance from a pair of fine black eyes. Somewhat abashed, she +busied herself with her soup: but the fancy had taken possession of +her, and presently she whispered to Helen,-- + +"Do you see any signs of the baron?" + +"On my left; look at the hands." + +Amy looked and saw a white, shapely hand with an antique ring on the +third finger. Its owner's face was averted, but as he conversed with +animation, the hand was in full play, now emphasizing an opinion, now +lifting a glass, or more frequently pulling at a blond beard which +adorned the face of the unknown. Amy shook her head decidedly. + +"I hate light men, and don't think that is the baron, for the gloves +are a size too small for those hands. Lean back and look some four or +five seats lower down on the right. See what sort of person the dark +man with the fine eyes is." + +Helen obeyed, but almost instantly bent to her plate again, smiling in +spite of herself. + +"That is an Englishman; he stares rudely, says 'By Jove!' and wears no +jewelry or beard." + +"Now, I'm disappointed. Well, keep on the watch, and tell me if you +make any discoveries, for I _will_ find the baron." + +Being hungry, Amy devoted herself to her dinner, till dessert was on +the table. She was languidly eating grapes, while Helen talked with +the major, when the word "baron" caught her ear. The speakers sat at a +table behind her, so that she could not see them without turning quite +round, which was impossible; but she listened eagerly to the following +scrap of chat:-- + +"Is the baron going on to-morrow?" asked a gay voice in French. + +"Yes, he is bound for Baden-Baden. The season is at its height, and he +must make his game while the ball is rolling, or it is all up with the +open-handed Sigismund," answered a rough voice. + +"Won't his father pardon the last escapade?" asked a third, with a +laugh. + +"No, and he is right. The duel was a bad affair, for the man almost +died, and the baron barely managed to get out of the scrape through +court influence. When is the wedding to be?" + +"Never, Palsdorf says. There is everything but love in the bargain, +and he swears he'll not agree to it. I like that." + +"There is much nobleness in him, spite of his vagaries. He will sow +his wild oats and make a grand man in time. By the by, if we are going +to the fortress, we must be off. Give Sigismund the word; he is dining +at the other table with Power," said the gay voice. + +"Take a look at the pretty English girl as you go by; it will do your +eyes good, after the fat Frauleins we have seen of late," added the +rough one. + +Three gentlemen rose, and as they passed Amy stole a glance at them; +but seeing several pairs of eyes fixed on herself, she turned away +blushing, with the not unpleasant consciousness that "the pretty +English girl" was herself. Longing to see which Sigismund was, she +ventured to look after the young men, who paused behind the man with +the blond beard, and also touched the dark-eyed gentleman on the +shoulder. All five went down the hall and stood talking near the door. + +"Uncle, I wish to go," said Amy, whose will was law to the amiable +major. Up he rose, and Amy added, as she took his arm, "I'm seized +with a longing to go to Baden-Baden and see a little gambling. You are +not a wild young man, so you can be trusted there." + +"I hope so. Now you are a sensible little woman, and we'll do our best +to have a gay time. Wait an instant till I get my hat." + +While the major searched for the missing article the girls went on, +and coming to the door, Amy tried to open it. The unwieldy foreign +lock resisted her efforts, and she was just giving it an impatient +little shake, when a voice said behind her,-- + +"Permit me, mademoiselle;" at the same moment a handsome hand turned +the latch, the flash of a diamond shone before her, and the door +opened. + +"_Merci, monsieur_," she murmured, turning as she went out; but Helen +was close behind her, and no one else to be seen except the massive +major in the rear. + +"Did you see the baron?" she whispered eagerly, as they went +up-stairs. + +"No; where was he?" + +"He opened the door for me. I knew him by his hand and ring. He was +close to you." + +"I did not observe him, being busy gathering up my dress. I thought +the person was a waiter, and never looked at him," said Helen, with +provoking indifference. + +"How unfortunate! Uncle, you are going to see the fortress; we don't +care for it; but I want you to take these gloves and inquire for Baron +Sigismund Palsdorf. He will be there with a party of gentlemen. You +can easily manage it, men are so free and easy. Mind what he is like, +and come home in time to tell me all about it." + +Away went the major, and the cousins sat on the balcony enjoying the +lovely night, admiring the picturesque scene, and indulging in +the flights of fancy all girls love, for Helen, in spite of her +three-and-twenty years, was as romantic as Amy at eighteen. It was +past eleven when the major came, and the only greeting he received was +the breathless question,-- + +"Did you find him?" + +"I found something much better than any baron, a courier. I've wanted +one ever since we started; for two young ladies and their baggage are +more than one man can do his duty by, Karl Hoffman had such excellent +testimonials from persons I know, that I did not hesitate to engage +him, and he comes to-morrow; so henceforth I've nothing to do but +devote myself to you." + +"How very provoking! Did you bring the gloves back?" asked Amy, still +absorbed in the baron. + +The major tossed them to her, and indulged in a hearty laugh at her +girlish regrets; then bade them good-night, and went away to give +orders for an early start next morning. + +Tired of talking, the girls lay down in the two little white beds +always found in German hotels, and Amy was soon continuing in sleep +the romance she had begun awake. She dreamed that the baron proved to +be the owner of the fine eyes; that he wooed and won her, and they +were floating down the river to the chime of wedding-bells. + +At this rapturous climax she woke to find the air full of music, and +to see Helen standing tall and white in the moonlight that streamed in +at the open window. + +"Hush, hide behind the curtains and listen; it's a serenade," +whispered Helen, as Amy stole to her side. + +Shrouded in the drapery, they leaned and listened till the song ended, +then Amy peeped; a dark group stood below; all were bareheaded, and +now seemed whispering together. Presently a single voice rose, singing +an exquisite little French canzonet, the refrain of which was a +passionate repetition of the word "_Amie_." She thought she recognized +the voice, and the sound of her own name uttered in such ardent tones +made her heart beat and her color rise, for it seemed to signify that +the serenade was for them. As the last melodious murmur ceased, there +came a stifled laugh from below, and something fell into the balcony. +Neither dared stir till the sound of departing feet reassured them; +then creeping forward Amy drew in a lovely bouquet of myrtle, roses, +and great German forget-me-nots, tied with a white ribbon and +addressed in a dashing hand to _La belle Helène_. + +"Upon my life, the romance has begun in earnest," laughed Helen, +as she examined the flowers. "You are serenaded by some unknown +nightingale, and I have flowers tossed up to me in the charming old +style. Of course it is the baron, Amy." + +"I hope so; but whoever it is, they are regular troubadours, and I'm +delighted. I know the gloves will bring us fun of some kind. Do you +take one and I'll take the other, and see who will find the baron +first. Isn't it odd that they knew our names?" + +"Amy, the writing on this card is very like that in the big book. I +may be bewitched by this mid-summer moonlight, but it really is very +like it. Come and see." + +The two charming heads bent over the card, looking all the more +charming for the dishevelled curls and braids that hung about them as +the girls laughed and whispered together in the softly brilliant light +that filled the room. + +"You are right; it is the same. The men who stared so at dinner are +gay students perhaps, and ready for any prank. Don't tell uncle, but +let us see what will come of it. I begin to enjoy myself heartily +now--don't you?" said Amy, laying her glove carefully away. + +"I enjoyed myself before, but I think '_La belle Helène_' gives an +added relish to life, _Amie_," laughed Nell, putting her flowers in +water; and then both went back to their pillows, to dream delightfully +till morning. + + +II + +KARL, THE COURIER + + +"Three days, at least, before we reach Baden. How tiresome it is that +uncle won't go faster!" said Amy, as she tied on her hat next morning, +wondering as she did so if the baron would take the same boat. + +"As adventures have begun, I feel assured that they will continue to +cheer the way; so resign yourself and be ready for anything," replied +Helen, carefully arranging her bouquet in her travelling-basket. + +A tap at the door, which stood half open, made both look up. A tall, +brown, gentlemanly man, in a gray suit, with a leathern bag slung over +his shoulder, stood there, hat in hand, and meeting Helen's eyes, +bowed respectfully, saying in good English, but with a strong German +accent,-- + +"Ladies, the major desired me to tell you the carriage waits." + +"Why, who--" began Amy, staring with her blue eyes full of wonder at +the stranger. + +He bowed again, and said, simply,-- + +"Karl Hoffman, at your service, mademoiselle." + +"The courier--oh, yes! I forgot all about it. Please take these +things." + +Amy began to hand him her miscellaneous collection of bags, books, +shawls and cushions. + +"I'd no idea couriers were such decent creatures," whispered Amy, as +they followed him along the hall. + +"Don't you remember the raptures Mrs. Mortimer used to have over their +Italian courier, and her funny description of him? 'Beautiful to +behold, with a night of hair, eyes full of an infinite tenderness, and +a sumptuous cheek.'" + +Both girls laughed, and Amy averred that Karl's eyes danced with +merriment as he glanced over his shoulder, as the silvery peal sounded +behind him. + +"Hush! he understands English; we must be careful," said Helen, and +neither spoke again till they reached the carriage. + +Everything was ready, and as they drove away, the major, leaning +luxuriously back, exclaimed,-- + +"Now I begin to enjoy travelling, for I'm no longer worried by +the thought of luggage, time-tables, trains, and the everlasting +perplexity of thalers, kreutzers, and pfenniges. This man is a +treasure; everything is done in the best manner, and his knowledge of +matters is really amazing." + +"He's a very gentlemanly-looking person," said Amy, eying a decidedly +aristocratic foot through the front window of the carriage, for Karl +sat up beside the driver. + +"He _is_ a gentleman, my dear. Many of these couriers are well born +and educated, but, being poor, prefer this business to any other, as +it gives them variety, and often pleasant society. I've had a long +talk with Hoffman, and find him an excellent and accomplished fellow. +He has lost his fortune, it seems, through no fault of his own, so +being fond of a roving life, turned courier for a time, and we are +fortunate to have secured him." + +"But one doesn't know how to treat him," said Helen. "I don't like +to address him as a servant, and yet it's not pleasant to order a +gentleman about." + +"Oh, it will be easy enough as we go on together. Just call him +Hoffman, and behave as if you knew nothing about his past. He begged +me not to mention it, but I thought you'd like the romance of the +thing. Only don't either of you run away with him, as Ponsonby's +daughter did with her courier, who wasn't a gentleman, by the way." + +"Not handsome enough," said Amy. "I don't like blue eyes and black +hair. His manners are nice, but he looks like a gipsy, with his brown +face and black beard: doesn't he, Nell?" + +"Not at all. Gipsies haven't that style of face; they are thin, sharp, +and cunning in feature as in nature. Hoffman has large, well-moulded +features, and a mild, manly expression, which gives one confidence in +him." + +"He has a keen, wicked look in his blue eyes, as you will see, Nell. +I mean mischievously, not malignantly wicked. He likes fun, I'm sure, +for he laughed about the 'sumptuous cheek' till his own were red, +though he dared not show it, and was as grave as an owl when we met +uncle," said Amy, smiling at the recollection. + +"We shall go by boat to Biebrich, and then by rail to Heidelberg. We +shall get in late to-morrow night, but can rest a day, and then on to +Baden. Here we are; now make yourselves easy, as I do, and let Karl +take care of everything." + +And putting his hands in his pockets, the major strolled about the +boat, while the courier made matters comfortable for the day. So +easily and well did he do his duty, that both girls enjoyed watching +him after he had established them on the shady side of the boat, with +camp-stools for their feet, cushions to lean on, books and bags laid +commodiously at hand. + +As they sailed up the lovely Rhine they grew more and more +enthusiastic in their admiration and curiosity, and finding the meagre +description of the guide-books very unsatisfactory, Amy begged her +uncle to tell her all the legends of picturesque ruin, rock and river, +as they passed. + +"Bless me, child, I know nothing; but here's Hoffman, a German born, +who will tell you everything, I dare say. Karl, what's that old castle +up there? The young ladies want to know about it." + +Leaning on the railing, Hoffman told the story so well that he was +kept explaining and describing for an hour, and when he went away to +order lunch, Amy declared it was as pleasant as reading fairy tales to +listen to his dramatic histories and legends. + +At lunch the major was charmed to find his favorite wines and dishes +without any need of consulting dictionary or phrase-book beforehand, +or losing his temper in vain attempts to make himself understood. + +On reaching Biebrich, tired and hungry, at nightfall, everything was +ready for them, and all went to bed praising Karl, the courier, though +Amy, with unusual prudence, added,-- + +"He is a new broom now; let us wait a little before we judge." + +All went well next day till nightfall, when a most untoward accident +occurred, and Helen's adventures began in earnest. The three occupied +a _coupé_, and being weary with long sitting, Helen got out at one of +the stations where the train paused for ten minutes. A rosy sunset +tempted her to the end of the platform, and there she found, what +nearly all foreign railway stations possess, a charming little garden. + +Amy was very tired, rather cross, and passionately fond of flowers, so +when an old woman offered to pull a nosegay for "the gracious lady," +Helen gladly waited for it, hoping to please the invalid. Twice the +whistle warned her, and at last she ran back, but only in time to see +the train move away, with her uncle gesticulating wildly to the guard, +who shook his stupid German head, and refused to see the dismayed +young lady imploring him to wait for her. + +Just as the train was vanishing from the station, a man leaped from +a second-class carriage at the risk of his neck, and hurried back to +find Helen looking pale and bewildered, as well she might, left alone +and moneyless at night in a strange town. + +"Mademoiselle, it is I; rest easy; we can soon go on; a train passes +in two hours, and we can telegraph to Heidelberg that they may not +fear for you." + +"Oh, Hoffman, how kind of you to stop for me! What should I have done +without you, for uncle takes care of all the money, and I have only my +watch." + +Helen's usual self-possession rather failed her in the flurry of the +moment, and she caught Karl's arm with a feminine little gesture of +confidence very pleasant to see. Leading her to the waiting-room, he +ordered supper, and put her into the care of the woman of the place, +while he went to make inquiries and dispatch the telegram. In half an +hour he returned, finding Helen refreshed and cheerful, though a trace +of anxiety was still visible in her watchful eyes. + +"All goes excellently, mademoiselle. I have sent word to several posts +along the road that we are coming by the night train, so that Monsieur +le Major will rest tranquil till we meet. It is best that I give you +some money, lest such a mishap should again occur; it is not likely so +soon; nevertheless, here is both gold and silver. With this, one can +make one's way everywhere. Now, if mademoiselle will permit me to +advise, she will rest for an hour, as we must travel till dawn. I will +keep guard without and watch for the train." + +He left her, and having made herself comfortable on one of the sofas, +she lay watching the tall shadow pass and repass door and window, as +Karl marched up and down the platform, with the tireless tramp of a +sentinel on duty. A pleasant sense of security stole over her, and +with a smile at Amy's enjoyment of the adventure when it was over, +Helen fell asleep. + +A far-off shriek half woke her, and starting up, she turned to meet +the courier coming in to wake her. Up thundered the train, every +carriage apparently full of sleepy passengers, and the guard in a +state of sullen wrath at some delay, the consequences of which would +fall heaviest on him. + +From carriage to carriage hurried Karl and his charge, to be met with +everywhere by the cry, "All full," in many languages, and with every +aspect of inhospitality. One carriage only showed two places; the +other seats were occupied by six students, who gallantly invited the +lady to enter. But Helen shrunk back, saying,-- + +"Is there no other place?" + +"None, mademoiselle; this, or remain till morning," said Karl. + +"Where will you go if I take this place?" + +"Among the luggage,--anywhere; it is nothing. But we must decide at +once." + +"Come with me; I'm afraid to be locked in here alone," said Helen, +desperately. + +"Mademoiselle forgets I am her courier." + +"I do not forget that you are a gentleman. Pray come in; my uncle will +thank you." + +"I will," and with a sudden brightening of the eyes, a grateful +glance, and an air of redoubled respect, Hoffman followed her into the +carriage. + +They were off at once, and the thing was done before Helen had time +to feel anything but the relief which the protection of his presence +afforded her. + +The young gentlemen stared at the veiled lady and her grim escort, +joked under their breath, and looked wistfully at the suppressed +cigars, but behaved with exemplary politeness till sleep overpowered +them, and one after the other dropped off asleep to dream of their +respective Gretchens. + +Helen could not sleep, and for hours sat studying the unconscious +faces before her, the dim landscape flying past the windows, or forgot +herself in reveries. + +Hoffman remained motionless and silent, except when she addressed +him, wakeful also, and assiduous in making the long night as easy as +possible. + +It was past midnight, and Helen's heavy eyelids were beginning to +droop, when suddenly there came an awful crash, a pang of mortal fear, +then utter oblivion. + +As her senses returned she found herself lying in a painful position +under what had been the roof of the car; something heavy weighed +down her lower limbs, and her dizzy brain rung with a wild uproar of +shrieks and groans, eager voices, the crash of wood and iron, and the +shrill whistle of the engine, as it rushed away for help. + +Through the darkness she heard the pant as of some one struggling +desperately, then a cry close by her, followed by a strong voice +exclaiming, in an agony of suspense,-- + +"My God, will no one come!" + +"Hoffman, are you there?" cried Helen, groping in the gloom, with a +thrill of joy at the sound of a familiar voice. + +"Thank heaven, you are safe. Lie still. I will save you. Help is +coming. Have no fear!" panted the voice, with an undertone of fervent +gratitude in its breathless accents. + +"What has happened? Where are the rest?" + +"We have been thrown down an embankment. The lads are gone for help. +God only knows what harm is done." + +Karl's voice died in a stifled groan, and Helen cried out in alarm,-- + +"Where are you? You are hurt?" + +"Not much. I keep the ruins from falling in to crush us. Be quiet, +they are coming." + +A shout answered the faint halloo he gave as if to guide them to the +spot, and a moment after, five of the students were swarming about the +wreck, intent on saving the three whose lives were still in danger. + +A lamp torn from some demolished carriage was held through an opening, +and Helen saw a sight that made her blood chill in her veins. Across +her feet, crushed and bleeding, lay the youngest of the students, and +kneeling close beside him was Hoffman, supporting by main strength a +mass of timber, which otherwise would fall and crush them all. His +face was ghastly pale, his eyes haggard with pain and suspense, and +great drops stood upon his forehead. But as she looked, he smiled with +a cheery.-- + +"Bear up, dear lady, we shall soon be out of danger. Now, lads, work +with a will; my strength is going fast." + +They did work like heroes, and even in her pain and peril, Helen +admired the skill, energy, and courage of the young men, who, an hour +ago, had seemed to have no ideas above pipes and beer. Soon Hoffman +was free, the poor senseless youth lifted out, and then, as tenderly +as if she were a child, they raised and set her down, faint but +unhurt, in a wide meadow, already strewn with sad tokens of the wreck. + +Karl was taken possession of as well as herself, forced to rest a +moment, drink a cordial draught from some one's flask, and be praised, +embraced, and enthusiastically blessed by the impetuous youths. + +"Where is the boy who was hurt? Bring him to me. I am strong now. +I want to help. I have salts in my pocket, and I can bind up his +wounds," said Helen, soon herself again. + +Karl and Helen soon brought back life and sense to the boy, and never +had human face looked so lovely as did Helen's to the anxious comrades +when she looked up in the moonlight with a joyful smile, and softly +whispered,-- + +"He is alive." + +For an hour terrible confusion reigned, then the panic subsided a +little, and such of the carriages as were whole were made ready to +carry away as many as possible; the rest must wait till a return train +could be sent for them. + +A struggle of course ensued, for every one wished to go on, and fear +made many selfish. The wounded, the women and children, were taken, as +far as possible, and the laden train moved away, leaving many anxious +watchers behind. + +Helen had refused to go, and had given her place to poor Conrad, +thereby overwhelming his brother and comrades with gratitude. Two went +on with the wounded lad; the rest remained, and chivalrously devoted +themselves to Helen as a body-guard. + +The moon shone clearly, the wide field was miles from any hamlet, +and a desolate silence succeeded to the late uproar, as the band of +waiters roamed about, longing for help and dawn. + +"Mademoiselle, you shiver; the dew falls, and it is damp here; we must +have a fire;" and Karl was away to a neighboring hedge, intent on +warming his delicate charge if he felled a forest to do it. + +The students rushed after him, and soon returned in triumph to build +a glorious fire, which drew all forlorn wanderers to its hospitable +circle. A motley assemblage; but mutual danger and discomfort produced +mutual sympathy and good will, and a general atmosphere of friendship +pervaded the party. + +"Where is the brave Hoffman?" asked Wilhelm, the blond student, who, +being in the Werther period of youth, was already madly in love with +Helen, and sat at her feet catching cold in the most romantic manner. + +"Behold me! The little ones cry for hunger, so I ransack the ruins and +bring away my spoils. Eat, Kinder, eat and be patient." + +As he spoke Karl appeared with an odd collection of baskets, bags, and +bottles, and with a fatherly air that won all the mothers, he gave +the children whatever first appeared, making them laugh in spite of +weariness and hunger by the merry speeches which accompanied his +gifts. + +"You too need something. Here is your own basket with the lunch I +ordered you. In a sad state of confusion, but still eatable. See, +it is not bad," and he deftly spread on a napkin before Helen cold +chicken, sandwiches, and fruit. + +His care for the little ones as well as for herself touched her and +her eyes filled, as she remembered that she owed her life to him, and +recalled the sight of his face in the overturned car. + +Her voice trembled a little as she thanked him, and the moonlight +betrayed her wet eyes. He fancied she was worn out with excitement and +fatigue, and anxious to cheer her spirits, he whispered to Wilhelm and +his mates,-- + +"Sing, then, comrades, and while away this tedious night. It is hard +for all to wait so long, and the babies need a lullaby." + +The young men laughed and sang as only German students can sing, +making the night musical with blithe drinking songs, tender love-lays, +battle-hymns, and Volkslieder sweeter than any songs across the water. + +Every heart was cheered and warmed by the magic of the music, the +babies fell asleep, strangers grew friendly, fear changed to courage, +and the most forlorn felt the romance of that bivouac under the summer +sky. + +Dawn was reddening the east when a welcome whistle broke up the camp. +Every one hurried to the railway, but Helen paused to gather a handful +of blue forget-me-nots, saying to Hoffman, who waited with her wraps +on his arm,-- + +"It has been a happy night, in spite of the danger and discomfort. I +shall not soon forget it; and take these as a souvenir." + +He smiled, standing bare-headed in the chilly wind, for his hat was +lost, his coat torn, hair dishevelled, and one hand carelessly bound +up in his handkerchief. Helen saw these marks of the night's labors +and perils for the first time, and as soon as they were seated desired +to see his hand. + +"It is nothing,--a scratch, a mere scratch, I give you my word, +mademoiselle," he began, but Wilhelm unceremoniously removed the +handkerchief, showing a torn and bleeding hand which must have been +exquisitely painful. + +Helen turned pale, and with a reproachful glance skilfully bound it up +again, saying, as she handed a silken scarf to Wilhelm,-- + +"Make of that a sling, please, and put the poor hand in it. Care must +be taken, or harm will come of it." + +Hoffman submitted in bashful silence, as if surprised and touched by +the young lady's interest. She saw that, and added gratefully,-- + +"I do not forget that you saved my life, though you seem to have done +so. My uncle will thank you better than I can." + +"I already have my reward, mademoiselle," he returned, with a +respectful inclination and a look she could neither understand nor +forget. + + +III + +AMY'S ADVENTURE + + +The excitement and suspense of the major and Amy can be imagined when +news of the accident reached them. Their gratitude and relief were +intense when Helen appeared next morning, with the faithful Hoffman +still at his post, though no longer able to disguise the fact that he +was suffering from his wound. + +When the story had been told, Karl was put under the surgeon's care, +and all remained at Heidelberg for several days to rest and recover. + +On the afternoon of the last day the major and young ladies drove off +to the castle for a farewell view. Helen began to sketch the great +stone lion's head above the grand terrace, the major smoked and +chatted with a party of English artists whom he had met, and Amy, +with a little lad for a guide, explored the old castle to her heart's +content. + +The sun set, and twilight began to fall when Helen put up her pencils, +and the major set off to find Amy, who had been appearing and +disappearing in every nook and cranny of the half-ruined castle. + +Nowhere could he find her, and no voice answered when he called. The +other visitors were gone, and the place seemed deserted, except by +themselves and the old man who showed the ruins. + +Becoming alarmed lest the girl had fallen somewhere, or lost her way +among the vaults where the famous Tun lies, the major called out old +Hans with his lantern, and searched high and low. + +Amy's hat, full of flowers and ferns, was found in the Lady's Walk, as +the little terrace is called, but no other trace appeared, and Helen +hurried to and fro in great distress, fearing all manner of dangers. + +Meanwhile Amy, having explored every other part of the castle, went to +take another look at the Tun, the dwarf, and the vaults. + +Now little Anderl, her guide, had a great fear of ghosts, and legions +were said to haunt the ruins after nightfall, so when Amy rambled on +deeper and deeper into the gloom the boy's courage ebbed away with +every step; yet he was ashamed to own his fear, seeing that she had +none. + +Amy wanted to see a certain cell, where a nun was said to have pined +to death because she would not listen to the Margraf's love. The +legend pleased the romantic girl, and forgetful of waning daylight, +gathering damps, and Anderl's reluctant service, she ran on, up steps +and down, delighted with little arched doors, rusty chains on the +walls, glimpses of sky through shattered roofs, and all manner of +mysterious nooks and corners. Coming at last to a narrow cell, with a +stone table, and heavy bolts on the old door, she felt sure this was +poor Elfrida's prison, and called Anderl to come on with his candle, +for the boy had lighted one, for his own comfort rather than hers. Her +call was unanswered, and glancing back, she saw the candle placed on +the ground, but no Anderl. + +"Little coward, he has run away," she said, laughing; and having +satisfied her curiosity, turned to retrace her steps,--no easy task to +one ignorant of the way, for vault after vault opened on both sides, +and no path was discernible. In vain she tried to recall some +landmark, the gloom had deepened and nothing was clear. On she +hurried, but found no opening, and really frightened, stopped at last, +calling the boy in a voice that woke a hundred echoes. But Anderl had +fled home, thinking the lady would find her way back, and preferring +to lose his kreutzers to seeing a ghost. + +Poor Amy's bewilderment and alarm increased with every moment's delay, +and hoping to come out somewhere, she ran on till a misstep jostled +the candle from her hand and extinguished it. + +Left in the dark, her courage deserted her, and she screamed +desperately, like a lost child, and was fast getting into a state of +frantic terror, when the sound of an approaching step reassured her. + +Holding her breath, she heard a quick tread drawing nearer, as if +guided by her cries, and, straining her eyes, she caught the outline +of a man's figure in the gloom. + +A sensation of intense joy rushed over her, and she was about to +spring forward, when she remembered that as she could speak no German +how could she explain her plight to the stranger, if he understood +neither French nor English? + +Fear took possession of her at the thought of meeting some rough +peasant, or some rollicking student, to whom she could make no +intelligible appeal or explanation. + +Crouching close against the wall, she stood mute till the figure was +very near. She was in the shadow of an angle, and the man paused, as +if looking for the person who called for help. + +"Who is lost here?" said a clear voice, in German. + +Amy shrunk closer to the wall, fearing to speak, for the voice was +that of a young man, and a low laugh followed the words, as if the +speaker found the situation amusing. + +"Mortal, ghost or devil, I'll find it," exclaimed the voice, and +stepping forward, a hand groped for and found her. + +"Lottchen, is it thou? Little rogue, thou shalt pay dearly for leading +me such a chase." + +As he spoke he drew the girl toward him, but with a faint cry, a vain +effort to escape, Amy's terror reached its climax, and spent with +fatigue and excitement, she lost consciousness. + +"Who the deuce is it, then? Lottchen never faints on a frolic. Some +poor little girl lost in earnest. I must get her out of this gloomy +place at once, and find her party afterward." + +Lifting the slight figure in his arms, the young man hurried on, and +soon came out through a shattered gateway into the shrubbery which +surrounds the base of the castle. + +Laying her on the grass, he gently chafed her hands, eying the pale, +pretty face meantime with the utmost solicitude. + +At his first glimpse of it he had started, smiled and made a gesture +of pleasure and surprise, then gave himself entirely to the task of +recovering the poor girl whom he had frightened out of her senses. + +Very soon she looked up with dizzy eyes, and clasping her hands +imploringly, cried, in English, like a bewildered child,-- + +"I am lost! Oh, take me to my uncle." + +"I will, the moment you can walk. Upon my soul, I meant to help you +when I followed; but as you did not answer, I fancied it was Lottchen, +the keeper's little girl. Pardon the fright I've caused you, and let +me take you to your friends." + +The true English accent of the words, and the hearty tone of sincerity +in the apology, reassured Amy at once, and, rising, she said, with a +faint smile and a petulant tone,-- + +"I was very silly, but my guide ran away, my candle went out, I lost +the path, and can speak no German; so I was afraid to answer you at +first; and then I lost my wits altogether, for it's rather startling +to be clutched in the dark, sir." + +"Indeed it is. I was very thoughtless, but now let me atone for +it. Where is your uncle, Miss Erskine?" asked the stranger, with +respectful earnestness. + +"You know my name?" cried Amy in her impulsive way. + +"I have that happiness," was the answer, with a smile. + +"But I don't know _you_, sir;" and she peered at him, trying to see +his face in the darkness, for the copse was thick, and twilight had +come on rapidly. + +"Not yet; I live in hope. Shall we go? Your uncle will be uneasy." + +"Where are we?" asked Amy, glad to move on, for the interview was +becoming too personal even for her, and the stranger's manner +fluttered her, though she enjoyed the romance of the adventure +immensely. + +"We are in the park which surrounds the castle. You were near the +entrance to it from the vaults when you fainted." + +"I wish I had kept on a little longer, and not disgraced myself by +such a panic." + +"Nay, that is a cruel wish, for then I should have lost the happiness +of helping you." + +They had been walking side by side, but were forced to pause on +reaching a broken flight of steps, for Amy could not see the way +before her. + +"Let me lead you; it is steep and dark, but better than going a long +way round through the dew," he said, offering his hand. + +"Must we return by these dreadful vaults?" faltered Amy, shrinking +back. + +"It is the shortest and safest route, I assure you." + +"Are you sure you know the way?" + +"Quite sure. I have lived here by the week together. Do you fear to +trust me?" + +"No; but it is so dark, and everything is so strange to me. Can we get +down safely? I see nothing but a black pit." + +And Amy still hesitated, with an odd mixture of fear and coquetry. + +"I brought you up in safety; shall I take you down again?" asked the +stranger, with a smile flickering over his face. + +Amy felt rather than saw it, and assuming an air of dignified +displeasure, motioned him to proceed, which he did for three steps; +then Amy slipped, and gladly caught at the arm extended to save her. + +Without a word he took her hand and led her back through the labyrinth +she had threaded in her bewilderment. A dim light filled the place, +but with unerring steps her guide went on till they emerged into the +courtyard. + +Major Erskine's voice was audible, giving directions to the keeper, +and Helen's figure visible as she groped among the shadows of the +ruined chapel for her cousin. + +"There are my friends. Now I am safe. Come and let them thank you," +cried Amy, in her frank, childlike warmth of manner. + +"I want no thanks--forgive me--adieu," and hastily kissing the little +hand that had lain so confidingly in his, the stranger was gone. + +Amy rushed at once to Helen, and when the lost lamb had been welcomed, +chidden, and exulted over, they drove home, listening to the very +brief account which Amy gave of her adventure. + +"Naughty little gad-about, how could you go and terrify me so, +wandering in vaults with mysterious strangers, like the Countess of +Rudolstadt. You are as wet and dirty as if you had been digging a +well, yet you look as if you liked it," said Helen, as she led Amy +into their room at the hotel. + +"I do," was the decided answer, as the girl pulled a handkerchief off +her head, and began to examine the corners of it. Suddenly she uttered +a cry and flew to the light, exclaiming,-- + +"Nell, Nell, look here! The same letters, 'S.P.,' the same coat of +arms, the same perfume--it was the baron!" + +"What? who? are you out of your mind?" said Helen, examining the +large, fine cambric handkerchief, with its delicately stamped initials +under the stag's head, and three stars on a heart-shaped shield. +"Where did you get it?" she added, as she inhaled the soft odor of +violets shaken from its folds. + +Amy blushed and answered shyly, "I didn't tell you all that happened +before uncle, but now I will. My hat was left behind, and when I +recovered my wits after my fright, I found this tied over my head. Oh, +Nell, it was very charming there in that romantic old park, and going +through the vaults with him, and having my hand kissed at parting. No +one ever did that before, and I like it." + +Amy glanced at her hand as she spoke, and stood staring as if struck +dumb, for there on her forefinger shone a ring she had never seen +before. + +"Look! look! mine is gone, and this in its place! Oh, Nell, what shall +I do?" she said, looking half frightened, half pleased. + +Helen examined the ring and shook her head, for it was far more +valuable than the little pearl one which it replaced. Two tiny +hands of finest gold were linked together about a diamond of great +brilliancy; and on the inside appeared again the initials, "S.P." + +"How did it happen?" she asked, rather sternly. + +"Upon my word, I don't know, unless he put it on while I was stupidly +fainting. Rude man, to take advantage of me so. But, Nell, it is +splendid, and what _shall_ I do about it?" + +"Tell uncle, find out the man and send back his things. It really is +absurd, the manner in which German boys behave;" and Helen frowned, +though she was strongly tempted to laugh at the whole thing. + +"He was neither a German nor a boy, but an English gentleman, I'm +sure," began Amy, rather offended. + +"But 'S.P.' is a baron, you know, unless there are two Richmonds in +the field," broke in Helen. + +"I forgot that; never mind, it deepens the mystery; and after this +performance, I'm prepared for any enormity. It's my fate; I submit." +said Amy, tragically, as she waved her hand to and fro, pleased with +the flash of the ring. + +"Amy, I think on the whole I won't speak to uncle. He is quick to take +offence, especially where we are concerned. He doesn't understand +foreign ways, and may get into trouble. We will manage it quietly +ourselves." + +"How, Nell?" + +"Karl is discreet; we will merely say we found these things and wish +to discover the owner. He may know this 'S.P.' and, having learned his +address, we can send them back. The man will understand; and as we +leave to-morrow, we shall be out of the way before he can play any new +prank." + +"Have in Karl at once, for if I wear this lovely thing long I shall +not be able to let it go at all. How dared the creature take such a +liberty!" and Amy pulled off the ring with an expression of great +scorn. + +"Come into the _salon_ and see what Karl says to the matter. Let me +speak, or you will say too much. One must be prudent before--" + +She was going to say "servants," but checked herself, and substituted +"strangers," remembering gratefully how much she owed this man. + +Hoffman came, looking pale, and with his hand in a sling, but was as +gravely devoted as ever, and listened to Helen's brief story with +serious attention. + +"I will inquire, mademoiselle, and let you know at once. It is easy to +find persons if one has a clue. May I see the handkerchief?" + +Helen showed it. He glanced at the initials, and laid it down with a +slight smile. + +"The coat-of-arms is English, mademoiselle." + +"Are you sure?" + +"Quite so; I understand heraldry." + +"But the initials stand for Sigismund Palsdorf, and we know he is a +German baron," broke in Amy, forgetting prudence in eagerness. + +"If mademoiselle knows the name and title of this gentleman it will +not be hard to find him." + +"We only fancy it is the same because of the initials. I dare say it +is a mistake, and the man is English. Inquire quietly, Hoffman, if +you please, as this ring is of value, and I wish to restore it to its +owner," said Helen, rather sharply. + +"I shall do so, mademoiselle," and with his gentlemanly bow, the +courier left the room. + +"Bless me, what's that?" cried Amy, a moment afterward, as a ringing +laugh echoed through the corridor,--a laugh so full of hearty and +infectious merriment that both girls smiled involuntarily, and Amy +peeped out to see who the blithe personage might be. + +An old gentleman was entering his room near by, and Karl was just +about to descend the stairs. Both looked back at the girlish face +peeping at them, but both were quite grave, and the peal of laughter +remained a mystery, like all the rest of it. + +Late in the evening Hoffman returned to report that a party of young +Englishmen had visited the castle that afternoon, and had left by +the evening train. One of them had been named Samuel Peters, and he, +doubtless, was the owner of the ring. + +A humorous expression lurked in the couriers eye as he made his +report, and heard Amy exclaim, in a tone of disgust and comical +despair,-- + +"Samuel Peters! That spoils all the romance and dims the beauty of the +diamond. To think that a Peters should be the hero to whom I owe my +safety, and a Samuel should leave me this token of regard!" + +"Hush, Amy," whispered Helen. "Thanks, Hoffman; we must wait now for +chance to help us." + + +IV + +A POLISH EXILE + + +"Room for one here, sir," said the guard, as the train stopped at +Carlsruhe next day, on its way from Heidelberg to Baden. + +The major put down his guide-book, Amy opened her eyes, and Helen +removed her shawl from the opposite seat, as a young man, wrapped in +a cloak, with a green shade over his eyes, and a general air of +feebleness, got in and sank back with a sigh of weariness or pain. +Evidently an invalid, for his face was thin and pale, his dark hair +cropped short, and the ungloved hand attenuated and delicate as a +woman's. A sidelong glance from under the deep shade seemed to satisfy +him regarding his neighbors, and drawing his cloak about him with a +slight shiver, he leaned into the corner and seemed to forget that he +was not alone. + +Helen and Amy exchanged glances of compassionate interest, for women +always pity invalids, especially if young, comely and of the opposite +sex. The major took one look, shrugged his shoulders, and returned +to his book. Presently a hollow cough gave Helen a pretext for +discovering the nationality of the newcomer. + +"Do the open windows inconvenience you, sir?" she asked, in English. + +No answer; the question evidently unintelligible. + +She repeated it in French, lightly touching his cloak to arrest his +attention. + +Instantly a smile broke over the handsome mouth, and in the purest +French he assured her that the fresh air was most agreeable, and +begged pardon for annoying them with his troublesome cough. + +"Not an invalid, I hope, sir?" said the major, in his bluff yet kindly +voice. + +"They tell me I can have no other fate; that my malady is fatal; but I +still hope and fight for my life; it is all I have to give my country +now." + +A stifled sigh and a sad emphasis on the last word roused the sympathy +of the girls, the interest of the major. + +He took another survey, and said, with a tone of satisfaction, as +he marked the martial carriage of the young man, and caught a fiery +glance of the half-hidden eyes,-- + +"You are a soldier, sir?" + +"I was; I am nothing now but an exile, for Poland is in chains." + +The words "Poland" and "exile" brought up all the pathetic stories of +that unhappy country which the three listeners had ever heard, and won +their interest at once. + +"You were in the late revolution, perhaps?" asked the major, giving +the unhappy outbreak the most respectful name he could use. + +"From beginning to end." + +"Oh, tell us about it; we felt much sympathy for you, and longed to +have you win," cried Amy, with such genuine interest and pity in her +tone, it was impossible to resist. + +Pressing both hands upon his breast, the young man bent low, with a +flush of feeling on his pale cheek, and answered eagerly,-- + +"Ah, you are kind; it is balm to my sore heart to hear words like +these. I thank you, and tell you what you will. It is but little that +I do, yet I give my life, and die a long death, instead of a quick, +brave one with my comrades." + +"You are young to have borne a part in a revolution, sir," said the +major, who pricked up his ears like an old war-horse at the sound of +battle. + +"My friends and myself left the University at Varsovie, as volunteers; +we did our part, and now all lie in their graves but three." + +"You were wounded, it seems?" + +"Many times. Exposure, privation, and sorrow will finish what the +Russian bullets began. But it is well. I have no wish to see my +country enslaved, and I can no longer help her." + +"Let us hope that a happier future waits for you both. Poland loves +liberty too well, and has suffered too much for it, to be kept long in +captivity." + +Helen spoke warmly, and the young man listened with a brightening +face. + +"It is a kind prophecy; I accept it, and take courage. God knows I +need it," he added, low to himself. + +"Are you bound for Italy?" said the major, in a most un-English fit of +curiosity. + +"For Geneva first, Italy later, unless Montreaux is mild enough for me +to winter in. I go to satisfy my friends, but doubt if it avails." + +"Where is Montreaux?" asked Amy. + +"Near Clarens, where Rousseau wrote his Heloise, and Vevay, where +so many English go to enjoy Chillon. The climate is divine for +unfortunates like myself, and life more cheap there than in Italy." + +Here the train stopped again, and Hoffman came to ask if the ladies +desired anything. + +At the sound of his voice the young Pole started, looked up, and +exclaimed, with the vivacity of a foreigner, in German,-- + +"By my life, it is Karl! Behold me, old friend, and satisfy me that it +is thyself by a handshake." + +"Casimer! What wind blows thee hither, my boy, in such sad plight?" +replied Hoffman, grasping the slender hand outstretched to him. + +"I fly from an enemy for the first time in my life, and, like all +cowards, shall be conquered in the end. I wrote thee I was better, but +the wound in the breast reopened, and nothing but a miracle will save +me. I go to Switzerland; and thou?" + +"Where my master commands. I serve this gentleman, now." + +"Hard changes for both, but with health thou art king of +circumstances, while I?--Ah well, the good God knows best. Karl, go +thou and buy me two of those pretty baskets of grapes; I will please +myself by giving them to these pitying angels. Speak they German?" + +"One, the elder; but they understand not this rattle of ours." + +Karl disappeared, and Helen, who _had_ understood the rapid dialogue, +tried to seem as unconscious as Amy. + +"Say a friendly word to me at times; I am so homesick and +faint-hearted, my Hoffman. Thanks; they are almost worthy the lips +that shall taste them." + +Taking the two little osier baskets, laden with yellow and purple +clusters, Casimer offered them, with a charming mixture of timidity +and grace, to the girls, saying, like a grateful boy,-- + +"You give me kind words and good hopes; permit that I thank you in +this poor way." + +"I drink success to Poland." cried Helen, lifting a great, juicy grape +to her lips, like a little purple goblet, hoping to hide her confusion +under a playful air. + +The grapes went round, and healths were drunk with much merriment, +for in travelling on the Continent it is impossible for the gruffest, +primmest person to long resist the frank courtesy and vivacious chat +of foreigners. + +The major was unusually social and inquisitive, and while the soldiers +fought their battles over again the girls listened and took notes, +with feminine wits on the alert to catch any personal revelations +which might fall from the interesting stranger. The wrongs and +sufferings of Poland were discussed so eloquently that both young +ladies were moved to declare the most undying hatred of Russia, +Prussia, and Austria, the most intense sympathy for "poor Pologne." +All day they travelled together, and as Baden-Baden approached, they +naturally fell to talking of the gay place. + +"Uncle, I must try my fortune once. I've set my heart upon it, and +so has Nell. We want to know how gamblers feel, and to taste the +fascination of the game which draws people here from all parts of +Europe," said Amy, in her half-pleading, half-imperious way. + +"You may risk one napoleon each, as I foolishly promised you should, +when I little thought you would ever have an opportunity to remind me +of my promise. It's not an amusement for respectable Englishwomen, or +men either. You will agree with me there, monsieur?" and the major +glanced at the Pole, who replied, with his peculiar smile:-- + +"Surely, yes. It is great folly and waste of time and money; yet I +have known one man who found some good in it, or, rather, brought good +out of it. I have a friend who has a mania for giving. His own fortune +was spent in helping needy students at the University, and poor +professors. This displeased his father, and he refused supplies, +except enough for his simple personal wants. Sigismund chafed at this, +and being skilful at all games, as a gentleman may be in the way of +amusement, he resolved to play with those whose money was wasted on +frivolities, and give his winnings to his band of paupers." + +"How did it succeed, this odd fancy?" asked Helen, with an interested +face, while Amy pinched her arm at the word "Sigismund." + +"Excellently. My friend won often, and as his purpose became known it +caused no unkind feeling, this unusual success, for fortune seemed to +favor his kind object." + +"Wrong, nevertheless, to do evil that good may come of it," said the +major, morally. + +"It may be so: but it is not for me to censure my benefactor. He has +done much for my countrymen and myself, and is so truly noble I can +see no fault in him." + +"What an odd name! Sigismund is German, is it not?" asked Amy, in the +most artless tone of interest. + +"Yes, mademoiselle, and Palsdorf is a true German; much courage, +strength and intellect, with the gayety and simplicity of a boy. He +hates slavery of all kinds, and will be free at all costs. He is a +good son, but his father is tyrannical, and asks too much. Sigismund +will not submit to sell himself, and so is in disgrace for a time." + +"Palsdorf!--was not that the name of the count or baron we heard them +talking of at Coblentz?" said Helen to Amy, with a well-feigned air of +uncertainty. + +"Yes; I heard something of a duel and a broken betrothal, I think. The +people seemed to consider the baron a wild young man, so it could not +have been your friend, sir," was Amy's demure reply, glancing at Helen +with mirthful eyes, as if to say, "How our baron haunts us!" + +"It is the same, doubtless. Many consider him wild, because he is +original, and dares act for himself. As it is well known, I may tell +you the truth of the duel and the betrothal, if you care to hear a +little romance." + +Casimer looked eager to defend his friend, and as the girls were +longing to hear the romance, permission was given. + +"In Germany, you know, the young people are often betrothed in +childhood by the parents, and sometimes never meet till they are +grown. Usually all goes well; but not always, for love cannot come at +command. Sigismund was plighted, when a boy of fifteen, to his +young cousin, and then sent away to the University till of age. On +returning, he was to travel a year or two, and then marry. He gladly +went away, and with increasing disquiet saw the time draw near when he +must keep his troth-plight." + +"Hum! loved some one else. Very unfortunate to be sure," said the +major with a sigh. + +"Not so; he only loved his liberty, and pretty Minna was less dear +than a life of perfect freedom. He went back at the appointed +time, saw his cousin, tried to do his duty and love her; found it +impossible, and, discovering that Minna loved another, vowed he would +never make her unhappiness as well as his own. The old baron stormed, +but the young one was firm, and would not listen to a marriage without +love; but pleaded for Minna, wished his rival success, and set out +again on his travels." + +"And the duel?" asked the major, who took less interest in love than +war. + +"That was as characteristic as the other act. A son of one high in +office at Berlin circulated false reports of the cause of Palsdorf's +refusal of the alliance--reports injurious to Minna. Sigismund settled +the matter in the most effectual manner, by challenging and wounding +the man. But for court influence it would have gone hardly with my +friend. The storm, however, has blown over; Minna will be happy with +her lover, and Sigismund with his liberty, till he tires of it." + +"Is he handsome, this hero of yours?" said Amy, feeling the ring under +her glove, for in spite of Helen's advice, she insisted on wearing it, +that it might be at hand to return at any moment, should chance again +bring the baron in their way. + +"A true German of the old type; blond and blue-eyed, tall and strong. +My hero in good truth--brave and loyal, tender and true," was the +enthusiastic answer. + +"I hate fair men," pouted Amy, under her breath, as the major asked +some question about hotels. + +"Take a new hero, then; nothing can be more romantic than that," +whispered Helen, glancing at the pale, dark-haired figure wrapped in +the military cloak opposite. + +"I will, and leave the baron to you;" said Amy, with a stifled laugh. + +"Hush! Here are Baden and Karl," replied Helen, thankful for the +interruption. + +All was bustle in a moment, and taking leave of them with an air +of reluctance, the Pole walked away, leaving Amy looking after him +wistfully, quite unconscious that she stood in everybody's way, and +that her uncle was beckoning impatiently from the carriage door. + +"Poor boy! I wish he had some one to take care of him." she sighed, +half aloud. + +"Mademoiselle, the major waits;" and Karl came up, hat in hand, just +in time to hear her and glance after Casimer, with an odd expression. + + +V + +LUDMILLA + + +"I wonder what that young man's name was. Did he mention it, Helen?" +said the major, pausing in his march up and down the room, as if the +question was suggested by the sight of the little baskets, which the +girls had kept. + +"No, uncle; but you can easily ask Hoffman," replied Helen. + +"By the way, Karl, who was the Polish gentleman who came on with +us?" asked the major a moment afterward, as the courier came in with +newspapers. + +"Casimer Teblinski, sir." + +"A baron?" asked Amy, who was decidedly a young lady of one idea just +then. + +"No, mademoiselle, but of a noble family, as the 'ski' denotes, for +that is to Polish and Russian names what 'von' is to German and 'de' +to French." + +"I was rather interested in him. Where did you pick him up, Hoffman?" +said the major. + +"In Paris, where he was with fellow-exiles." + +"He is what he seems, is he?--no impostor, or anything of that sort? +One is often deceived, you know." + +"On my honor, sir, he is a gentleman, and as brave as he is +accomplished and excellent." + +"Will he die?" asked Amy, pathetically. + +"With care he would recover, I think; but there is no one to nurse +him, so the poor lad must take his chance and trust in heaven for +help." + +"How sad! I wish we were going his way, so that we might do something +for him--at least give him the society of his friend." + +Helen glanced at Hoffman, feeling that if he were not already engaged +by them, he would devote himself to the invalid without any thought of +payment. + +"Perhaps we are. You want to see the Lake of Geneva, Chillon, and that +neighborhood. Why not go now, instead of later?" + +"Will you, uncle? That's capital! We need say nothing, but go on and +help the poor boy, if we can." + +Helen spoke like a matron of forty, and looked as full of maternal +kindness as if the Pole were not out of his teens. + +The courier bowed, the major laughed behind his paper, and Amy gave a +sentimental sigh to the memory of the baron, in whom her interest was +failing. + +They only caught a glimpse of the Pole that evening at the Kursaal, +but next morning they met, and he was invited to join their party for +a little expedition. + +The major was in fine spirits, and Helen assumed her maternal air +toward both invalids, for the sound of that hollow cough always +brought a shadow over her face, recalling the brother she had lost. + +Amy was particularly merry and charming, and kept the whole party +laughing at her comical efforts to learn Polish and teach English as +they drove up the mountainside to the old Schloss. + +"I'm not equal to mounting all those steps for a view I've seen a +dozen times; but pray take care of the child, Nell, or she'll get lost +again, as at Heidelberg," said the major, when they had roamed about +the lower part of the place; for a cool seat in the courtyard and a +glass of beer were more tempting than turrets and prospects to the +stout gentleman. + +"She shall not be lost; I am her body-guard. It is steep--permit that +I lead you, mademoiselle;" Casimer offered his hand to Amy, and they +began their winding way. As she took the hand, the girl blushed and +half smiled, remembering the vaults and the baron. + +"I like this better," she said to herself, as they climbed step by +step, often pausing to rest in the embrasures of the loopholes, +where the sun glanced in, the balmy wind blew, and vines peeped from +without, making a pretty picture of the girl, as she sat with rosy +color on her usually pale cheeks, brown curls fluttering about her +forehead, laughing lips, and bright eyes full of pleasant changes. +Leaning opposite in the narrow stairway, Casimer had time to study the +little tableau in many lights, and in spite of the dark glasses, +to convey warm glances of admiration, of which, however, the young +coquette seemed utterly unconscious. + +Helen came leisurely after, and Hoffman followed with a telescope, +wishing, as he went, that his countrywomen possessed such dainty feet +as those going on before him, for which masculine iniquity he will be +pardoned by all who have seen the foot of a German Fraulein. + +It was worth the long ascent, that wide-spread landscape basking in +the August glow. + +Sitting on a fallen block of stone, while Casimer held a sun-umbrella +over her, Amy had raptures at her ease; while Helen sketched and asked +questions of Hoffman, who stood beside her, watching her progress with +interest. Once when, after repeated efforts to catch a curious effect +of light and shade, she uttered an impatient little exclamation, Karl +made a gesture as if to take the pencil and show her, but seemed to +recollect himself and drew back with a hasty "Pardon, mademoiselle." +Helen glanced up and saw the expression of his face, which plainly +betrayed that for a moment the gentleman had forgotten he was a +courier. She was glad of it, for it was a daily trial to her to order +this man about; and following the womanly impulse, she smiled and +offered the pencil, saying simply,-- + +"I felt sure you understood it; please show me." + +He did so, and a few masterly strokes gave the sketch what it needed. +As he bent near her to do this Helen stole a glance at the grave, dark +face, and suddenly a disturbed look dawned in the eyes fixed on the +glossy black locks pushed off the courier's forehead, for he had +removed his hat when she spoke to him. He seemed to feel that +something was amiss, shot a quick glance at her, returned the pencil +and rose erect, with an almost defiant air, yet something of shame in +his eye, as his lips moved as if to speak impetuously. But not a word +did he utter, for Helen touched her forehead significantly, and said +in a low tone,-- + +"I am an artist; let me recommend Vandyke brown, which is _not_ +affected by heat." + +Hoffman looked over his shoulder at the other pair, but Amy was +making an ivy wreath for her hat, and the Pole pulling sprays for the +absorbing work. Speaking rapidly, Karl said, with a peculiar blending +of merriment, humility, and anxiety in his tone,-- + +"Mademoiselle, you are quick to discover my disguise; will you also be +kind in concealing? I have enemies as well as friends, whom I desire +to escape: I would earn my bread unknown; Monsieur le Major keeps my +foolish secret; may I hope for equal goodness from yourself?" + +"You may, I do not forget that I owe my life to you, nor that you are +a gentleman. Trust me, I never will betray you." + +"Thanks, thanks! there will come a time when I may confess the truth +and be myself, but not yet," and his regretful tone was emphasized by +an impatient gesture, as if concealment was irksome. + +"Nell, come down to lunch; uncle is signalling as if he'd gone mad. +No, monsieur, it is quite impossible; you cannot reach the harebells +without risking too much; come away and forget that I wanted them." + +Amy led the way, and all went down more quietly than they came up, +especially Helen and Hoffman. An excellent lunch waited on one of the +tables in front of the old gateway, and having done justice to it, the +major made himself comfortable with a cigar, bidding the girls keep +near, for they must be off in half an hour. Hoffman went to see to the +horses, Casimer strolled away with him, and the young ladies went to +gather wild flowers at the foot of the tower. + +"Not a harebell here; isn't it provoking, when they grow in tufts up +there, where one can't reach them. Mercy, what's that? Run, Nell, the +old wall is coming down!" + +Both had been grubbing in a damp nook, where ferns and mosses grew +luxuriantly; the fall of a bit of stone and a rending sound above made +them fly back to the path and look up. + +Amy covered her eyes, and Helen grew pale, for part way down the +crumbling tower, clinging like a bird to the thick ivy stems, hung +Casimer, coolly gathering harebells from the clefts of the wall. + +"Hush; don't cry out or speak; it may startle him. Crazy boy! Let us +see what he will do," whispered Helen. + +"He can't go back, the vines are so torn and weak; and how will he get +down the lower wall? for you see the ivy grows up from that ledge, and +there is nothing below. How could he do it? I was only joking when I +lamented that there were no knights now, ready to leap into a lion's +den for a lady's glove," returned Amy, half angry. + +In breathless silence they watched the climber till his cap was full +of flowers, and taking it between his teeth, he rapidly swung down to +the wide ledge, from which there appeared to be no way of escape but a +reckless leap of many feet on to the turf below. + +The girls stood in the shadow of an old gateway, unperceived, and +waited anxiously what should follow. + +Lightly folding and fastening the cap together, he dropped it down, +and, leaning forward, tried to catch the top of a young birch rustling +close by the wall. Twice he missed it; the first time he frowned, but +the second he uttered an emphatic, "Deuce take it!" + +Helen and Amy looked at each other with a mutual smile and +exclamation,-- + +"He knows some English, then!" + +There was time for no more--a violent rustle, a boyish laugh, and down +swung the slender tree, with the young man clinging to the top. + +As he landed safely, Helen cried, "Bravo!" and Amy rushed out, +exclaiming reproachfully, yet admiringly,-- + +"How could you do it and frighten us so? I shall never express a wish +before you again, for if I wanted the moon you'd rashly try to get it, +I know." + +"_Certainement_, mademoiselle," was the smiling reply. Casimer +presented the flowers, as if the exploit was a mere trifle. + +"Now I shall go and press them at once in uncle's guide-book. Come and +help me, else you will be in mischief again." And Amy led the way to +the major with her flowers and their giver. + +Helen roamed into one of the ruined courts for a last look at a +fountain which pleased her eye. A sort of cloister ran round the +court, open on both sides, and standing in one of these arched nooks, +she saw Hoffman and a young girl talking animatedly. The girl was +pretty, well dressed, and seemed refusing something for which +the other pleaded eagerly. His arm was about her, and she leaned +affectionately upon him, with a white hand now and then caressing his +face, which was full of sparkle and vivacity now. They seemed about to +part as Helen looked, for the maiden standing on tiptoe, laughingly +offered her blooming cheek, and as Karl kissed it warmly, he said in +German, so audibly Helen heard every word,-- + +"Farewell, my Ludmilla. Keep silent and I shall soon be with you. +Embrace the little one, and do not let him forget me." + +Both left the place as they spoke, each going a different way, and +Helen slowly returned to her party, saying to herself in a troubled +tone,-- + +"'Ludmilla' and 'the little one' are his wife and child, doubtless. I +wonder if uncle knows that." + +When Hoffman next appeared she could not resist looking at him; but +the accustomed gravity was resumed, and nothing remained of the glow +and brightness he had worn when with Ludmilla in the cloister. + + +VI + +CHATEAU DE LA TOUR + + +Helen looked serious and Amy indignant when their uncle joined them, +ready to set out by the afternoon train, all having dined and rested +after the morning's excursion. + +"Well, little girls, what's the matter now?" he asked, paternally, for +the excellent man adored his nieces. + +"Helen says it's not best to go on with the Pole, and is perfectly +nonsensical, uncle," began Amy, petulantly, and not very coherently. + +"Better be silly now than sorry by and by. I only suggested that, +being interesting, and Amy romantic, she might find this young man too +charming, if we see too much of him," said Helen. + +"Bless my soul, what an idea!" cried the major. "Why, Nell, he's an +invalid, a Catholic, and a foreigner, any one of which objections are +enough to settle that matter. Little Amy isn't so foolish as to be in +danger of losing her heart to a person so entirely out of the question +as this poor lad, is she?" + +"Of course not. _You_ do me justice, uncle. Nell thinks she may pity +and pet any one she likes because she is five years older than I, +and entirely forgets that she is a great deal more attractive than a +feeble thing like me. I should as soon think of losing my heart to +Hoffman as to the Pole, even if he wasn't what he is. One may surely +be kind to a dying man, without being accused of coquetry;" and Amy +sobbed in the most heart-rending manner. + +Helen comforted her by withdrawing all objections, and promising +to leave the matter in the major's hands. But she shook her head +privately when she saw the ill-disguised eagerness with which her +cousin glanced up and down the platform after they were in the train, +and she whispered to her uncle, unobserved,-- + +"Leave future meetings to chance, and don't ask the Pole in, if you +can help it." + +"Nonsense, my dear. You are as particular as your aunt. The lad amuses +me, and you can't deny you like to nurse sick heroes," was all the +answer she got, as the major, with true masculine perversity, put his +head out of the window and hailed Casimer as he was passing with a +bow. + +"Here, Teblinski, my good fellow, don't desert us. We've always a +spare seat for you, if you haven't pleasanter quarters." + +With a flush of pleasure the young man came up, but hesitated to +accept the invitation till Helen seconded it with a smile of welcome. + +Amy was in an injured mood, and, shrouded in a great blue veil, +pensively reclined in her corner as if indifferent to everything about +her. But soon the cloud passed, and she emerged in a radiant state of +good humor, which lasted unbroken until the journey ended. + +For two days they went on together, a very happy party, for the major +called in Hoffman to see his friend and describe the places through +which they passed. An arrangement very agreeable to all, as Karl was a +favorite, and every one missed him when away. + +At Lausanne they waited while he crossed the lake to secure rooms at +Vevay. On his return he reported that all the hotels and _pensions_ +were full, but that at La Tour he had secured rooms for a few weeks in +a quaint old chateau on the banks of the lake. + +"Count Severin is absent in Egypt, and the housekeeper has permission +to let the apartments to transient visitors. The suite of rooms I +speak of were engaged to a party who are detained by sickness--they +are cheap, pleasant, and comfortable. A _salon_ and four bed-rooms. I +engaged them all, thinking that Teblinski might like a room there till +he finds lodgings at Montreaux. We can enter at once, and I am sure +the ladies will approve of the picturesque place." + +"Well done, Hoffman; off we go without delay, for I really long to +rest my old bones in something like a home, after this long trip," +said the major, who always kept his little troop in light marching +order. + +The sail across that loveliest of lakes prepared the new-comers to be +charmed with all they saw; and when, entering by the old stone gate, +they were led into a large saloon, quaintly furnished and opening into +a terrace-garden overhanging the water, with Chillon and the Alps in +sight, Amy declared nothing could be more perfect, and Helen's face +proved her satisfaction. + +An English widow and two quiet old German professors on a vacation +were the only inmates besides themselves and the buxom Swiss +housekeeper and her maids. + +It was late when our party arrived, and there was only time for a +hasty survey of their rooms and a stroll in the garden before dinner. + +The great chamber, with its shadowy bed, dark mirrors, ghostly +wainscot-doors and narrow windows, had not been brightened for a long +time by such a charming little apparition as Amy when she shook out +her airy muslins, smoothed her curls, and assumed all manner of +distracting devices for the captivation of mankind. Even Helen, though +not much given to personal vanity, found herself putting flowers in +her hair, and studying the effect of bracelets on her handsome arms, +as if there was some especial need of looking her best on this +occasion. + +Both were certainly great ornaments to the drawing-room that evening, +as the old professors agreed while they sat blinking at them, like a +pair of benign owls. Casimer surprised them by his skill in music, +for, though forbidden to sing on account of his weak lungs, he +played as if inspired. Amy hovered about him like a moth; the major +cultivated the acquaintance of the plump widow; and Helen stood at the +window, enjoying the lovely night and music, till something happened +which destroyed her pleasure in both. + +The window was open, and, leaning from it, she was watching the lake, +when the sound of a heavy sigh caught her ear. There was no moon, but +through the starlight she saw a man's figure among the shrubs below, +sitting with bent head and hidden face in the forlorn attitude of one +shut out from the music, light, and gayety that reigned within. + +"It is Karl," she thought, and was about to speak, when, as if +startled by some sound she did not hear, he rose and vanished in the +gloom of the garden. + +"Poor man! he thought of his wife and child, perhaps, sitting here +alone while all the rest make merry, with no care for him. Uncle must +see to this;" and Helen fell into a reverie till Amy came to propose +retiring. + +"I meant to have seen where all these doors led, but was so busy +dressing I had no time, so must leave it for my amusement to-morrow. +Uncle says it's a very Radcliffian place. How like an angel that man +did play!" chattered Amy, and lulled herself to sleep by humming the +last air Casimer had given them. + +Helen could not sleep, for the lonely figure in the garden haunted +her, and she wearied herself with conjectures about Hoffman and his +mystery. Hour after hour rung from the cuckoo-clock in the hall, but +still she lay awake, watching the curious shadows in the room, and +exciting herself with recalling the tales of German goblins with which +the courier had amused them the day before. + +"It is close and musty here, with all this old tapestry and stuff +about; I'll open the other window," she thought; and, noiselessly +slipping from Amy's side, she threw on wrapper and slippers, lighted +her candle and tried to unbolt the tall, diamond-paned lattice. It was +rusty and would not yield, and, giving it up, she glanced about to see +whence air could be admitted. There were four doors in the room, all +low and arched, with clumsy locks and heavy handles. One opened into +a closet, one into the passage; the third was locked, but the fourth +opened easily, and, lifting her light, she peeped into a small octagon +room, full of all manner of curiosities. What they were she had no +time to see, for her startled eyes were riveted on an object that +turned her faint and cold with terror. + +A heavy table stood in the middle of the room, and seated at it, +with some kind of weapon before him, was a man who looked over his +shoulder, with a ghastly face half hidden by hair and beard, and +fierce black eyes as full of malignant menace as was the clinched hand +holding the pistol. One instant Helen looked, the next flung to the +door, bolted it and dropped into a chair, trembling in every limb. The +noise did not wake Amy, and a moment's thought showed Helen the wisdom +of keeping her in ignorance of this affair. She knew the major was +close by, and possessing much courage, she resolved to wait a little +before rousing the house. + +Hardly had she collected herself, when steps were heard moving softly +in the octagon room. Her light had gone out as she closed the door, +and sitting close by in the dark, she heard the sound of some one +breathing as he listened at the key-hole. Then a careful hand tried +the door, so noiselessly that no sleeper would have been awakened; and +as if to guard against a second surprise, the unknown person drew two +bolts across the door and stole away. + +"Safe for a time; but I'll not pass another night under this roof, +unless this is satisfactorily cleared up," thought Helen, now feeling +more angry than frightened. + +The last hour that struck was three, and soon the summer dawn reddened +the sky. Dressing herself, Helen sat by Amy, a sleepless guard, till +she woke, smiling and rosy as a child. Saying nothing of her last +night's alarm, Helen went down to breakfast a little paler than usual, +but otherwise unchanged. The major never liked to be disturbed till +he had broken his fast, and the moment they rose from the table he +exclaimed,-- + +"Now, girls, come and see the mysteries of Udolpho." + +"I'll say nothing, yet," thought Helen, feeling braver by daylight, +yet troubled by her secret, for Hoffman might be a traitor, and this +charming chateau a den of thieves. Such things had been, and she was +in a mood to believe anything. + +The upper story was a perfect museum of antique relics, very +entertaining to examine. Having finished these, Hoffman, who acted as +guide, led them into a little gloomy room containing a straw pallet, +a stone table with a loaf and pitcher on it, and, kneeling before a +crucifix, where the light from a single slit in the wall fell on him, +was the figure of a monk. The waxen mask was life-like, the attitude +effective, and the cell excellently arranged. Amy cried out when she +first saw it, but a second glance reassured her, and she patted the +bald head approvingly, as Karl explained.-- + +"Count Severin is an antiquarian, and amuses himself with things of +this sort. In old times there really was a hermit here, and this is +his effigy. Come down these narrow stairs, if you please, and see the +rest of the mummery." + +Down they went, and the instant Helen looked about her, she burst into +a hysterical laugh, for there sat her ruffian, exactly as she saw him, +glaring over his shoulder with threatening eyes, and one hand on the +pistol. They all looked at her, for she was pale, and her merriment +unnatural; so, feeling she had excited curiosity, she gratified it by +narrating her night's adventure. Hoffman looked much concerned. + +"Pardon, mademoiselle, the door should have been bolted on this +side. It usually is, but that room being unused, it was forgotten. I +remembered it, and having risen early, crept up to make sure that you +did not come upon this ugly thing unexpectedly. But I was too late, it +seems; you have suffered, to my sorrow." + +"Dear Nell, and that was why I found you so pale and cold and quiet, +sitting by me when I woke, guarding me faithfully as you promised you +would. How brave and kind you were!" + +"Villain! I should much like to fire your own pistols at you for this +prank of yours." + +And Casimer laughingly filliped the image on its absurdly aquiline +nose. + +"What in the name of common sense is this goblin here for?" demanded +the major, testily. + +"There is a legend that once the owner of the chateau amused himself +by decoying travellers here, putting them to sleep in that room, and +by various devices alluring them thither. Here, one step beyond the +threshold of the door, was a trap, down which the unfortunates were +precipitated to the dungeon at the bottom of the tower, there to die +and be cast into the lake through a water-gate, still to be seen. +Severin keeps this flattering likeness of the rascal, as he does +the monk above, to amuse visitors by daylight, not at night, +mademoiselle." + +And Hoffman looked wrathfully at the image, as if he would much enjoy +sending it down the trap. + +"How ridiculous! I shall not go about this place alone, for fear of +lighting upon some horror of this sort. I've had enough; come away +into the garden; it's full of roses, and we may have as many as we +like." + +As she spoke Amy involuntarily put out her hand for Casimer to lead +her down the steep stone steps, and he pressed the little hand with a +tender look which caused it to be hastily withdrawn. + +"Here are your roses. Pretty flower; I know its meaning in English, +for it is the same with us. To give a bud to a lady is to confess +the beginning of love, a half open one tells of its growth, and a +full-blown one is to declare one's passion. Do you have that custom in +your land, mademoiselle?" + +He had gathered the three as he spoke, and held the bud separately +while looking at his companion wistfully. + +"No, we are not poetical, like your people, but it is a pretty fancy," +and Amy settled her bouquet with an absorbed expression, though +inwardly wondering what he would do with his flowers. + +He stood silent a moment, with a sudden flush sweeping across his +face, then flung all three into the lake with a gesture that made the +girl start, and muttered between his teeth: + +"No, no; for me it is too late." + +She affected not to hear, but making up a second bouquet, she gave +it to him, with no touch of coquetry in compassionate eyes or gentle +voice. + +"Make your room bright with these. When one is ill nothing is so +cheering as the sight of flowers." + +Meantime the others had descended and gone their separate ways. + +As Karl crossed the courtyard a little child ran to meet him with +outstretched arms and a shout of satisfaction. He caught it up and +carried it away on his shoulder, like one used to caress and be +caressed by children. + +Helen, waiting at the door of the tower while the major dusted his +coat, saw this, and said, suddenly, directing his attention to man and +child,-- + +"He seems fond of little people. I wonder if he has any of his own." + +"Hoffman? No, my dear; he's not married; I asked him that when I +engaged him." + +"And he said he was not?" + +"Yes; he's not more than five or six-and-twenty, and fond of a +wandering life, so what should he want of a wife and a flock of +bantlings?" + +"He seems sad and sober sometimes, and I fancied he might have some +domestic trouble to harass him. Don't you think there is something +peculiar about him?" asked Helen, remembering Hoffman's hint that her +uncle knew his wish to travel incognito, and wondering if he would +throw any light upon the matter. But the major's face was impenetrable +and his answer unsatisfactory. + +"Well, I don't know. Every one has some worry or other, and as for +being peculiar, all foreigners seem more or less so to us, they are so +unreserved and demonstrative. I like Hoffman more and more every day, +and shall be sorry when I part with him." + +"Ludmilla is his sister, then, or he didn't tell uncle the truth. It +is no concern of mine; but I wish I knew," thought Helen anxiously, +and then wondered why she should care. + +A feeling of distrust had taken possession of her and she determined +to be on the watch, for the unsuspicious major would be easily duped, +and Helen trusted more to her own quick and keen eye than to his +experience. She tried to show nothing of the change in her manner: but +Hoffman perceived it, and bore it with a proud patience which often +touched her heart, but never altered her purpose. + + +VII + +AT FAULT + + +Four weeks went by so rapidly that every one refused to believe it +when the major stated the fact at the breakfast-table, for all had +enjoyed themselves so heartily that they had been unconscious of the +lapse of time. + +"You are not going away, uncle?" cried Amy, with a panic-stricken +look. + +"Next week, my dear; we must be off, for we've much to do yet, and I +promised mamma to bring you back by the end of October." + +"Never mind Paris and the rest of it; this is pleasanter. I'd rather +stay here--" + +There Amy checked herself and tried to hide her face behind her +coffee-cup, for Casimer looked up in a way that made her heart flutter +and her cheeks burn. + +"Sorry for it, Amy; but go we must, so enjoy your last week with all +your might, and come again next year." + +"It will never be again what it is now," sighed Amy; and Casimer +echoed the words "next year," as if sadly wondering if the present +year would not be his last. + +Helen rose silently and went into the garden, for of late she had +fallen into the way of reading and working in the little pavilion +which stood in an angle of the wall, overlooking lake and mountains. + +A seat at the opposite end of the walk was Amy's haunt, for she liked +the sun, and within a week or two something like constraint had +existed between the cousins. Each seemed happier apart, and each was +intent on her own affairs. Helen watched over Amy's health, but no +longer offered advice or asked confidence. She often looked anxious, +and once or twice urged the major to go, as if conscious of some +danger. + +But the worthy man seemed to have been bewitched as well as the young +folks, and was quite happy sitting by the plump, placid widow, or +leisurely walking with her to the chapel on the hillside. + +All seemed waiting for something to break up the party, and no one had +the courage to do it. The major's decision took every one by surprise, +and Amy and Casimer looked as if they had fallen from the clouds. + +The persistency with which the English lessons had gone on was +amazing, for Amy usually tired of everything in a day or two. Now, +however, she was a devoted teacher, and her pupil did her great credit +by the rapidity with which he caught the language. It looked like +pleasant play, sitting among the roses day after day, Amy affecting to +embroider while she taught, Casimer marching to and fro on the wide, +low wall, below which lay the lake, while he learned his lesson; then +standing before her to recite, or lounging on the turf in frequent +fits of idleness, both talking and laughing a great deal, and +generally forgetting everything but the pleasure of being together. +They wrote little notes as exercises--Amy in French, Casimer in +English, and each corrected the other's. + +All very well for a time; but as the notes increased the corrections +decreased, and at last nothing was said of ungrammatical French or +comical English and the little notes were exchanged in silence. + +As Amy took her place that day she looked forlorn, and when her pupil +came her only welcome was a reproachful-- + +"You are very late, sir." + +"It is fifteen of minutes yet to ten clocks," was Casimer's reply, in +his best English. + +"Ten o'clock, and leave out 'of' before minutes. How many times must I +tell you that?" said Amy, severely, to cover her first mistake. + +"Ah, not many times; soon all goes to finish, and I have none person +to make this charming English go in my so stupide head." + +"What will you do then?" + +"I _jeter_ myself into the lake." + +"Don't be foolish; I'm dull to-day, and want to be cheered up; suicide +isn't a pleasant subject." + +"Good! See here, then--a little _plaisanterie_--what you call joke. +Can you will to see it?" and he laid a little pink cocked-hat note on +her lap, looking like a mischievous boy as he did so. + +"'Mon Casimer Teblinski;' I see no joke;" and Amy was about to tear it +up, when he caught it from destruction, and holding it out of reach, +said, laughing wickedly,-- + +"The 'mon' is one abbreviation of 'monsieur,' but you put no +little--how do you say?--period at the end of him; it goes now in +English--_My_ Casimer Teblinski,' and that is of the most charming +address." + +Amy colored, but had her return shot ready. + +"Don't exult; that was only an oversight, not a deliberate deception +like that you put upon me. It was very wrong and rude, and I shall not +forgive it." + +"_Mon Dieu_! where have I gone in sinning! I am a _polisson_, as I say +each day, but not a villain, I swear to you. Say to me that which I +have made of wrong, and I will do penance." + +"You told me '_Ma drogha_' was the Polish for 'My pupil,' and let me +call you so a long time; I am wiser now," replied Amy, with great +dignity. + +"Who has said stupidities to you, that you doubt me?" and Casimer +assumed an injured look, though his eyes danced with merriment. + +"I heard Hoffman singing a Polish song to little Roserl, the burden of +which was, '_Ma drogha, Ma drogha_,' and when I asked him to translate +it, those two words meant, 'My darling.' How dare you, ungrateful +creature that you are!" + +As Amy spoke, half-confusedly, half-angrily, Casimer went down upon +his knees, with folded hands and penitent face, exclaiming, in good +English,-- + +"Be merciful to me a sinner. I was tempted, and I could not resist." + +"Get up this instant, and stop laughing. Say your lesson, for this +will be your last," was the stern reply, though Amy's face dimpled all +over with suppressed merriment. + +He rose meekly, but made such sad work with the verb "To love," that +his teacher was glad to put an end to it, by proposing to read her +French to him. It was "Thaddeus of Warsaw," a musty little translation +which she had found in the house, and begun for her own amusement. +Casimer read a little, seemed interested, and suggested that they read +it together, so that he might correct her accent. Amy agreed, and +they were in the heart of the sentimental romance, finding it more +interesting than most modern readers, for the girl had an improved +Thaddeus before her, and the Pole a fairer, kinder Mary Beaufort. + +Dangerous times for both, but therein lay the charm; for, though Amy +said to herself each night, "Sick, Catholic, and a foreigner,--it can +never be," yet each morning she felt, with increasing force, how blank +her day would be without him. And Casimer, honorably restraining every +word of love, yet looked volumes, and in spite of the glasses, the +girl felt the eloquence of the fine eyes they could not entirely +conceal. + +To-day, as she read, he listened with his head leaning on his hand, +and though she never had read worse, he made no correction, but sat so +motionless, she fancied at last that he had actually fallen asleep. +Thinking to rouse him, she said, in French,-- + +"Poor Thaddeus! don't you pity him?--alone, poor, sick, and afraid to +own his love." + +"No, I hate him, the absurd imbecile, with his fine boots and plumes, +and tragedy airs. He was not to be pitied, for he recovered health, he +found a fortune, he won his Marie. His sufferings were nothing; there +was no fatal blight on him, and he had time and power to conquer his +misfortunes, while I--" + +Casimer spoke with sudden passion, and pausing abruptly, turned his +face away, as if to hide some emotion he was too proud to show. + +Amy's heart ached, and her eyes filled, but her voice was sweet and +steady, as she said, putting by the book, like one weary of it,-- + +"Are you suffering to-day? Can we do anything for you? Please let us, +if we may." + +"You give me all I can receive; no one can help my pain yet; but a +time will come when something may be done for me; then I will speak." +And, to her great surprise, he rose and left her, without another +word. + +She saw him no more till evening; then he looked excited, played +stormily, and would sing in defiance of danger. The trouble in Amy's +face seemed reflected in Helen's, though not a word had passed between +them. She kept her eye on Casimer, with an intentness that worried +Amy, and even when he was at the instrument Helen stood near him, as +if fascinated, watching the slender hands chase one another up and +down the keys with untiring strength and skill. + +Suddenly she left the room and did not return. Amy was so nervous by +that time, she could restrain herself no longer, and slipping out, +found her cousin in their chamber, poring over a glove. + +"Oh, Nell, what is it? You are so odd to-night I can't understand you. +The music excites me, and I'm miserable, and I want to know what has +happened," she said, tearfully. + +"I've found him!" whispered Helen, eagerly, holding up the glove with +a gesture of triumph. + +"Who?" asked Amy, blinded by her tears. + +"The baron." + +"Where?--when?" cried the girl, amazed. + +"Here, and now." + +"Don't take my breath away; tell me quick, or I shall get hysterical." + +"Casimer is Sigismund Palsdorf, and no more a Pole than I am," was +Helen's answer. + +Amy dropped in a heap on the floor, not fainting, but so amazed she +had neither strength nor breath left. Sitting by her, Helen rapidly +went on,-- + +"I had a feeling as if something was wrong, and began to watch. The +feeling grew, but I discovered nothing till to-day. It will make you +laugh, it was so unromantic. As I looked over uncle's things when the +laundress brought them this afternoon, I found a collar that was not +his. It was marked 'S.P.,' and I at once felt a great desire to know +who owned it. The woman was waiting for her money, and I asked her. +'Monsieur Pologne,' she said, for his name is too much for her. She +took it into his room, and that was the end of it." + +"But it may be another name; the initials only a coincidence," +faltered Amy, looking frightened. + +"No, dear, it isn't; there is more to come. Little Roserl came crying +through the hall an hour ago, and I asked what the trouble was. She +showed me a prettily-bound prayer-book which she had taken from the +Pole's room to play with, and had been ordered by her mother to carry +back. I looked into it; no name, but the same coat-of-arms as the +glove and the handkerchief. To-night as he played I examined his +hands; they are peculiar, and some of the peculiarities have left +traces on the glove. I am sure it is he, for on looking back many +things confirm the idea. He says he is a _polisson_, a rogue, fond +of jokes, and clever at playing them. The Germans are famous for +masquerading and practical jokes; this is one, I am sure, and uncle +will be terribly angry if he discovers it." + +"But why all this concealment?" cried Amy. "Why play jokes on us? You +look so worried I know you have not told me all you know or fear." + +"I confess I do fear that these men are political plotters as well as +exiles. There are many such, and they make tools of rich and ignorant +foreigners to further their ends. Uncle is rich, generous, and +unsuspicious; and I fear that while apparently serving and enjoying us +they are using him." + +"Heavens, it may be! and that would account for the change we see in +him. I thought he was in love with the widow, but that may be only a +cloak to hide darker designs. Karl brought us here, and I dare say it +is a den of conspirators!" cried Amy, feeling as if she were getting +more of an adventure than she had bargained for. + +"Don't be alarmed! I am on the watch, and mean to demand an +explanation from uncle, or take you away on my own responsibility, if +I can." + +Here a maid tapped to say that tea was served. + +"We must go down, or some one will suspect trouble. Plead headache to +excuse your paleness, and I'll keep people away. We will manage the +affair and be off as soon as possible," said Helen, as Amy followed +her, too bewildered to answer. + +Casimer was not in the room, the major and Mrs. Cumberland were +sipping tea side by side, and the professors roaming vaguely about. To +leave Amy in peace, Helen engaged them both in a lively chat, and her +cousin sat by the window trying to collect her thoughts. Some one was +pacing up and down the garden, hatless, in the dew. + +Amy forgot everything but the danger of such exposure to her reckless +friend. His cloak and hat lay on a chair; she caught them up and +glided unperceived from the long window. + +"You are so imprudent I fear for you, and bring your things," said a +timid voice, as the little white figure approached the tall black one, +striding down the path tempestuously. + +"You to think of me, forgetful of yourself! Little angel of kindness, +why do you take such care of me?" cried Casimer, eagerly taking not +only the cloak, but the hands that held it. + +"I pitied you because you were ill and lonely. You do not deserve +my pity, but I forgive that, and would not see you suffer," was the +reproachful answer, as Amy turned away. + +But he held her fast, saying earnestly,-- + +"What have I done? You are angry. Tell me my fault and I will amend." + +"You have deceived me." + +"How?" + +"Will you own the truth?" and in her eagerness to set her fears at +rest, Amy forgot Helen. + +"I will." + +She could not see his face, but his voice was steady and his manner +earnest. + +"Tell me, then, is not your true name Sigismund Palsdorf?" + +He started, but answered instantly,-- + +"It is not." + +"You are not the baron?" cried Amy. + +"No; I will swear it if you wish." + +"Who, then, are you?" + +"Shall I confess?" + +"Yes, I entreat you." + +"Remember, you command me to speak." + +"I do. Who are you?" + +"Your lover." + +The words were breathed into her ear as softly as ardently, but they +startled her so much she could find no reply, and, throwing himself +down before her, Casimer poured out his passion with an impetuosity +that held her breathless. + +"Yes, I love you, and I tell it, vain and dishonorable as it is in one +like me. I try to hide it. I say 'it cannot be.' I plan to go away. +But you keep me; you are angel-good to me; you take my heart, you care +for me, teach me, pity me, and I can only love and die. I know it is +folly; I ask nothing; I pray to God to bless you always, and I say, +Go, go, before it is too late for you, as now for me!" + +"Yes, I must go--it is all wrong. Forgive me. I have been very +selfish. Oh, forget me and be happy," faltered Amy, feeling that her +only safety was in flight. + +"Go! go!" he cried, in a heart-broken tone, yet still kissed and clung +to her hands till she tore them away and fled into the house. + +Helen missed her soon after she went, but could not follow for several +minutes; then went to their chamber and there found Amy drowned in +tears, and terribly agitated. + +Soon the story was told with sobs and moans, and despairing +lamentations fit to touch a heart of stone. + +"I do love him--oh, I do; but I didn't know it till he was so unhappy, +and now I've done this dreadful harm. He'll die, and I can't help him, +see him, or be anything to him. Oh, I've been a wicked, wicked girl, +and never can be happy any more." + +Angry, perplexed, and conscience-stricken, for what now seemed blind +and unwise submission to the major, Helen devoted herself to calming +Amy, and when at last the poor, broken-hearted little soul fell asleep +in her arms, she pondered half the night upon the still unsolved +enigma of the Baron Sigismund. + + +VIII + +MORE MYSTERY + + +"Uncle, can I speak to you a moment?" said Helen, very gravely, as +they left the breakfast-room next morning. + +"Not now, my dear, I'm busy," was the hasty reply, as the major +shawled Mrs. Cumberland for an early promenade. + +Helen knit her brows irefully, for this answer had been given her half +a dozen times lately when she asked for an interview. It was evident +he wished to avoid all lectures, remonstrances, and explanations; and +it was also evident that he was in love with the widow. + +"Lovers are worse than lunatics to manage, so it is vain to try to get +any help from him," sighed Helen, adding, as her uncle was gallantly +leading his stout divinity away into the garden: "Amy has a bad +headache, and I shall stay to take care of her, so we can't join +your party to Chillon, sir. We have been there once, so you needn't +postpone it for us." + +"Very well, my dear," and the major walked away, looking much +relieved. + +As Helen was about to leave the _salon_ Casimer appeared. A single +glance at her face assured him that she knew all, and instantly +assuming a confiding, persuasive air that was irresistible, he said, +meekly,-- + +"Mademoiselle, I do not deserve a word from you, but it desolates me +to know that I have grieved the little angel who is too dear to me. +For her sake, pardon that I spoke my heart in spite of prudence, and +permit me to send her this." + +Helen glanced from the flowers he held to his beseeching face, and her +own softened. He looked so penitent and anxious, she had not the heart +to reproach him. + +"I will forgive you and carry your gift to Amy on one condition," she +said, gravely. + +"Ah, you are kind! Name, then, the condition. I implore you, and I +will agree." + +"Tell me, then, on your honor as a gentleman, are you not Baron +Palsdorf?" + +"On my honor as a gentleman, I swear to you I am not." + +"Are you, in truth, what you profess to be?" + +"I am, in truth, Amy's lover, your devoted servant, and a most unhappy +man, with but a little while to live. Believe this and pity me, +dearest Mademoiselle Helène." + +She did pity him, her eyes betrayed that, and her voice was very kind, +as she said,-- + +"Pardon my doubts. I trust you now, and wish with all my heart that +it was possible to make you happy. You know it is not, therefore I am +sure you will be wise and generous, and spare Amy further grief by +avoiding her for the little time we stay. Promise me this, Casimer." + +"I may see her if I am dumb? Do not deny me this. I will not speak, +but I must look at my little and dear angel when she is near." + +He pleaded so ardently with lips and hands, and eager eyes, that Helen +could not deny him, and when he had poured out his thanks she left +him, feeling very tender toward the unhappy young lover, whose passion +was so hopeless, yet so warm. + +Amy was at breakfast in her room, sobbing and sipping, moaning and +munching, for, though her grief was great, her appetite was good, and +she was in no mood to see anything comical in cracking eggshells +while she bewailed her broken heart, or in eating honey in the act of +lamenting the bitterness of her fate. + +Casimer would have become desperate had he seen her in the little blue +wrapper, with her bright hair loose on her shoulders, and her +pretty face wet with tears, as she dropped her spoon to seize his +flowers,--three dewy roses, one a bud, one half and the other fully +blown, making a fragrant record and avowal of the love which she must +renounce. + +"Oh, my dear boy! how can I give him up, when he is so fond, and I am +all he has? Helen, uncle must let me write or go to mamma. She shall +decide; I can't; and no one else has a right to part us," sobbed Amy, +over her roses. + +"Casimer will not marry, dear; he is too generous to ask such a +sacrifice," began Helen, but Amy cried indignantly,-- + +"It is no sacrifice; I'm rich. What do I care for his poverty?" + +"His religion!" hinted Helen, anxiously. + +"It need not part us; we can believe what we will. He is good; why +mind whether he is Catholic or Protestant?" + +"But a Pole, Amy, so different in tastes, habits, character, and +beliefs. It is a great risk to marry a foreigner; races are so +unlike." + +"I don't care if he is a Tartar, a Calmuck, or any of the other wild +tribes; I love him, he loves me, and no one need object if I don't." + +"But, dear, the great and sad objection still remains--his health. He +just said he had but a little while to live." + +Amy's angry eyes grew dim, but she answered, with soft earnestness,-- + +"So much the more need of me to make that little while happy. Think +how much he has suffered and done for others; surely I may do +something for him. Oh, Nell, can I let him die alone and in exile, +when I have both heart and home to give him?" + +Helen could say no more; she kissed and comforted the faithful little +soul, feeling all the while such sympathy and tenderness that she +wondered at herself, for with this interest in the love of another +came a sad sense of loneliness, as if she was denied the sweet +experience that every woman longs to know. + +Amy never could remain long under a cloud, and seeing Helen's tears, +began to cheer both her cousin and herself. + +"Hoffman said he might live with care, don't you remember? and Hoffman +knows the case better than we. Let us ask him if Casimer is worse. You +do it; I can't without betraying myself." + +"I will," and Helen felt grateful for any pretext to address a +friendly word to Karl, who had looked sad of late, and had been less +with them since the major became absorbed in Mrs. Cumberland. + +Leaving Amy to compose herself, Helen went away to find Hoffman. It +was never difficult, for he seemed to divine her wishes and appear +uncalled the moment he was wanted. Hardly had she reached her favorite +nook in the garden when he approached with letters, and asked with +respectful anxiety, as she glanced at and threw them by with an +impatient sigh,-- + +"Has mademoiselle any orders? Will the ladies drive, sail, or make a +little expedition? It is fine, and mademoiselle looks as if the air +would refresh her. Pardon that I make the suggestion." + +"No, Hoffman, I don't like the air of this place, and intend to leave +as soon as possible." And Helen knit her delicate dark brows with +an expression of great determination. "Switzerland is the refuge of +political exiles, and I hate plots and disguises; I feel oppressed by +some mystery, and mean to solve or break away from it at once." + +She stopped abruptly, longing to ask his help, yet withheld by a +sudden sense of shyness in approaching the subject, though she had +decided to speak to Karl of the Pole. + +"Can I serve you, mademoiselle? If so, pray command me," he said, +eagerly, coming a step nearer. + +"You can, and I intend to ask your advice, for there can be nothing +amiss in doing so, since you are a friend of Casimer's." + +"I am both friend and confidant, mademoiselle," he answered, as +if anxious to let her understand that he knew all, without the +embarrassment of words. She looked up quickly, relieved, yet troubled. + +"He has told you, then?" + +"Everything, mademoiselle. Pardon me if this afflicts you; I am his +only friend here, and the poor lad sorely needed comfort." + +"He did. I am not annoyed; I am glad, for I know you will sustain him. +Now I may speak freely, and be equally frank. Please tell me if he is +indeed fatally ill?" + +"It was thought so some months ago; now I hope. Happiness cures many +ills, and since he has loved, he has improved. I always thought care +would save him; he is worth it." + +Hoffman paused, as if fearful of venturing too far; but Helen seemed +to confide freely in him, and said, softly,-- + +"Ah, if it were only wise to let him be happy. It is so bitter to deny +love." + +"God knows it is!" + +The exclamation broke from Hoffman as if an irrepressible impulse +wrung it from him. + +Helen started, and for a moment neither spoke. She collected herself +soonest, and without turning, said, quietly,-- + +"I have been troubled by a strong impression that Casimer is not what +he seems. Till he denied it on his honor I believed him to be Baron +Palsdorf. Did he speak the truth when he said he was not?" + +"Yes, mademoiselle." + +"Then, Casimer Teblinski is his real name?" + +No answer. + +She turned sharply, and added,-- + +"For my cousin's sake, I must know the truth. Several curious +coincidences make me strongly suspect that he is passing under an +assumed name." + +Not a word said Hoffman, but looked on the ground, as motionless and +expressionless as a statue. + +Helen lost patience, and in order to show how much she had discovered, +rapidly told the story of the gloves, ring, handkerchief, prayer-book +and collar, omitting all hint of the girlish romance they had woven +about these things. + +As she ended, Hoffman looked up with a curious expression, in which +confusion, amusement, admiration and annoyance seemed to contend. + +"Mademoiselle," he said, gravely, "I am about to prove to you that +I feel honored by the confidence you place in me. I cannot break my +word, but I will confess to you that Casimer does _not_ bear his own +name." + +"I knew it!" said Helen, with a flash of triumph in her eyes. "He _is_ +the baron, and no Pole. You Germans love masquerades and jokes. This +is one, but I must spoil it before it is played out." + +"Pardon; mademoiselle is keen, but in this she is mistaken. Casimer is +_not_ the baron; he did fight for Poland, and his name is known and +honored there. Of this I solemnly assure you." + +She stood up and looked him straight in the face. He met her eye to +eye, and never wavered till her own fell. + +She mused a few minutes, entirely forgetful of herself in her +eagerness to solve the mystery. + +Hoffman stood so near that her dress touched him, and the wind blew +her scarf against his hand; and as she thought he watched her while +his eyes kindled, his color rose, and once he opened his lips to +speak, but she moved at the instant, and exclaimed,-- + +"I have it!" + +"Now for it," he muttered, as if preparing for some new surprise or +attack. + +"When uncle used to talk about the Polish revolution, there was, I +remember a gallant young Pole who did something brave. The name +just flashed on me, and it clears up my doubts. Stanislas +Prakora--'S.P.'--and Casimer is the man." + +Helen spoke with an eager, bright face, as if sure of the truth now; +but, to her surprise, Hoffman laughed, a short, irrepressible laugh, +full of hearty but brief merriment. He sobered in a breath, and with +an entire change of countenance said, in an embarrassed tone,-- + +"Pardon my rudeness; mademoiselle's acuteness threw me off my guard. +I can say nothing till released from my promise; but mademoiselle may +rest assured that Casimer Teblinski is as good and brave a man as +Stanislas Prakora." + +Helen's eyes sparkled, for in this reluctant reply she read +confirmation of her suspicion, and thought that Amy would rejoice to +learn that her lover was a hero. + +"You _are_ exiles, but still hope and plot, and never relinquish your +hearts' desire?" + +"Never, mademoiselle!" + +"You are in danger?" + +"In daily peril of losing all we most love and long for," answered +Karl, with such passion that Helen found patriotism a lovely and +inspiring thing. + +"You have enemies?" she asked, unable to control her interest, and +feeling the charm of these confidences. + +"Alas! yes," was the mournful reply, as Karl dropped his eyes to hide +the curious expression of mirth which he could not banish from them. + +"Can you not conquer them, or escape the danger they place you in?" + +"We hope to conquer, we cannot escape." + +"This accounts for your disguise and Casimer's false name?" + +"Yes. We beg that mademoiselle will pardon us the anxiety and +perplexity we have caused her, and hope that a time will soon arrive +when we may be ourselves. I fear the romantic interest with which +the ladies have honored us will be much lessened, but we shall still +remain their most humble and devoted servants." + +Something in his tone nettled Helen, and she said sharply,-- + +"All this may be amusing to you, but it spoils my confidence in others +to know they wear masks. Is your name also false?" + +"I am Karl Hoffman, as surely as the sun shines, mademoiselle. Do not +wound me by a doubt," he said, eagerly. + +"And nothing more?" + +She smiled as she spoke, and glanced at his darkened skin with a shake +of the head. + +"I dare not answer that." + +"No matter; I hate titles, and value people for their own worth, not +for their rank." + +Helen spoke impulsively, and, as if carried away by her words and +manner, Hoffman caught her hand and pressed his lips to it ardently, +dropped it, and was gone, as if fearing to trust himself a moment +longer. + +Helen stood where he left her, thinking, with a shy glance from her +hand to the spot where he had stood,-- + +"It _is_ pleasant to have one's hand kissed, as Amy said. Poor Karl, +his fate is almost as hard as Casimer's." + +Some subtile power seemed to make the four young people shun one +another carefully, though all longed to be together. The major +appeared to share the secret disquiet that made the rest roam +listlessly about, till little Roserl came to invite them to a _fête_ +in honor of the vintage. All were glad to go, hoping in the novelty +and excitement to recover their composure. + +The vineyard sloped up from the chateau, and on the hillside was a +small plateau of level sward, shadowed by a venerable oak now hung +with garlands, while underneath danced the chateau servants with their +families, to the music of a pipe played by little Friedel. As the +gentlefolk approached, the revel stopped, but the major, who was in an +antic mood and disposed to be gracious, bade Friedel play on, and as +Mrs. Cumberland refused his hand with a glance at her weeds, the major +turned to the Count's buxom housekeeper, and besought her to waltz +with him. She assented, and away they went as nimbly as the best. Amy +laughed, but stopped to blush, as Casimer came up with an imploring +glance, and whispered,-- + +"Is it possible that I may enjoy one divine waltz with you before I +go?" + +Amy gave him her hand with a glad assent, and Helen was left alone. +Every one was dancing but herself and Hoffman, who stood near by, +apparently unconscious of the fact. He glanced covertly at her, and +saw that she was beating time with foot and hand, that her eyes shone, +her lips smiled. He seemed to take courage at this, for, walking +straight up to her, he said, as coolly as if a crown-prince,-- + +"Mademoiselle, may I have the honor?" + +A flash of surprise passed over her face, but there was no anger, +pride, or hesitation in her manner, as she leaned toward him with a +quiet "Thanks, monsieur." + +A look of triumph was in his eyes as he swept her away to dance, as +she had never danced before, for a German waltz is full of life and +spirit, wonderfully captivating to English girls, and German gentlemen +make it a memorable experience when they please. As they circled round +the rustic ball-room, Hoffman never took his eyes off Helen's, and, +as if fascinated, she looked up at him, half conscious that he was +reading her heart as she read his. He said not a word, but his +face grew very tender, very beautiful in her sight, as she forgot +everything except that he had saved her life and she loved him. When +they paused, she was breathless and pale; he also; and seating her he +went away to bring her a glass of wine. As her dizzy eyes grew clear, +she saw a little case at her feet, and taking it up, opened it. A worn +paper, containing some faded forget-me-nots and these words, fell +out,-- + +"Gathered where Helen sat on the night of August 10th." + +There was just time to restore its contents to the case, when Hoffman +returned, saw it, and looked intensely annoyed as he asked, quickly,-- + +"Did you read the name on it?" + +"I saw only the flowers;" and Helen colored beautifully as she spoke. + +"And read _them_?" he asked, with a look she could not meet. + +She was spared an answer, for just then a lad came up, saying, as he +offered a note,-- + +"Monsieur Hoffman, madame, at the hotel, sends you this, and begs you +to come at once." + +As he impatiently opened it, the wind blew the paper into Helen's lap. +She restored it, and in the act, her quick eye caught the signature, +"Thine ever, Ludmilla." + +A slight shadow passed over her face, leaving it very cold and quiet. +Hoffman saw the change, and smiled, as if well pleased, but assuming +suddenly his usual manner, said deferentially,-- + +"Will mademoiselle permit me to visit my friend for an hour?--she is +expecting me." + +"Go, then, we do not need you," was the brief reply, in a careless +tone, as if his absence was a thing of no interest to any one. + +"Thanks; I shall not be long away;" and giving her a glance that made +her turn scarlet with anger at its undisguised admiration, he walked +away, humming gayly to himself Goethe's lines,-- + + "Maiden's heart and city's wall + Were made to yield, were made to fall; + When we've held them each their day, + Soldier-like we march away." + + +IX + +"S.P." AND THE BARON + + +Dinner was over, and the _salon_ deserted by all but the two young +ladies, who sat apart, apparently absorbed in novels, while each +was privately longing for somebody to come, and with the charming +inconsistency of the fair sex, planning to fly if certain somebodies +_did_ appear. + +Steps approached; both buried themselves in their books; both held +their breath and felt their hearts flutter as they never had done +before at the step of mortal man. The door opened; neither looked up, +yet each was conscious of mingled disappointment and relief when the +major said, in a grave tone, "Girls, I've something to tell you." + +"We know what it is, sir," returned Helen, coolly. + +"I beg your pardon, but you don't, my dear, as I will prove in five +minutes, if you will give me your attention." + +The major looked as if braced up to some momentous undertaking; and +planting himself before the two young ladies, dashed bravely into the +subject. + +"Girls, I've played a bold game, but I've won it, and will take the +consequences." + +"They will fall heaviest on you, uncle," said Helen, thinking he was +about to declare his love for the widow. + +The major laughed, shrugged his shoulders, and answered, stoutly,-- + +"I'll bear them; but you are quite wrong, my dear, in your surmises, +as you will soon see. Helen is my ward, and accountable to me alone. +Amy's mother gave her into my charge, and won't reproach me for +anything that has passed when I explain matters. As to the lads they +must take care of themselves." + +Suddenly both girls colored, fluttered, and became intensely +interested. The major's eyes twinkled as he assumed a perfectly +impassive expression, and rapidly delivered himself of the following +thunderbolt,-- + +"Girls, you have been deceived, and the young men you love are +impostors." + +"I thought so," muttered Helen, grimly. + +"Oh, uncle, don't, don't say that!" cried Amy, despairingly. + +"It's true, my dears; and the worst of it is, I knew the truth all the +time. Now, don't have hysterics, but listen and enjoy the joke as I +do. At Coblentz, when you sat in the balcony, two young men overheard +Amy sigh for adventures, and Helen advise making a romance out of the +gloves one of the lads had dropped. They had seen you by day; both +admired you, and being idle, gay young fellows, they resolved +to devote their vacation to gratifying your wishes and enjoying +themselves. We met at the Fortress; I knew one of them, and liked the +other immensely; so when they confided their scheme to me I agreed +to help them carry it out, as I had perfect confidence in both, and +thought a little adventure or two would do you good." + +"Uncle, you were mad," said Helen; and Amy added, tragically,-- + +"You don't know what trouble has come of it." + +"Perhaps I was; that remains to be proved. I do know everything, and +fail to see any trouble, so don't cry, little girl," briskly replied +the inexplicable major. "Well, we had a merry time planning our prank. +One of the lads insisted on playing courier, though I objected. He'd +done it before, liked the part, and would have his way. The other +couldn't decide, being younger and more in love; so we left him to +come into the comedy when he was ready. Karl did capitally, as you +will allow; and I am much attached to him, for in all respects he has +been true to his word. He began at Coblentz; the other, after doing +the mysterious at Heidelberg, appeared as an exile, and made quick +work with the prejudices of my well-beloved nieces--hey, Amy?" + +"Go on; who are they?" cried both girls, breathlessly. + +"Wait a bit; I'm not bound to expose the poor fellows to your scorn +and anger. No; if you are going to be high and haughty, to forget +their love, refuse to forgive their frolic, and rend their hearts with +reproaches, better let them remain unknown." + +"No, no; we will forget and forgive, only speak!" was the command of +both. + +"You promise to be lenient and mild, to let them confess their +motives, and to award a gentle penance for their sins?" + +"Yes, we promise!" + +"Then, come in, my lads, and plead for your lives." + +As he spoke the major threw open the door, and two gentlemen entered +the room--one, slight and dark, with brilliant black eyes; the other +tall and large, with blond hair and beard. Angry, bewildered, and +shame-stricken as they were, feminine curiosity overpowered all other +feelings for the moment, and the girls sat looking at the culprits +with eager eyes, full of instant recognition; for though the disguise +was off, and neither had seen them in their true characters but once, +they felt no doubt, and involuntarily exclaimed,-- + +"Karl!" + +"Casimer." + +"No, young ladies; the courier and exile are defunct, and from their +ashes rise Baron Sigismund Palsdorf, my friend, and Sidney Power, my +nephew. I give you one hour to settle the matter; then I shall return +to bestow my blessing or to banish these scapegraces forever." + +And, having fired his last shot, the major prudently retreated, +without waiting to see its effect. + +It was tremendous, for it carried confusion into the fair enemy's +camp; and gave the besiegers a momentary advantage of which they were +not slow to avail themselves. + +For a moment the four remained mute and motionless: then Amy, like all +timid things, took refuge in flight, and Sidney followed her into the +garden, glad to see the allies separated. Helen, with the courage of +her nature, tried to face and repulse the foe; but love was stronger +than pride, maiden shame overcame anger, and, finding it vain to meet +and bear down the steady, tender glance of the blue eyes fixed upon +her, she dropped her head into her hands and sat before him, like one +conquered but too proud to cry "Quarter." Her lover watched her till +she hid her face, then drew near, knelt down before her, and said, +with an undertone of deep feeling below the mirthful malice of his +words,-- + +"Mademoiselle, pardon me that I am a foolish baron, and dare to offer +you the title that you hate. I have served you faithfully for a month, +and, presumptuous as it is, I ask to be allowed to serve you all my +life. Helen, say you forgive the deceit for love's sake." + +"No; you are false and forsworn. How can I believe that anything is +true?" + +And Helen drew away the hand of which he had taken possession. + +"Heart's dearest, you trusted me in spite of my disguise; trust +me still, and I will prove that I am neither false nor forsworn. +Catechise me, and see if I was not true in spite of all my seeming +deception." + +"You said your name was Karl Hoffman," began Helen, glad to gain a +little time to calm herself before the momentous question came. + +"It is; I have many, and my family choose to call me Sigismund," was +the laughing answer. + +"I'll never call you so; you shall be Karl, the courier, all your life +to me," cried Helen, still unable to meet the ardent eyes before her. + +"Good; I like that well; for it assures me that all my life I shall be +something to you, my heart. What next?" + +"When I asked if you were the baron, you denied it." + +"Pardon! I simply said my name was Hoffman. You did not ask me point +blank if I was the baron; had you done so, I think I should have +confessed all, for it was very hard to restrain myself this morning." + +"No, not yet; I have more questions;" and Helen warned him away, as it +became evident that he no longer considered restraint necessary. + +"Who is Ludmilla?" she said, sharply. + +"My faith, that is superb!" exclaimed the baron, with a triumphant +smile at her betrayal of jealousy. "How if she is a former love?" he +asked, with a sly look at her changing face. + +"It would cause me no surprise; I am prepared for anything." + +"How if she is my dearest sister, for whom I sent, that she might +welcome you and bring the greetings of my parents to their new +daughter?" + +"Is it, indeed, so?" + +And Helen's eyes dimmed as the thought of parents, home and love +filled her heart with tenderest gratitude, for she had long been an +orphan. + +"_Leibchen_, it is true; to-morrow you shall see how dear you already +are to them, for I write often and they wait eagerly to receive you." + +Helen felt herself going very fast, and made an effort to harden her +heart, lest too easy victory should reward this audacious lover. + +"I may not go; I also have friends, and in England we are not won in +this wild way. I will yet prove you false; it will console me for +being so duped if I can call you traitor. You said Casimer had fought +in Poland." + +"Crudest of women, he did, but under his own name, Sidney Power." + +"Then, he was not the brave Stanislas?--and there is no charming +Casimer?" + +"Yes, there are both,--his and my friends, in Paris; true Poles, and +when we go there you shall see them." + +"But his illness was a ruse?" + +"No; he was wounded in the war and has been ill since. Not of a fatal +malady, I own; his cough misled you, and _he_ has no scruples in +fabling to any extent. I am not to bear the burden of his sins." + +"Then, the romances he told us about your charity, your virtues, +and--your love of liberty were false?" said Helen, with a keen glance, +for these tales had done much to interest her in the unknown baron. + +Sudden color rose to his forehead, and for the first time his eyes +fell before hers,--not in shame, but with a modest man's annoyance at +hearing himself praised. + +"Sidney is enthusiastic in his friendship, and speaks too well for me. +The facts are true, but he doubtless glorified the simplest by his +way of telling it. Will you forgive my follies, and believe me when I +promise to play and duel no more?" + +"Yes." + +She yielded her hand now, and her eyes were full of happiness, yet she +added, wistfully,-- + +"And the betrothed, your cousin, Minna,--is she, in truth, not dear to +you?" + +"Very dear, but less so than another; for I could not learn of her in +years what I learned in a day when I met you. Helen, this was begun in +jest,--it ends in solemn earnest, for I love my liberty, and I have +lost it, utterly and forever. Yet I am glad; look in my face and tell +me you believe it." + +He spoke now as seriously as fervently, and with no shadow on her own, +Helen brushed back the blond hair and looked into her lover's face. +Truth, tenderness, power, and candor were written there in characters +that could not lie; and with her heart upon her lips, she answered, as +he drew her close,-- + +"I do believe, do love you, Sigismund!" Meanwhile another scene was +passing in the garden. Sidney, presuming upon his cousinship, took +possession of Amy, bidding her "strike but hear him." Of course she +listened with the usual accompaniment of tears and smiles, reproaches +and exclamations, varied by cruel exultations and coquettish commands +to go away and never dare approach her again. + +"_Ma drogha_, listen and be appeased. Years ago you and I played +together as babies, and our fond mammas vowed we should one day mate. +When I was a youth of fourteen and you a mite of seven I went away to +India with my father, and at our parting promised to come back and +marry you. Being in a fret because you couldn't go also, you haughtily +declined the honor, and when I offered a farewell kiss, struck me with +this very little hand. Do you remember it?" + +"Not I. Too young for such nonsense." + +"I do, and I also remember that in my boyish way I resolved to keep my +word sooner or later, and I've done it." + +"We shall see, sir," cried Amy, strongly tempted to repeat her part of +the childish scene as well as her cousin, but her hand was not free, +and he got the kiss without the blow. + +"For eleven years we never met. You forgot me, and 'Cousin Sidney' +remained an empty name. I was in India till four years ago; since then +I've been flying about Germany and fighting in Poland, where I nearly +got my quietus." + +"My dear boy, were you wounded?" + +"Bless you, yes; and very proud of it I am. I'll show you my scars +some day; but never mind that now. A while ago I went to England, +seized with a sudden desire to find my wife." + +"I admire your patience in waiting; so flattering to me, you know," +was the sharp answer. + +"It looks like neglect, I confess; but I'd heard reports of your +flirtations, and twice of your being engaged, so I kept away till my +work was done. Was it true?" + +"I never flirt, Sidney, and I was only engaged a little bit once or +twice. I didn't like it, and never mean to do so any more." + +"I shall see that you don't flirt; but you are very much engaged now, +so put on your ring and make no romances about any 'S.P.' but myself." + +"I shall wait till you clear your character; I'm not going to care for +a deceitful impostor. What made you think of this prank?" + +"You did." + +"I? How?" + +"When in England I saw your picture, though you were many a mile away, +and fell in love with it. Your mother told me much about you, and I +saw she would not frown upon my suit. I begged her not to tell you I +had come, but let me find you and make myself known when I liked. +You were in Switzerland, and I went after you. At Coblentz I met +Sigismund, and told him my case; he is full of romance, and when we +overheard you in the balcony we were glad of the hint. Sigismund was +with me when you came, and admired Helen immensely, so he was wild to +have a part in the frolic. I let him begin, and followed you unseen to +Heidelberg, meaning to personate an artist. Meeting you at the castle, +I made a good beginning with the vaults and the ring, and meant to +follow it up by acting the baron, you were so bent on finding him, but +Sigismund forbade it. Turning over a trunk of things left there the +year before, I came upon my old Polish uniform, and decided to be a +Thaddeus." + +"How well you did it! Wasn't it hard to act all the time?" asked Amy, +wonderingly. + +"Very hard with Helen, she is so keen, but not a bit so with you, for +you are such a confiding soul any one could cheat you. I've betrayed +myself a dozen times, and you never saw it. Ah, it was capital fun to +play the forlorn exile, study English, and flirt with my cousin." + +"It was very base. I should think you'd be devoured with remorse. +Aren't you sorry?" + +"For one thing. I cropped my head lest you should know me. I was proud +of my curls, but I sacrificed them all to you." + +"Peacock! Did you think that one glimpse of your black eyes and fine +hair would make such an impression that I should recognize you again?" + +"I did, and for that reason disfigured my head, put on a mustache, and +assumed hideous spectacles. Did you never suspect my disguise, Amy?" + +"No. Helen used to say that she felt something was wrong, but I never +did till the other night." + +"Didn't I do that well? I give you my word it was all done on the spur +of the minute. I meant to speak soon, but had not decided how, when +you came out so sweetly with that confounded old cloak, of which I'd +no more need than an African has of a blanket. Then a scene I'd read +in a novel came into my head, and I just repeated it _con amore_. Was +I very pathetic and tragical. Amy?" + +"I thought so then. It strikes me as ridiculous now, and I can't help +feeling sorry that I wasted so much pity on a man who--" + +"Loves you with all his heart and soul. Did you cry and grieve over +me, dear little tender thing? and do you think now that I am a +heartless fellow, bent only on amusing myself at the expense of +others? It's not so; and you shall see how true and good and steady I +can be when I have any one to love and care for me. I've been alone so +long it's new and beautiful to be petted, confided in, and looked up +to by an angel like you." + +He was in earnest now; she felt it, and her anger melted away like dew +before the sun. + +"Poor boy! You will go home with us now, and let us take care of you +in quiet England. You'll play no more pranks, but go soberly to work +and do something that shall make me proud to be your cousin, won't +you?" + +"If you'll change 'cousin' to 'wife' I'll be and do whatever you +please. Amy, when I was a poor, dying, Catholic foreigner you loved me +and would have married me in spite of everything. Now that I'm your +well, rich, Protestant cousin, who adores you as that Pole never +could, you turn cold and cruel. Is it because the romance is gone, or +because your love was only a girl's fancy, after all?" + +"You deceived me and I can't forget it; but I'll try," was the soft +answer to his reproaches. + +"Are you disappointed that I'm not a baron?" + +"A little bit." + +"Shall I be a count? They gave me a title in Poland, a barren honor, +but all they had to offer, poor souls, in return for a little blood. +Will you be Countess Zytomar and get laughed at for your pains, or +plain Mrs. Power, with a good old English name?" + +"Neither, thank you; it's only a girlish fancy, which will soon be +forgotten. Does the baron love Helen?" asked Amy, abruptly. + +"Desperately, and she?" + +"I think he will be happy; she is not one to make confidantes, but I +know by her tenderness with me, her sadness lately, and something in +her way of brightening when he comes, that she thinks much of him and +loves Karl Hoffman. How it will be with the baron I cannot say." + +"No fear of him; he wins his way everywhere. I wish I were as +fortunate;" and the gay young gentleman heaved an artful sigh and +coughed the cough that always brought such pity to the girl's soft +eyes. + +She glanced at him as he leaned pensively on the low wall, looking +down into the lake, with the level rays of sunshine on his comely face +and figure. Something softer than pity stole into her eye, as she +said, anxiously,-- + +"You are not really ill, Sidney?" + +"I have been, and still need care, else I may have a relapse," was the +reply of this treacherous youth, whose constitution was as sound as a +bell. + +Amy clasped her hands, as if in a transport of gratitude, exclaiming, +fervently,-- + +"What a relief it is to know that you are not doomed to--" + +She paused with a shiver, as if the word were too hard to utter, and +Sidney turned to her with a beaming face, which changed to one of +mingled pain and anger, as she added, with a wicked glance,-- + +"Wear spectacles." + +"Amy, you've got no heart!" he cried, in a tone that banished her last +doubt of his love and made her whisper tenderly, as she clung to his +arm,-- + +"No, dear; I've given it all to you." + +Punctual to the minute, Major Erskine marched into the _salon_, with +Mrs. Cumberland on his arm, exclaiming, as he eyed the four young +people together again,-- + +"Now, ladies, is it to be 'Paradise Lost' or 'Regained' for the +prisoners at the bar?" + +At this point the astonished gentleman found himself taken possession +of by four excited individuals, for the girls embraced and kissed him, +the young men wrung his hand and thanked him, and all seemed bent +on assuring him that they were intensely happy, grateful and +affectionate. + +From this assault he emerged flushed and breathless, but beaming with +satisfaction, and saying paternally,-- + +"Bless you, my children, bless you. I hoped and worked for this, and +to prove how well I practise what I preach, let me present to you--my +wife." + +As he drew forward the plump widow with a face full of smiles +and tears, a second rush was made, and congratulations, salutes, +exclamations and embraces were indulged in to every one's +satisfaction. + +As the excitement subsided the major said, simply,-- + +"We were married yesterday at Montreaux. Let me hope that you will +prove as faithful as I have been, as happy as I am, as blest as I +shall be. I loved this lady in my youth, have waited many years, and +am rewarded at last, for love never comes too late." + +The falter in his cheery voice, the dimness of his eyes, the smile on +his lips, and the gesture with which he returned the pressure of the +hand upon his arm, told the little romance of the good major's life +more eloquently than pages of fine writing, and touched the hearts of +those who loved him. + +"I have been faithful for eleven years. Give me my reward soon, won't +you, dear?" whispered Sidney. + +"Don't marry me to-morrow, and if mamma is willing I'll think about it +by and by," answered Amy. + +"It is beautiful! let us go and do likewise," said Sigismund to his +betrothed. + +But Helen, anxious to turn the thoughts of all from emotions too deep +for words, drew from her pocket a small pearl-colored object, which +she gave to Amy with mock solemnity, as she said, turning to lay her +hand again in her lover's,-- + +"Amy, our search is over. _You_ may keep the gloves; _I_ have the +baron." + + + + +MY RED CAP + +"He who serves well need not fear to ask his wages." + + +I + + +It was under a blue cap that I first saw the honest face of Joe +Collins. In the third year of the late war a Maine regiment was +passing through Boston, on its way to Washington. The Common was all +alive with troops and the spectators who clustered round them to say +God-speed, as the brave fellows marched away to meet danger and death +for our sakes. + +Every one was eager to do something; and, as the men stood at ease, +the people mingled freely with them, offering gifts, hearty grips of +the hand, and hopeful prophecies of victory in the end. Irresistibly +attracted, my boy Tom and I drew near, and soon, becoming excited by +the scene, ravaged the fruit-stands in our neighborhood for tokens of +our regard, mingling candy and congratulations, peanuts and prayers, +apples and applause, in one enthusiastic jumble. + +While Tom was off on his third raid, my attention was attracted by +a man who stood a little apart, looking as if his thoughts were far +away. All the men were fine, stalwart fellows, as Maine men usually +are; but this one over-topped his comrades, standing straight and +tall as a Norway pine, with a face full of the mingled shrewdness, +sobriety, and self-possession of the typical New Englander. I liked +the look of him; and, seeing that he seemed solitary, even in a crowd, +I offered him my last apple with a word of interest. The keen blue +eyes met mine gratefully, and the apple began to vanish in vigorous +bites as we talked; for no one thought of ceremony at such a time. + +"Where are you from?" + +"Woolidge, ma'am." + +"Are you glad to go?" + +"Wal, there's two sides to that question. I calk'late to do my duty, +and do it hearty: but it _is_ rough on a feller leavin' his folks, for +good, maybe." + +There was a sudden huskiness in the man's voice that was not +apple-skins, though he tried to make believe that it was. I knew a +word about home would comfort him, so I went on with my questions. + +"It is very hard. Do you leave a family?" + +"My old mother, a sick brother,--and Lucindy." + +The last word was uttered in a tone of intense regret, and his brown +cheek reddened as he added hastily, to hide some embarrassment.-- + +"You see, Jim went last year, and got pretty well used up; so I felt +as if I'd ought to take my turn now. Mother was a regular old hero +about it and I dropped everything, and come off. Lucindy didn't think +it was my duty; and that made it awful hard, I tell you." + +"Wives are less patriotic than mothers," I began; but he would not +hear Lucindy blamed, and said quickly,-- + +"She ain't my wife yet, but we calk'lated to be married in a month +or so; and it was wus for her than for me, women lot so on not being +disappointed. I _couldn't_ shirk, and here I be. When I git to work, I +shall be all right: the first wrench is the tryin' part." + +Here he straightened his broad shoulders, and turned his face toward +the flags fluttering far in front, as if no backward look should +betray the longing of his heart for mother, home, and wife. I liked +that little glimpse of character; and when Tom returned with empty +hands, reporting that every stall was exhausted, I told him to find +out what the man would like best, then run across the street and get +it. + +"I know without asking. Give us your purse, and I'll make him as happy +as a king," said the boy, laughing, as he looked up admiringly at +our tall friend, who looked down on him with an elder-brotherly air +pleasant to see. While Tom was gone, I found out Joe's name and +business, promised to write and tell his mother how finely the +regiment went off, and was just expressing a hope that we might meet +again, for I too was going to the war as nurse, when the order to +"Fall in!" came rolling down the ranks, and the talk was over. Fearing +Tom would miss our man in the confusion, I kept my eye on him till the +boy came rushing up with a packet of tobacco in one hand and a good +supply of cigars in the other. Not a romantic offering, certainly, but +a very acceptable one, as Joe's face proved, as we scrambled these +treasures into his pockets, all laughing at the flurry, while less +fortunate comrades helped us, with an eye to a share of these fragrant +luxuries by and by. There was just time for this, a hearty shake of +the big hand, and a grateful "Good-by, ma'am;" then the word was +given, and they were off. Bent on seeing the last of them, Tom and I +took a short cut, and came out on the wide street down which so many +troops marched that year; and, mounting some high steps, we watched +for our man, as we already called him. + +As the inspiring music, the grand tramp, drew near, the old thrill +went through the crowd, the old cheer broke out. But it was a +different scene now than in the first enthusiastic, hopeful days. +Young men and ardent boys filled the ranks then, brave by instinct, +burning with loyal zeal, and blissfully unconscious of all that lay +before them. Now the blue coats were worn by mature men, some gray, +all grave and resolute: husbands and fathers, with the memory of wives +and children tugging at their heart-strings; homes left desolate +behind them, and before them the grim certainty of danger, hardship, +and perhaps the lifelong helplessness worse than death. Little of the +glamour of romance about the war now: they saw it as it was, a long, +hard task; and here were the men to do it well. Even the lookers-on +were different now. Once all was wild enthusiasm and glad uproar; now +men's lips were set, and women's smileless as they cheered; fewer +handkerchiefs whitened the air, for wet eyes needed them; and sudden +lulls, almost solemn in their stillness, followed the acclamations +of the crowd. All watched with quickened breath and brave souls that +living wave, blue below, and bright with a steely glitter above, as +it flowed down the street and away to distant battle-fields already +stained with precious blood. + +"There he is! The outside man, and tallest of the lot. Give him a +cheer, auntie: he sees us, and remembers!" cried Tom, nearly tumbling +off his perch, as he waved his hat, and pointed out Joe Collins. + +Yes, there he was, looking up, with a smile on his brave brown face, +my little nosegay in his button-hole, a suspicious bulge in the pocket +close by, and doubtless a comfortable quid in his mouth, to cheer the +weary march. How like an old friend he looked, though we had only met +fifteen minutes ago; how glad we were to be there to smile back at +him, and send him on his way feeling that, even in a strange city, +there was some one to say, "God bless you, Joe!" We watched the +tallest blue cap till it vanished, and then went home in a glow of +patriotism,--Tom to long for his turn to come, I to sew vigorously on +the gray gown the new nurse burned to wear as soon as possible, and +both of us to think and speak often of poor Joe Collins and his +Lucindy. All this happened long ago; but it is well to recall those +stirring times,--to keep fresh the memory of sacrifices made for us by +men like these; to see to it that the debt we owe them is honestly, +gladly paid; and, while we decorate the graves of those who died, to +remember also those who still live to deserve our grateful care. + + +II + + +I never expected to see Joe again; but, six months later, we did meet +in a Washington hospital one winter's night. A train of ambulances had +left their sad freight at our door, and we were hurrying to get the +poor fellows into much needed beds, after a week of hunger, cold, and +unavoidable neglect. All forms of pain were in my ward that night, and +all borne with the pathetic patience which was a daily marvel to those +who saw it. + +Trying to bring order out of chaos, I was rushing up and down the +narrow aisle between the rows of rapidly filling beds, and, after +brushing several times against a pair of the largest and muddiest +boots I ever saw, I paused at last to inquire why they were impeding +the passageway. I found they belonged to a very tall man who seemed to +be already asleep or dead, so white and still and utterly worn out he +looked as he lay there, without a coat, a great patch on his forehead, +and the right arm rudely bundled up. Stooping to cover him, I saw that +he was unconscious, and, whipping out my brandy-bottle and salts, soon +brought him round, for it was only exhaustion. + +"Can you eat?" I asked, as he said, "Thanky, ma'am," after a long +draught of water and a dizzy stare. + +"Eat! I'm starvin'!" he answered, with such a ravenous glance at a +fat nurse who happened to be passing, that I trembled for her, and +hastened to take a bowl of soup from her tray. + +As I fed him, his gaunt, weather-beaten face had a familiar look; but +so many such faces had passed before me that winter, I did not recall +this one till the ward-master came to put up the cards with the +new-comers' names above their beds. My man seemed absorbed in his +food; but I naturally glanced at the card, and there was the name +"Joseph Collins" to give me an additional interest in my new patient. + +"Why, Joe! is it really you?" I exclaimed, pouring the last spoonful +of soup down his throat so hastily that I choked him. + +"All that's left of me. Wal, ain't this luck, now?" gasped Joe, as +gratefully as if that hospital-cot was a bed of roses. + +"What is the matter? A wound in the head and arm?" I asked, feeling +sure that no slight affliction had brought Joe there. + +"Right arm gone. Shot off as slick as a whistle. I tell you, it's a +sing'lar kind of a feelin' to see a piece of your own body go flyin' +away, with no prospect of ever coming back again," said Joe, trying to +make light of one of the greatest misfortunes a man can suffer. + +"That is bad, but it might have been worse. Keep up your spirits, Joe; +and we will soon have you fitted out with a new arm almost as good as +new." + +"I guess it won't do much lumberin', so that trade is done for. I +s'pose there's things left-handed fellers can do, and I must learn 'em +as soon as possible, since my fightin' days are over," and Joe looked +at his one arm with a sigh that was almost a groan, helplessness is +such a trial to a manly man,--and he was eminently so. + +"What can I do to comfort you most, Joe? I'll send my good Ben to help +you to bed, and will be here myself when the surgeon goes his rounds. +Is there anything else that would make you more easy?" + +"If you could just drop a line to mother to let her know I'm alive, it +would be a sight of comfort to both of us. I guess I'm in for a long +spell of hospital, and I'd lay easier if I knew mother and Lucindy +warn't frettin' about me." + +He must have been suffering terribly, but he thought of the women who +loved him before himself, and, busy as I was, I snatched a moment to +send a few words of hope to the old mother. Then I left him "layin' +easy," though the prospect of some months of wearing pain would have +daunted most men. If I had needed anything to increase my regard for +Joe, it would have been the courage with which he bore a very bad +quarter of an hour with the surgeons; for his arm was in a dangerous +state, the wound in the head feverish for want of care; and a heavy +cold on the lungs suggested pneumonia as an added trial to his list of +ills. + +"He will have a hard time of it, but I think he will pull through, +as he is a temperate fellow, with a splendid constitution," was the +doctor's verdict, as he left us for the next man, who was past help, +with a bullet through his lungs. + +"I don'no as I hanker to live, and be a burden. If Jim was able to do +for mother, I feel as if I wouldn't mind steppin' out now I'm so fur +along. As he ain't, I s'pose I must brace up, and do the best I can," +said Joe, as I wiped the drops from his forehead, and tried to look as +if his prospect was a bright one. + +"You will have Lucindy to help you, you know; and that will make +things easier for all." + +"Think so? 'Pears to me I couldn't ask her to take care of three +invalids for my sake. She ain't no folks of her own, nor much means, +and ought to marry a man who can make things easy for her. Guess I'll +have to wait a spell longer before I say anything to Lucindy about +marryin' now;" and a look of resolute resignation settled on Joe's +haggard face as he gave up his dearest hope. + +"I think Lucindy will have something to say, if she is like most +women, and you will find the burdens much lighter, for sharing them +between you. Don't worry about that, but get well, and go home as soon +as you can." + +"All right, ma'am;" and Joe proved himself a good soldier by obeying +orders, and falling asleep like a tired child, as the first step +toward recovery. + +For two months I saw Joe daily, and learned to like him very much, he +was so honest, genuine, and kind-hearted. So did his mates, for he +made friends with them all by sharing such small luxuries as came to +him, for he was a favorite; and, better still, he made sunshine in +that sad place by the brave patience with which he bore his own +troubles, the cheerful consolation he always gave to others. A droll +fellow was Joe at times, for under his sobriety lay much humor; and I +soon discovered that a visit from him was more efficacious than other +cordials in cases of despondency and discontent. Roars of laughter +sometimes greeted me as I went into his ward, and Joe's jokes were +passed round as eagerly as the water-pitcher. + +Yet he had much to try him, not only in the ills that vexed his flesh, +but the cares that tried his spirit, and the future that lay before +him, full of anxieties and responsibilities which seemed so heavy now +when the strong right arm, that had cleared all obstacles away before, +was gone. The letters I wrote for him, and those he received, told +the little story very plainly; for he read them to me, and found much +comfort in talking over his affairs, as most men do when illness +makes them dependent on a woman. Jim was evidently sick and selfish. +Lucindy, to judge from the photograph cherished so tenderly under +Joe's pillow, was a pretty, weak sort of a girl, with little character +or courage to help poor Joe with his burdens. The old mother was very +like her son, and stood by him "like a hero," as he said, but was +evidently failing, and begged him to come home as soon as he was able, +that she might see him comfortably settled before she must leave him. +Her courage sustained his, and the longing to see her hastened his +departure as soon as it was safe to let him go; for Lucindy's letters +were always of a dismal sort, and made him anxious to put his shoulder +to the wheel. + +"She always set consider'ble by me, mother did, bein' the oldest; and +I wouldn't miss makin' her last days happy, not if it cost me all the +arms and legs I've got," said Joe, as he awkwardly struggled into the +big boots an hour after leave to go home was given him. + +It was pleasant to see his comrades gather round him with such hearty +adieus that his one hand must have tingled; to hear the good wishes +and the thanks called after him by pale creatures in their beds; and +to find tears in many eyes beside my own when he was gone, and nothing +was left of him but the empty cot, the old gray wrapper, and the name +upon the wall. + +I kept that card among my other relics, and hoped to meet Joe again +somewhere in the world. He sent me one or two letters, then I went +home; the war ended soon after, time passed, and the little story of +my Maine lumberman was laid away with many other experiences which +made that part of my life a very memorable one. + + +III + + +Some years later, as I looked out of my window one dull November day, +the only cheerful thing I saw was the red cap of a messenger who was +examining the slate that hung on a wall opposite my hotel. A tall man +with gray hair and beard, one arm, and a blue army-coat. I always +salute, figuratively at least, when I see that familiar blue, +especially if one sleeve of the coat is empty; so I watched the +messenger with interest as he trudged away on some new errand, wishing +he had a better day and a thicker pair of boots. He was an unusually +large, well-made man, and reminded me of a fine building going to +ruin before its time; for the broad shoulders were bent, there was a +stiffness about the long legs suggestive of wounds or rheumatism, and +the curly hair looked as if snow had fallen on it too soon. Sitting at +work in my window, I fell into the way of watching my Red Cap, as I +called him, with more interest than I did the fat doves on the roof +opposite, or the pert sparrows hopping in the mud below. I liked the +steady way in which he plodded on through fair weather or foul, as if +intent on doing well the one small service he had found to do. I liked +his cheerful whistle as he stood waiting for a job under the porch +of the public building where his slate hung, watching the luxurious +carriages roll by, and the well-to-do gentlemen who daily passed him +to their comfortable homes, with a steady, patient sort of face, as if +wondering at the inequalities of fortune, yet neither melancholy nor +morose over the small share of prosperity which had fallen to his lot. + +I often planned to give him a job, that I might see him nearer; but +I had few errands, and little Bob, the hall-boy, depended on doing +those: so the winter was nearly over before I found out that my Red +Cap was an old friend. + +A parcel came for me one day, and bidding the man wait for an answer, +I sat down to write it, while the messenger stood just inside the +door like a sentinel on duty. When I looked up to give my note and +directions, I found the man staring at me with a beaming yet bashful +face, as he nodded, saying heartily,-- + +"I mistrusted it was you, ma'am, soon's I see the name on the bundle, +and I guess I ain't wrong. It's a number of years sence we met, and +you don't remember Joe Collins as well as he does you, I reckon?" + +"Why, how you have changed! I've been seeing you every day all winter, +and never knew you," I said, shaking hands with my old patient, and +very glad to see him. + +"Nigh on to twenty years makes consid'able of a change in folks, +'specially if they have a pretty hard row to hoe." + +"Sit down and warm yourself while you tell me all about it; there is +no hurry for this answer, and I'll pay for your time." + +Joe laughed as if that was a good joke, and sat down as if the fire +was quite as welcome as the friend. + +"How are they all at home?" I asked, as he sat turning his cap round, +not quite knowing where to begin. + +"I haven't got any home nor any folks neither;" and the melancholy +words banished the brightness from his rough face like a cloud. +"Mother died soon after I got back. Suddin', but she was ready, and I +was there, so she was happy. Jim lived a number of years, and was a +sight of care, poor feller; but we managed to rub along, though we had +to sell the farm: for I couldn't do much with one arm, and doctor's +bills right along stiddy take a heap of money. He was as comfortable +as he could be; and, when he was gone, it wasn't no great matter, for +there was only me, and I don't mind roughin' it." + +"But Lucindy, where was she?" I asked very naturally. + +"Oh! she married another man long ago. Couldn't expect her to take +me and my misfortins. She's doin' well, I hear, and that's a comfort +anyway." + +There was a look on Joe's face, a tone in Joe's voice as he spoke, +that plainly showed how much he had needed comfort when left to bear +his misfortunes all alone. But he made no complaint, uttered no +reproach, and loyally excused Lucindy's desertion with a simple sort +of dignity that made it impossible to express pity or condemnation. + +"How came you here, Joe?" I asked, making a sudden leap from past to +present. + +"I had to scratch for a livin', and can't do much: so, after tryin' a +number of things, I found this. My old wounds pester me a good deal, +and rheumatism is bad winters; but, while my legs hold out, I can git +on. A man can't set down and starve; so I keep waggin' as long as I +can. When I can't do no more, I s'pose there's almshouse and hospital +ready for me." + +"That is a dismal prospect, Joe. There ought to be a comfortable place +for such as you to spend your last days in. I am sure you have earned +it." + +"Wal, it does seem ruther hard on us when we've give all we had, and +give it free and hearty, to be left to knock about in our old age. But +there's so many poor folks to be took care of, we don't get much of +a chance, for _we_ ain't the beggin' sort," said Joe, with a wistful +look at the wintry world outside, as if it would be better to lie +quiet under the snow, than to drag out his last painful years, +friendless and forgotten, in some refuge of the poor. + +"Some kind people have been talking of a home for soldiers, and I hope +the plan will be carried out. It will take time; but, if it comes to +pass, you shall be one of the first men to enter that home, Joe, if I +can get you there." + +"That sounds mighty cheerin' and comfortable, thanky, ma'am. Idleness +is dreadful tryin' to me, and I'd rather wear out than rust out; so I +guess I can weather it a spell longer. But it will be pleasant to look +forrard to a snug harbor bymeby. I feel a sight better just hearin' +tell about it." He certainly looked so, faint as the hope was; for the +melancholy eyes brightened as if they already saw a happier refuge in +the future than almshouse, hospital, or grave, and, when he trudged +away upon my errand, he went as briskly as if every step took him +nearer to the promised home. + +After that day it was all up with Bob, for I told my neighbors Joe's +story, and we kept him trotting busily, adding little gifts, and +taking the sort of interest in him that comforted the lonely fellow, +and made him feel that he had not outlived his usefulness. I never +looked out when he was at his post that he did not smile back at me; I +never passed him in the street that the red cap was not touched with a +military flourish; and, when any of us beckoned to him, no twinge of +rheumatism was too sharp to keep him from hurrying to do our errands, +as if he had Mercury's winged feet. + +Now and then he came in for a chat, and always asked how the Soldiers' +Home was prospering; expressing his opinion that "Boston was the +charitablest city under the sun, and he was sure he and his mates +would be took care of somehow." + +When we parted in the spring, I told him things looked hopeful, bade +him be ready for a good long rest as soon as the hospitable doors were +open, and left him nodding cheerfully. + + +IV + + +But in the autumn I looked in vain for Joe. The slate was in its old +place, and a messenger came and went on his beat; but a strange face +was under the red cap, and this man had two arms and one eye. I asked +for Collins, but the new-comer had only a vague idea that he was dead; +and the same answer was given me at headquarters, though none of the +busy people seemed to know when or where he died. So I mourned for +Joe, and felt that it was very hard he could not have lived to enjoy +the promised refuge; for, relying upon the charity that never fails, +the Home was an actual fact now, just beginning its beneficent career. +People were waking up to this duty, money was coming in, meetings were +being held, and already a few poor fellows were in the refuge, feeling +themselves no longer paupers, but invalid soldiers honorably supported +by the State they had served. Talking it over one day with a friend, +who spent her life working for the Associated Charities, she said,-- + +"By the way, there is a man boarding with one of my poor women, who +ought to be got into the Home, if he will go. I don't know much about +him, except that he was in the army, has been very ill with rheumatic +fever, and is friendless. I asked Mrs. Flanagin how she managed to +keep him, and she said she had help while he was sick, and now he is +able to hobble about, he takes care of the children, so she is able to +go out to work. He won't go to his own town, because there is nothing +for him there but the almshouse, and he dreads a hospital; so +struggles along, trying to earn his bread tending babies with his one +arm. A sad case, and in your line; I wish you'd look into it." + +"That sounds like my Joe, one arm and all. I'll go and see him; I've a +weakness for soldiers, sick or well." + +I went, and never shall forget the pathetic little tableau I saw as I +opened Mrs. Flanagin's dingy door; for she was out, and no one heard +my tap. The room was redolent of suds, and in a grove of damp clothes +hung on lines sat a man with a crying baby laid across his lap, while +he fed three small children standing at his knee with bread and +molasses. How he managed with one arm to keep the baby from squirming +on to the floor, the plate from upsetting, and to feed the hungry +urchins who stood in a row with open mouths, like young birds, was +past my comprehension. But he did, trotting baby gently, dealing out +sweet morsels patiently, and whistling to himself, as if to beguile +his labors cheerfully. + +The broad back, the long legs, the faded coat, the low whistle were +all familiar; and, dodging a wet sheet, I faced the man to find it +was indeed my Joe! A mere shadow of his former self, after months of +suffering that had crippled him for life, but brave and patient still; +trying to help himself, and not ask aid though brought so low. + +For an instant I could not speak to him, and, encumbered with baby, +dish, spoon, and children, he could only stare at me with a sudden +brightening of the altered face that made it full of welcome before a +word was uttered. + +"They told me you were dead, and I only heard of you by accident, not +knowing I should find my old friend alive, but not well, I'm afraid?" + +"There ain't much left of me but bones and pain, ma'am. I'm powerful +glad to see you all the same. Dust off a chair, Patsey, and let the +lady set down. You go in the corner, and take turns lickin' the dish, +while I see company," said Joe, disbanding his small troop, and +shouldering the baby as if presenting arms in honor of his guest. + +"Why didn't you let me know how sick you were? And how came they to +think you dead?" I asked, as he festooned the wet linen out of the +way, and prepared to enjoy himself as best he could. + +"I did send once, when things was at the wust; but you hadn't got +back, and then somehow I thought I was goin' to be mustered out for +good, and so wouldn't trouble nobody. But my orders ain't come yet, +and I am doing the fust thing that come along. It ain't much, but the +good soul stood by me, and I ain't ashamed to pay my debts this way, +sence I can't do it in no other;" and Joe cradled the chubby baby in +his one arm as tenderly as if it had been his own, though little Biddy +was not an inviting infant. + +"That is very beautiful and right, Joe, and I honor you for it; but +you were not meant to tend babies, so sing your last lullabies, and be +ready to go to the Home as soon as I can get you there." + +"Really, ma'am? I used to lay and kind of dream about it when I +couldn't stir without yellin' out; but I never thought it would ever +come to happen. I see a piece in the paper describing it, and it +sounded dreadful nice. Shouldn't wonder if I found some of my mates +there. They were a good lot, and deservin' of all that could be done +for 'em," said Joe, trotting the baby briskly, as if the prospect +excited him, as well it might, for the change from that damp nursery +to the comfortable quarters prepared for him would be like going from +Purgatory to Paradise. + +"I don't wonder you don't get well living in such a place, Joe. You +should have gone home to Woolwich, and let your friends help you," I +said, feeling provoked with him for hiding himself. + +"No, ma'am!" he answered, with a look I never shall forget, it was so +full of mingled patience, pride, and pain. "I haven't a relation +in the world but a couple of poor old aunts, and they couldn't do +anything for me. As for asking help of folks I used to know, I +couldn't do it; and if you think I'd go to Lucindy, though she is wal +off, you don't know Joe Collins. I'd die fust! If she was poor and I +rich, I'd do for her like a brother; but I couldn't ask no favors of +her, not if I begged my vittles in the street, or starved. I forgive, +but I don't forgit in a hurry; and the woman that stood by me when I +was down is the woman I believe in, and can take my bread from without +shame. Hooray for Biddy Flanagin! God bless her!" and, as if to find a +vent for the emotion that filled his eyes with grateful tears, Joe +led off the cheer, which the children shrilly echoed, and I joined +heartily. + +"I shall come for you in a few days; so cuddle the baby and make much +of the children before you part. It won't take you long to pack up, +will it?" I asked, as we subsided with a general laugh. + +"I reckon not as I don't own any clothes but what I set in, except a +couple of old shirts and them socks. My hat's stoppin' up the winder, +and my old coat is my bed-cover. I'm awful shabby, ma'am, and that's +one reason I don't go out more. I can hobble some, but I ain't got +used to bein' a scarecrow yet," and Joe glanced from the hose without +heels that hung on the line to the ragged suit he wore, with a +resigned expression that made me long to rush out and buy up half the +contents of Oak Hall on the spot. + +Curbing this wild impulse I presently departed with promises of speedy +transportation for Joe, and unlimited oranges to assuage the pangs of +parting for the young Flanagins, who escorted me to the door, while +Joe waved the baby like a triumphal banner till I got round the +corner. + +There was such a beautiful absence of red tape about the new +institution that it only needed a word in the right ear to set things +going; and then, with a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all +together, Joe Collins was taken up and safely landed in the Home he so +much needed and so well deserved. + +A happier man or a more grateful one it would be hard to find, and if +a visitor wants an enthusiastic guide about the place, Joe is the one +to take, for all is comfort, sunshine, and good-will to him; and +he unconsciously shows how great the need of this refuge is, as +he hobbles about on his lame feet, pointing out its beauties, +conveniences, and delights with his one arm, while his face shines, +and his voice quavers a little as he says gratefully,-- + +"The State don't forget us, you see, and this is a Home wuth havin'. +Long life to it!" + + + + +WHAT THE BELLS SAW AND SAID + +[Written in 1867.] + +"Bells ring others to church, but go not in themselves." + + +No one saw the spirits of the bells up there in the old steeple at +midnight on Christmas Eve. Six quaint figures, each wrapped in a +shadowy cloak and wearing a bell-shaped cap. All were gray-headed, for +they were among the oldest bell-spirits of the city, and "the light of +other days" shone in their thoughtful eyes. Silently they sat, looking +down on the snow-covered roofs glittering in the moonlight, and the +quiet streets deserted by all but the watchmen on their chilly rounds, +and such poor souls as wandered shelterless in the winter night. +Presently one of the spirits said, in a tone, which, low as it was, +filled the belfry with reverberating echoes,-- + +"Well, brothers, are your reports ready of the year that now lies +dying?" + +All bowed their heads, and one of the oldest answered in a sonorous +voice:-- + +"My report isn't all I could wish. You know I look down on the +commercial part of our city and have fine opportunities for seeing +what goes on there. It's my business to watch the business men, and +upon my word I'm heartily ashamed of them sometimes. During the war +they did nobly, giving their time and money, their sons and selves to +the good cause, and I was proud of them. But now too many of them have +fallen back into the old ways, and their motto seems to be, 'Every one +for himself, and the devil take the hindmost.' Cheating, lying and +stealing are hard words, and I don't mean to apply them to _all_ who +swarm about below there like ants on an ant-hill--_they_ have other +names for these things, but I'm old-fashioned and use plain words. +There's a deal too much dishonesty in the world, and business seems to +have become a game of hazard in which luck, not labor, wins the prize. +When I was young, men were years making moderate fortunes, and were +satisfied with them. They built them on sure foundations, knew how to +enjoy them while they lived, and to leave a good name behind them when +they died. + +"Now it's anything for money; health, happiness, honor, life itself, +are flung down on that great gaming-table, and they forget everything +else in the excitement of success or the desperation of defeat. Nobody +seems satisfied either, for those who win have little time or taste +to enjoy their prosperity, and those who lose have little courage or +patience to support them in adversity. They don't even fail as they +used to. In my day when a merchant found himself embarrassed he didn't +ruin others in order to save himself, but honestly confessed the +truth, gave up everything, and began again. But now-a-days after all +manner of dishonorable shifts there comes a grand crash; many suffer, +but by some hocus-pocus the merchant saves enough to retire upon and +live comfortably here or abroad. It's very evident that honor and +honesty don't mean now what they used to mean in the days of old May, +Higginson and Lawrence. + +"They preach below here, and very well too sometimes, for I often +slide down the rope to peep and listen during service. But, bless you! +they don't seem to lay either sermon, psalm or prayer to heart, for +while the minister is doing his best, the congregation, tired with +the breathless hurry of the week, sleep peacefully, calculate their +chances for the morrow, or wonder which of their neighbors will lose +or win in the great game. Don't tell me! I've seen them do it, and if +I dared I'd have startled every soul of them with a rousing peal. Ah, +they don't dream whose eye is on them, they never guess what secrets +the telegraph wires tell as the messages fly by, and little know +what a report I give to the winds of heaven as I ring out above them +morning, noon, and night." And the old spirit shook his head till the +tassel on his cap jangled like a little bell. + +"There are some, however, whom I love and honor," he said, in a +benignant tone, "who honestly earn their bread, who deserve all the +success that comes to them, and always keep a warm corner in their +noble hearts for those less blest than they. These are the men who +serve the city in times of peace, save it in times of war, deserve the +highest honors in its gift, and leave behind them a record that keeps +their memories green. For such an one we lately tolled a knell, my +brothers; and as our united voices pealed over the city, in all +grateful hearts, sweeter and more solemn than any chime, rung the +words that made him so beloved,-- + +"'Treat our dead boys tenderly, and send them home to me.'" + +He ceased, and all the spirits reverently uncovered their gray heads +as a strain of music floated up from the sleeping city and died among +the stars. + +"Like yours, my report is not satisfactory in all respects," began the +second spirit, who wore a very pointed cap and a finely ornamented +cloak. But, though his dress was fresh and youthful, his face was +old, and he had nodded several times during his brother's speech. +"My greatest affliction during the past year has been the terrible +extravagance which prevails. My post, as you know, is at the court end +of the city, and I see all the fashionable vices and follies. It is +a marvel to me how so many of these immortal creatures, with such +opportunities for usefulness, self-improvement and genuine happiness +can be content to go round and round in one narrow circle of +unprofitable and unsatisfactory pursuits. I do my best to warn them; +Sunday after Sunday I chime in their ears the beautiful old hymns +that sweetly chide or cheer the hearts that truly listen and believe; +Sunday after Sunday I look down on them as they pass in, hoping to see +that my words have not fallen upon deaf ears; and Sunday after Sunday +they listen to words that should teach them much, yet seem to go by +them like the wind. They are told to love their neighbor, yet too many +hate him because he possesses more of this world's goods or honors +than they: they are told that a rich man cannot enter the kingdom of +heaven, yet they go on laying up perishable wealth, and though often +warned that moth and rust will corrupt, they fail to believe it till +the worm that destroys enters and mars their own chapel of ease. Being +a spirit, I see below external splendor and find much poverty of heart +and soul under the velvet and the ermine which should cover rich and +royal natures. Our city saints walk abroad in threadbare suits, and +under quiet bonnets shine the eyes that make sunshine in the shady +places. Often as I watch the glittering procession passing to and fro +below me. I wonder if, with all our progress, there is to-day as much +real piety as in the times when our fathers, poorly clad, with weapon +in one hand and Bible in the other, came weary distances to worship in +the wilderness with fervent faith unquenched by danger, suffering and +solitude. + +"Yet in spite of my fault-finding I love my children, as I call +them, for all are not butterflies. Many find wealth no temptation to +forgetfulness of duty or hardness of heart. Many give freely of their +abundance, pity the poor, comfort the afflicted, and make our city +loved and honored in other lands as in our own. They have their cares, +losses, and heartaches as well as the poor; it isn't all sunshine with +them, and they learn, poor souls, that + + "'Into each life some rain must fall, + Some days must be dark and dreary.' + +"But I've hopes of them, and lately they have had a teacher so genial, +so gifted, so well-beloved that all who listen to him must be better +for the lessons of charity, good-will and cheerfulness which he brings +home to them by the magic of tears and smiles. We know him, we love +him, we always remember him as the year comes round, and the blithest +song our brazen tongues utter is a Christmas carol to the Father of +'The Chimes!'" + +As the spirit spoke his voice grew cheery, his old face shone, and in +a burst of hearty enthusiasm he flung up his cap and cheered like a +boy. So did the others, and as the fairy shout echoed through the +belfry a troop of shadowy figures, with faces lovely or grotesque, +tragical or gay, sailed by on the wings of the wintry wind and waved +their hands to the spirits of the bells. + +As the excitement subsided and the spirits reseated themselves, +looking ten years younger for that burst, another spoke. A venerable +brother in a dingy mantle, with a tuneful voice, and eyes that seemed +to have grown sad with looking on much misery. + +"He loves the poor, the man we've just hurrahed for, and he makes +others love and remember them, bless him!" said the spirit. "I hope +he'll touch the hearts of those who listen to him here and beguile +them to open their hands to my unhappy children over yonder. If I +could set some of the forlorn souls in my parish beside the happier +creatures who weep over imaginary woes as they are painted by his +eloquent lips, that brilliant scene would be better than any sermon. +Day and night I look down on lives as full of sin, self-sacrifice and +suffering as any in those famous books. Day and night I try to +comfort the poor by my cheery voice, and to make their wants known by +proclaiming them with all my might. But people seem to be so intent on +business, pleasure or home duties that they have no time to hear and +answer my appeal. There's a deal of charity in this good city, and +when the people do wake up they work with a will; but I can't help +thinking that if some of the money lavished on luxuries was spent on +necessaries for the poor, there would be fewer tragedies like that +which ended yesterday. It's a short story, easy to tell, though long +and hard to live; listen to it. + +"Down yonder in the garret of one of the squalid houses at the foot of +my tower, a little girl has lived for a year, fighting silently and +single-handed a good fight against poverty and sin. I saw her when she +first came, a hopeful, cheerful, brave-hearted little soul, alone, yet +not afraid. She used to sit all day sewing at her window, and her lamp +burnt far into the night, for she was very poor, and all she earned +would barely give her food and shelter. I watched her feed the doves, +who seemed to be her only friends; she never forgot them, and daily +gave them the few crumbs that fell from her meagre table. But there +was no kind hand to feed and foster the little human dove, and so she +starved. + +"For a while she worked bravely, but the poor three dollars a week +would not clothe and feed and warm her, though the things her busy +fingers made sold for enough to keep her comfortably if she had +received it. I saw the pretty color fade from her cheeks; her eyes +grew hollow, her voice lost its cheery ring, her step its elasticity, +and her face began to wear the haggard, anxious look that made its +youth doubly pathetic. Her poor little gowns grew shabby, her shawl so +thin she shivered when the pitiless wind smote her, and her feet were +almost bare. Rain and snow beat on the patient little figure going +to and fro, each morning with hope and courage faintly shining, each +evening with the shadow of despair gathering darker round her. It was +a hard time for all, desperately hard for her, and in her poverty, sin +and pleasure tempted her. She resisted, but as another bitter winter +came she feared that in her misery she might yield, for body and soul +were weakened now by the long struggle. She knew not where to turn +for help; there seemed to be no place for her at any safe and happy +fireside; life's hard aspect daunted her, and she turned to death, +saying confidingly, 'Take me while I'm innocent and not afraid to go.' + +"I saw it all! I saw how she sold everything that would bring money +and paid her little debts to the utmost penny; how she set her poor +room in order for the last time; how she tenderly bade the doves +good-by, and lay down on her bed to die. At nine o'clock last night as +my bell rang over the city, I tried to tell what was going on in the +garret where the light was dying out so fast. I cried to them with all +my strength.-- + +"'Kind souls, below there! a fellow-creature is perishing for lack +of charity! Oh, help her before it is too late! Mothers, with little +daughters on your knees, stretch out your hands and take her in! Happy +women, in the safe shelter of home, think of her desolation! Rich men, +who grind the faces of the poor, remember that this soul will one day +be required of you! Dear Lord, let not this little sparrow fall to +the ground! Help, Christian men and women, in the name of Him whose +birthday blessed the world!' + +"Ah me! I rang, and clashed, and cried in vain. The passers-by only +said, as they hurried home, laden with Christmas cheer: 'The old bell +is merry to-night, as it should be at this blithe season, bless it!' + +"As the clocks struck ten, the poor child lay down, saying, as she +drank the last bitter draught life could give her, 'It's very cold, +but soon I shall not feel it;' and with her quiet eyes fixed on the +cross that glimmered in the moonlight above me, she lay waiting for +the sleep that needs no lullaby. + +"As the clock struck eleven, pain and poverty for her were over. It +was bitter cold, but she no longer felt it. She lay serenely sleeping, +with tired heart and hands, at rest forever. As the clocks struck +twelve, the dear Lord remembered her, and with fatherly hand led her +into the home where there is room for all. To-day I rung her knell, +and though my heart was heavy, yet my soul was glad; for in spite of +all her human woe and weakness, I am sure that little girl will keep a +joyful Christmas up in heaven." + +In the silence which the spirits for a moment kept, a breath of softer +air than any from the snowy world below swept through the steeple and +seemed to whisper, "Yes!" + +"Avast there! fond as I am of salt water, I don't like this kind," +cried the breezy voice of the fourth spirit, who had a tiny ship +instead of a tassel on his cap, and who wiped his wet eyes with the +sleeve of his rough blue cloak. "It won't take me long to spin my +yarn; for things are pretty taut and ship-shape aboard our craft. +Captain Taylor is an experienced sailor, and has brought many a ship +safely into port in spite of wind and tide, and the devil's own +whirlpools and hurricanes. If you want to see earnestness come aboard +some Sunday when the Captain's on the quarter-deck, and take an +observation. No danger of falling asleep there, no more than there is +up aloft, 'when the stormy winds do blow.' Consciences get raked fore +and aft, sins are blown clean out of the water, false colors are +hauled down and true ones run up to the masthead, and many an immortal +soul is warned to steer off in time from the pirates, rocks and +quicksands of temptation. He's a regular revolving light, is the +Captain,--a beacon always burning and saying plainly, 'Here are +life-boats, ready to put off in all weathers and bring the shipwrecked +into quiet waters.' He comes but seldom now, being laid up in the home +dock, tranquilly waiting till his turn comes to go out with the tide +and safely ride at anchor in the great harbor of the Lord. Our crew +varies a good deal. Some of 'em have rather rough voyages, and come +into port pretty well battered; land-sharks fall foul of a good many, +and do a deal of damage; but most of 'em carry brave and tender hearts +under the blue jackets, for their rough nurse, the sea, manages to +keep something of the child alive in the grayest old tar that makes +the world his picture-book. We try to supply 'em with life-preservers +while at sea, and make 'em feel sure of a hearty welcome when ashore, +and I believe the year '67 will sail away into eternity with a +satisfactory cargo. Brother North-End made me pipe my eye; so I'll +make him laugh to pay for it, by telling a clerical joke I heard the +other day. Bellows didn't make it, though he might have done so, as +he's a connection of ours, and knows how to use his tongue as well +as any of us. Speaking of the bells of a certain town, a reverend +gentleman affirmed that each bell uttered an appropriate remark so +plainly, that the words were audible to all. The Baptist bell cried, +briskly, 'Come up and be dipped! come up and be dipped!' The +Episcopal bell slowly said, 'Apos-tol-ic suc-cess-ion! apos-tol-ic +suc-cess-ion!' The Orthodox bell solemnly pronounced, 'Eternal +damnation! eternal damnation!' and the Methodist shouted, invitingly, +'Room for all! room for all!'" + +As the spirit imitated the various calls, as only a jovial bell-sprite +could, the others gave him a chime of laughter, and vowed they would +each adopt some tuneful summons, which should reach human ears and +draw human feet more willingly to church. + +"Faith, brother, you've kept your word and got the laugh out of us," +cried a stout, sleek spirit, with a kindly face, and a row of little +saints round his cap and a rosary at his side. "It's very well we are +doing this year; the cathedral is full, the flock increasing, and the +true faith holding its own entirely. Ye may shake your heads if you +will and fear there'll be trouble, but I doubt it. We've warm hearts +of our own, and the best of us don't forget that when we were +starving, America--the saints bless the jewel!--sent us bread; when we +were dying for lack of work, America opened her arms and took us in, +and now helps us to build churches, homes and schools by giving us a +share of the riches all men work for and win. It's a generous nation +ye are, and a brave one, and we showed our gratitude by fighting for +ye in the day of trouble and giving ye our Phil, and many another +broth of a boy. The land is wide enough for us both, and while we work +and fight and grow together, each may learn something from the other. +I'm free to confess that your religion looks a bit cold and hard to +me, even here in the good city where each man may ride his own hobby +to death, and hoot at his neighbors as much as he will. You seem to +keep your piety shut up all the week in your bare, white churches, and +only let it out on Sundays, just a trifle musty with disuse. You set +your rich, warm and soft to the fore, and leave the poor shivering at +the door. You give your people bare walls to look upon, common-place +music to listen to, dull sermons to put them asleep, and then wonder +why they stay away, or take no interest when they come. + +"We leave our doors open day and night; our lamps are always burning, +and we may come into our Father's house at any hour. We let rich and +poor kneel together, all being equal there. With us abroad you'll see +prince and peasant side by side, school-boy and bishop, market-woman +and noble lady, saint and sinner, praying to the Holy Mary, whose +motherly arms are open to high and low. We make our churches inviting +with immortal music, pictures by the world's great masters, and rites +that are splendid symbols of the faith we hold. Call it mummery if +ye like, but let me ask you why so many of your sheep stray into our +fold? It's because they miss the warmth, the hearty, the maternal +tenderness which all souls love and long for, and fail to find in your +stern. Puritanical belief. By Saint Peter! I've seen many a lukewarm +worshipper, who for years has nodded in your cushioned pews, wake and +glow with something akin to genuine piety while kneeling on the stone +pavement of one of our cathedrals, with Raphael's angels before his +eyes, with strains of magnificent music in his ears, and all about +him, in shapes of power or beauty, the saints and martyrs who have +saved the world, and whose presence inspires him to follow their +divine example. It's not complaining of ye I am, but just reminding ye +that men are but children after all, and need more tempting to virtue +than they do to vice, which last comes easy to 'em since the Fall. Do +your best in your own ways to get the poor souls into bliss, and good +luck to ye. But remember, there's room in the Holy Mother Church for +all, and when your own priests send ye to the divil, come straight to +us and we'll take ye in." + +"A truly Catholic welcome, bull and all," said the sixth spirit, who, +in spite of his old-fashioned garments, had a youthful face, earnest, +fearless eyes, and an energetic voice that woke the echoes with its +vigorous tones. "I've a hopeful report, brothers, for the reforms of +the day are wheeling into rank and marching on. The war isn't over nor +rebeldom conquered yet, but the Old Guard has been 'up and at 'em' +through the year. There has been some hard fighting, rivers of ink +have flowed, and the Washington dawdlers have signalized themselves by +a 'masterly inactivity.' The political campaign has been an anxious +one; some of the leaders have deserted; some been mustered out; some +have fallen gallantly, and as yet have received no monuments. But at +the Grand Review the Cross of the Legion of Honor will surely shine on +many a brave breast that won no decoration but its virtue here; for +the world's fanatics make heaven's heroes, poets say. + +"The flock of Nightingales that flew South during the 'winter of our +discontent' are all at home again, some here and some in Heaven. But +the music of their womanly heroism still lingers in the nation's +memory, and makes a tender minor-chord in the battle-hymn of freedom. + +"The reform in literature isn't as vigorous as I could wish; but a +sharp attack of mental and moral dyspepsia will soon teach _our_ +people that French confectionery and the bad pastry of Wood, Bracdon, +Yates & Co. is not the best diet for the rising generation. + +"Speaking of the rising generation reminds me of the schools. They are +doing well; they always are, and we are justly proud of them. +There may be a slight tendency toward placing too much value +upon book-learning; too little upon home culture. Our girls are +acknowledged to be uncommonly pretty, witty and wise, but some of +us wish they had more health and less excitement, more domestic +accomplishments and fewer ologies and isms, and were contented with +simple pleasures and the old-fashioned virtues, and not quite so fond +of the fast, frivolous life that makes them old so soon. I am fond +of our girls and boys. I love to ring for their christenings and +marriages, to toll proudly for the brave lads in blue, and tenderly +for the innocent creatures whose seats are empty under my old roof. +I want to see them anxious to make Young America a model of virtue, +strength and beauty, and I believe they will in time. + +"There have been some important revivals in religion; for the world +won't stand still, and we must keep pace or be left behind to +fossilize. A free nation must have a religion broad enough to embrace +all mankind, deep enough to fathom and fill the human soul, high +enough to reach the source of all love and wisdom, and pure enough to +satisfy the wisest and the best. Alarm bells have been rung, anathemas +pronounced, and Christians, forgetful of their creed, have abused +one another heartily. But the truth always triumphs in the end, and +whoever sincerely believes, works and waits for it, by whatever +name he calls it, will surely find his own faith blessed to him in +proportion to his charity for the faith of others. + +"But look!--the first red streaks of dawn are in the East. Our vigil +is over, and we must fly home to welcome in the holidays. Before we +part, join with me, brothers, in resolving that through the coming +year we will with all our hearts and tongues,-- + + "'Ring out the old, ring in the new, + Ring out the false, ring in the true; + Ring in the valiant man and free, + Ring in the Christ that is to be.'" + +Then hand in hand the spirits of the bells floated away, singing in +the hush of dawn the sweet song the stars sung over Bethlehem,--"Peace +on earth, good will to men." + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10360 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..951d1cc --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10360 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10360) diff --git a/old/10360-8.txt b/old/10360-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f5ee13 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10360-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9381 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Kitty's Class Day And Other Stories, by +Louisa M. Alcott + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Kitty's Class Day And Other Stories + +Author: Louisa M. Alcott + +Release Date: December 1, 2003 [eBook #10360] + +Language: English + +Chatacter set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KITTY'S CLASS DAY AND OTHER +STORIES*** + + +E-text prepared by Josephine Paolucci and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +KITTY'S CLASS DAY AND OTHER STORIES + +By + +Louisa M. Alcott + +Author of "Little Women," etc. + +Originally published under the title + +"PROVERB STORIES" + +1882 + + + + + + +[Illustration: Deeper in the wood sounded the measured ring of axes] + + + +PREFACE + + +Being forbidden to write anything at present I have collected various +waifs and strays to appease the young people who clamor for more, +forgetting that mortal brains need rest. + +As many girls have asked to see what sort of tales Jo March wrote at +the beginning of her career, I have added "The Baron's Gloves," as a +sample of the romantic rubbish which paid so well once upon a time. If +it shows them what _not_ to write it will not have been rescued from +oblivion in vain. + +L. M. ALCOTT. + + + + +CONTENTS + + KITTY'S CLASS DAY + AUNT KIPP + PSYCHE'S ART + A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS + ON PICKET DUTY + THE BARON'S GLOVES + MY RED CAP + WHAT THE BELLS SAW AND SAID + + + + +PROVERB STORIES + + + + +KITTY'S CLASS DAY + +"A stitch in time saves nine." + + +"O Pris, Pris, I'm really going! Here's the invitation--rough +paper--Chapel--spreads--Lyceum Hall--everything splendid; and Jack to +take care of me!" + +As Kitty burst into the room and performed a rapturous _pas seul_, +waving the cards over her head, sister Priscilla looked up from her +work with a smile of satisfaction on her quiet face. + +"Who invites you, dear?" + +"Why, Jack, of course,--dear old cousin Jack. Nobody else ever thinks +of me, or cares whether I have a bit of pleasure now and then. Isn't +he kind? Mayn't I go? and, O Pris, what _shall_ I wear?" + +Kitty paused suddenly, as if the last all-important question had a +solemnizing effect upon both mind and body. + +"Why, your white muslin, silk sacque, and new hat, of course," began +Pris with an air of surprise. But Kitty broke in impetuously,-- + +"I'll never wear that old muslin again; it's full of darns, up to my +knees, and all out of fashion. So is my sacque; and as for my hat, +though it does well enough here, it would be absurd for Class Day." + +"You don't expect an entirely new suit for this occasion,--do you?" +asked Pris, anxiously. + +"Yes, I do, and I'll tell you how I mean to get it. I've planned +everything; for, though I hardly dreamed of going, I amused myself by +thinking how I could manage if I _did_ get invited." + +"Let us hear." And Pris took up her work with an air of resignation. + +"First, my dress," began Kitty, perching herself on the arm of the +sofa, and entering into the subject with enthusiasm. "I've got the ten +dollars grandpa sent me, and with eight of it I'm going to buy +Lizzie King's organdie muslin. She got it in Paris; but her aunt +providentially--no, unfortunately--died; so she can't wear it, and +wants to get rid of it. She is bigger than I am, you know; so there is +enough for a little mantle or sacque, for it isn't made up. The skirt +is cut off and gored, with a splendid train--" + +"My dear, you don't mean you are going to wear one of those absurd, +new-fashioned dresses?" exclaimed Pris, lifting hands and eyes. + +"I do! Nothing would induce me to go to Class Day without a train. +It's been the desire of my heart to have one, and now I _will_, if +I never have another gown to my back!" returned Kitty, with immense +decision. + +Pris shook her head, and said, "Go on!" as if prepared for any +extravagance after that. + +"We can make it ourselves," continued Kitty, "and trim it with the +same. It's white with blue stripes and daisies in the stripes; the +loveliest thing you ever saw, and can't be got here. So simple, +yet distingué, I know you'll like it. Next, my bonnet,"--here the +solemnity of Kitty's face and manner was charming to behold. "I shall +make it out of one of my new illusion undersleeves. I've never worn +them; and the puffed part will be a plenty for a little fly-away +bonnet of the latest style. I've got blue ribbons to tie it with, and +have only to look up some daisies for the inside. With my extra two +dollars I shall buy my gloves, and pay my fares,--and there I am, all +complete." + +She looked so happy, so pretty, and full of girlish satisfaction, that +sister Pris couldn't bear to disturb the little plan, much as she +disapproved of it. They were poor, and every penny had to be counted. +There were plenty of neighbors to gossip and criticise, and plenty of +friends to make disagreeable remarks on any unusual extravagance. +Pris saw things with the prudent eyes of thirty, but Kitty with the +romantic eyes of seventeen; and the elder sister, in the kindness of +her heart, had no wish to sadden life to those bright young eyes, +or deny the child a harmless pleasure. She sewed thoughtfully for a +minute, then looked up, saying, with the smile that always assured +Kitty the day was won,-- + +"Get your things together, and we will see what can be done. But +remember, dear, that it is both bad taste and bad economy for poor +people to try to ape the rich." + +"You're a perfect angel, Pris; so don't moralize. I'll run and get the +dress, and we'll begin at once, for there is much to do, and only +two days to do it in." And Kitty skipped away, singing "Lauriger +Horatius," at the top of her voice. + +Priscilla soon found that the girl's head was completely turned by the +advice and example of certain fashionable young neighbors. It was in +vain for Pris to remonstrate and warn. + +"Just this once let me do as others do, and thoroughly enjoy myself." +pleaded Kitty; and Pris yielded, saying to herself, "She shall have +her wish, and if she learns a lesson, neither time nor money will be +lost." + +So they snipped and sewed, and planned and pieced, going through all +the alternations of despair and triumph, worry and satisfaction, which +women undergo when a new suit is under way. Company kept coming, for +news of Kitty's expedition had flown abroad, and her young friends +must just run in to hear about it, and ask what she was going to wear; +while Kitty was so glad and proud to tell, and show, and enjoy her +little triumph that many half hours were wasted, and the second day +found much still to do. + +The lovely muslin didn't hold out, and Kitty sacrificed the waist to +the train, for a train she must have or the whole thing would be an +utter failure. A little sacque was eked out, however, and when the +frills were on, it was "ravishing," as Kitty said, with a sigh of +mingled delight and fatigue. The gored skirt was a fearful job, as any +one who has ever plunged into the mysteries will testify; and before +the facing, even experienced Pris quailed. + +The bonnet also was a trial, for when the lace was on, it was +discovered that the ribbons didn't match the dress. Here was a +catastrophe! Kitty frantically rummaged the house, the shops, the +stores of her friends, and rummaged in vain. There was no time to send +to the city, and despair was about to fall on Kitty, when Pris rescued +her by quietly making one of the small sacrifices which were easy to +her because her life was spent for others. Some one suggested a strip +of blue illusion,--and that could be got; but, alas! Kitty had +no money, for the gloves were already bought. Pris heard the +lamentations, and giving up fresh ribbons for herself, pulled her +sister out of a slough of despond with two yards of "heavenly tulle." + +"Now the daisies; and oh, dear me, not one can I find in this +poverty-stricken town," sighed Kitty, prinking at the glass, and +fervently hoping that nothing would happen to her complexion over +night. + +"I see plenty just like those on your dress," answered Pris, nodding +toward the meadow full of young whiteweed. + +"Pris, you're a treasure! I'll wear real ones; they keep well, I know, +and are so common I can refresh my bonnet anywhere. It's a splendid +idea." + +Away rushed Kitty to return with an apron full of American daisies. A +pretty cluster was soon fastened just over the left-hand frizzle of +bright hair, and the little bonnet was complete. + +"Now, Pris, tell me how I look," cried Kitty, as she swept into the +room late that afternoon in full gala costume. + +It would have been impossible for the primmest, the sourest, or the +most sensible creature in the world to say that it wasn't a pretty +sight. The long train, the big chignon, the apology for a bonnet, were +all ridiculous,--no one could deny that,--but youth, beauty, and a +happy heart made even those absurdities charming. The erect young +figure gave an air to the crisp folds of the delicate dress; the +bright eyes and fresh cheeks under the lace rosette made one forget +its size; and the rippling brown hair won admiration in spite of the +ugly bunch which disfigured the girl's head. The little jacket set +"divinely," the new gloves were as immaculate as white kids could be, +and to crown all, Lizzie King, in a burst of generosity, lent Kitty +the blue and white Paris sunshade which she couldn't use herself. + +"Now I could die content; I'm perfect in all respects, and I know Jack +won't be ashamed of me. I really owe it to him to look my best, you +know, and that's why I'm so particular," said Kitty, in an apologetic +tone, as she began to lay away her finery. + +"I hope you will enjoy every minute of the time, deary. Don't forget +to finish running up the facing; I've basted it carefully, and would +do it if my head didn't ache so, I really can't hold it up any +longer," answered Pris, who had worked like a disinterested bee, while +Kitty had flown about like a distracted butterfly. + +"Go and lie down, you dear, kind soul, and don't think of my nonsense +again," said Kitty, feeling remorseful, till Pris was comfortably +asleep, when she went to her room and revelled in her finery till +bedtime. So absorbed was she in learning to manage her train +gracefully, that she forgot the facing till very late. Then, being +worn out with work and worry, she did, what girls are too apt to do, +stuck a pin here and there, and, trusting to Priscilla's careful +bastings, left it as it was, retiring to dream of a certain Horace +Fletcher, whose aristocratic elegance had made a deep impression upon +her during the few evenings she had seen him. + +Nothing could have been lovelier than the morning, and few hearts +happier than Kitty's, as she arrayed herself with the utmost care, and +waited in solemn state for the carriage; for muslin trains and dewy +roads were incompatible, and one luxury brought another. + +"My goodness, where did she get that stylish suit?" whispered Miss +Smith to Miss Jones, as Kitty floated into the station with all sail +set, finding it impossible to resist the temptation to astonish +certain young ladies who had snubbed her in times past, which snubs +had rankled, and were now avenged. + +"I looked everywhere for a muslin for to-day and couldn't find any I +liked, so I was forced to wear my mauve silk," observed Miss Smith, +complacently settling the silvery folds of her dress. + +"It's very pretty, but one ruins a silk at Class Day, you know. I +thought this organdie would be more comfortable and appropriate this +warm day. A friend brought it from Paris, and it's like one the +Princess of Wales wore at the great flower-show this year," returned +Kitty, with the air of a young lady who had all her dresses from +Paris, and was intimately acquainted with the royal family. + +"Those girls" were entirely extinguished by this stroke, and hadn't +a word to say for themselves, while Kitty casually mentioned Horace +Fletcher, Lyceum Hall, and Cousin Jack, for _they_ had only a little +Freshman brother to boast of, and were _not_ going to Lyceum Hall. + +As she stepped out of the cars at Cambridge, Jack opened his honest +blue eyes and indulged in a low whistle of astonishment: for if there +was anything he especially hated, it was the trains, chignons and tiny +bonnets then in fashion. He was very fond of Kitty, and prided himself +on being able to show his friends a girl who was charming, and yet not +over-dressed. + +"She has made a regular guy of herself; I won't tell her so, and the +dear little soul shall have a jolly time in spite of her fuss and +feathers. But I do wish she had let her hair alone and worn that +pretty hat of hers." + +As this thought passed through Jack's mind he smiled and bowed and +made his way among the crowd, whispering as he drew his cousin's arm +through his own,-- + +"Why, Kitty, you're got up regardless of expense, aren't you? I'm so +glad you came, we'll have a rousing good time, and you shall see all +the fun." + +"Oh, thank you, Jack! Do I look nice, really? I tried to be a credit +to you and Pris, and I did have such a job of it. I'll make you laugh +over it some time. A carriage for me? Bless us, how fine we are!" and +Kitty stepped in, feeling that only one thing more was needed to make +her cup overflow. That one thing was speedily vouchsafed, for before +her skirts were smoothly settled, Jack called out, in his hearty +way,-- + +"How are you, Fletcher? If you are bound for Chapel I'll take you up." + +"Thanks; good-morning, Miss Heath." + +It was all done in an instant, and the next thing Kitty knew she was +rolling away with the elegant Horace sitting opposite. How little +it takes to make a young girl happy! A pretty dress, sunshine, and +somebody opposite, and they are blest. Kitty's face glowed and dimpled +with pleasure as she glanced about her, especially when _she_, sitting +in state with two gentlemen all to herself, passed "those girls" +walking in the dust with a beardless boy; she felt that she could +forgive past slights, and did so with a magnanimous smile and bow. + +Both Jack and Fletcher had graduated the year before, but still took +an interest in their old haunts, and patronized the fellows who were +not yet through the mill, at least the Seniors and Juniors; of Sophs +and Freshs they were sublimely unconscious. Greeted by frequent slaps +on the shoulder, and hearty "How are you, old fellows," they piloted +Kitty to a seat in the chapel. An excellent place, but the girl's +satisfaction was marred by Fletcher's desertion, and she could not see +anything attractive about the dashing young lady in the pink bonnet to +whom he devoted himself, "because she was a stranger," Kitty said. + +Everybody knows what goes on in the Chapel, after the fight and +scramble are over. The rustle and buzz, the music, the oratory and the +poem, during which the men cheer and the girls simper; the professors +yawn, and the poet's friends pronounce him a second Longfellow. Then +the closing flourishes, the grand crush, and general scattering. + +Then the fun really begins, as far as the young folks are concerned. +_They_ don't mind swarming up and down stairs in a solid phalanx; they +can enjoy half a dozen courses of salad, ice and strawberries, with +stout gentlemen crushing their feet, anxious mammas sticking sharp +elbows into their sides, and absent-minded tutors walking over them. +They can flirt vigorously in a torrid atmosphere of dinner, dust, +and din; can smile with hot coffee running down their backs, small +avalanches of ice-cream descending upon their best bonnets, and +sandwiches, butter-side down, reposing on their delicate silks. They +know that it is a costly rapture, but they carefully refrain from +thinking of the morrow, and energetically illustrate the Yankee maxim +which bids us enjoy ourselves in our early bloom. + +Kitty did have "a rousing good time;" for Jack was devoted, taking +her everywhere, showing her everything, feeding and fanning her, +and festooning her train with untiring patience. How many forcible +expressions he mentally indulged in as he walked on that unlucky train +we will not record; he smiled and skipped and talked of treading on +flowers in a way that would have charmed Kitty, if some one else had +not been hovering about "The Daisy," as Fletcher called her. + +After he returned, she neglected Jack, who took it coolly, and was +never in the way unless she wanted him. For the first time in her +life, Kitty deliberately flirted. The little coquetries, which are as +natural to a gay young girl as her laughter, were all in full play, +and had she gone no further no harm would have been done. But, +excited by the example of those about her, Kitty tried to enact the +fashionable young lady, and, like most novices, she overdid the part. +Quite forgetting her cousin, she tossed her head, twirled her fan, +gave affected little shrieks at college jokes, and talked college +slang in a way that convulsed Fletcher, who enjoyed the fun immensely. + +Jack saw it all, shook his head and said nothing; but his face +grew rather sober as he watched Kitty, flushed, dishevelled, and +breathless, whirling round Lyceum Hall, on the arm of Fletcher, who +danced divinely, as all the girls agreed. Jack had proposed going, but +Kitty had frowned, so he fell back, leaving her to listen and laugh, +blush and shrink a little at her partner's flowery compliments and +admiring glances. + +"If she stands that long she's not the girl I took her for," thought +Jack, beginning to lose patience. "She doesn't look like my little +Kitty, and somehow I don't feel half so fond and proud of her as +usual. I know one thing, _my_ daughters shall never be seen knocking +about in that style." + +As if the thought suggested the act, Jack suddenly assumed an air of +paternal authority, and, arresting his cousin as she was about to +begin again, he said, in a tone she had never heard before,-- + +"I promised Pris to take care of you, so I shall carry you off to +rest, and put yourself to rights after this game of romps. I advise +you to do the same, Fletcher, or give your friend in the pink bonnet a +turn." + +Kitty took Jack's arm pettishly, but glanced over her shoulder with +such an inviting smile that Fletcher followed, feeling very much like +a top, in danger of tumbling down the instant he stopped spinning. As +she came out Kitty's face cleared, and, assuming her sprightliest air, +she spread her plumage and prepared to descend with effect, for a +party of uninvited _peris_ stood at the gate of this Paradise casting +longing glances at the forbidden splendors within. Slowly, that all +might see her, Kitty sailed down, with Horace, the debonair, in her +wake, and was just thinking to herself, "Those girls won't get over +this very soon, I fancy," when all in one moment she heard Fletcher +exclaim, wrathfully, "Hang the flounces!" she saw a very glossy black +hat come skipping down the steps, felt a violent twitch backward, and, +to save herself from a fall, sat down on the lower step with most +undignified haste. + +It was impossible for the bystanders to help laughing, for there was +Fletcher hopping wildly about, with one foot nicely caught in a muslin +loop, and there sat Kitty longing to run away and hide herself, yet +perfectly helpless, while every one tittered. Miss Jones and Miss +Smith laughed shrilly, and the despised little Freshman completed her +mortification, by a feeble joke about Kitty Heath's new man-trap. It +was only an instant, but it seemed an hour before Fletcher freed her, +and snatching up the dusty beaver, left her with a flushed countenance +and an abrupt bow. + +If it hadn't been for Jack, Kitty would have burst into tears then and +there, so terrible was the sense of humiliation which oppressed her. +For his sake she controlled herself, and, bundling up her torn train, +set her teeth, stared straight before her, and let him lead her in +dead silence to a friend's room near by. There he locked the door, and +began to comfort her by making light of the little mishap. But Kitty +cried so tragically, that he was at his wit's end, till the ludicrous +side of the affair struck her, and she began to laugh hysterically. +With a vague idea that vigorous treatment was best for that feminine +ailment, Jack was about to empty the contents of an ice-pitcher over +her, when she arrested him, by exclaiming, incoherently,-- + +"Oh, don't!--it was so funny!--how can you laugh, you cruel boy?--I'm +disgraced, forever--take me home to Pris, oh, take me home to Pris!" + +"I will, my dear, I will; but first let me right you up a bit; you +look as if you had been hazed, upon my life you do;" and Jack laughed +in spite of himself at the wretched little object before him, for +dust, dancing, and the downfall produced a ruinous spectacle. + +That broke Kitty's heart; and, spreading her hands before her face, +she was about to cry again, when the sad sight which met her eyes +dispelled the gathering tears. The new gloves were both split up the +middle and very dirty with clutching at the steps as she went down. + +"Never mind, you can wash them," said Jack, soothingly. + +"I paid a dollar and a half for them, and they can't be washed," +groaned Kitty. + +"Oh, hang the gloves! I meant your hands," cried Jack, trying to keep +sober. + +"No matter for my hands, I mourn my gloves. But I won't cry any more, +for my head aches now so I can hardly see." And Kitty threw off her +bonnet, as if even that airy trifle hurt her. + +Seeing how pale she looked, Jack tenderly suggested a rest on the old +sofa, and a wet handkerchief on her hot forehead, while he got the +good landlady to send her up a cup of tea. As Kitty rose to comply +she glanced at her dress, and, clasping her hands, exclaimed, +tragically,--"The facing, the fatal facing! That made all the +mischief, for if I'd sewed it last night it wouldn't have ripped +to-day; if it hadn't ripped Fletcher wouldn't have got his foot in it, +I shouldn't have made an object of myself, he wouldn't have gone off +in a rage, and--who knows what might have happened?" + +"Bless the what's-its-name if it has settled him," cried Jack. "He is +a contemptible fellow not to stay and help you out of the scrape he +got you into. Follow his lead and don't trouble yourself about him." + +"Well, he _was_ rather absurd to-day, I allow; but he _has_ got +handsome eyes and hands, and he _does_ dance like an angel," sighed +Kitty, as she pinned up the treacherous loop which had brought +destruction to her little castle in the air. + +"Handsome eyes, white hands, and angelic feet don't make a man. Wait +till you can do better, Kit." + +With an odd, grave look, that rather startled Kitty, Jack vanished, to +return presently with a comfortable cup of tea and a motherly old lady +to help repair damages and soothe her by the foolish little purrings +and pattings so grateful to female nerves after a flurry. + +"I'll come back and take you out to see the dance round the tree when +you've had a bit of a rest," said Jack, vibrating between door and +sofa as if it wasn't easy to get away. + +"Oh, I couldn't," cried Kitty, with a shudder at the bare idea of +meeting any one. "I can't be seen again to-night; let me stay here +till my train goes." + +"I thought it had gone, already," said Jack, with an irrepressible +twinkle of the eye that glanced at the draggled dress sweeping the +floor. + +"How _can_ you joke about it!" and the girl's reproachful eyes filled +with tears of shame. "I know I've been very silly, Jack, but I've had +my punishment, and I don't need any more. To feel that you despise me +is worse than all the rest." + +She ended with a little sob, and turned her face away to hide the +trembling of her lips. At that, Jack flushed up, his eyes shone, +and he stooped suddenly as if to make some impetuous reply. But, +remembering the old lady (who, by the by, was discreetly looking out +of the window), he put his hands in his pockets and strolled out of +the room. + +"I've lost them both by this day's folly," thought Kitty, as Mrs. +Brown departed with the teacup. "I don't care for Fletcher, for I dare +say he didn't mean half he said, and I was only flattered because he +is rich and handsome and the girls glorify him. But I shall miss Jack, +for I've known and loved him all my life. How good he's been to me +to-day! so patient, careful, and kind, though he must have been +ashamed of me. I know he didn't like my dress; but he never said a +word and stood by me through everything. Oh, I wish I'd minded Pris! +then he would have respected me, at least; I wonder if he ever will, +again?" + +Following a sudden impulse, Kitty sprang up, locked the door, and then +proceeded to destroy all her little vanities as far as possible. She +smoothed out her crimps with a wet and ruthless hand; fastened up her +pretty hair in the simple way Jack liked; gave her once cherished +bonnet a spiteful shake, as she put it on, and utterly extinguished it +with a big blue veil. She looped up her dress, leaving no vestige of +the now hateful train, and did herself up uncompromisingly in the +Quakerish gray shawl Pris had insisted on her taking for the evening. +Then she surveyed herself with pensive satisfaction, saying, in the +tone of one bent on resolutely mortifying the flesh,-- + +"Neat but not gaudy; I'm a fright, but I deserve it, and it's better +than being a peacock." + +Kitty had time to feel a little friendless and forlorn, sitting there +alone as twilight fell, and amused herself by wondering if Fletcher +would come to inquire about her, or show any further interest in her; +yet when the sound of a manly tramp approached, she trembled lest it +should be the victim of the fatal facing. The door opened, and with a +sigh of relief she saw Jack come in, bearing a pair of new gloves in +one hand and a great bouquet of June roses in the other. + +"How good of you to bring me these! They are more refreshing than +oceans of tea. You know what I like, Jack; thank you very much" cried +Kitty, sniffing at her roses with grateful rapture. + +"And you know what I like," returned Jack, with an approving glance at +the altered figure before him. + +"I'll never do so any more," murmured Kitty, wondering why she felt +bashful all of a sudden, when it was only cousin Jack. + +"Now put on your gloves, dear, and come out and hear the music: your +train doesn't go for two hours yet, and you mustn't mope here all that +time," said Jack, offering his second gift. + +"How did you know my size?" asked Kitty, putting on the gloves in a +hurry; for though Jack had called her "dear" for years, the little +word had a new sound to-night. + +"I guessed,--no, I didn't, I had the old ones with me; they are no +good now, are they?" and too honest to lie, Jack tried to speak +carelessly, though he turned red in the dusk, well knowing that the +dirty little gloves were folded away in his left breast-pocket at that +identical moment. + +"Oh, dear, no! these fit nicely. I'm ready, if you don't mind going +with such a fright," said Kitty, forgetting her dread of seeing people +in her desire to get away from that room, because for the first time +in her life she wasn't at ease with Jack. + +"I think I like the little gray moth better than the fine butterfly," +returned Jack, who, in spite of his invitation, seemed to find +"moping" rather pleasant. + +"You are a rainy-day friend, and he isn't," said Kitty, softly, as she +drew him away. + +Jack's only answer was to lay his hand on the little white glove +resting so confidingly on his arm, and, keeping it there, they roamed +away into the summer twilight. + +Something had happened to the evening and the place, for both seemed +suddenly endowed with uncommon beauty and interest. The dingy old +houses might have been fairy palaces, for anything they saw to the +contrary; the dusty walks, the trampled grass, were regular Elysian +fields to them, and the music was the music of the spheres, though +they found themselves "Right in the middle of the boom, jing, jing." +For both had made a little discovery,--no, not a little one, the +greatest and sweetest man and woman can make. In the sharp twinge of +jealousy which the sight of Kitty's flirtation with Fletcher gave him, +and the delight he found in her after conduct, Jack discovered how +much he loved her. In the shame, gratitude, and half sweet, half +bitter emotion that filled her heart, Kitty felt that to her Jack +would never be "only cousin Jack" any more. All the vanity, coquetry, +selfishness, and ill-temper of the day seemed magnified to heinous +sins, for now her only thought was, "seeing these faults, he _can't_ +care for me. Oh, I wish I was a better girl!" + +She did not say "for his sake," but in the new humility, the ardent +wish to be all that a woman should be, little Kitty proved how true +her love was, and might have said with Portia,-- + + "For myself alone, I would not be + Ambitious in my wish; but, for you, + I would be trebled twenty times myself; + A thousand times more fair, + Ten thousand times more rich." + +All about them other pairs were wandering under the patriarchal elms, +enjoying music, starlight, balmy winds, and all the luxuries of the +season. If the band had played + + "Oh, there's nothing half so sweet in life + As love's young dream--" + +it is my private opinion that it would have suited the audience to +a T. Being principally composed of elderly gentlemen with large +families, they had not that fine sense of the fitness of things so +charming to see, and tooted and banged away with waltzes and marches, +quite regardless of the flocks of Romeos and Juliets philandering all +about them. + +Under cover of a popular medley, Kitty overheard Fletcher quizzing her +for the amusement of Miss Pinkbonnet, who was evidently making up +for lost time. It was feeble wit, but it put the finishing stroke to +Kitty's vanity, and she dropped a tear in her blue tissue retreat, and +clung to Jack, feeling that she had never valued him half enough. She +hoped he didn't hear the gossip going on at the other side of the tree +near which they stood; but he did, for his hand involuntarily doubled +itself up into a very dangerous-looking fist, and he darted such +fiery glances at the speaker, that, if the thing had been possible. +Fletcher's ambrosial curls would have been scorched off his head. + +"Never mind, and don't get angry, Jack. They are right about one +thing,--the daisies in my bonnet _were_ real, and I _couldn't_ afford +any others. I don't care much, only Pris worked so hard to get me +ready I hate to have my things made fun of." + +"He isn't worth a thrashing, so we'll let it pass this time," said +Jack, irefully, yet privately resolving to have it out with Fletcher +by and by. + +"Why, Kitty, I thought the real daisies the prettiest things about +your dress. Don't throw them away. I'll wear them just to show that +noodle that I prefer nature to art;" and Jack gallantly stuck the +faded posy in his button-hole, while Kitty treasured up the hint so +kindly given for future use. + +If a clock with great want of tact hadn't insisted on telling them +that it was getting late, Kitty never would have got home, for both +the young people felt inclined to loiter about arm in arm through the +sweet summer night forever. + +Jack had meant to say something before she went, and was immensely +surprised to find the chance lost for the present. He wanted to go +home with her and free his mind; but a neighborly old gentleman having +been engaged as escort, there would have been very little satisfaction +in a travelling trio; so he gave it up. He was very silent as they +walked to the station with Dr. Dodd trudging behind them. Kitty +thought he was tired, perhaps glad to be rid of her, and meekly +accepted her fate. But as the train approached, she gave his hand an +impulsive squeeze, and said very gratefully,-- + +"Jack, I can't thank you enough for your kindness to your silly little +cousin; but I never shall forget it, and if I ever can return it in +any way, I will with all my heart." + +Jack looked down at the young face almost pathetic now with weariness, +humility, and pain, yet very sweet, with that new shyness in the +loving eyes, and, stooping suddenly, he kissed it, whispering in a +tone that made the girl's heart flutter,-- + +"I'll tell you how you may return it 'with all your heart,' by and by. +Good-night, my Kitty." + +"Have you had a good time, dear?" asked Pris, as her sister appeared +an hour later. + +"Don't I look as if I had?" and, throwing off her wraps, Kitty +revolved slowly before her that she might behold every portion of the +wreck. "My gown is all dust, crumple, and rags, my bonnet perfectly +limp and flat, and my gloves are ruined; I've broken Lizzie's parasol, +made a spectacle of myself, and wasted money, time, and temper; yet my +Class Day isn't a failure, for Jack is the dearest boy in the world, +and I'm very, very happy!" + +Pris looked at her a minute, then opened her arms without a word, and +Kitty forgot all her little troubles in one great joy. + +When Miss Smith and Miss Jones called a few days after to tell her +that Mr. Fletcher was going abroad, the amiable creatures were +entirely routed by finding Jack there in a most unmistakable +situation. He blandly wished Horace "bon voyage," and regretted that +he wouldn't be there to the wedding in October. Kitty devoted herself +to blushing beautifully, and darning many rents in a short daisy +muslin skirt, "which I intend to wear a great deal, because Jack likes +it, and so do I," she said, with a demure look at her lover, who +laughed as if that was the best joke of the season. + + + + +AUNT KIPP + +"Children and fools speak the truth." + + +I + + +"What's that sigh for, Polly dear?" "I'm tired, mother, tired of +working and waiting. If I'm ever going to have any fun, I want it +_now_ while I can enjoy it." + +"You shouldn't wait another hour if I could have my way; but you +know how helpless I am;" and poor Mrs. Snow sighed dolefully, as she +glanced about the dingy room and pretty Mary turning her faded gown +for the second time. + +"If Aunt Kipp would give us the money she is always talking about, +instead of waiting till she dies, we should be _so_ comfortable. She +is a dreadful bore, for she lives in such terror of dropping dead with +her heart-complaint that she doesn't take any pleasure in life herself +or let any one else; so the sooner she goes the better for all of us," +said Polly, in a desperate tone; for things looked very black to her +just then. + +"My dear, don't say that," began her mother, mildly shocked; but a +bluff little voice broke in with the forcible remark,-- + +"She's everlastingly telling me never to put off till to-morrow what +can be done to-day; next time she comes I'll remind her of that, and +ask her, if she is going to die, why she doesn't do it?" + +"Toady! you're a wicked, disrespectful boy; never let me hear you say +such a thing again about your dear Aunt Kipp." + +"She isn't dear! You know we all hate her, and you are more afraid of +her than you are of spiders,--so now." + +The young personage whose proper name had been corrupted into Toady, +was a small boy of ten or eleven, apple-cheeked, round-eyed, and +curly-headed; arrayed in well-worn, gray knickerbockers, profusely +adorned with paint, glue, and shreds of cotton. Perched on a high +stool, at an isolated table in a state of chaos, he was absorbed in +making a boat, entirely oblivious of the racking tooth-ache which had +been his excuse for staying from school. As cool, saucy, hard-handed, +and soft-hearted a little specimen of young America was Toady as you +would care to see; a tyrant at home, a rebel at school, a sworn foe +to law, order, and Aunt Kipp. This young person was regarded as a +reprobate by all but his mother, sister, and sister's sweetheart, Van +Bahr Lamb. Having been, through much anguish of flesh and spirit, +taught that lying was a deadly sin, Toady rushed to the other extreme, +and bolted out the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, +at all times and places, with a startling abruptness that brought +wrath and dismay upon his friends and relatives. + +"It's wicked to fib; you've whipped that into me and you can't rub it +out," he was wont to say, with vivid recollection of the past tingling +in the chubby portions of his frame. + +"Mind your chips, Toady, and take care what you say to Aunt Kipp, or +you'll be as poor as a little rat all the days of your life," said +Polly, warningly. + +"I don't want her old money, and I'll tell her so if she bothers me +about it. I shall go into business with Van and take care of the whole +lot; so don't you preach, Polly," returned Toady, with as much dignity +as was compatible with a great dab of glue on the end of his snub +nose. + +"Mother, did aunt say anything about coming this week?" asked Polly, +after a pause of intense thought over a breadth with three darns, two +spots, and a burn. + +"Yes; she wrote that she was too feeble to come at present, as she had +such dreadful palpitations she didn't dare stir from her room. So we +are quite safe for the next week at least, and--bless my soul, there +she is now!" + +Mrs. Snow clasped her hands with a gesture of dismay, and sat as if +transfixed by the spectacle of a ponderous lady, in an awe-inspiring +bonnet, who came walking slowly down the street. Polly gave a groan, +and pulled a bright ribbon from her hair. Toady muttered, "Oh, +bother!" and vainly attempted to polish up his countenance with a +fragmentary pocket-handkerchief. + +"Nothing but salt fish for dinner," wailed Mrs. Snow, as the shadow of +the coming event fell upon her. + +"Van will make a fool of himself, and ruin everything," sighed Polly, +glancing at the ring on her finger. + +"I know she'll kiss me; she never _will_ let a fellow alone," growled +Toady, scowling darkly. + +The garden gate clashed, dust flew from the door-mat, a heavy step +echoed in the hall, an imperious voice called "Sophy!" and Aunt Kipp +entered with a flourish of trumpets, for Toady blew a blast through +his fingers which made the bows totter on her bonnet. + +"My dear aunt, I'm very glad to see you," murmured Mrs. Snow, +advancing with a smile of welcome; for though as weak as water gruel, +she was as kind-hearted a little woman as ever lived. + +"What a fib that was!" said Toady, _sotto voce_. + +"We were just saying we were afraid you wouldn't"--began Mary, when a +warning, "Mind now, Polly," caused her to stop short and busy herself +with the newcomer's bag and umbrella. + +"I changed my mind. Theodore, come and kiss me," answered Aunt Kipp, +briefly. + +"Yes'm," was the plaintive reply, and, closing his eyes, Toady awaited +his fate with fortitude. + +But the dreaded salute did not come, for Aunt Kipp exclaimed in +alarm,-- + +"Mercy on us! has the boy got the plague?" + +"No'm, it's paint, and dirt, and glue, and it _won't_ come off," said +Toady, stroking his variegated countenance with grateful admiration +for the stains that saved him. + +"Go and wash this moment, sir. Thank Heaven, _I've_ got no boys," +cried Aunt Kipp. as if boys were some virulent disease which she had +narrowly escaped. + +With a hasty peck at the lips of her two elder relatives, the old lady +seated herself, and slowly removed the awful bonnet, which in shape +and hue much resembled a hearse hung with black crape. + +"I'm glad you are better," said Mary, reverently receiving the +funereal head-gear. + +"I'm _not_ better," cut in Aunt Kipp. "I'm worse, much worse; my days +are numbered; I stand on the brink of the tomb, and may drop at any +moment." + +Toady's face was a study, as he glanced up at the old lady's florid +countenance, down at the floor, as if in search of the above-mentioned +"brink," and looked unaffectedly anxious to see her drop. "Why don't +you, then?" was on his lips; but a frown from Polly restrained him, +and he sat himself down on the rug to contemplate the corpulent +victim. + +"Have a cup of tea, aunt?" said Mrs. Snow. + +"I will." + +"Lie down and rest a little," suggested Polly. + +"I won't." + +"Can we do anything for you?" said both. + +"Take my things away, and have dinner early." + +Both departed to perform these behests, and, leaning back in her +chair, Aunt Kipp reposed. + +"I say, what's a bore?" asked Toady from the rug, where he sat rocking +meditatively to and fro, holding on by his shoe-strings. + +"It's a kind of a pig, very fierce, and folks are afraid of 'em," said +Aunt Kipp, whose knowledge of Natural History was limited. + +"Good for Polly! so you are!" sung out the boy, with the hearty +child's laugh so pleasant to most ears. + +"What do you mean, sir?" demanded the old lady, irefully poking at him +with her umbrella. + +"Why, Polly said you were a bore," explained Toady, with artless +frankness. "You _are_ fat, you know, and fierce sometimes, and folks +are afraid of you. Good, wasn't it?" + +"Very! Mary is a nice, grateful, respectful, loving niece, and I +shan't forget her, she may depend on that," and Aunt Kipp laughed +grimly. + +"May she? well, that's jolly now. She was afraid you wouldn't give her +the money; so I'll tell her it's all right;" and innocent Toady nodded +approvingly. + +"Oh, she expects some of my money, does she?" + +"Course she does; ain't you always saying you'll remember us in your +will, because father was your favorite nephew, and all that? I'll tell +you a secret, if you won't let Polly know I spoke first. You'll find +it out to-night, for you 'd see Van and she were sweethearts in a +minute." + +"Sweethearts?" cried Aunt Kipp, turning red in the face. + +"Yes'm. Van settled it last week, and Polly's been so happy ever +since. Mother likes it, and _I_ like it, for I'm fond of Van, though +I do call him Baa-baa, because he looks like a sheep. We all like it, +and we 'd all say so, if we were not afraid of you. Mother and Polly, +I mean; of course we men don't mind, but we don't want a fuss. You +won't make one, will you, now?" + +Anything more expressive of brotherly good-will, persuasive frankness, +and a placid consciousness of having "fixed it," than Toady's dirty +little face, it would be hard to find. Aunt Kipp eyed him so fiercely +that even before she spoke a dim suspicion that something was wrong +began to dawn on his too-confiding soul. + +"_I_ don't like it, and I'll put a stop to it. I won't have any +ridiculous baa-baas in my family. If Mary counts on my money to begin +housekeeping with, she'll find herself mistaken; for not one penny +shall she have, married or single, and you may tell her so." + +Toady was so taken aback by this explosion that he let go his +shoe-strings, fell over with a crash, and lay flat, with shovel and +tongs spread upon him like a pall. In rushed Mrs. Snow and Polly, to +find the boy's spirits quite quenched, for once, and Aunt Kipp in a +towering passion. It all came out in one overwhelming flood of words, +and Toady fled from the storm to wander round the house, a prey to +the deepest remorse. The meekness of that boy at dinner-time was so +angelic that Mrs. Snow would have feared speedy translation for him, +if she had not been very angry. Polly's red eyes, and Aunt Kipp's +griffinesque expression of countenance, weighed upon his soul so +heavily, that even roly-poly pudding failed to assuage his trouble, +and, taking his mother into the china-closet, he anxiously inquired +"if it was all up with Polly?" + +"I'm afraid so, for aunt vows she will make a new will to-morrow, and +leave every penny to the Charitable Rag-bag Society," sighed Mrs. +Snow. + +"I didn't mean to do it, I truly didn't! I thought I'd just 'give her +a hint,' as you say. She looked all right, and laughed when I told her +about being a bore, and I thought she liked it. If she was a man, I'd +thrash her for making Polly cry;" and Toady shook his fist at Aunt +Kipp's umbrella, which was an immense relief to his perturbed spirit. + +"Bless the boy! I do believe he would!" cried Mrs. Snow, watching the +little turkey-cock with maternal pride. "You can't do that: so just be +careful and not make any more mischief, dear." + +"I'll try, mother; but I'm always getting into scrapes with Aunt Kipp. +She's worse than measles, any day,--such an old aggrawater! Van's +coming this afternoon, won't he make her pleasant again?" + +"Oh, dear, no! He will probably make things ten times worse, he's so +bashful and queer. I'm afraid our last chance is gone, deary, and we +must rub along as we have done." + +One sniff of emotion burst from Toady, and for a moment he laid his +head in the knife-tray, overcome with disappointment and regret. +But scorning to yield to unmanly tears, he was soon himself again. +Thrusting his beloved jackknife, with three blades and a file, into +Polly's hand, he whispered, brokenly,-- + +"Keep it forever 'n' ever; I'm awful sorry!" Then, feeling that the +magnitude of this sacrifice atoned for everything, he went to watch +for Van,--the forlorn hope to which he now clung. + + +II + + +"Sophy, I'm surprised at your want of judgment. Do you really mean +to let your girl marry this Lamb? Why, the man's a fool!" began Aunt +Kipp, after dinner, by way of opening a pleasant conversation with her +relatives. + +"Dear me, aunt! how can you know that, when you never saw him?" mildly +returned Mrs. Snow. + +"I've heard of him, and that's enough for me. I've a deal of +penetration in judging character, and I tell you Van Bahr Lamb is a +fool." + +The amiable old lady thought this would rouse Polly, against whom her +anger still burned hotly. But Polly also possessed penetration; +and, well knowing that contradiction would delight Aunt Kipp, she +completely took the wind out of her sails, by coolly remarking,-- + +"I like fools." + +"Bless my heart! what does the girl mean?" ejaculated Aunt Kipp. + +"Just what I say. If Van is a fool, I prefer simpletons to wiseacres. +I know he is shy and awkward, and does absurd things now and then. But +I also know that he has the kindest heart that ever was; is unselfish, +faithful and loving; that he took good care of his old parents till +they died, and never thought of himself while they needed him. He +loves me dearly; will wait for me a dozen years, if I say so, and work +all his days to make me happy. He's a help and comfort to mother, a +good friend to Toady, and I love and respect and am proud of him, +though you do say he is a fool," cried Polly heartily. + +"And you insist on marrying him?" demanded Aunt Kipp. + +"Yes, I do." + +"Then I wish a carriage immediately," was the somewhat irrelevant +reply. + +"Why, aunt, you don't mean to go so soon?" cried Mrs. Snow, with a +reproachful glance at the rebellious Polly. + +"Far from it. I wish to see Judge Banks about altering my will," was +the awful answer. + +Polly's face fell; her mother gave a despairing sigh; Toady, who had +hovered about the door, uttered a suppressed whistle of dismay; and +Mrs. Kipp looked about her with vengeful satisfaction. + +"Get the big carryall and old Bob, so the boy can drive, and all of +you come; the trip will do you good." + +It was like Aunt Kipp to invite her poor relations to go and "nip +their own noses off," as she elegantly expressed it. It was a party of +pleasure that just suited her, for all the fun was on her side. She +grew affable at once, was quite pressing in her invitation, regretted +that Sophy was too busy to go, praised Polly's hat; and professed +herself quite satisfied with "that dear boy" for a driver. The "dear +boy" distorted his young countenance frightfully behind her back, but +found a balm for every wound in the delight of being commander of the +expedition. + +The big carryall appeared, and, with much creaking and swaying Mrs. +Kipp was got into the back seat, where the big bonnet gloomed like a +thunder-cloud. Polly, in a high state of indignation, which only made +her look ten times prettier, sat in front with Toady, who was a sight +to see as he drove off with his short legs planted against the boot, +his elbows squared, and the big whip scientifically cracking now +and then. Away they went, leaving poor Mrs. Snow to bewail herself +dismally after she had smiled and nodded them out of sight. + +"Don't go over any bridges or railroad crossings or by any saw-mills," +said the old lady, as if the town could be suddenly remodelled to suit +her taste. + +"Yes'm," returned Toady, with a crack which would have done honor to a +French postilion. + +It was a fine day, and the young people would have enjoyed the ride in +spite of the breakers ahead, if Aunt Kipp hadn't entertained the +girl with a glowing account of the splendors of her own wedding, and +aggravated the boy by frequent pokes and directions in the art of +driving, of which she was of course, profoundly ignorant. Polly +couldn't restrain a tear or two, in thinking of her own poor little +prospects, and Toady was goaded to desperation. + +"I'll give her a regular shaking up; it'll make her hold her tongue +and do her good," he said to himself, as a stony hill sloped +temptingly before him. + +A sly chuck, and some mysterious manoeuvre with the reins, and Bob +started off at a brisk trot, as if he objected to the old lady as much +as her mischievous little nephew. + +"Hold him in! Keep a taut rein! Lord 'a mercy, he's running away!" +shrieked Aunt Kipp, or tried to shriek, for the bouncing and bumping +jerked the words out of her mouth with ludicrous incoherency. + +"I am holding him, but he _will_ go," said Toady, with a wicked +triumph in his eye as he glanced back at Polly. + +The next minute the words were quite true; for, as he spoke, two or +three distracted hens flew squalling over the wall and scattered +about, under, over, and before the horse, as only distracted hens +could do. It was too much for Bob's nerves; and, taking matters into +his own hands, or feet, rather, he broke into a run, and rattled the +old lady over the stones with a velocity which left her speechless. + +Polly laughed, and Toady chuckled, as they caught glimpses of the +awful bonnet vibrating wildly in the background, and felt the frantic +clutchings of the old lady's hands. But both grew sober as a shrill +car-whistle sounded not far off; and Bob, as if possessed by an +evil spirit, turned suddenly into the road that led to the railroad +crossing. + +"That will do, Toady; now pull up, for we can't get over in time," +said Polly, glancing anxiously toward the rapidly approaching puffs of +white smoke. + +"I can't, Polly,--I really can't," cried the boy, tugging with all his +might, and beginning to look scared. + +Polly lent her aid; but Bob scarcely seemed to feel it, for he had +been a racer once, and when his blood was up he was hard to handle. +His own good sense might have checked him, if Aunt Kipp hadn't +unfortunately recovered her voice at this crisis, and uttered a +succession of the shrillest screams that ever saluted mortal ears. +With a snort and a bound Bob dashed straight on toward the crossing, +as the train appeared round the bend. + +"Let me out! Let me out! Jump! Jump!" shrieked Aunt Kipp, thrusting +her head out of the window, while she fumbled madly for the +door-handle. + +"O Toady, save us! save us!" gasped Polly, losing her presence of +mind, and dropping the reins to cling to her brother, with a woman's +instinctive faith in the stronger sex. + +But Toady held on manfully, though his arms were nearly pulled off, +for "Never say die," was his motto, and the plucky little lad wouldn't +show fear before the women. + +"Don't howl; we'll do it! Hi, Bob!" and with a savage slash of the +whip, an exciting cry, a terrible reeling and rattling, they _did_ do +it; for Bob cleared the track at a breakneck pace, just in time for +the train to sweep swiftly by behind them. + +Aunt Kipp dropped in a heap, Polly looked up at her brother, with a +look which he never forgot; and Toady tried to say, stoutly, "It's all +right!" with lips that were white and dry in spite of himself. + +"We shall smash up at the bridge," he muttered, as they tore through +the town, where every one obligingly shouted, waved their hats, and +danced about on the sidewalks, doing nothing but add to Bob's fright +and the party's danger. But Toady was wrong,--they did not smash up at +the bridge; for, before they reached the perilous spot, one man had +the sense to fly straight at the horse's head and hold on till the +momentary check enabled others to lend a hand. + +The instant they were safe, Polly, like a regular heroine, threw +herself into the arms of her dishevelled preserver, who of course was +Van, and would have refreshed herself with hysterics if the sight of +Toady hadn't steadied her. The boy sat as stiff and rigid as a wooden +figure till they took the reins from him; then all the strength seemed +to go out of him, and he leaned against his sister, as white and +trembling as she, whispering with an irrepressible sob,-- + +"O Polly, wasn't it horrid? Tell mother I stood by you like a man. Do +tell her that!" + +If any one had had time or heart to laugh, they certainly would have +done it when, after much groping, heaving, and hoisting. Mrs. Kipp +was extricated and restored to consciousness; for a more ludicrously +deplorable spectacle was seldom seen. Quite unhurt, though much +shaken, the old lady insisted on believing herself to be dying, and +kept the town in a ferment till three doctors had pronounced her +perfectly well able to go home. Then the perversity of her nature +induced her to comply, that she might have the satisfaction of dying +on the way, and proving herself in the right. + +Unfortunately she did not expire, but, having safely arrived, went to +bed in high dudgeon, and led Polly and her mother a sad life of it for +two weary days. Having heard of Toady's gallant behavior, she solemnly +ordered him up to receive her blessing. But the sight of Aunt Kipp's +rubicund visage, surrounded by the stiff frills of an immense +nightcap, caused the irreverent boy to explode with laughter in his +handkerchief, and to be hustled away by his mother before Aunt Kipp +discovered the true cause of his convulsed appearance. + +"Ah! poor dear, his feelings are too much for him. He sees my doom +in my face, and is overcome by what you refuse to believe. I shan't +forget that boy's devotion. Now leave me to the meditations befitting +these solemn hours." + +Mrs. Snow retired, and Aunt Kipp tried to sleep; but the murmur of +voices, and the sound of stifled laughter in the next room disturbed +her repose. + +"They are rejoicing over my approaching end, knowing that I haven't +changed my will. Mercenary creatures, don't exult too soon! there's +time yet," she muttered; and presently, unable to control her +curiosity, she crept out of bed to listen and peep through the +keyhole. + +Van Bahr Lamb did look rather like a sheep. He had a blond curly +head, a long face, pale, mild eyes, a plaintive voice, and a general +expression of innocent timidity strongly suggestive of animated +mutton. But Baa-baa was a "trump," as Toady emphatically declared, and +though every one laughed at him, every one liked him, and that is +more than can be said of many saints and sages. He adored Polly, was +dutifully kind to her mother, and had stood by T. Snow, Jr., in many +an hour of tribulation with fraternal fidelity. Though he had long +blushed, sighed, and cast sheep's eyes at the idol of his affections, +only till lately had he dared to bleat forth his passion. Polly loved +him because she couldn't help it; but she was proud, and wouldn't +marry till Aunt Kipp's money was hers, or at least a sure prospect +of it; and now even the prospect of a prospect was destroyed by +that irrepressible Toady. They were talking of this as the old lady +suspected, and of course the following conversation afforded her +intense satisfaction. + +"It's a shame to torment us as she does, knowing how poor we are and +how happy a little of her money would make us. I'm tired of being a +slave to a cruel old woman just because she's rich. If it was not for +mother, I declare I'd wash my hands of her entirely, and do the best I +could for myself." + +"Hooray for Polly! I always said let her money go and be jolly without +it," cried Toady, who, in his character of wounded hero, reposed with +a lordly air on the sofa, enjoying the fragrance of the opodeldoc with +which his strained wrists were bandaged. + +"It's on your account, children, that I bear with aunt's temper as I +do. I don't want anything for myself, but I really think she owes it +to your dear father, who was devoted to her while he lived, to provide +for his children when he couldn't;" after which remarkably spirited +speech for her, Mrs. Snow dropped a tear, and stitched away on a small +trouser-leg which was suffering from a complicated compound fracture. + +"Don't you worry about me, mother; I'll take care of myself and you +too," remarked Toady, with the cheery belief in impossibilities which +makes youth so charming. + +"Now, Van, tell us what to do, for things have come to such a pass +that we must either break away altogether or be galley-slaves as long +as Aunt Kipp lives," said Polly, who was a good deal excited about the +matter. + +"Well, really, my dear, I don't know," hesitated Van, who did know +what _he_ wanted, but thought it might be selfish to urge it. "Have +you tried to soften your aunt's heart?" he asked, after a moment's +meditation. + +"Good gracious, Van, she hasn't got any," cried Polly, who firmly +believed it. + +"It's hossified," thoughtfully remarked Toady, quite unconscious of +any approach to a joke till every one giggled. + +"You've had hossification enough for one while, my lad," laughed Van. +"Well, Polly, if the old lady has no heart you'd better let her go, +for people without hearts are not worth much." + +"That's a beautiful remark, Van, and a wise one. I just wish she could +hear you make it, for she called you a fool," said Polly, irefully. + +"Did she? Well, I don't mind, I'm used to it," returned Van, placidly; +and so he was, for Polly called him a goose every day of her life, and +he enjoyed it immensely. + +"Then you think, dear, if we stopped worrying about aunt and her +money, and worked instead of waiting, that we shouldn't be any poorer +and might be a great deal happier than we are now?" asked Polly, +making a pretty little tableau as she put her hand through Van's arm +and looked up at him with as much love, respect, and reliance as if he +had been six feet tall, with the face of an Apollo and the manners of +a Chesterfield. + +"Yes, my dear, I do, for it has troubled me a good deal to see you so +badgered by that very uncomfortable old lady. Independence is a very +nice thing, and poverty isn't half as bad as this sort of slavery. But +you are not going to be poor, nor worry about anything. We'll just be +married and take mother and Toady home and be as jolly as grigs, and +never think of Mrs. K. again,--unless she loses her fortune, or +gets sick, or comes to grief in any way. We'd lend her a hand then, +wouldn't we, Polly?" and Van's mild face was pleasant to behold as he +made the kindly proposition. + +"Well, we'd think of it," said Polly, trying not to relent, but +feeling that she was going very fast. + +"Let's do it!" cried Toady, fired with the thought of privy conspiracy +and rebellion. "Mother would be so comfortable with Polly, and +I'd help Van in the store, when I've learned that confounded +multiplication table," he added with a groan; "and if Aunt Kipp comes +a visiting, we'll just say 'Not at home,' and let her trot off again." + +"It sounds very nice, but aunt will be dreadfully offended and I don't +wish to be ungrateful," said Mrs. Snow, brightening visibly. + +"There's no ingratitude about it," cried Van. "She might have done +everything to make you love, and respect, and admire her, and been a +happy, useful, motherly, old soul; but she didn't choose to, and now +she must take the consequences. No one cares for her, because she +cares for nobody; her money's the plague of her life, and not a single +heart will ache when she dies." + +"Poor Aunt Kipp!" said Polly, softly. + +Mrs. Snow echoed the words, and for a moment all thought pitifully of +the woman whose life had given so little happiness, whose age had won +so little reverence, and whose death would cause so little regret. +Even Toady had a kind thought for her, as he broke the silence, saying +soberly,-- + +"You'd better put tails on my jackets, mother; then the next time we +get run away with, Aunt Kipp will have something to hold on by." + +It was impossible to help laughing at the recollection of the old lady +clutching at the boy till he had hardly a button left, and at the +paternal air with which he now proposed a much-desired change of +costume, as if intent on Aunt Kipp's future accommodation. + +Under cover of the laugh, the old lady stole back to bed, wide awake, +and with subjects enough to meditate upon now. The shaking up had +certainly done her good, for somehow the few virtues she possessed +came to the surface, and the mental shower-bath just received had +produced a salutary change. Polly wouldn't have doubted her aunt's +possession of a heart, if she could have known the pain and loneliness +that made it ache, as the old woman crept away; and Toady wouldn't +have laughed if he had seen the tears on the face, between the big +frills, as Aunt Kipp laid it on the pillow, muttering, drearily,-- + +"I might have been a happy, useful woman, but I didn't choose to, and +now it's too late." + +It _was_ too late to be all she might have been, for the work of +seventy selfish years couldn't be undone in a minute. But with regret, +rose the sincere wish to earn a little love before the end came, and +the old perversity gave a relish to the reformation, for even while +she resolved to do the just and generous thing, she said to herself,-- + +"They say I've got no heart; I'll show 'em that I have: they don't +want my money; I'll _make_ 'em take it: they turn their backs on me; +I'll just render myself so useful and agreeable that they can't do +without me." + + +III + + +Aunt Kipp sat bolt upright in the parlor, hemming a small +handkerchief, adorned with a red ship, surrounded by a border of +green monkeys. Toady suspected that this elegant article of dress was +intended for him, and yearned to possess it; so, taking advantage of +his mother's and Polly's absence, he strolled into the room, and, +seating himself on a high, hard chair, folded his hands, crossed his +legs, and asked for a story with the thirsting-for-knowledge air which +little boys wear in the moral story-books. + +Now Aunt Kipp had one soft place in her heart, though it _was_ +partially ossified, as she very truly declared, and Toady was +enshrined therein. She thought there never was such a child, and loved +him as she had done his father before him, though the rack wouldn't +have forced her to confess it. She scolded, snubbed, and predicted +he'd come to a bad end in public; but she forgave his naughtiest +pranks, always brought him something when she came, and privately +intended to make his future comfortable with half of her fortune. +There was a dash and daring, a generosity and integrity, about the +little fellow, that charmed her. Sophy was weak and low-spirited, +Polly pretty and headstrong, and Aunt Kipp didn't think much of either +of them; but Toady defied, distracted, and delighted her, and to Toady +she clung, as the one sunshiny thing in her sour, selfish old age. + +When he made his demure request, she looked at him, and her eyes began +to twinkle, for the child's purpose was plainly seen in the loving +glances cast upon the pictorial pocket-handkerchief. + +"A story? Yes, I'll tell you one about a little boy who had a kind +old--ahem!--grandma. She was rich, and hadn't made up her mind who she'd +leave her money to. She was fond of the boy,--a deal fonder than he +deserved,--for he was as mischievous a monkey as any that ever lived +in a tree, with a curly tail. He put pepper in her snuff-box,"--here +Toady turned scarlett,--"he cut up her bestt frisette to make a mane +for his rocking-horse,"--Toady opened his mouth impulsively, but shut +it again without betraying himself--"he repeated rude things to her, +and called her 'an old aggrewater,'"--here Toady wriggled in his +chair, and gave a little gasp. + +"If you are tired I won't go on," observed Aunt Kipp, mildly. + +"I'm not tired, 'm; it's a very interesting story," replied Toady, +with a gravity that nearly upset the old lady. + +"Well, in spite of all this, that kind, good, forgiving grandma left +that bad boy twenty thousand dollars when she died. What do you think +of that?" asked Aunt Kipp, pausing suddenly with her sharp eye on him. + +"I--I think she was a regular dear," cried Toady, holding on to the +chair with both hands, as if that climax rather took him off his legs. + +"And what did the boy do about it?" continued Aunt Kipp, curiously. + +"He bought a velocipede, and gave his sister half, and paid his +mother's rent, and put a splendid marble cherakin over the old lady, +and had a jolly good time, and--" + +"What in the world is a cherakin?" laughed Aunt Kipp, as Toady paused +for breath. + +"Why, don't you know? It's a angel crying, or pointing up, or flapping +his wings. They have them over graves; and I'll give you the biggest +one I can find when you die. But I'm not in a _very_ great hurry to +have you." + +"Thankee, dear; I'm in no hurry, myself. But, Toady, the boy did wrong +in giving his sister half; she didn't deserve _any_; and the grandma +left word she wasn't to have a penny of it." + +"Really?" cried the boy, with a troubled face. + +"Yes, really. If he gave her any he lost it all; the old lady said so. +Now what do you think?" asked Aunt Kipp, who found it impossible to +pardon Polly,--perhaps because she was young, and pretty, and much +beloved. + +Toady's eyes kindled, and his red cheeks grew redder still, as he +cried out defiantly,-- + +"I think she was a selfish pig,--don't you?" + +"No, I don't, sir; and I'm sure that little boy wasn't such a fool as +to lose the money. He minded his grandma's wishes, and kept it all." + +"No, he didn't," roared Toady, tumbling off his chair in great +excitement. "He just threw it out a winder, and smashed the old +cherakin all to bits." + +Aunt Kipp dropped her work with a shrill squeak, for she thought the +boy was dangerous, as he stood before her, sparring away at nothing as +the only vent for his indignation. + +"It isn't an interesting story," he cried; "and I won't hear any more; +and I won't have your money if I mayn't go halves with Polly; and I'll +work to earn more than that, and we'll all be jolly together, and you +may give your twenty thousand to the old rag-bags, and so I tell you, +Aunt Kipp." + +"Why, Toady, my boy, what's the matter?" cried a mild voice at the +door, as young Lamb came trotting up to the rescue. + +"Never you mind, Baa-baa; I shan't do it; and it's a mean shame Polly +can't have half; then she could marry you and be so happy," blubbered +Toady, running to try to hide his tears of disappointment in the +coat-skirts of his friend. + +"Mr. Lamb, I suppose you _are_ that misguided young man?" said Aunt +Kipp, as if it was a personal insult to herself. + +"Van Bahr Lamb, ma'am, if you please. Yes, thank you," murmured +Baa-Baa, bowing, blushing, and rumpling his curly fleece in bashful +trepidation. + +"Don't thank me," cried the old lady. "I'm not going to give you +anything,--far from it. I object to you altogether. What business have +you to come courting my niece?" + +"Because I love her, ma'am," returned Van, with unexpected spirit. + +"No, you don't; you want her money, or rather my money. She depends +on it; but you'll both be disappointed, for she won't have a penny of +it," cried Aunt Kipp, who, in spite of her good resolutions, found it +impossible to be amiable all at once. + +"I'm glad of it!" burst out Van, indignant at her accusation. "I +didn't want Polly for the money; I always doubted if she got it; and I +never wished her to make herself a slave to anybody. I've got enough +for all, if we're careful; and when my share of the Van Bahr property +comes, we shall live in clover." + +"What's that? What property are you talking of?" demanded Aunt Kipp, +pricking up her ears. + +"The great Van Bahr estate, ma'am. There has been a long lawsuit about +it, but it's nearly settled, and there isn't much doubt that we shall +get it. I am the last of our branch, and my share will be a large +one." + +"Oh, indeed! I wish you joy," said Aunt Kipp, with sudden affability; +for she adored wealth, like a few other persons in the world. "But +suppose you don't get it, how then?" + +"Then I shall try to be contented with my salary of two thousand, and +make Polly as happy as I can. Money doesn't _always_ make people happy +or agreeable, I find." And Van looked at Aunt Kipp in a way that would +have made her hair stand erect if she had possessed any. She stared +at him a moment, then, obeying one of the odd whims that made an +irascible weathercock of her, she said, abruptly,-- + +"If you had capital should you go into business for yourself, Mr. +Lambkin?" + +"Yes, ma'am, at once," replied Van, promptly. + +"Suppose you lost the Van Bahr money, and some one offered you a tidy +little sum to start with, would you take it?" + +"It would depend upon who made the offer, ma'am," said Van, looking +more like a sheep than ever, as he stood staring in blank surprise. + +"Suppose it was me, wouldn't you take it?" asked Aunt Kipp, blandly, +for the new fancy pleased her. + +"No, thank you, ma'am," said Van, decidedly. + +"And why not, pray?" cried the old lady, with a shrillness that made +him jump, and Toady back to the door precipitately. + +"Because, if you'll excuse my speaking plainly, I think you owe +anything you may have to spare to your niece, Mrs. Snow;" and, having +freed his mind, Van joined Toady, ready to fly if necessary. + +"You're an idiot, sir," began Aunt Kipp, in a rage again. + +"Thank you, ma'am." And Van actually laughed and bowed in return for +the compliment. + +"Hold your tongue, sir," snapped the old lady. "You're a fool and +Sophy is another. She's no strength of mind, no sense about anything; +and would make ducks and drakes of my money in less than no time if I +gave it to her, as I've thought of doing." + +"Mrs. Kipp, you forget who you are speaking to. Mrs. Snow's sons love +and respect her if you don't, and they won't hear anything untrue +or unkind said of a good woman, a devoted mother, and an almost +friendless widow." + +Van wasn't a dignified man at all, but as he said that with a sudden +flash of his mild eyes, there was something in his face and manner +that daunted Aunt Kipp more than the small fist belligerently shaken +at her from behind the sofa. The poor old soul was cross, and worried, +and ashamed of herself, and being as feeble-minded as Sophy in many +respects, she suddenly burst into tears, and, covering her face with +the gay handkerchief, cried as if bent on floating the red ship in a +sea of salt water without delay. + +"I'm a poor, lonely, abused old woman," she moaned, with a green +monkey at each eye. "No one loves me, or minds me, or thanks me when +I want to help 'em. My money's only a worryment and a burden, and I +don't know what to do with it, for people I don't want to leave it to +ought to have it, and people I do like won't take it. Oh, deary me, +what _shall_ I do! what shall I do!" + +"Shall I tell you, ma'am?" asked Van, gently, for, though she was a +very provoking old lady, he pitied and wished to help her. + +A nod and a gurgle seemed to give consent, and, boldly advancing, Van +said, with blush and a stammer, but a very hearty voice,-- + +"I think, ma'am, if you'd do the right thing with your money you'd be +at ease and find it saved a deal of worry all round. Give it to Mrs. +Snow; she deserves it, poor lady, for she's had a hard time, and done +her duty faithfully. Don't wait till you are--that is, till you--well, +till you in point of fact die, ma'am. Give it now, and enjoy the +happiness it will make. Give it kindly, let them see you're glad to +do it, and I am sure you'll find them grateful; I'm sure you won't be +lonely any more, or feel that you are not loved and thanked. Try it, +ma'am, just try it," cried Van, getting excited by the picture he +drew. "And I give you my word I'll do my best to respect and love you +like a son, ma'am." + +He knew that he was promising a great deal, but for Polly's sake he +felt that he could make even that Herculean effort. Aunt Kipp was +surprised and touched; but the contrary old lady couldn't make up her +mind to yield so soon, and wouldn't have done it if Toady hadn't taken +her by storm. Having a truly masculine horror of tears, a very tender +heart under his tailless jacket, and being much "tumbled up and down +in his own mind" by the events of the week, the poor little lad felt +nerved to attempt any novel enterprise, even that of voluntarily +embracing Aunt Kipp. First a grimy little hand came on her shoulder, +as she sat sniffing behind the handkerchief; then, peeping out, she +saw an apple-cheeked face very near her own, with eyes full of pity, +penitence, and affection; and then she heard a choky little voice say +earnestly,-- + +"Don't cry, aunty; I'm sorry I was rude. Please be good to Mother and +Polly, and I'll love and take care of you, and stand by you all my +life. Yes, I'll--I'll _kiss_ you, I will, by George!" And with one +promiscuous plunge the Spartan boy cast himself into her arms. + +That finished Aunt Kipp; she hugged him dose, and cried out with a +salute that went off like a pistol-shot,-- + +"Oh, my dear, my dear! this is better than a dozen cherakins!" + +When Toady emerged, somewhat flushed and tumbled, Mrs. Snow, Polly, +and Van were looking on with faces full of wonder, doubt, and +satisfaction. To be an object of interest was agreeable to Aunt +Kipp; and, as her old heart was really softened, she met them with a +gracious smile, and extended the olive-branch generally. + +"Sophy, I shall give my money to _you_ at once and entirely, only +asking that you'll let me stay with you when Polly's gone. I'll do my +best to be agreeable, and you'll bear with me because I'm a cranky, +solitary old woman, and I loved your husband." + +Mrs. Snow hugged her on the spot, and gushed, of course, murmuring +thanks, welcomes, and promises in one grateful burst. + +"Polly, I forgive you; I consent to your marriage, and will provide +your wedding finery. Mr. Lamb, you are not a fool, but a very +excellent young man. I thank you for saving my life, and I wish you +well with all my heart. You needn't say anything. I'm far from strong, +and all this agitation is shortening my life." + +Polly and Van shook her hand heartily, and beamed upon each other like +a pair of infatuated turtle-doves with good prospects. + +"Toady, you are as near an angel as a boy can be. Put a name to +whatever you most wish for in the world, and it's yours," said Aunt +Kipp, dramatically waving the rest away. + +With his short legs wide apart, his hands behind him, and his rosy +face as round and radiant as a rising sun, Toady stood before the fire +surveying the scene with the air of a man who has successfully carried +through a difficult and dangerous undertaking, and wasn't proud. His +face brightened, then fell, as he heaved a sigh, and answered, with a +shake of his curly head,-- + +"You can't give me what I want most. There are three things, and I've +got to wait for them all." + +"Gracious me, what are they?" cried the old lady, good-naturedly, for +she felt better already. + +"A mustache, a beaver, _and_ a sweetheart," answered Toady, with his +eyes fixed wistfully on Baa-baa, who possessed all these blessings, +and was particularly enjoying the latter at that moment. + +How Aunt Kipp did laugh at this early budding of romance in her +pet! And all the rest joined her, for Toady's sentimental air was +irresistible. + +"You precocious chick! I dare say you will have them all before we +know where we are. Never mind, deary; you shall have my little watch, +and the silver-headed cane with a _boar's_ head on it," answered the +old lady, in high good-humor. "You needn't blush, dear; I don't bear +malice; so let's forget and forgive. I shall settle things to-morrow, +and have a free mind. You are welcome to my money, and I hope I shall +live to see you all enjoy it." + +So she did; for she lived to see Sophy plump, cheery, and care-free; +Polly surrounded by a flock of Lambkins; Van in possession of a +generous slice of the Van Bahr fortune; Toady revelling in the objects +of his desire; and, best of all, she lived to find that it is never +too late to make oneself useful, happy, and beloved. + + + + +PSYCHE'S ART + +"Handsome is that handsome does." + + +I + + +Once upon a time there raged in a certain city one of those +fashionable epidemics which occasionally attack our youthful +population. It wasn't the music mania, nor gymnastic convulsions, nor +that wide-spread malady, croquet. Neither was it one of the new dances +which, like a tarantula-bite, set every one a twirling, nor stage +madness, nor yet that American lecturing influenza which yearly sweeps +over the land. No, it was a new disease called the Art fever, and it +attacked the young women of the community with great violence. + +Nothing but time could cure it, and it ran its course to the dismay, +amusement, or edification of the beholders, for its victims did all +manner of queer things in their delirium. They begged potteries +for clay, drove Italian plaster-corkers out of their wits with +unexecutable orders got neuralgia and rheumatism sketching perched on +fences and trees like artistic hens, and caused a rise in the price of +bread, paper, and charcoal, by their ardor in crayoning. They covered +canvas with the expedition of scene-painters, had classes, lectures, +receptions, and exhibitions, made models of each other, and rendered +their walls hideous with bad likenesses of all their friends. Their +conversation ceased to be intelligible to the uninitiated, and they +prattled prettily of "chiaro oscuro, French sauce, refraction of the +angle of the eye, seventh spinus process, depth and juiciness of +color, tender touch, and a good tone." Even in dress the artistic +disorder was visible; some cast aside crinoline altogether, and +stalked about with a severe simplicity of outline worthy of Flaxman. +Others flushed themselves with scarlet, that no landscape which they +adorned should be without some touch of Turner's favorite tint. Some +were _blue_ in every sense of the word, and the heads of all were +adorned with classic braids, curls tied Hebe-wise, or hair dressed a +la hurricane. + +It was found impossible to keep them safe at home, and, as the fever +grew, these harmless maniacs invaded the sacred retreats where artists +of the other sex did congregate, startling those anchorites with +visions of large-eyed damsels bearing portfolios in hands delicately +begrimed with crayon, chalk, and clay, gliding through the corridors +hitherto haunted only by shabby paletots, shadowy hats, and cigar +smoke. This irruption was borne with manly fortitude, not to say +cheerfulness, for studio doors stood hospitably open as the fair +invaders passed, and studies from life were generously offered them in +glimpses of picturesque gentlemen posed before easels, brooding over +master-pieces in "a divine despair," or attitudinizing upon couches as +if exhausted by the soarings of genius. + +An atmosphere of romance began to pervade the old buildings when the +girls came, and nature and art took turns. There were peepings and +whisperings, much stifled laughter and whisking in and out; not to +mention the accidental rencontres, small services, and eye telegrams, +which somewhat lightened the severe studies of all parties. + +Half a dozen young victims of this malady met daily in one of the +cells of a great art beehive called "Raphael's Rooms," and devoted +their shining hours to modelling fancy heads, gossiping the while; for +the poor things found the road to fame rather dull and dusty without +such verbal sprinklings. + +"Psyche Dean, you've had an adventure! I see it in your face; so tell +it at once, for we are stupid as owls here to-day," cried one of the +sisterhood, as a bright-eyed girl entered with some precipitation. + +"I dropped my portfolio, and a man picked it up, that's all." replied +Psyche, hurrying on her gray linen pinafore. + +"That won't do; I know something interesting happened, for you've been +blushing, and you look brisker than usual this morning," said the +first speaker, polishing off the massive nose of her Homer. + +"It wasn't anything," began Psyche a little reluctantly. "I was coming +up in a hurry when I ran against a man coming down in a hurry. My +portfolio slipped, and my papers went flying all about the landing. Of +course we both laughed and begged pardon, and I began to pick them +up, but he wouldn't let me; so I held the book while he collected the +sketches. I saw him glance at them as he did so, and that made me +blush, for they are wretched things, you know." + +"Not a bit of it; they are capital, and you are a regular genius, as +we all agree," cut in the Homeric Miss Cutter. + +"Never tell people they are geniuses unless you wish to spoil them," +returned Psyche severely. "Well, when the portfolio was put to rights +I was going on, but he fell to picking up a little bunch of violets +I had dropped; you know I always wear a posy into town to give me +inspiration. I didn't care for the dusty flowers, and told him so, and +hurried away before any one came. At the top of the stairs I peeped +over the railing, and there he was, gathering up every one of those +half-dead violets as carefully as if they had been tea-roses." + +"Psyche Dean, you have met your fate this day!" exclaimed a third +damsel, with straw-colored tresses, and a good deal of weedy shrubbery +in her hat, which gave an Ophelia-like expression to her sentimental +countenance. + +Psyche frowned and shook her head, as if half sorry she had told her +little story. + +"Was he handsome?" asked Miss Larkins, the believer in fate. + +"I didn't particularly observe." + +"It was the red-headed man, whom we call Titian: he's always on the +stairs." + +"No, it wasn't; his hair was brown and curly," cried Psyche, +innocently falling into the trap. + +"Like Peerybingle's baby when its cap was taken off," quoted Miss +Dickenson, who pined to drop the last two letters of her name. + +"Was it Murillo, the black-eyed one?" asked the fair Cutter, for the +girls had a name for all the attitudinizers and promenaders whom they +oftenest met. + +"No, he had gray eyes, and very fine ones they were too," answered +Psyche, adding, as if to herself, "he looked as I imagine Michael +Angelo might have looked when young." + +"Had he a broken nose, like the great Mike?" asked an irreverent +damsel. + +"If he had, no one would mind it, for his head is splendid; he took +his hat off, so I had a fine view. He isn't handsome, but he'll _do_ +something," said Psyche, prophetically, as she recalled the strong, +ambitious face which she had often observed, but never mentioned +before. + +"Well, dear, considering that you didn't 'particularly look' at the +man, you've given us a very good idea of his appearance. We'll call +him Michael Angelo, and he shall be your idol. I prefer stout old +Rembrandt myself, and Larkie adores that dandified Raphael," said the +lively Cutter, slapping away at Homer's bald pate energetically, as +she spoke. + +"Raphael is a dear, but Rubens is more to my taste now," returned Miss +Larkins. "He was in the hall yesterday talking with Sir Joshua, who +had his inevitable umbrella, like a true Englishman. Just as I came +up, the umbrella fell right before me. I started back; Sir Joshua +laughed, but Rubens said, 'Deuce take it!' and caught up the umbrella, +giving me a never-to-be-forgotten look. It was perfectly thrilling." + +"Which,--the umbrella, the speech, or the look?" asked Psyche, who was +not sentimental. + +"Ah, you have no soul for art in nature, and nature in art," sighed +the amber-tressed Larkins. "I have, for I feed upon a glance, a tint, +a curve, with exquisite delight. Rubens is adorable (_as a study_); +that lustrous eye, that night of hair, that sumptuous cheek, are +perfect. He only needs a cloak, lace collar, and slouching hat to be +the genuine thing." + +"This isn't the genuine thing by any means. What _does_ it need?" said +Psyche, looking with a despondent air at the head on her stand. + +Many would have pronounced it a clever thing; the nose was strictly +Greek, the chin curved upward gracefully, the mouth was sweetly +haughty, the brow classically smooth and low, and the breezy hair well +done. But something was wanting; Psyche felt that, and could have +taken her Venus by the dimpled shoulders, and given her a hearty +shake, if that would have put strength and spirit into the lifeless +face. + +"Now _I_ am perfectly satisfied with my Apollo, though you all insist +that it is the image of Theodore Smythe. He says so himself, and +assures me it will make a sensation when we exhibit," remarked Miss +Larkins, complacently caressing the ambrosial locks of her Smythified +Phebus. + +"What shall you do if it does not?" asked Miss Cutter, with elegance. + +"I shall feel that I have mistaken my sphere, shall drop my tools, +veil my bust, and cast myself into the arms of Nature, since Art +rejects me;" replied Miss Larkins, with a tragic gesture and an +expression which strongly suggested that in her eyes nature meant +Theodore. + +"She must have capacious arms if she is to receive all Art's rejected +admirers. Shall I be one of them?" + +Psyche put the question to herself as she turned to work, but somehow +ambitious aspirations were not in a flourishing condition that +morning; her heart was not in tune, and head and hands sympathized. +Nothing went well, for certain neglected home-duties had dogged +her into town, and now worried her more than dust, or heat, or the +ceaseless clatter of tongues. Tom, Dick, and Harry's unmended hose +persisted in dancing a spectral jig before her mental eye, mother's +querulous complaints spoilt the song she hummed to cheer herself, and +little May's wistful face put the goddess of beauty entirely out of +countenance. + +"It's no use; I can't work till the clay is wet again. Where is +Giovanni?" she asked, throwing down her tools with a petulant gesture +and a dejected air. + +"He is probably playing truant in the empty upper rooms, as usual. I +can't wait for him any longer, so I'm doing his work myself," answered +Miss Dickenson, who was tenderly winding a wet bandage round her +Juno's face, one side of which was so much plumper than the other that +it looked as if the Queen of Olympus was being hydropathically treated +for a severe fit of ague. + +"I'll go and find the little scamp; a run will do me good; so will a +breath of air and a view of the park from the upper windows." + +Doffing her apron, Psyche strolled away up an unfrequented staircase +to the empty apartments, which seemed to be too high even for the +lovers of High Art. On the western side they were shady and cool, and, +leaning from one of the windows, Psyche watched the feathery tree-tops +ruffled by the balmy wind, that brought spring odors from the hills, +lying green and sunny far away. Silence and solitude were such +pleasant companions that the girl forgot herself, till a shrill +whistle disturbed her day-dreams, and reminded her what she came for. +Following the sound she found the little Italian errand-boy busily +uncovering a clay model which stood in the middle of a scantily +furnished room near by. + +"He is not here; come and look; it is greatly beautiful," cried +Giovanni, beckoning with an air of importance. + +Psyche did look and speedily forgot both her errand and herself. It +was the figure of a man, standing erect, and looking straight +before him with a wonderfully lifelike expression. It was neither a +mythological nor a historical character, Psyche thought, and was glad +of it, being tired to death of gods and heroes. She soon ceased to +wonder what it was, feeling only the indescribable charm of something +higher than beauty. Small as her knowledge was, she could see and +enjoy the power visible in every part of it; the accurate anatomy of +the vigorous limbs, the grace of the pose, the strength and spirit in +the countenance, clay though it was. A majestic figure, but the spell +lay in the face, which, while it suggested the divine, was full of +human truth and tenderness, for pain and passion seemed to have passed +over it, and a humility half pathetic, a courage half heroic seemed to +have been born from some great loss or woe. + +How long she stood there Psyche did not know. Giovanni went away +unseen, to fill his water-pail, and in the silence she just stood and +looked. Her eyes kindled, her color rose, despondency and discontent +vanished, and her soul was in her face, for she loved beauty +passionately, and all that was best and truest in her did honor to the +genius of the unknown worker. + +"If I could do a thing like that, I'd die happy!" she exclaimed +impetuously, as a feeling of despair came over her at the thought of +her own poor attempts. + +"Who did it, Giovanni?" she asked, still looking up at the grand face +with unsatisfied eyes. + +"Paul Gage." + +It was not the boy's voice, and, with a start, Psyche turned to see +her Michael Angelo, standing in the doorway, attentively observing +her. Being too full of artless admiration to think of herself just +yet, she neither blushed nor apologized, but looked straight at him, +saying heartily,-- + +"You have done a wonderful piece of work, and I envy you more than I +can tell!" + +The enthusiasm in her face, the frankness of her manner, seemed to +please him, for there was no affectation about either. He gave her a +keen, kind glance out of the "fine gray eyes," a little bow, and a +grateful smile, saying quietly,--"Then my Adam is not a failure in +spite of his fall?" + +Psyche turned from the sculptor to his model with increased admiration +in her face, and earnestness in her voice, as she exclaimed +delighted,-- + +"Adam! I might have known it was he. O sir, you have indeed succeeded, +for you have given that figure the power and pathos of the first man +who sinned and suffered, and began again." + +"Then I am satisfied." That was all he said, but the look he gave his +work was a very eloquent one, for it betrayed that he had paid the +price of success in patience and privation, labor and hope. + +"What can one do to learn your secret?" asked the girl wistfully, for +there was nothing in the man's manner to disturb her self-forgetful +mood, but much to foster it, because to the solitary worker this +confiding guest was as welcome as the doves who often hopped in at his +window. + +"Work and wait, and meantime feed heart, soul, and imagination with +the best food one can get," he answered slowly, finding it impossible +to give a receipt for genius. + +"I can work and wait a long time to gain my end; but I don't know +where to find the food you speak of?" she answered, looking at him +like a hungry child. + +"I wish I could tell you, but each needs different fare, and each must +look for it in different places." + +The kindly tone and the sympathizing look, as well as the lines in his +forehead, and a few gray hairs among the brown, gave Psyche courage to +say more. + +"I love beauty so much that I not only want to possess it myself, +but to gain the power of seeing it in all things, and the art of +reproducing it with truth. I have tried very hard to do it, but +something is wanting; and in spite of my intense desire I never get +on." + +As she spoke the girl's eyes filled and fell in spite of herself, and +turning a little with sudden shamefacedness she saw, lying on the +table beside her among other scraps in manuscript and print, the +well-known lines,-- + + "I slept, and dreamed that life was beauty; + I woke, and found that life was duty. + Was thy dream then a shadowy lie? + Toil on, sad heart, courageously, + And thou shall find thy dream to be + A noonday light and truth to thee." + +She knew them at a glance, had read them many times, but now they came +home to her with sudden force, and, seeing that his eye had followed +hers, she said in her impulsive fashion.-- + +"Is doing one's duty a good way to feed heart, soul, and imagination?" + +As if he had caught a glimpse of what was going on in her mind, Paul +answered emphatically,-- + +"Excellent; for if one is good, one is happy, and if happy, one can +work well. Moulding character is the highest sort of sculpture, and +all of us should learn that art before we touch clay or marble." + +He spoke with the energy of a man who believed what he said, and did +his best to be worthy of the rich gift bestowed upon him. The sight +of her violets in a glass of water, and Giovanni staring at her with +round eyes, suddenly recalled Psyche to a sense of the proprieties +which she had been innocently outraging for the last ten minutes. A +sort of panic seized her; she blushed deeply, retreated precipitately +to the door, and vanished, murmuring thanks and apologies as she went. + +"Did you find him? I thought you had forgotten," said Miss Dickenson, +now hard at work. + +"Yes, I found him. No, I shall not forget," returned Psyche, thinking +of Gage, not Giovanni. + +She stood before her work eying it intently for several minutes; then, +with an expression of great contempt for the whole thing, she suddenly +tilted her cherished Venus on to the floor, gave the classical face +a finishing crunch, and put on her hat in a decisive manner, saying +briefly to the dismayed damsels,-- + +"Good-by, girls; I shan't come any more, for I'm going to work at home +hereafter." + + +II + + +The prospect of pursuing artistic studies at home was not brilliant, +as one may imagine when I mention that Psyche's father was a painfully +prosaic man, wrapt in flannel, so to speak; for his woollen mills left +him no time for anything but sleep, food, and newspapers. Mrs. Dean +was one of those exasperating women who pervade their mansions like +a domestic steam-engine one week and take to their sofas the next, +absorbed by fidgets and foot-stoves, shawls and lamentations. There +were three riotous and robust young brothers, whom it is unnecessary +to describe except by stating that they were _boys_ in the broadest +sense of that delightful word. There was a feeble little sister, whose +patient, suffering face demanded constant love and care to mitigate +the weariness of a life of pain. And last, but not least by any means, +there were two Irish ladies, who, with the best intentions imaginable, +produced a universal state of topsy-turviness when left to themselves +for a moment. + +But being very much in earnest about doing her duty, not because it +_was_ her duty, but as a means toward an end, Psyche fell to work with +a will, hoping to serve both masters at once. So she might have done, +perhaps, if flesh and blood had been as plastic as clay, but the live +models were so exacting in their demands upon her time and strength, +that the poor statues went to the wall. Sculpture and sewing, calls +and crayons, Ruskin and receipt-books, didn't work well together, and +poor Psyche found duties and desires desperately antagonistic. Take a +day as a sample. + +"The washing and ironing are well over, thank goodness, mother quiet, +the boys out of the way, and May comfortable, so I'll indulge myself +in a blissful day after my own heart," Psyche said, as she shut +herself into her little studio, and prepared to enjoy a few hours of +hard study and happy day-dreams. + +With a book on her lap, and her own round white arm going through all +manner of queer evolutions, she was placidly repeating, "Deltoides, +Biceps, Triceps, Pronator, Supinator, Palmanis, Flexor carpi +ulnaris--" + +"Here's Flexis what-you-call-ums for you," interrupted a voice, which +began in a shrill falsetto and ended in a gruff bass, as a flushed, +dusty, long-legged boy burst in, with a bleeding hand obligingly +extended for inspection. + +"Mercy on us, Harry! what have you done to yourself now? Split your +fingers with a cricket-ball again?" cried Psyche, as her arms went up +and her book went down. + +"I just thrashed one of the fellows because he got mad and said father +was going to fail." + +"O Harry, is he?" + +"Of course he isn't! It's hard times for every one, but father will +pull through all right. No use to try and explain it all; girls can't +understand business; so you just tie me up, and don't worry," was the +characteristic reply of the young man, who, being three years her +junior, of course treated the weaker vessel with lordly condescension. + +"What a dreadful wound! I hope nothing is broken, for I haven't +studied the hand much yet, and may do mischief doing it up," said +Psyche, examining the great grimy paw with tender solicitude. + +"Much good your biceps, and deltoids, and things do you, if you can't +right up a little cut like that," squeaked the ungrateful hero. + +"I'm not going to be a surgeon, thank heaven; I intend to make +perfect hands and arms, not mend damaged ones," retorted Psyche, in a +dignified tone, somewhat marred by a great piece of court-plaster on +her tongue. + +"I should say a surgeon could improve _that_ perfect thing, if he +didn't die a-laughing before he began," growled Harry, pointing with +a scornful grin at a clay arm humpy with muscles, all carefully +developed in the wrong places. + +"Don't sneer, Hal, for you don't know anything about it. Wait a few +years and see if you're not proud of me." + +"Sculp away and do something, then I'll hurrah for your mud-pies +like a good one;" with which cheering promise the youth left, having +effectually disturbed his sister's peaceful mood. + +Anxious thoughts of her father rendered "biceps, deltoids, and things" +uninteresting, and hoping to compose her mind, she took up The Old +Painters and went on with the story of Claude Lorraine. She had just +reached the tender scene where,-- + +"Calista gazed with enthusiasm, while she looked like a being of +heaven rather than earth. 'My friend,' she cried, 'I read in thy +picture thy immortality!' As she spoke, her head sunk upon his bosom, +and it was several moments before Claude perceived that he supported a +lifeless form." + +"How sweet!" said Psyche, with a romantic sigh. + +"Faith, and swate it is, thin!" echoed Katy, whose red head had just +appeared round the half opened door. "It's gingy-bread I'm making the +day, miss, and will I be puttin' purlash or sallyrathis into it, if ye +plase?" + +"Purlash, by all means," returned the girl, keeping her countenance, +fearing to enrage Katy by a laugh; for the angry passions of the +red-haired one rose more quickly than her bread. + +As she departed with alacrity to add a spoonful of starch and a pinch +of whiting to her cake, Psyche, feeling better for her story and her +smile, put on her bib and paper cap and fell to work on the deformed +arm. An hour of bliss, then came a ring at the door-bell, followed by +Biddy to announce callers, and add that as "the mistress was in her +bed, miss must go and take care of 'em." Whereat "miss" cast down her +tools in despair, threw her cap one way, her bib another, and went in +to her guests with anything but a rapturous welcome. + +Dinner being accomplished after much rushing up and down stairs with +trays and messages for Mrs. Dean, Psyche fled again to her studio, +ordering no one to approach under pain of a scolding. All went well +till, going in search of something, she found her little sister +sitting on the floor with her cheek against the studio door. + +"I didn't mean to be naughty, Sy, but mother is asleep, and the boys +all gone, so I just came to be near you; it's so lonely everywhere," +she said, apologetically, as she lifted up the heavy head that always +ached. + +"The boys are very thoughtless. Come in and stay with me; you are such +a mouse you won't disturb me. Wouldn't you like to play be a model and +let me draw your arm, and tell you all about the nice little bones and +muscles?" asked Psyche, who had the fever very strong upon her just +then. + +May didn't look as if the proposed amusement overwhelmed her with +delight, but meekly consented to be perched upon a high stool with +one arm propped up by a dropsical plaster cherub, while Psyche drew +busily, feeling that duty and pleasure were being delightfully +combined. + +"Can't you hold your arm still, child? It shakes so I can't get it +right," she said, rather impatiently. + +"No, it will tremble 'cause it's weak. I try hard, Sy, but there +doesn't seem to be much strongness in me lately." + +"That's better; keep it so a few minutes and I'll be done," cried the +artist, forgetting that a few minutes may seem ages. + +"My arm is so thin you can see the bunches nicely,--can't you?" + +"Yes, dear." + +Psyche glanced up at the wasted limb, and when she drew again there +was a blur before her eyes for a minute. + +"I wish I was as fat as this white boy; but I get thinner every day +somehow, and pretty soon there won't be any of me left but my little +bones," said the child, looking at the winged cherub with sorrowful +envy. + +"Don't, my darling; don't say that," cried Psyche, dropping her work +with a sudden pang at her heart. "I'm a sinful, selfish girl to keep +you here! you're weak for want of air; come out and see the chickens, +and pick dandelions, and have a good romp with the boys." + +The weak arms were strong enough to clasp Psyche's neck, and the tired +face brightened beautifully as the child exclaimed, with grateful +delight,-- + +"Oh, I'd like it very much! I wanted to go dreadfully; but everybody +is so busy all the time. I don't want to play, Sy; but just to lie on +the grass with my head in your lap while you tell stories and draw me +pretty things as you used to." + +The studio was deserted all that afternoon, for Psyche sat in the +orchard drawing squirrels on the wall, pert robins hopping by, +buttercups and mosses, elves and angels; while May lay contentedly +enjoying sun and air, sisterly care, and the "pretty things" she loved +so well. Psyche did not find the task a hard one; for this time her +heart was in it, and if she needed any reward she surely found it; for +the little face on her knee lost its weary look, and the peace and +beauty of nature soothed her own troubled spirit, cheered her heart, +and did her more good than hours of solitary study. + +Finding, much to her own surprise, that her fancy was teeming with +lovely conceits, she did hope for a quiet evening. But mother wanted a +bit of gossip, father must have his papers read to him, the boys had +lessons and rips and grievances to be attended to, May's lullaby could +not be forgotten, and the maids had to be looked after, lest burly +"cousins" should be hidden in the boiler, or lucifer matches among +the shavings. So Psyche's day ended, leaving her very tired, rather +discouraged, and almost heart-sick with the shadow of a coming sorrow. + +All summer she did her best, but accomplished very little, as she +thought; yet this was the teaching she most needed, and in time she +came to see it. In the autumn May died, whispering, with her arms +about her sister's neck,-- + +"You make me so happy, Sy, I wouldn't mind the pain if I could stay a +little longer. But if I can't, good-by, dear, good-by." + +Her last look and word and kiss were all for Psyche, who felt then +with grateful tears that her summer had not been wasted; for the smile +upon the little dead face was more to her than any marble perfection +her hands could have carved. + +In the solemn pause which death makes in every family, Psyche said, +with the sweet self-forgetfulness of a strong yet tender nature,-- + +"I must not think of myself, but try to comfort them;" and with this +resolution she gave herself heart and soul to duty, never thinking of +reward. + +A busy, anxious, humdrum winter, for, as Harry said, "it was hard +times for every one." Mr. Dean grew gray with the weight of business +cares about which he never spoke; Mrs. Dean, laboring under the +delusion that an invalid was a necessary appendage to the family, +installed herself in the place the child's death left vacant, and the +boys needed much comforting, for the poor lads never knew how much +they loved "the baby" till the little chair stood empty. All turned to +Sy for help and consolation, and her strength seemed to increase with +the demand upon it. Patience and cheerfulness, courage and skill came +at her call like good fairies who had bided their time. Housekeeping +ceased to be hateful, and peace reigned in parlor and kitchen while +Mrs. Dean, shrouded in shawls, read Hahnemann's Lesser Writings on her +sofa. Mr. Dean sometimes forgot his mills when a bright face came +to meet him, a gentle hand smoothed the wrinkles out of his anxious +forehead, and a daughterly heart sympathized with all his cares. The +boys found home very pleasant with Sy always there ready to "lend a +hand," whether it was to make fancy ties, help conjugate "a confounded +verb," pull candy, or sing sweetly in the twilight when all thought of +little May and grew quiet. + +The studio door remained locked till her brothers begged Psyche to +open it and make a bust of the child. A flush of joy swept over her +face at the request, and her patient eyes grew bright and eager, as +a thirsty traveller's might at the sight or sound of water. Then it +faded as she shook her head, saying with a regretful sigh, "I'm afraid +I've lost the little skill I ever had." + +But she tried, and with great wonder and delight discovered that she +could work as she had never done before. She thought the newly found +power lay in her longing to see the little face again; for it grew +like magic under her loving hands, while every tender memory, sweet +thought, and devout hope she had ever cherished, seemed to lend their +aid. But when it was done and welcomed with tears and smiles, and +praise more precious than any the world could give, then Psyche said +within herself, like one who saw light at last,-- + +"He was right; doing one's duty _is_ the way to feed heart, soul, and +imagination; for if one is good, one is happy, and if happy, one can +work well." + + +III + + +"She broke her head and went home to come no more," was Giovanni's +somewhat startling answer when Paul asked about Psyche, finding that +he no longer met her on the stairs or in the halls. He understood what +the boy meant, and with an approving nod turned to his work again, +saying, "I like that! If there is any power in her, she has taken the +right way to find it out, I suspect." + +How she prospered he never asked; for, though he met her more +than once that year, the interviews were brief ones in street, +concert-room, or picture-gallery, and she carefully avoided speaking +of herself. But, possessing the gifted eyes which can look below the +surface of things, he detected in the girl's face something better +than beauty, though each time he saw it, it looked older and more +thoughtful, often anxious and sad. + +"She is getting on," he said to himself with a cordial satisfaction +which gave his manner a friendliness as grateful to Psyche as his wise +reticence. + +Adam was finished at last, proved a genuine success, and Paul heartily +enjoyed the well-earned reward for years of honest work. One blithe +May morning, he slipped early into the art-gallery, where the statue +now stood, to look at his creation with paternal pride. He was quite +alone with the stately figure that shone white against the purple +draperies and seemed to offer him a voiceless welcome from its marble +lips. He gave it one loving look, and then forgot it, for at the feet +of his Adam lay a handful of wild violets, with the dew still on +them. A sudden smile broke over his face as he took them up, with the +thought, "She has been here and found my work good." + +For several moments he stood thoughtfully turning the flowers to and +fro in his hands; then, as if deciding some question within himself, +he said, still smiling,-- + +"It is just a year since she went home; she must have accomplished +something in that time; I'll take the violets as a sign that I may go +and ask her what." + +He knew she lived just out of the city, between the river and the +mills, and as he left the streets behind him, he found more violets +blooming all along the way like flowery guides to lead him right. +Greener grew the road, balmier blew the wind, and blither sang the +birds, as he went on, enjoying his holiday with the zest of a boy, +until he reached a most attractive little path winding away across the +fields. The gate swung invitingly open, and all the ground before it +was blue with violets. Still following their guidance he took the +narrow path, till, coming to a mossy stone beside a brook, he sat down +to listen to the blackbirds singing deliciously in the willows over +head. Close by the stone, half hidden in the grass lay a little book, +and, taking it up he found it was a pocket-diary. No name appeared on +the fly-leaf, and, turning the pages to find some clue to its owner, +he read here and there enough to give him glimpses into an innocent +and earnest heart which seemed to be learning some hard lesson +patiently. Only near the end did he find the clue in words of his own, +spoken long ago, and a name. Then, though longing intensely to know +more, he shut the little book and went on, showing by his altered face +that the simple record of a girl's life had touched him deeply. + +Soon an old house appeared nestling to the hillside with the river +shining in the low green meadows just before it. + +"She lives there," he said, with as much certainty as if the pansies +by the door-stone spelt her name, and, knocking, he asked for Psyche. + +"She's gone to town, but I expect her home every minute. Ask the +gentleman to walk in and wait, Katy," cried a voice from above, where +the whisk of skirts was followed by the appearance of an inquiring eye +over the banisters. + +The gentleman did walk in, and while he waited looked about him. The +room, though very simply furnished, had a good deal of beauty in it, +for the pictures were few and well chosen, the books such as never +grow old, the music lying on the well-worn piano of the sort which is +never out of fashion, and standing somewhat apart was one small statue +in a recess full of flowers. Lovely in its simple grace and truth was +the figure of a child looking upward as if watching the airy flight of +some butterfly which had evidently escaped from the chrysalis still +lying in the little hand. + +Paul was looking at it with approving eyes when Mrs. Dean appeared +with his card in her hand, three shawls on her shoulders, and in her +face a somewhat startled expression, as if she expected some novel +demonstration from the man whose genius her daughter so much admired. + +"I hope Miss Psyche is well," began Paul, with great discrimination if +not originality. + +The delightfully commonplace remark tranquillized Mrs. Dean at once, +and, taking off the upper shawl with a fussy gesture, she settled +herself for a chat. + +"Yes, thank heaven, Sy is well. I don't know what would become of us +if she wasn't. It has been a hard and sorrowful year for us with Mr. +Dean's business embarrassments, my feeble health, and May's death. +I don't know that you were aware of our loss, sir;" and unaffected +maternal grief gave sudden dignity to the faded, fretful face of the +speaker. + +Paul murmured his regrets, understanding better now the pathetic words +on a certain tear-stained page of the little book still in his pocket. + +"Poor dear, she suffered everything, and it came very hard upon Sy, +for the child wasn't happy with any one else, and almost lived in +her arms," continued Mrs. Dean, dropping the second shawl to get her +handkerchief. + +"Miss Psyche has not had much time for art-studies this year, I +suppose?" said Paul, hoping to arrest the shower, natural as it was. + +"How could she with two invalids, the housekeeping, her father and the +boys to attend to? No, she gave that up last spring, and though it was +a great disappointment to her at the time, she has got over it now, I +hope," added her mother, remembering as she spoke that Psyche even now +went about the house sometimes pale and silent, with a hungry look in +her eyes. + +"I am glad to hear it," though a little shadow passed over his face +as Paul spoke, for he was too true an artist to believe that any work +could be as happy as that which he loved and lived for. "I thought +there was much promise in Miss Psyche, and I sincerely believe that +time will prove me a true prophet," he said, with mingled regret and +hope in his voice, as he glanced about the room, which betrayed the +tastes still cherished by the girl. + +"I'm afraid ambition isn't good for women; I mean the sort that makes +them known by coming before the public in any way. But Sy deserves +some reward, I'm sure, and I know she'll have it, for a better +daughter never lived." + +Here the third shawl was cast off, as if the thought of Psyche, or the +presence of a genial guest had touched Mrs. Dean's chilly nature with +a comfortable warmth. + +Further conversation was interrupted by the avalanche of boys which +came tumbling down the front stairs, as Tom, Dick, and Harry shouted +in a sort of chorus,-- + +"Sy, my balloon has got away; lend us a hand at catching him!" + +"Sy, I want a lot of paste made, right off." + +"Sy, I've split my jacket down the back; come sew me up, there's a +dear!" + +On beholding a stranger the young gentlemen suddenly lost their +voices, found their manners, and with nods and grins took themselves +away as quietly as could be expected of six clumping boots and an +unlimited quantity of animal spirits in a high state of effervescence. +As they trooped off, an unmistakable odor of burnt milk pervaded the +air, and the crash of china, followed by an Irish wail, caused Mrs. +Dean to clap on her three shawls again and excuse herself in visible +trepidation. + +Paul laughed quietly to himself, then turned sober and said, "Poor +Psyche!" with a sympathetic sigh. He roamed about the room impatiently +till the sound of voices drew him to the window to behold the girl +coming up the walk with her tired old father leaning on one arm, the +other loaded with baskets and bundles, and her hands occupied by a +remarkably ugly turtle. + +"Here we are!" cried a cheery voice, as they entered without observing +the new-comer. "I've done all my errands and had a lovely time. There +is Tom's gunpowder, Dick's fishhooks, and one of Professor Gazzy's +famous turtles for Harry. Here are your bundles, mother dear, and, +best of all, here's father home in time for a good rest before dinner. +I went to the mill and got him." + +Psyche spoke as if she had brought a treasure; and so she had, +for though Mr. Dean's face usually was about as expressive as the +turtle's, it woke and warmed with the affection which his daughter had +fostered till no amount of flannel could extinguish it. His big hand +patted her cheek very gently as he said, in a tone of fatherly love +and pride,-- + +"My little Sy never forgets old father, does she?" + +"Good gracious me, my dear, there's such a mess in the kitchen! Katy's +burnt up the pudding, put castor-oil instead of olive in the salad, +smashed the best meat-dish, and here's Mr. Gage come to dinner," cried +Mrs. Dean in accents of despair as she tied up her head in a fourth +shawl. + +"Oh, I'm so glad; I'll go in and see him a few minutes, and then I'll +come and attend to everything; so don't worry, mother." + +"How did you find me out?" asked Psyche as she shook hands with her +guest and stood looking up at him with all the old confiding frankness +in her face and manner. + +"The violets showed me the way." + +She glanced at the posy in his button-hole and smiled. + +"Yes, I gave them to Adam, but I didn't think you would guess. I +enjoyed your work for an hour to-day, and I have no words strong +enough to express my admiration." + +"There is no need of any. Tell me about yourself: what have you been +doing all this year?" he asked, watching with genuine satisfaction the +serene and sunny face before him, for discontent, anxiety, and sadness +were no longer visible there. + +"I've been working and waiting," she began. + +"And succeeding, if I may believe what I see and hear and read," he +said, with an expressive little wave of the book as he laid it down +before her. + +"My diary! I didn't know I had lost it. Where did you find it?" + +"By the brook where I stopped to rest. The moment I saw your name I +shut it up. Forgive me, but I can't ask pardon for reading a few pages +of that little gospel of patience, love, and self-denial." + +She gave him a reproachful look, and hurried the telltale book out of +sight as she said, with a momentary shadow on her face,-- + +"It has been a hard task; but I think I have learned it, and am just +beginning to find that my dream _is_ 'a noonday light and truth,' to +me." + +"Then you do not relinquish your hopes, and lay down your tools?" he +asked, with some eagerness. + +"Never! I thought at first that I could not serve two masters, but +in trying to be faithful to one I find I am nearer and dearer to the +other. My cares and duties are growing lighter every day (or I have +learned to bear them better), and when my leisure does come I shall +know how to use it, for my head is full of ambitious plans, and I feel +that I can do something _now_." + +All the old enthusiasm shone in her eyes, and a sense of power +betrayed itself in voice and gesture as she spoke. + +"I believe it," he said heartily. "You have learned the secret, as +that proves." + +Psyche looked at the childish image as he pointed to it, and into her +face there came a motherly expression that made it very sweet. + +"That little sister was so dear to me I could not fail to make her +lovely, for I put my heart into my work. The year has gone, but I +don't regret it, though this is all I have done." + +"You forget your three wishes; I think the year has granted them." + +"What were they?" + +"To possess beauty in yourself, the power of seeing it in all things, +and the art of reproducing it with truth." + +She colored deeply under the glance which accompanied the threefold +compliment, and answered with grateful humility,-- + +"You are very kind to say so; I wish I could believe it." Then, as if +anxious to forget herself, she added rather abruptly,-- + +"I hear you think of giving your Adam a mate,--have you begun yet?" + +"Yes, my design is finished, all but the face." + +"I should think you could image Eve's beauty, since you have succeeded +so well with Adam's." + +"The features perhaps, but not the expression. That is the charm of +feminine faces, a charm so subtile that few can catch and keep it. I +want a truly womanly face, one that shall be sweet and strong without +being either weak or hard. A hopeful, loving, earnest face with a +tender touch of motherliness in it, and perhaps the shadow of a grief +that has softened but not saddened it." + +"It will be hard to find a face like that." + +"I don't expect to find it in perfection; but one sometimes sees faces +which suggest all this, and in rare moments give glimpses of a lovely +possibility." + +"I sincerely hope you will find one then," said Psyche, thinking of +the dinner. + +"Thank you; _I_ think I have." + +Now, in order that every one may be suited, we will stop here, and +leave our readers to finish the story as they like. Those who prefer +the good old fashion may believe that the hero and heroine fell in +love, were married, and lived happily ever afterward. But those who +can conceive of a world outside of a wedding-ring may believe that the +friends remained faithful friends all their lives, while Paul won fame +and fortune, and Psyche grew beautiful with the beauty of a serene and +sunny nature, happy in duties which became pleasures, rich in the art +which made life lovely to herself and others, and brought rewards in +time. + + + + +A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS + +"A handful of good life is worth a bushel of learning." + + +"Dear Emily,--I have a brilliant idea, and at once hasten to share it +with you. Three weeks ago I came up here to the wilds of Vermont to +visit my old aunt, also to get a little quiet and distance in which +to survey certain new prospects which have opened before me, and to +decide whether I will marry a millionnaire and become a queen of +society, or remain 'the charming Miss Vaughan' and wait till the +conquering hero comes. + +"Aunt Plumy begs me to stay over Christmas, and I have consented, as I +always dread the formal dinner with which my guardian celebrates the +day. + +"My brilliant idea is this. I'm going to make it a real old-fashioned +frolic, and won't you come and help me? You will enjoy it immensely I +am sure, for Aunt is a character. Cousin Saul worth seeing, and Ruth +a far prettier girl than any of the city rose-buds coming out this +season. Bring Leonard Randal along with you to take notes for his new +books; then it will be fresher and truer than the last, clever as it +was. + +"The air is delicious up here, society amusing, this old farmhouse +full of treasures, and your bosom friend pining to embrace you. Just +telegraph yes or no, and we will expect you on Tuesday. + +"Ever yours, + +"SOPHIE VAUGHAN." + + +"They will both come, for they are as tired of city life and as fond +of change as I am," said the writer of the above, as she folded her +letter and went to get it posted without delay. + +Aunt Plumy was in the great kitchen making pies; a jolly old soul, +with a face as ruddy as a winter apple, a cheery voice, and the +kindest heart that ever beat under a gingham gown. Pretty Ruth was +chopping the mince, and singing so gaily as she worked that the +four-and-twenty immortal blackbirds could not have put more music into +a pie than she did. Saul was piling wood into the big oven, and Sophie +paused a moment on the threshold to look at him, for she always +enjoyed the sight of this stalwart cousin, whom she likened to a Norse +viking, with his fair hair and beard, keen blue eyes, and six feet of +manly height, with shoulders that looked broad and strong enough to +bear any burden. + +His back was toward her, but he saw her first, and turned his flushed +face to meet her, with the sudden lighting up it always showed when +she approached. + +"I've done it, Aunt; and now I want Saul to post the letter, so we can +get a speedy answer." + +"Just as soon as I can hitch up, cousin;" and Saul pitched in his last +log, looking ready to put a girdle round the earth in less than forty +minutes. + +"Well, dear, I ain't the least mite of objection, as long as it +pleases you. I guess we can stan' it ef your city folks can. I presume +to say things will look kind of sing'lar to 'em, but I s'pose that's +what they come for. Idle folks do dreadful queer things to amuse 'em;" +and Aunt Plumy leaned on the rolling-pin to smile and nod with a +shrewd twinkle of her eye, as if she enjoyed the prospect as much as +Sophie did. + +"I shall be afraid of 'em, but I'll try not to make you ashamed of +me," said Ruth, who loved her charming cousin even more than she +admired her. + +"No fear of that, dear. They will be the awkward ones, and you must +set them at ease by just being your simple selves, and treating them +as if they were every-day people. Nell is very nice and jolly when she +drops her city ways, as she must here. She will enter into the spirit +of the fun at once, and I know you'll all like her. Mr. Randal is +rather the worse for too much praise and petting, as successful people +are apt to be, so a little plain talk and rough work will do him good. +He is a true gentleman in spite of his airs and elegance, and he will +take it all in good part, if you treat him like a man and not a lion." + +"I'll see to him," said Saul, who had listened with great interest to +the latter part of Sophie's speech, evidently suspecting a lover, and +enjoying the idea of supplying him with a liberal amount of "plain +talk and rough work." + +"I'll keep 'em busy if that's what they need, for there will be a +sight to do, and we can't get help easy up here. Our darters don't +hire out much. Work to home till they marry, and don't go gaddin' +'round gettin' their heads full of foolish notions, and forgettin' all +the useful things their mothers taught 'em." + +Aunt Plumy glanced at Ruth as she spoke, and a sudden color in the +girl's cheeks proved that the words hit certain ambitious fancies of +this pretty daughter of the house of Basset. + +"They shall do their parts and not be a trouble; I'll see to that, +for you certainly are the dearest aunt in the world to let me take +possession of you and yours in this way," cried Sophie, embracing the +old lady with warmth. + +Saul wished the embrace could be returned by proxy, as his mother's +hands were too floury to do more than hover affectionately round the +delicate face that looked so fresh and young beside her wrinkled one. +As it could not be done, he fled temptation and "hitched up" without +delay. + +The three women laid their heads together in his absence, and Sophie's +plan grew apace, for Ruth longed to see a real novelist and a fine +lady, and Aunt Plumy, having plans of her own to further, said "Yes, +dear," to every suggestion. + +Great was the arranging and adorning that went on that day in the +old farmhouse, for Sophie wanted her friends to enjoy this taste of +country pleasures, and knew just what additions would be indispensable +to their comfort; what simple ornaments would be in keeping with the +rustic stage on which she meant to play the part of prima donna. + +Next day a telegram arrived accepting the invitation, for both the +lady and the lion. They would arrive that afternoon, as little +preparation was needed for this impromptu journey, the novelty of +which was its chief charm to these _blasé_ people. + +Saul wanted to get out the double sleigh and span, for he prided +himself on his horses, and a fall of snow came most opportunely +to beautify the landscape and add a new pleasure to Christmas +festivities. + +But Sophie declared that the old yellow sleigh, with Punch, the +farm-horse, must be used, as she wished everything to be in keeping; +and Saul obeyed, thinking he had never seen anything prettier than his +cousin when she appeared in his mother's old-fashioned camlet cloak +and blue silk pumpkin hood. He looked remarkably well himself in his +fur coat, with hair and beard brushed till they shone like spun gold, +a fresh color in his cheek, and the sparkle of amusement in his eyes, +while excitement gave his usually grave face the animation it needed +to be handsome. + +Away they jogged in the creaking old sleigh, leaving Ruth to make +herself pretty, with a fluttering heart, and Aunt Plumy to dish up a +late dinner fit to tempt the most fastidious appetite. + +"She has not come for us, and there is not even a stage to take us up. +There must be some mistake," said Emily Herrick, as she looked about +the shabby little station where they were set down. + +"That is the never-to-be-forgotten face of our fair friend, but the +bonnet of her grandmother, if my eyes do not deceive me," answered +Randal, turning to survey the couple approaching in the rear. + +"Sophie Vaughan, what do you mean by making such a guy of yourself?" +exclaimed Emily, as she kissed the smiling face in the hood and stared +at the quaint cloak. + +"I'm dressed for my part, and I intend to keep it up. This is our +host, my cousin, Saul Basset. Come to the sleigh at once, he will see +to your luggage," said Sophie, painfully conscious of the antiquity of +her array as her eyes rested on Emily's pretty hat and mantle, and the +masculine elegance of Randal's wraps. + +They were hardly tucked in when Saul appeared with a valise in +one hand and a large trunk on his shoulder, swinging both on to a +wood-sled that stood near by as easily as if they had been hand-bags. + +"That is your hero, is it? Well, he looks it, calm and comely, +taciturn and tall," said Emily, in a tone of approbation. + +"He should have been named Samson or Goliath; though I believe it was +the small man who slung things about and turned out the hero in the +end," added Randal, surveying the performance with interest and a +touch of envy, for much pen work had made his own hands as delicate as +a woman's. + +"Saul doesn't live in a glass house, so stones won't hurt him. +Remember sarcasm is forbidden and sincerity the order of the day. You +are country folks now, and it will do you good to try their simple, +honest ways for a few days." + +Sophie had no time to say more, for Saul came up and drove off with +the brief remark that the baggage would "be along right away." + +Being hungry, cold and tired, the guests were rather silent during the +short drive, but Aunt Plumy's hospitable welcome, and the savory fumes +of the dinner awaiting them, thawed the ice and won their hearts at +once. + +"Isn't it nice? Aren't you glad you came?" asked Sophie, as she led +her friends into the parlor, which she had redeemed from its primness +by putting bright chintz curtains to the windows, hemlock boughs +over the old portraits, a china bowl of flowers on the table, and a +splendid fire on the wide hearth. + +"It is perfectly jolly, and this is the way I begin to enjoy myself," +answered Emily, sitting down upon the home-made rug, whose red flannel +roses bloomed in a blue list basket. + +"If I may add a little smoke to your glorious fire, it will be quite +perfect. Won't Samson join me?" asked Randal, waiting for permission, +cigar-case in hand. + +"He has no small vices, but you may indulge yours," answered Sophie, +from the depths of a grandmotherly chair. + +Emily glanced up at her friend as if she caught a new tone in her +voice, then turned to the fire again with a wise little nod, as if +confiding some secret to the reflection of herself in the bright brass +andiron. + +"His Delilah does not take this form. I wait with interest to discover +if he has one. What a daisy the sister is. Does she ever speak?" asked +Randal, trying to lounge on the haircloth sofa, where he was slipping +uncomfortably about. + +"Oh yes, and sings like a bird. You shall hear her when she gets over +her shyness. But no trifling, mind you, for it is a jealously guarded +daisy and not to be picked by any idle hand," said Sophie warningly, +as she recalled Ruth's blushes and Randal's compliments at dinner. + +"I should expect to be annihilated by the big brother if I attempted +any but the 'sincerest' admiration and respect. Have no fears on that +score, but tell us what is to follow this superb dinner. An apple bee, +spinning match, husking party, or primitive pastime of some sort, I +have no doubt." + +"As you are new to our ways I am going to let you rest this evening. +We will sit about the fire and tell stories. Aunt is a master hand +at that, and Saul has reminiscences of the war that are well worth +hearing if we can only get him to tell them." + +"Ah, he was there, was he?" + +"Yes, all through it, and is Major Basset, though he likes his plain +name best. He fought splendidly and had several wounds, though only a +mere boy when he earned his scars and bars. I'm very proud of him for +that," and Sophie looked so as she glanced at the photograph of +a stripling in uniform set in the place of honor on the high +mantel-piece. + +"We must stir him up and hear these martial memories. I want some new +incidents, and shall book all I can get, if I may." + +Here Randal was interrupted by Saul himself, who came in with an +armful of wood for the fire. + +"Anything more I can do for you, cousin?" he asked, surveying the +scene with a rather wistful look. + +"Only come and sit with us and talk over war times with Mr. Randal." + +"When I've foddered the cattle and done my chores I'd be pleased to. +What regiment were you in?" asked Saul, looking down from his lofty +height upon the slender gentleman, who answered briefly,-- + +"In none. I was abroad at the time." + +"Sick?" + +"No, busy with a novel." + +"Took four years to write it?" + +"I was obliged to travel and study before I could finish it. These +things take more time to work up than outsiders would believe." + +"Seems to me our war was a finer story than any you could find in +Europe, and the best way to study it would be to fight it out. If you +want heroes and heroines you'd have found plenty of 'em there." + +"I have no doubt of it, and shall be glad to atone for my seeming +neglect of them by hearing about your own exploits. Major." + +Randal hoped to turn the conversation gracefully, but Saul was not +to be caught, and left the room, saying, with a gleam of fun in his +eye,-- + +"I can't stop now; heroes can wait, pigs can't." + +The girls laughed at this sudden descent from the sublime to the +ridiculous, and Randal joined them, feeling his condescension had not +been unobserved. + +As if drawn by the merry sound Aunt Plumy appeared, and being +established in the rocking-chair fell to talking as easily as if she +had known her guests for years. + +"Laugh away, young folks, that's better for digestion than any of the +messes people use. Are you troubled with dyspepsy, dear? You didn't +seem to take your vittles very hearty, so I mistrusted you was +delicate," she said, looking at Emily, whose pale cheeks and weary +eyes told the story of late hours and a gay life. + +"I haven't eaten so much for years, I assure you, Mrs. Basset; but +it was impossible to taste all your good things. I am not dyspeptic, +thank you, but a little seedy and tired, for I've been working rather +hard lately." + +"Be you a teacher? or have you a 'perfessun,' as they call a trade +nowadays?" asked the old lady in a tone of kindly interest, which +prevented a laugh at the idea of Emily's being anything but a beauty +and a belle. The others kept their countenances with difficulty, and +she answered demurely,-- + +"I have no trade as yet, but I dare say I should be happier if I had." + +"Not a doubt on't, my dear." + +"What would you recommend, ma'am?" + +"I should say dressmakin' was rather in your line, ain't it? Your +clothes is dreadful tasty, and do you credit if you made 'em +yourself." and Aunt Plumy surveyed with feminine interest the simple +elegance of the travelling dress which was the masterpiece of a French +modiste. + +"No, ma'am, I don't make my own things, I'm too lazy. It takes so much +time and trouble to select them that I have only strength left to wear +them." + +"Housekeepin' used to be the favorite perfessun in my day. It ain't +fashionable now, but it needs a sight of trainin' to be perfect in all +that's required, and I've an idee it would be a sight healthier and +usefuller than the paintin' and music and fancy work young women do +nowadays." + +"But every one wants some beauty in their lives, and each one has a +different sphere to fill, if one can only find it." + +"'Pears to me there's no call for so much art when nater is full of +beauty for them that can see and love it. As for 'spears' and so on, +I've a notion if each of us did up our own little chores smart and +thorough we needn't go wanderin' round to set the world to rights. +That's the Lord's job, and I presume to say He can do it without any +advice of ourn." + +Something in the homely but true words seemed to rebuke the three +listeners for wasted lives, and for a moment there was no sound but +the crackle of the fire, the brisk click of the old lady's knitting +needles, and Ruth's voice singing overhead as she made ready to join +the party below. + +"To judge by that sweet sound you have done one of your 'chores' very +beautifully, Mrs. Basset, and in spite of the follies of our day, +succeeded in keeping one girl healthy, happy and unspoiled," said +Emily, looking up into the peaceful old face with her own lovely one +full of respect and envy. + +"I do hope so, for she's my ewe lamb, the last of four dear little +girls; all the rest are in the burying ground 'side of father. I don't +expect to keep her long, and don't ought to regret when I lose her, +for Saul is the best of sons; but daughters is more to mothers +somehow, and I always yearn over girls that is left without a broodin' +wing to keep 'em safe and warm in this world of tribulation." + +Aunt Plumy laid her hand on Sophie's head as she spoke, with such a +motherly look that both girls drew nearer, and Randal resolved to put +her in a book without delay. + +Presently Saul returned with little Ruth hanging on his arm and shyly +nestling near him as he took the three-cornered leathern chair in the +chimney nook, while she sat on a stool close by. + +"Now the circle is complete and the picture perfect. Don't light the +lamps yet, please, but talk away and let me make a mental study +of you. I seldom find so charming a scene to paint," said Randal, +beginning to enjoy himself immensely, with a true artist's taste for +novelty and effect. + +"Tell us about your book, for we have been reading it as it comes out +in the magazine, and are much exercised about how it's going to +end," began Saul, gallantly throwing himself into the breach, for a +momentary embarrassment fell upon the women at the idea of sitting for +their portraits before they were ready. + +"Do you really read my poor serial up here, and do me the honor to +like it?" asked the novelist, both flattered and amused, for his work +was of the aesthetic sort, microscopic studies of character, and +careful pictures of modern life. + +"Sakes alive, why shouldn't we?" cried Aunt Plumy. "We have some +eddication, though we ain't very genteel. We've got a town libry, kep +up by the women mostly, with fairs and tea parties and so on. We have +all the magazines reg'lar, and Saul reads out the pieces while Ruth +sews and I knit, my eyes bein' poor. Our winter is long and evenins +would be kinder lonesome if we didn't have novils and newspapers to +cheer 'em up." + +"I am very glad I can help to beguile them for you. Now tell me what +you honestly think of my work? Criticism is always valuable, and I +should really like yours, Mrs. Basset," said Randal, wondering what +the good woman would make of the delicate analysis and worldly wisdom +on which he prided himself. + +Short work, as Aunt Plumy soon showed him, for she rather enjoyed +freeing her mind at all times, and decidedly resented the insinuation +that country folk could not appreciate light literature as well as +city people. + +"I ain't no great of a jedge about anything but nat'ralness of books, +and it really does seem as if some of your men and women was dreadful +uncomfortable creaters. 'Pears to me it ain't wise to be always +pickin' ourselves to pieces and pryin' into things that ought to +come gradual by way of experience and the visitations of Providence. +Flowers won't blow worth a cent ef you pull 'em open. Better wait and +see what they can do alone. I do relish the smart sayins, the odd ways +of furrin parts, and the sarcastic slaps at folkses weak spots. But +massy knows, we can't live on spice-cake and Charlotte Ruche, and I +do feel as if books was more sustainin' ef they was full of every-day +people and things, like good bread and butter. Them that goes to the +heart and ain't soon forgotten is the kind I hanker for. Mis Terry's +books now, and Mis Stowe's, and Dickens's Christmas pieces,--them is +real sweet and cheerin', to my mind." + +As the blunt old lady paused it was evident she had produced a +sensation, for Saul smiled at the fire, Ruth looked dismayed at +this assault upon one of her idols, and the young ladies were both +astonished and amused at the keenness of the new critic who dared +express what they had often felt. Randal, however, was quite composed +and laughed good-naturedly, though secretly feeling as if a pail of +cold water had been poured over him. + +"Many thanks, madam; you have discovered my weak point with surprising +accuracy. But you see I cannot help 'picking folks to pieces,' as you +have expressed it; that is my gift, and it has its attractions, as the +sale of my books will testify. People like the 'spice-bread,' and as +that is the only sort my oven will bake, I must keep on in order to +make my living." + +"So rumsellers say, but it ain't a good trade to foller, and I'd chop +wood 'fore I'd earn my livin' harmin' my feller man. 'Pears to me I'd +let my oven cool a spell, and hunt up some homely, happy folks to +write about; folks that don't borrer trouble and go lookin' for holes +in their neighbors' coats, but take their lives brave and cheerful; +and rememberin' we are all human, have pity on the weak, and try to +be as full of mercy, patience and lovin' kindness as Him who made +us. That sort of a book would do a heap of good; be real warmin' and +strengthening and make them that read it love the man that wrote it, +and remember him when he was dead and gone." + +"I wish I could!" and Randal meant what he said, for he was as tired +of his own style as a watch-maker might be of the magnifying glass +through which he strains his eyes all day. He knew that the heart was +left out of his work, and that both mind and soul were growing morbid +with dwelling on the faulty, absurd and metaphysical phases of life +and character. He often threw down his pen and vowed he would write no +more; but he loved ease and the books brought money readily; he was +accustomed to the stimulant of praise and missed it as the toper +misses his wine, so that which had once been a pleasure to himself and +others was fast becoming a burden and a disappointment. + +The brief pause which followed his involuntary betrayal of discontent +was broken by Ruth, who exclaimed, with a girlish enthusiasm that +overpowered girlish bashfulness,-- + +"_I_ think all the novels are splendid! I hope you will write hundreds +more, and I shall live to read 'em." + +"Bravo, my gentle champion! I promise that I will write one more at +least, and have a heroine in it whom your mother will both admire and +love," answered Randal, surprised to find how grateful he was for the +girl's approval, and how rapidly his trained fancy began to paint the +background on which he hoped to copy this fresh, human daisy. + +Abashed by her involuntary outburst, Ruth tried to efface herself +behind Saul's broad shoulder, and he brought the conversation back to +its starting-point by saying in a tone of the most sincere interest,-- + +"Speaking of the serial, I am very anxious to know how your hero comes +out. He is a fine fellow, and I can't decide whether he is going to +spoil his life marrying that silly woman, or do something grand and +generous, and not be made a fool of." + +"Upon my soul, I don't know myself. It is very hard to find new +finales. Can't you suggest something, Major? then I shall not be +obliged to leave my story without an end, as people complain I am +rather fond of doing." + +"Well, no, I don't think I've anything to offer. Seems to me it isn't +the sensational exploits that show the hero best, but some great +sacrifice quietly made by a common sort of man who is noble without +knowing it. I saw a good many such during the war, and often wish I +could write them down, for it is surprising how much courage, goodness +and real piety is stowed away in common folks ready to show when the +right time comes." + +"Tell us one of them, and I'll bless you for a hint. No one knows the +anguish of an author's spirit when he can't ring down the curtain on +an effective tableau," said Randal, with a glance at his friends to +ask their aid in eliciting an anecdote or reminiscence. + +"Tell about the splendid fellow who held the bridge, like Horatius, +till help came up. That was a thrilling story, I assure you," answered +Sophie, with an inviting smile. + +But Saul would not be his own hero, and said briefly: + +"Any man can be brave when the battle-fever is on him, and it only +takes a little physical courage to dash ahead." He paused a moment, +with his eyes on the snowy landscape without, where twilight was +deepening; then, as if constrained by the memory that winter scene +evoked, he slowly continued,-- + +"One of the bravest things I ever knew was done by a poor fellow who +has been a hero to me ever since, though I only met him that night. +It was after one of the big battles of that last winter, and I was +knocked over with a broken leg and two or three bullets here and +there. Night was coming on, snow falling, and a sharp wind blew over +the field where a lot of us lay, dead and alive, waiting for the +ambulance to come and pick us up. There was skirmishing going on not +far off, and our prospects were rather poor between frost and fire. I +was calculating how I'd manage, when I found two poor chaps close by +who were worse off, so I braced up and did what I could for them. One +had an arm blown away, and kept up a dreadful groaning. The other +was shot bad, and bleeding to death for want of help, but never +complained. He was nearest, and I liked his pluck, for he spoke +cheerful and made me ashamed to growl. Such times make dreadful brutes +of men if they haven't something to hold on to, and all three of us +were most wild with pain and cold and hunger, for we'd fought all day +fasting, when we heard a rumble in the road below, and saw lanterns +bobbing round. That meant life to us, and we all tried to holler; two +of us were pretty faint, but I managed a good yell, and they heard it. + +"'Room for one more. Hard luck, old boys, but we are full and must +save the worst wounded first. Take a drink, and hold on till we come +back,' says one of them with the stretcher. + +"'Here's the one to go,' I says, pointin' out my man, for I saw by the +light that he was hard hit. + +"'No, that one. He's got more chances than I, or this one; he's young +and got a mother; I'll wait,' said the good feller, touchin' my arm, +for he 'd heard me mutterin' to myself about this dear old lady. We +always want mother when we are down, you know." + +Saul's eyes turned to the beloved face with a glance of tenderest +affection, and Aunt Plumy answered with a dismal groan at the +recollection of his need that night, and her absence. + +"Well, to be short, the groaning chap was taken, and my man left. I +was mad, but there was no time for talk, and the selfish one went off +and left that poor feller to run his one chance. I had my rifle, and +guessed I could hobble up to use it if need be; so we settled back to +wait without much hope of help, everything being in a muddle. And wait +we did till morning, for that ambulance did not come back till next +day, when most of us were past needing it. + +"I'll never forget that night. I dream it all over again as plain as +if it was real. Snow, cold, darkness, hunger, thirst, pain, and all +round us cries and cursing growing less and less, till at last only +the wind went moaning over that meadow. It was awful! so lonesome, +helpless, and seemingly God-forsaken. Hour after hour we lay there +side by side under one coat, waiting to be saved or die, for the wind +grew strong and we grew weak." + +Saul drew a long breath, and held his hands to the fire as if he felt +again the sharp suffering of that night. + +"And the man?" asked Emily, softly, as if reluctant to break the +silence. + +"He _was_ a man! In times like that men talk like brothers and show +what they are. Lying there, slowly freezing, Joe Cummings told +me about his wife and babies, his old folks waiting for him, all +depending on him, yet all ready to give him up when he was needed. A +plain man, but honest and true, and loving as a woman; I soon saw that +as he went on talking, half to me and half to himself, for sometimes +he wandered a little toward the end. I've read books, heard sermons, +and seen good folks, but nothing ever came so close or did me so much +good as seeing this man die. He had one chance and gave it cheerfully. +He longed for those he loved, and let 'em go with a good-by they +couldn't hear. He suffered all the pains we most shrink from without a +murmur, and kept my heart warm while his own was growing cold. It's +no use trying to tell that part of it; but I heard prayers that night +that meant something, and I saw how faith could hold a soul up when +everything was gone but God." + +Saul stopped there with a sudden huskiness in his deep voice, and when +he went on it was in the tone of one who speaks of a dear friend. + +"Joe grew still by and by, and I thought he was asleep, for I felt his +breath when I tucked him up, and his hand held on to mine. The cold +sort of numbed me, and I dropped off, too weak and stupid to think or +feel. I never should have waked up if it hadn't been for Joe. When I +came to, it was morning, and I thought I was dead, for all I could see +was that great field of white mounds, like graves, and a splendid sky +above. Then I looked for Joe, remembering; but he had put my coat back +over me, and lay stiff and still under the snow that covered him like +a shroud, all except his face. A bit of my cape had blown over it, and +when I took it off and the sun shone on his dead face, I declare to +you it was so full of heavenly peace I felt as if that common man had +been glorified by God's light, and rewarded by God's 'Well done.' +That's all." + +No one spoke for a moment, while the women wiped their eyes, and Saul +dropped his as if to hide something softer than tears. + +"It was very noble, very touching. And you? how did you get off at +last?" asked Randal, with real admiration and respect in his usually +languid face. + +"Crawled off," answered Saul, relapsing into his former brevity of +speech. + +"Why not before, and save yourself all that misery?" + +"Couldn't leave Joe." + +"Ah, I see; there were two heroes that night." + +"Dozens, I've no doubt. Those were times that made heroes of men, and +women, too." + +"Tell us more;" begged Emily, looking up with an expression none of +her admirers ever brought to her face by their softest compliments or +wiliest gossip. + +"I've done my part. It's Mr. Randal's turn now;" and Saul drew himself +out of the ruddy circle of firelight, as if ashamed of the prominent +part he was playing. + +Sophie and her friend had often heard Randal talk, for he was an +accomplished _raconteur_, but that night he exerted himself, and was +unusually brilliant and entertaining, as if upon his mettle. The +Bassets were charmed. They sat late and were very merry, for +Aunt Plumy got up a little supper for them, and her cider was as +exhilarating as champagne. When they parted for the night and Sophie +kissed her aunt, Emily did the same, saying heartily,-- + +"It seems as if I'd known you all my life, and this is certainly the +most enchanting old place that ever was." + +"Glad you like it, dear. But it ain't all fun, as you'll find out +to-morrow when you go to work, for Sophie says you must," answered +Mrs. Basset, as her guests trooped away, rashly promising to like +everything. + +They found it difficult to keep their word when they were called at +half past six next morning. Their rooms were warm, however, and +they managed to scramble down in time for breakfast, guided by the +fragrance of coffee and Aunt Plumy's shrill voice singing the good old +hymn-- + + "Lord, in the morning Thou shalt hear + My voice ascending high." + +An open fire blazed on the hearth, for the cooking was done in +the lean-to, and the spacious, sunny kitchen was kept in all its +old-fashioned perfection, with the wooden settle in a warm nook, the +tall clock behind the door, copper and pewter utensils shining on the +dresser, old china in the corner closet and a little spinning wheel +rescued from the garret by Sophie to adorn the deep window, full of +scarlet geraniums, Christmas roses, and white chrysanthemums. + +The young lady, in a checked apron and mob-cap, greeted her friends +with a dish of buckwheats in one hand, and a pair of cheeks that +proved she had been learning to fry these delectable cakes. + +"You do 'keep it up' in earnest, upon my word; and very becoming it +is, dear. But won't you ruin your complexion and roughen your hands if +you do so much of this new fancy-work?" asked Emily, much amazed at +this novel freak. + +"I like it, and really believe I've found my proper sphere at last. +Domestic life seems so pleasant to me that I feel as if I'd better +keep it up for the rest of my life," answered Sophie, making a pretty +picture of herself as she cut great slices of brown bread, with the +early sunshine touching her happy face. + +"The charming Miss Vaughan in the role of a farmer's wife. I find it +difficult to imagine, and shrink from the thought of the wide-spread +dismay such a fate will produce among her adorers," added Randal, as +he basked in the glow of the hospitable fire. + +"She might do worse; but come to breakfast and do honor to my +handiwork," said Sophie, thinking of her worn-out millionnaire, and +rather nettled by the satiric smile on Randal's lips. + +"What an appetite early rising gives one. I feel equal to almost +anything, so let me help wash cups," said Emily, with unusual energy, +when the hearty meal was over and Sophie began to pick up the dishes +as if it was her usual work. + +Ruth went to the window to water the flowers, and Randal followed to +make himself agreeable, remembering her defence of him last night. +He was used to admiration from feminine eyes, and flattery from soft +lips, but found something new and charming in the innocent delight +which showed itself at his approach in blushes more eloquent than +words, and shy glances from eyes full of hero-worship. + +"I hope you are going to spare me a posy for to-morrow night, since +I can be fine in no other way to do honor to the dance Miss Sophie +proposes for us," he said, leaning in the bay window to look down +on the little girl, with the devoted air he usually wore for pretty +women. + +"Anything you like! I should be so glad to have you wear my flowers. +There will be enough for all, and I've nothing else to give to people +who have made me as happy as cousin Sophie and you," answered Ruth, +half drowning her great calla as she spoke with grateful warmth. + +"You must make her happy by accepting the invitation to go home with +her which I heard given last night. A peep at the world would do you +good, and be a pleasant change, I think." + +"Oh, very pleasant! but would it do me good?" and Ruth looked up with +sudden seriousness in her blue eyes, as a child questions an elder, +eager, yet wistful. + +"Why not?" asked Randal, wondering at the hesitation. + +"I might grow discontented with things here if I saw splendid houses +and fine people. I am very happy now, and it would break my heart to +lose that happiness, or ever learn to be ashamed of home." + +"But don't you long for more pleasure, new scenes and other friends +than these?" asked the man, touched by the little creature's loyalty +to the things she knew and loved. + +"Very often, but mother says when I'm ready they will come, so I wait +and try not to be impatient." But Ruth's eyes looked out over the +green leaves as if the longing was very strong within her to see more +of the unknown world lying beyond the mountains that hemmed her in. + +"It is natural for birds to hop out of the nest, so I shall expect to +see you over there before long, and ask you how you enjoy your first +flight," said Randal, in a paternal tone that had a curious effect on +Ruth. + +To his surprise, she laughed, then blushed like one of her own roses, +and answered with a demure dignity that was very pretty to see. + +"I intend to hop soon, but it won't be a very long flight or very far +from mother. She can't spare me, and nobody in the world can fill her +place to me." + +"Bless the child, does she think I'm going to make love to her," +thought Randal, much amused, but quite mistaken. Wiser women had +thought so when he assumed the caressing air with which he beguiled +them into the little revelations of character he liked to use, as the +south wind makes flowers open their hearts to give up their odor, then +leaves them to carry it elsewhere, the more welcome for the stolen +sweetness. + +"Perhaps you are right. The maternal wing is a safe shelter for +confiding little souls like you, Miss Ruth. You will be as comfortable +here as your flowers in this sunny window," he said, carelessly +pinching geranium leaves, and ruffling the roses till the pink petals +of the largest fluttered to the floor. + +As if she instinctively felt and resented something in the man which +his act symbolized, the girl answered quietly, as she went on with her +work, "Yes, if the frost does not touch me, or careless people spoil +me too soon." + +Before Randal could reply Aunt Plumy approached like a maternal hen +who sees her chicken in danger. + +"Saul is goin' to haul wood after he's done his chores, mebbe you'd +like to go along? The view is good, the roads well broke, and the day +uncommon fine." + +"Thanks; it will be delightful, I dare say," politely responded the +lion, with a secret shudder at the idea of a rural promenade at 8 A.M. +in the winter. + +"Come on, then; we'll feed the stock, and then I'll show you how to +yoke oxen," said Saul, with a twinkle in his eye as he led the way, +when his new aide had muffled himself up as if for a polar voyage. + +"Now, that's too bad of Saul! He did it on purpose, just to please +you, Sophie," cried Ruth presently, and the girls ran to the window to +behold Randal bravely following his host with a pail of pigs' food in +each hand, and an expression of resigned disgust upon his aristocratic +face. + +"To what base uses may we come," quoted Emily, as they all nodded and +smiled upon the victim as he looked back from the barn-yard, where he +was clamorously welcomed by his new charges. + +"It is rather a shock at first, but it will do him good, and Saul +won't be too hard upon him, I'm sure," said Sophie, going back to her +work, while Ruth turned her best buds to the sun that they might be +ready for a peace-offering to-morrow. + +There was a merry clatter in the big kitchen for an hour; then Aunt +Plumy and her daughter shut themselves up in the pantry to perform +some culinary rites, and the young ladies went to inspect certain +antique costumes laid forth in Sophie's room. + +"You see, Em, I thought it would be appropriate to the house and +season to have an old-fashioned dance. Aunt has quantities of ancient +finery stowed away, for great-grandfather Basset was a fine old +gentleman and his family lived in state. Take your choice of the +crimson, blue or silver-gray damask. Ruth is to wear the worked muslin +and quilted white satin skirt, with that coquettish hat." + +"Being dark, I'll take the red and trim it up with this fine lace. +You must wear the blue and primrose, with the distracting high-heeled +shoes. Have you any suits for the men?" asked Emily, throwing herself +at once into the all-absorbing matter of costume. + +"A claret velvet coat and vest, silk stockings, cocked hat and +snuff-box for Randal. Nothing large enough for Saul, so he must wear +his uniform. Won't Aunt Plumy be superb in this plum-colored satin and +immense cap?" + +A delightful morning was spent in adapting the faded finery of the +past to the blooming beauty of the present, and time and tongues flew +till the toot of a horn called them down to dinner. + +The girls were amazed to see Randal come whistling up the road with +his trousers tucked into his boots, blue mittens on his hands, and an +unusual amount of energy in his whole figure, as he drove the oxen, +while Saul laughed at his vain attempts to guide the bewildered +beasts. + +"It's immense! The view from the hill is well worth seeing, for the +snow glorifies the landscape and reminds one of Switzerland. I'm going +to make a sketch of it this afternoon; better come and enjoy the +delicious freshness, young ladies." + +Randal was eating with such an appetite that he did not see the +glances the girls exchanged as they promised to go. + +"Bring home some more winter-green, I want things to be real nice, and +we haven't enough for the kitchen," said Ruth, dimpling with girlish +delight as she imagined herself dancing under the green garlands in +her grandmother's wedding gown. + +It was very lovely on the hill, for far as the eye could reach lay the +wintry landscape sparkling with the brief beauty of sunshine on virgin +snow. Pines sighed overhead, hardy birds flitted to and fro, and in +all the trodden spots rose the little spires of evergreen ready for +its Christmas duty. Deeper in the wood sounded the measured ring of +axes, the crash of falling trees, while the red shirts of the men +added color to the scene, and a fresh wind brought the aromatic breath +of newly cloven hemlock and pine. + +"How beautiful it is! I never knew before what winter woods were like. +Did you, Sophie?" asked Emily, sitting on a stump to enjoy the novel +pleasure at her ease. + +"I've found out lately; Saul lets me come as often as I like, and this +fine air seems to make a new creature of me," answered Sophie, looking +about her with sparkling eyes, as if this was a kingdom where she +reigned supreme. + +"Something is making a new creature of you, that is very evident. I +haven't yet discovered whether it is the air or some magic herb among +that green stuff you are gathering so diligently;" and Emily laughed +to see the color deepen beautifully in her friend's half-averted face. + +"Scarlet is the only wear just now, I find. If we are lost like babes +in the woods there are plenty of redbreasts to cover us with leaves," +and Randal joined Emily's laugh, with a glance at Saul, who had just +pulled his coat off. + +"You wanted to see this tree go down, so stand from under and I'll +show you how it's done," said the farmer, taking up his axe, not +unwilling to gratify his guests and display his manly accomplishments +at the same time. + +It was a fine sight, the stalwart man swinging his axe with +magnificent strength and skill, each blow sending a thrill through the +stately tree, till its heart was reached and it tottered to its fall. +Never pausing for breath Saul shook his yellow mane out of his eyes, +and hewed away, while the drops stood on his forehead and his arm +ached, as bent on distinguishing himself as if he had been a knight +tilting against his rival for his lady's favor. + +"I don't know which to admire most, the man or his muscle. One doesn't +often see such vigor, size and comeliness in these degenerate days," +said Randal, mentally booking the fine figure in the red shirt. + +"I think we have discovered a rough diamond. I only wonder if Sophie +is going to try and polish it," answered Emily, glancing at her +friend, who stood a little apart, watching the rise and fall of the +axe as intently as if her fate depended on it. + +Down rushed the tree at last, and, leaving them to examine a crow's +nest in its branches, Saul went off to his men, as if he found the +praises of his prowess rather too much for him. + +Randal fell to sketching, the girls to their garland-making, and for +a little while the sunny woodland nook was full of lively chat and +pleasant laughter, for the air exhilarated them all like wine. +Suddenly a man came running from the wood, pale and anxious, saying, +as he hastened by for help, "Blasted tree fell on him! Bleed to death +before the doctor comes!" + +"Who? who?" cried the startled trio. + +But the man ran on, with some breathless reply, in which only a name +was audible--"Basset." + +"The deuce it is!" and Randal dropped his pencil, while the girls +sprang up in dismay. Then, with one impulse, they hastened to the +distant group, half visible behind the fallen trees and corded wood. + +Sophie was there first, and forcing her way through the little crowd +of men, saw a red-shirted figure on the ground, crushed and bleeding, +and threw herself down beside it with a cry that pierced the hearts of +those who heard it. + +In the act she saw it was not Saul, and covered her bewildered face as +if to hide its joy. A strong arm lifted her, and the familiar voice +said cheeringly,-- + +"I'm all right, dear. Poor Bruce is hurt, but we've sent for help. +Better go right home and forget all about it." + +"Yes, I will, if I can do nothing;" and Sophie meekly returned to her +friends who stood outside the circle over which Saul's head towered, +assuring them of his safety. + +Hoping they had not seen her agitation, she led Emily away, leaving +Randal to give what aid he could and bring them news of the poor +wood-chopper's state. + +Aunt Plumy produced the "camphire" the moment she saw Sophie's pale +face, and made her lie down, while the brave old lady trudged briskly +off with bandages and brandy to the scene of action. On her return she +brought comfortable news of the man, so the little flurry blew over +and was forgotten by all but Sophie, who remained pale and quiet all +the evening, tying evergreen as if her life depended on it. + +"A good night's sleep will set her up. She ain't used to such things, +dear child, and needs cossetin'," said Aunt Plumy, purring over her +until she was in her bed, with a hot stone at her feet and a bowl of +herb tea to quiet her nerves. + +An hour later when Emily went up, she peeped in to see if Sophie was +sleeping nicely, and was surprised to find the invalid wrapped in a +dressing-gown writing busily. + +"Last will and testament, or sudden inspiration, dear? How are you? +faint or feverish, delirious or in the dumps! Saul looks so anxious, +and Mrs. Basset hushes us all up so, I came to bed, leaving Randal to +entertain Ruth." + +As she spoke Emily saw the papers disappear in a portfolio, and Sophie +rose with a yawn. + +"I was writing letters, but I'm sleepy now. Quite over my foolish +fright, thank you. Go and get your beauty sleep that you may dazzle +the natives to-morrow." + +"So glad, good night;" and Emily went away, saying to herself, +"Something is going on, and I must find out what it is before I leave. +Sophie can't blind _me_." + +But Sophie did all the next day, being delightfully gay at the dinner, +and devoting herself to the young minister who was invited to meet +the distinguished novelist, and evidently being afraid of him, gladly +basked in the smiles of his charming neighbor. A dashing sleigh-ride +occupied the afternoon, and then great was the fun and excitement over +the costumes. + +Aunt Plumy laughed till the tears rolled down her cheeks as the girls +compressed her into the plum-colored gown with its short waist, +leg-of-mutton sleeves, and narrow skirt. But a worked scarf hid all +deficiencies, and the towering cap struck awe into the soul of the +most frivolous observer. + +"Keep an eye on me, girls, for I shall certainly split somewheres or +lose my head-piece off when I'm trottin' round. What would my blessed +mother say if she could see me rigged out in her best things?" and +with a smile and a sigh the old lady departed to look after "the +boys," and see that the supper was all right. + +Three prettier damsels never tripped down the wide staircase than the +brilliant brunette in crimson brocade, the pensive blonde in blue, or +the rosy little bride in old muslin and white satin. + +A gallant court gentleman met them in the hall with a superb bow, +and escorted them to the parlor, where Grandma Basset's ghost was +discovered dancing with a modern major in full uniform. + +Mutual admiration and many compliments followed, till other ancient +ladies and gentlemen arrived in all manner of queer costumes, and the +old house seemed to wake from its humdrum quietude to sudden music and +merriment, as if a past generation had returned to keep its Christmas +there. + +The village fiddler soon struck up the good old tunes, and then the +strangers saw dancing that filled them with mingled mirth and envy; it +was so droll, yet so hearty. The young men, unusually awkward in their +grandfathers' knee-breeches, flapping vests, and swallow-tail coats, +footed it bravely with the buxom girls who were the prettier for their +quaintness, and danced with such vigor that their high combs stood +awry, their furbelows waved wildly, and their cheeks were as red as +their breast-knots, or hose. + +It was impossible to stand still, and one after the other the city +folk yielded to the spell, Randal leading off with Ruth, Sophie swept +away by Saul, and Emily being taken possession of by a young giant of +eighteen, who spun her around with a boyish impetuosity that took her +breath away. Even Aunt Plumy was discovered jigging it alone in the +pantry, as if the music was too much for her, and the plates and +glasses jingled gaily on the shelves in time to Money Musk and +Fishers' Hornpipe. + +A pause came at last, however, and fans fluttered, heated brows were +wiped, jokes were made, lovers exchanged confidences, and every nook +and corner held a man and maid carrying on the sweet game which is +never out of fashion. There was a glitter of gold lace in the back +entry, and a train of blue and primrose shone in the dim light. There +was a richer crimson than that of the geraniums in the deep window, +and a dainty shoe tapped the bare floor impatiently as the brilliant +black eyes looked everywhere for the court gentleman, while their +owner listened to the gruff prattle of an enamored boy. But in the +upper hall walked a little white ghost as if waiting for some shadowy +companion, and when a dark form appeared ran to take its arm, saying, +in a tone of soft satisfaction,-- + +"I was so afraid you wouldn't come!" + +"Why did you leave me, Ruth?" answered a manly voice in a tone of +surprise, though the small hand slipping from the velvet coat-sleeve +was replaced as if it was pleasant to feel it there. + +A pause, and then the other voice answered demurely,-- + +"Because I was afraid my head would be turned by the fine things you +were saying." + +"It is impossible to help saying what one feels to such an artless +little creature as you are. It does me good to admire anything so +fresh and sweet, and won't harm you." + +"It might if--" + +"If what, my daisy?" + +"I believed it," and a laugh seemed to finish the broken sentence +better than the words. + +"You may, Ruth, for I do sincerely admire the most genuine girl I have +seen for a long time. And walking here with you in your bridal white I +was just asking myself if I should not be a happier man with a home +of my own and a little wife hanging on my arm than drifting about the +world as I do now with only myself to care for." + +"I know you would!" and Ruth spoke so earnestly that Randal was both +touched and startled, fearing he had ventured too far in a mood of +unwonted sentiment, born of the romance of the hour and the sweet +frankness of his companion. + +"Then you don't think it would be rash for some sweet woman to take me +in hand and make me happy, since fame is a failure?" + +"Oh, no; it would be easy work if she loved you. I know some one--if I +only dared to tell her name." + +"Upon my soul, this is cool," and Randal looked down, wondering if the +audacious lady on his arm could be shy Ruth. + +If he had seen the malicious merriment in her eyes he would have been +more humiliated still, but they were modestly averted, and the face +under the little hat was full of a soft agitation rather dangerous +even to a man of the world. + +"She is a captivating little creature, but it is too soon for anything +but a mild flirtation. I must delay further innocent revelations or I +shall do something rash." + +While making this excellent resolution Randal had been pressing the +hand upon his arm and gently pacing down the dimly lighted hall +with the sound of music in his ears, Ruth's sweetest roses in his +button-hole, and a loving little girl beside him, as he thought. + +"You shall tell me by and by when we are in town. I am sure you will +come, and meanwhile don't forget me." + +"I am going in the spring, but I shall not be with Sophie," answered +Ruth, in a whisper. + +"With whom then? I shall long to see you." + +"With my husband. I am to be married in May." + +"The deuce you are!" escaped Randal, as he stopped short to stare at +his companion, sure she was not in earnest. + +But she was, for as he looked the sound of steps coming up the back +stairs made her whole face flush and brighten with the unmistakable +glow of happy love, and she completed Randal's astonishment by running +into the arms of the young minister, saying with an irrepressible +laugh, "Oh, John, why didn't you come before?" + +The court gentleman was all right in a moment, and the coolest of +the three as he offered his congratulations and gracefully retired, +leaving the lovers to enjoy the tryst he had delayed. But as he went +down stairs his brows were knit, and he slapped the broad railing +smartly with his cocked hat as if some irritation must find vent in a +more energetic way than merely saying, "Confound the little baggage!" +under his breath. + +Such an amazing supper came from Aunt Plumy's big pantry that the city +guests could not eat for laughing at the queer dishes circulating +through the rooms, and copiously partaken of by the hearty young +folks. + +Doughnuts and cheese, pie and pickles, cider and tea, baked beans and +custards, cake and cold turkey, bread and butter, plum pudding and +French bonbons, Sophie's contribution. + +"May I offer you the native delicacies, and share your plate? Both +are very good, but the china has run short, and after such vigorous +exercise as you have had you must need refreshment. I'm sure I do!" +said Randal, bowing before Emily with a great blue platter laden with +two doughnuts, two wedges of pumpkin pie and two spoons. + +The smile with which she welcomed him, the alacrity with which she +made room beside her and seemed to enjoy the supper he brought, was so +soothing to his ruffled spirit that he soon began to feel that there +is no friend like an old friend, that it would not be difficult to +name a sweet woman who would take him in hand and would make him happy +if he cared to ask her, and he began to think he would by and by, it +was so pleasant to sit in that green corner with waves of crimson +brocade flowing over his feet, and a fine face softening beautifully +under his eyes. + +The supper was not romantic, but the situation was, and Emily found +that pie ambrosial food eaten with the man she loved, whose eyes +talked more eloquently than the tongue just then busy with a doughnut. +Ruth kept away, but glanced at them as she served her company, and her +own happy experience helped her to see that all was going well in that +quarter. Saul and Sophie emerged from the back entry with shining +countenances, but carefully avoided each other for the rest of the +evening. No one observed this but Aunt Plumy from the recesses of her +pantry, and she folded her hands as if well content, as she murmured +fervently over a pan full of crullers, "Bless the dears! Now I can die +happy." + +Every one thought Sophie's old-fashioned dress immensely becoming, and +several of his former men said to Saul with blunt admiration, "Major, +you look to-night as you used to after we'd gained a big battle." + +"I feel as if I had," answered the splendid Major, with eyes much +brighter than his buttons, and a heart under them infinitely prouder +than when he was promoted on the field of honor, for his Waterloo was +won. + +There was more dancing, followed by games, in which Aunt Plumy shone +pre-eminent, for the supper was off her mind and she could enjoy +herself. There were shouts of merriment as the blithe old lady twirled +the platter, hunted the squirrel, and went to Jerusalem like a girl of +sixteen; her cap in a ruinous condition, and every seam of the purple +dress straining like sails in a gale. It was great fun, but at +midnight it came to an end, and the young folks, still bubbling over +with innocent jollity, went jingling away along the snowy hills, +unanimously pronouncing Mrs. Basset's party the best of the season. + +"Never had such a good time in my life!" exclaimed Sophie, as the +family stood together in the kitchen where the candles among the +wreaths were going out, and the floor was strewn with wrecks of past +joy. + +"I'm proper glad, dear. Now you all go to bed and lay as late as you +like to-morrow. I'm so kinder worked up I couldn't sleep, so Saul and +me will put things to rights without a mite of noise to disturb you;" +and Aunt Plumy sent them off with a smile that was a benediction, +Sophie thought. + +"The dear old soul speaks as if midnight was an unheard-of hour for +Christians to be up. What would she say if she knew how we seldom go +to bed till dawn in the ball season? I'm so wide awake I've half a +mind to pack a little. Randal must go at two, he says, and we shall +want his escort," said Emily, as the girls laid away their brocades in +the press in Sophie's room. + +"I'm not going. Aunt can't spare me, and there is nothing to go for +yet," answered Sophie, beginning to take the white chrysanthemums out +of her pretty hair. + +"My dear child, you will die of ennui up here. Very nice for a week +or so, but frightful for a winter. We are going to be very gay, and +cannot get on without you," cried Emily dismayed at the suggestion. + +"You will have to, for I'm not coming. I am very happy here, and so +tired of the frivolous life I lead in town, that I have decided to +try a better one," and Sophie's mirror reflected a face full of the +sweetest content. + +"Have you lost your mind? experienced religion? or any other dreadful +thing? You always were odd, but this last freak is the strangest of +all. What will your guardian say, and the world?" added Emily in the +awe-stricken tone of one who stood in fear of the omnipotent Mrs. +Grundy. + +"Guardy will be glad to be rid of me, and I don't care that for the +world," cried Sophie, snapping her fingers with a joyful sort of +recklessness which completed Emily's bewilderment. + +"But Mr. Hammond? Are you going to throw away millions, lose your +chance of making the best match in the city, and driving the girls of +our set out of their wits with envy?" + +Sophie laughed at her friend's despairing cry, and turning round said +quietly,-- + +"I wrote to Mr. Hammond last night, and this evening received my +reward for being an honest girl. Saul and I are to be married in the +spring when Ruth is." + +Emily fell prone upon the bed as if the announcement was too much +for her, but was up again in an instant to declare with prophetic +solemnity,-- + +"I knew something was going on, but hoped to get you away before you +were lost. Sophie, you will repent. Be warned, and forget this sad +delusion." + +"Too late for that. The pang I suffered yesterday when I thought Saul +was dead showed me how well I loved him. To-night he asked me to stay, +and no power in the world can part us. Oh! Emily, it is all so sweet, +so beautiful, that _everything_ is possible, and I know I shall be +happy in this dear old home, full of love and peace and honest hearts. +I only hope you may find as true and tender a man to live for as my +Saul." + +Sophie's face was more eloquent than her fervent words, and Emily +beautifully illustrated the inconsistency of her sex by suddenly +embracing her friend, with the incoherent exclamation, "I think I +have, dear! Your brave Saul is worth a dozen old Hammonds, and I do +believe you are right." + +It is unnecessary to tell how, as if drawn by the irresistible magic +of sympathy, Ruth and her mother crept in one by one to join the +midnight conference and add their smiles and tears, tender hopes and +proud delight to the joys of that memorable hour. Nor how Saul, unable +to sleep, mounted guard below, and meeting Randal prowling down to +soothe his nerves with a surreptitious cigar found it impossible to +help confiding to his attentive ear the happiness that would break +bounds and overflow in unusual eloquence. + +Peace fell upon the old house at last, and all slept as if some magic +herb had touched their eyelids, bringing blissful dreams and a glad +awakening. + +"Can't we persuade you to come with us, Miss Sophie?" asked Randal +next day, as they made their adieux. + +"I'm under orders now, and dare not disobey my superior officer," +answered Sophie, handing her Major his driving gloves, with a look +which plainly showed that she had joined the great army of devoted +women who enlist for life and ask no pay but love. + +"I shall depend on being invited to your wedding, then, and yours, +too, Miss Ruth," added Randal, shaking hands with "the little +baggage," as if he had quite forgiven her mockery and forgotten his +own brief lapse into sentiment. + +Before she could reply Aunt Plumy said, in a tone of calm conviction, +that made them all laugh, and some of them look conscious,-- + +"Spring is a good time for weddin's, and I shouldn't wonder ef there +was quite a number." + +"Nor I;" and Saul and Sophie smiled at one another as they saw how +carefully Randal arranged Emily's wraps. + +Then with kisses, thanks and all the good wishes that happy hearts +could imagine, the guests drove away, to remember long and gratefully +that pleasant country Christmas. + + + + +ON PICKET DUTY + +"Better late than never." + + +"What air you thinkin' of, Phil?" + +"My wife, Dick." + +"So was I! Ain't it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little +women, when they get a quiet spell like this?" + +"Fortunate for us that we do get it, and have such memories to keep +us brave and honest through the trials and temptations of a life like +ours." + +October moonlight shone clearly on the solitary tree, draped with +gray moss, scarred by lightning and warped by wind, looking like a +venerable warrior, whose long campaign was nearly done; and underneath +was posted the guard of four. Behind them twinkled many camp-fires on +a distant plain, before them wound a road ploughed by the passage of +an army, strewn with the relics of a rout. On the right, a sluggish +river glided, like a serpent, stealthy, sinuous, and dark, into a +seemingly impervious jungle; on the left, a Southern swamp filled the +air with malarial damps, swarms of noisome life, and discordant sounds +that robbed the hour of its repose. The men were friends as well as +comrades, for though gathered from the four quarters of the Union, +and dissimilar in education, character, and tastes, the same spirit +animated all; the routine of camp-life threw them much together, and +mutual esteem soon grew into a bond of mutual good fellowship. + +Thorn was a Massachusetts volunteer; a man who seemed too early old, +too early embittered by some cross, for, though grim of countenance, +rough of speech, cold of manner, a keen observer would have soon +discovered traces of a deeper, warmer nature hidden behind the +repellent front he turned upon the world. A true New Englander, +thoughtful, acute, reticent, and opinionated; yet earnest withal, +intensely patriotic, and often humorous, despite a touch of Puritan +austerity. + +Phil, the "romantic chap," as he was called, looked his character to +the life. Slender, swarthy, melancholy-eyed, and darkly-bearded; with +feminine features, mellow voice, and alternately languid or vivacious +manners. A child of the South in nature as in aspect, ardent and +proud; fitfully aspiring and despairing; without the native energy +which moulds character and ennobles life. Months of discipline and +devotion had done much for him, and some deep experience was fast +ripening the youth into a man. + +Flint, the long-limbed lumberman, from the wilds of Maine, was a +conscript who, when government demanded his money or his life, +calculated the cost, and decided that the cash would be a dead loss +and the claim might be repeated, whereas the conscript would get both +pay and plunder out of government, while taking excellent care +that government got very little out of him. A shrewd, slow-spoken, +self-reliant specimen, was Flint; yet something of the fresh flavor of +the backwoods lingered in him still, as if Nature were loath to give +him up, and left the mark of her motherly hand upon him, as she leaves +it in a dry, pale lichen, on the bosom of the roughest stone. + +Dick "hailed" from Illinois, and was a comely young fellow, full of +dash and daring; rough and rowdy, generous and jolly, overflowing with +spirits and ready for a free fight with all the world. + +Silence followed the last words, while the friendly moon climbed up +the sky. Each man's eye followed it, and each man's heart was busy +with remembrances of other eyes and hearts that might be watching and +wishing as theirs watched and wished. In the silence, each shaped for +himself that vision of home that brightens so many camp-fires, haunts +so many dreamers under canvas roofs, and keeps so many turbulent +natures tender by memories which often are both solace and salvation. + +Thorn paced to and fro, his rifle on his shoulder, vigilant and +soldierly, however soft his heart might be. Phil leaned against the +tree, one hand in the breast of his blue jacket, on the painted +presentment of the face his fancy was picturing in the golden circle +of the moon. Flint lounged on the sward, whistling softly as he +whittled at a fallen bough. Dick was flat on his back, heels in air, +cigar in mouth, and some hilarious notion in his mind, for suddenly he +broke into a laugh. + +"What is it, lad?" asked Thorn, pausing in his tramp, as if willing to +be drawn from the disturbing thought that made his black brows lower +and his mouth look grim. + +"Thinkin' of my wife, and wishin' she was here, bless her heart! set +me rememberin' how I see her fust, and so I roared, as I always do +when it comes into my head." + +"How was it? Come, reel off a yarn, and let's hear houw yeou hitched +teams," said Flint, always glad to get information concerning his +neighbors, if it could be cheaply done. + +"Tellin' how we found our wives wouldn't be a bad game, would it, +Phil?" + +"I'm agreeable; but let's have your romance first." + +"Devilish little of that about me or any of my doin's. I hate +sentimental bosh as much as you hate slang, and should have been a +bachelor to this day if I hadn't seen Kitty jest as I did. You see, +I'd been too busy larkin' round to get time for marryin', till a +couple of years ago, when I did up the job double-quick, as I'd like +to do this thunderin' slow one, hang it all!" + +"Halt a minute till I give a look, for this picket isn't going to be +driven in or taken while I'm on guard." + +Down his beat went Thorn, reconnoitring river, road, and swamp, +as thoroughly as one pair of keen eyes could do it, and came back +satisfied, but still growling like a faithful mastiff on the watch; +performances which he repeated at intervals till his own turn came. + +"I didn't have to go out of my own State for a wife, you'd better +believe," began Dick, with a boast, as usual; "for we raise as fine a +crop of girls thar as any State in or out of the Union, and don't mind +raisin' Cain with any man who denies it. I was out on a gunnin' tramp +with Joe Partridge, a cousin of mine,--poor old chap! he fired his +last shot at Gettysburg, and died game in a way he didn't dream of the +day we popped off the birds together. It ain't right to joke that way; +I won't if I can help it; but a feller gets awfully kind of heathenish +these times, don't he?" + +"Settle up them scores byme-by; fightin' Christians is scurse raound +here. Fire away, Dick." + +"Well, we got as hungry as hounds half a dozen mile from home, and +when a farmhouse hove in sight, Joe said he 'd ask for a bite, and +leave some of the plunder for pay. I was visitin' Joe, didn't know +folks round, and backed out of the beggin' part of the job; so he went +ahead alone. We'd come out of the woods behind the house, and while +Joe was foragin', I took a reconnoissance. The view was fust-rate, for +the main part of it was a girl airin' beds on the roof of a stoop. +Now, jest about that time, havin' a leisure spell, I'd begun to think +of marryin', and took a look at all the girls I met, with an eye to +business. I s'pose every man has some sort of an idee or pattern of +the wife he wants; pretty and plucky, good and gay was mine, but I'd +never found it till I see Kitty; and as she didn't see me, I had the +advantage and took an extra long stare." + +"What was her good p'ints, hey?" + +"Oh, well, she had a wide-awake pair of eyes, a bright, jolly sort +of a face, lots of curly hair tumblin' out of her net, a trig little +figger, and a pair of the neatest feet and ankles that ever stepped. +'Pretty,' thinks I; 'so far so good.' The way she whacked the pillers, +shook the blankets, and pitched into the beds was a caution; specially +one blunderin' old feather-bed that wouldn't do nothin' but sag round +in a pigheaded sort of way, that would have made most girls get mad +and give up. Kitty didn't, but just wrastled with it like a good one, +till she got it turned, banged, and spread to suit her; then she +plumped down in the middle of it, with a sarcy little nod and chuckle +to herself, that tickled me mightily. 'Plucky,' thinks I, 'better +'n' better.' Jest then an old woman came flyin' out the back-door, +callin', 'Kitty! Kitty! Squire Partridge's son's here, 'long with a +friend; been gunnin', want luncheon, and I'm all in the suds; do come +down and see to 'em.' + +"'Where are they?' says Kitty, scrambling up her hair and settlin' her +gown in a jiffy, as women have a knack of doin', you know. + +"'Mr. Joe's in the front entry; the other man's somewheres round, +Billy says, waitin' till I send word whether they can stop. I darsn't +till I'd seen you, for I can't do nothin', I'm in such a mess,' says +the old lady. + +"'So am I, for I can't get in except by the entry window, and he'll +see me,' says Kitty, gigglin' at the thoughts of Joe. + +"'Come down the ladder, there's a dear. I'll pull it round and keep it +stiddy,' says the mother. + +"'Oh, ma, don't ask me!' says Kitty, with a shiver. 'I'm dreadfully +scared of ladders since I broke my arm off this very one. It's so +high, it makes me dizzy jest to think of.' + +"'Well, then, I'll do the best I can; but I wish them boys was to +Jericho!' says the old lady, with a groan, for she was fat and hot, +had her gown pinned up, and was in a fluster generally. She was goin' +off rather huffy, when Kitty called out,-- + +"'Stop, ma! I'll come down and help you, only ketch me if I tumble.' + +"She looked scared but stiddy, and I'll bet it took as much grit for +her to do it as for one of us to face a battery. It don't seem much to +tell of, but I wish I may be hit if it wasn't a right down dutiful +and clever thing to see done. When the old lady took her off at the +bottom, with a good motherly hug, 'Good,' thinks I; 'what more do you +want?'" + +"A snug little property wouldn't a ben bad, I reckon," said Flint. + +"Well, she had it, old skin-flint, though I didn't know or care about +it then. What a jolly row she'd make if she knew I was tellin' the +ladder part of the story! She always does when I get to it, and makes +believe cry, with her head in my breast-pocket, or any such handy +place, till I take it out and swear I'll never do so ag'in. Poor +little Kit, I wonder what she's doin' now. Thinkin' of me, I'll bet." + +Dick paused, pulled his cap lower over his eyes, and smoked a minute +with more energy than enjoyment, for his cigar was out and he did not +perceive it. + +"That's not all, is it?" asked Thorn, taking a fatherly interest in +the younger man's love passages. + +"Not quite. 'Fore long, Joe whistled, and as I always take short cuts +everywhar, I put in at the back-door, jest as Kitty come trottin' out +of the pantry with a big berry-pie in her hand. I startled her, she +tripped over the sill and down she come; the dish flew one way, the +pie flopped into her lap, the juice spatterin' my boots and her clean +gown. I thought she'd cry, scold, have hysterics, or some confounded +thing or other; but she jest sat still a minute, then looked up at +me with a great blue splash on her face, and went off into the +good-naturedest gale of laughin' you ever heard in your life. That +finished me. 'Gay,' thinks I; 'go in and win.' So I did; made love +hand over hand, while I stayed with Joe; pupposed a fortnight after, +married her in three months, and there she is, a tiptop little woman, +with a pair of stunnin' boys in her arms!" + +Out came a well-worn case, and Dick proudly displayed the likeness of +a stout, much bejewelled young woman with two staring infants on her +knee. In his sight, the poor picture was a more perfect work of art +than any of Sir Joshua's baby-beauties, or Raphael's Madonnas, and the +little story needed no better sequel than the young father's praises +of his twins, the covert kiss he gave their mother when he turned +as if to get a clearer light upon the face. Ashamed to show the +tenderness that filled his honest heart, he hummed "Kingdom Coming," +relit his cigar, and presently began to talk again. + +"Now, then, Flint, it's your turn to keep guard, and Thorn's to tell +his romance. Come, don't try to shirk; it does a man good to talk of +such things, and we're all mates here." + +"In some cases it don't do any good to talk of such things; better let +'em alone," muttered Thorn, as he reluctantly sat down, while Flint as +reluctantly departed. + +With a glance and gesture of real affection, Phil laid his hand upon +his comrade's knee, saying in his persuasive voice, "Old fellow, +it _will_ do you good, because I know you often long to speak of +something that weighs upon you. You've kept us steady many a time, +and done us no end of kindnesses; why be too proud to let us give our +sympathy in return, if nothing more?" + +Thorn's big hand closed over the slender one upon his knee, and the +mild expression, so rarely seen upon his face, passed over it as he +replied,-- + +"I think I could tell you almost anything if you asked me that way, +my boy. It isn't that I am too proud,--and you're right about my +sometimes wanting to free my mind,--but it's because a man of forty +don't just like to open out to young fellows, if there is any danger +of their laughing at him, though he may deserve it. I guess there +isn't now, and I'll tell you how I found my wife." + +Dick sat up, and Phil drew nearer, for the earnestness that was in +the man dignified his plain speech, and inspired an interest in his +history, even before it was begun. Looking gravely at the river and +never at his hearers, as if still a little shy of confidants, yet +grateful for the relief of words, Thorn began abruptly:-- + +"I never hear the number eighty-four without clapping my hand to my +left breast and missing my badge. You know I was on the police in New +York, before the war, and that's about all you do know yet. One bitter +cold night I was going my rounds for the last time, when, as I turned +a corner, I saw there was a trifle of work to be done. It was a bad +part of the city, full of dirt and deviltry; one of the streets led to +a ferry, and at the corner an old woman had an apple-stall. The poor +soul had dropped asleep, worn out with the cold, and there were her +goods left with no one to watch 'em. Somebody was watching 'em. +however; a girl, with a ragged shawl over her head, stood at the mouth +of an alley close by, waiting for a chance to grab something. I'd seen +her there when I went by before, and mistrusted she was up to some +mischief; as I turned the corner, she put out her hand and cribbed an +apple. She saw me the minute she did it, but neither dropped it nor +ran, only stood stock still with the apple in her hand till I came up. + +"'This won't do, my girl,' said I. I never could be harsh with 'em, +poor things! She laid it back and looked up at me with a miserable +sort of a smile, that made me put my hand in my pocket to fish for a +ninepence before she spoke. + +"'I know it won't,' she says. 'I didn't want to do it, it's so mean, +but I'm awful hungry, sir.' + +"'Better run home and get your supper, then.' + +"'I've got no home.' + +"'Where do you live?' + +"'In the street.' + +"'Where do you sleep?' + +"'Anywhere; last night in the lock-up, and I thought I'd get in there +again, if I did that when you saw me. I like to go there, it's warm +and safe.' + +"'If I don't take you there, what will you do?' + +"'Don't know. I could go over there and dance again as I used to, but +being sick has made me ugly, so they won't have me, and no one else +will take me because I have been there once.' + +"I looked where she pointed, and thanked the Lord that they wouldn't +take her. It was one of those low theatres that do so much damage to +the like of her; there was a gambling place one side of it, an eating +saloon the other. I was new to the work then, but though I'd heard +about hunger and homelessness often enough, I'd never had this sort of +thing, nor seen that look on a girl's face. A white, pinched face hers +was, with frightened, tired-looking eyes, but so innocent! She wasn't +more than sixteen, had been pretty once, I saw, looked sick and +starved now, and seemed just the most helpless, hopeless little thing +that ever was. + +"'You 'd better come to the Station for to-night, and we'll see to you +to-morrow,' says I. + +"'Thank you, sir,' says she, looking as grateful as if I'd asked her +home. I suppose I did speak kind of fatherly. I ain't ashamed to say I +felt so, seeing what a child she was; nor to own that when she put her +little hand in mine, it hurt me to feel how thin and cold it was. We +passed the eating-house where the red lights made her face as rosy as +it ought to have been; there was meat and pies in the window, and the +poor thing stopped to look. It was too much for her; off came her +shawl, and she said in that coaxing way of hers,-- + +"'I wish you'd let me stop at the place close by and sell this; +they'll give a little for it, and I'll get some supper. I've had +nothing since yesterday morning, and maybe cold is easier to bear than +hunger.' + +"'Have you nothing better than that to sell?' I says, not quite sure +that she wasn't all a humbug, like so many of 'em. She seemed to see +that, and looked up at me again with such innocent eyes, I couldn't +doubt her when she said, shivering with something beside the cold,-- + +"'Nothing but myself.' Then the tears came, and she laid her head +clown on my arm, sobbing,--'Keep me! oh, do keep me safe somewhere!'" + +Thorn choked here, steadied his voice with a resolute hem! but could +only add one sentence more,-- + +"That's how I found my wife." + +"Come, don't stop thar. I told the whole o' mine, you do the same. +Whar did you take her? how'd it all come round?" + +"Please tell us, Thorn." + +The gentler request was answered presently, very steadily, very +quietly. + +"I was always a soft-hearted fellow, though you wouldn't think it now, +and when that little girl asked me to keep her safe, I just did it. +I took her to a good woman whom I knew, for I hadn't any women folks +belonging to me, nor any place but that to put her in. She stayed +there till spring working for her keep, growing brighter, prettier, +every day, and fonder of me, I thought. If I believed in witchcraft, I +shouldn't think myself such a fool as I do now, but I don't believe in +it, and to this day I can't understand how I came to do it. To be sure +I was a lonely man, without kith or kin, had never had a sweetheart in +my life, or been much with women since my mother died. Maybe that's +why I was so bewitched with Mary, for she had little ways with her +that took your fancy and made you love her whether you would or no. +I found her father was an honest fellow enough, a fiddler in some +theatre; that he'd taken good care of Mary till he died, leaving +precious little but advice for her to live on. She'd tried to get +work, failed, spent all she had, got sick, and was going to the bad, +as the poor souls can hardly help doing with so many ready to give +them a shove. It's no use trying to make a bad job better; so the long +and short of it was, I thought she loved me; God knows I loved her! +and I married her before the year was out." + +"Show us her picture; I know you've got one; all the fellows have, +though half of 'em won't own up." + +"I've only got part of one. I once saved my little girl, and her +picture once saved me." + +From an inner pocket Thorn produced a woman's housewife, carefully +untied it, though all its implements were missing but a little +thimble, and from one of its compartments took a flattened bullet and +the remnants of a picture. + +"I gave her that the first Christmas after I found her. She wasn't as +tidy about her clothes as I liked to see, and I thought if I gave her +a handy thing like this, she'd be willing to sew. But she only made +one shirt for me, and then got tired, so I keep it like an old fool, +as I am. Yes, that's the bit of lead that would have done for me, if +Mary's likeness hadn't been just where it was." + +"You'll like to show her this when you go home, won't you?" said Dick, +as he took up the bullet, while Phil examined the marred picture, and +Thorn poised the little thimble on his big finger, with a sigh. + +"How can I, when I don't know where she is, and camp is all the home +I've got!" + +The words broke from him like a sudden groan, when some old wound is +rudely touched. Both of the young men started, both laid back the +relics they had taken up, and turned their eyes from Thorn's face, +across which swept a look of shame and sorrow, too significant to be +misunderstood. Their silence assured him of their sympathy, and, as if +that touch of friendliness unlocked his heavy heart, he eased it by +a full confession. When he spoke again, it was with the calmness of +repressed emotion, a calmness more touching to his mates than the most +passionate outbreak, the most pathetic lamentation; for the coarse +camp-phrases seemed to drop from his vocabulary; more than once his +softened voice grew tremulous, and to the words "my little girl," +there went a tenderness that proved how dear a place she still +retained in that deep heart of his. + +"Boys, I've gone so far; I may as well finish; and you'll see I'm not +without some cause for my stern looks and ways; you'll pity me, and +from you I'll take the comfort of it. It's only the old story,--I +married her, worked for her, lived for her, and kept my little girl +like a lady. I should have known that I was too old and sober for a +young thing like that, for the life she led before the pinch came +just suited her. She liked to be admired, to dress and dance and make +herself pretty for all the world to see; not to keep house for a quiet +man like me. Idleness wasn't good for her, it bred discontent; then +some of her old friends, who'd left her in her trouble, found her out +when better times came round, and tried to get her back again. I was +away all day, I didn't know how things were going, and she wasn't open +with me, afraid she said; I was so grave, and hated theatres so. She +got courage finally to tell me that she wasn't happy; that she wanted +to dance again, and asked me if she mightn't. I'd rather have had her +ask me to put her in a fire, for I _did_ hate theatres, and was bred +to; others think they're no harm. I do; and knew it was a bad life for +a girl like mine. It pampers vanity, and vanity is the Devil's help +with such; so I said No, kindly at first, sharp and stern when she +kept on teasing. That roused her spirit. 'I will go!' she said, one +day. 'Not while you are my wife,' I answered back; and neither said +any more, but she gave me a look I didn't think she could, and I +resolved to take her away from temptation before worse came of it. + +"I didn't tell her my plan; but I resigned my place, spent a week or +more finding and fixing a little home for her out in the wholesome +country, where she'd be safe from theatres and disreputable friends, +and maybe learn to love me better when she saw how much she was to +me. It was coming summer, and I made things look as home-like and as +pretty as I could. She liked flowers, and I fixed a garden for her; +she was fond of pets, and I got her a bird, a kitten, and a dog to +play with her; she fancied gay colors and tasty little matters, so I +filled her rooms with all the handsome things I could afford, and when +it was done, I was as pleased as any boy, thinking what happy times +we'd have together and how pleased she'd be. Boys, when I went to tell +her and to take her to her little home, she was gone." + +"Who with?" + +"With those cursed friends of her; a party of them left the city just +then; she was wild to go; she had money now, and all her good looks +back again. They teased and tempted her; I wasn't there to keep her, +and she went, leaving a line behind to tell me that she loved the old +life more than the new; that my house was a prison, and she hoped I'd +let her go in peace. That almost killed me; but I managed to bear it, +for I knew most of the fault was mine; but it was awful bitter to +think I hadn't saved her, after all." + +"Oh, Thorn! what did you do?" + +"Went straight after her; found her dancing in Philadelphia, with +paint on her cheeks, trinkets on her neck and arms, looking prettier +than ever; but the innocent eyes were gone, and I couldn't see my +little girl in the bold, handsome woman twirling there before the +footlights. She saw me, looked scared at first, then smiled, and +danced on with her eyes upon me, as if she said,-- + +"'See! I'm happy now; go away and let me be.' + +"I couldn't stand that, and got out somehow. People thought me mad, or +drunk; I didn't care, I only wanted to see her once in quiet and try +to get her home. I couldn't do it then nor afterwards by fair means, +and I wouldn't try force. I wrote to her, promised to forgive her, +begged her to come back, or let me keep her honestly somewhere away +from me. But she never answered, never came, and I have never tried +again." + +"She wasn't worthy of you, Thorn; you jest forgit her." + +"I wish I could! I wish I could!" In his voice quivered an almost +passionate regret, and a great sob heaved his chest, as he turned his +face away to hide the love and longing, still so tender and so strong. + +"Don't say that, Dick; such fidelity should make us charitable for +its own sake. There is always time for penitence, always certainty of +pardon. Take heart, Thorn, you may not wait in vain, and she may yet +return to you." + +"I know she will! I've dreamed of it, I've prayed for it; every battle +I come out of safe makes me surer that I was kept for that, and when +I've borne enough to atone for my part of the fault, I'll be repaid +for all my patience, all my pain, by finding her again. She knows how +well I love her still, and if there comes a time when she is sick and +poor and all alone again, then she'll remember her old John, then +she'll come home and let me take her in." + +Hope shone in Thorn's melancholy eyes, and long-suffering, +all-forgiving love beautified the rough, brown face, as he folded his +arms and bent his gray head on his breast, as if the wanderer were +already come. + +The emotion which Dick scorned to show on his own account was freely +manifested for another, as he sniffed audibly, and, boy-like, drew his +sleeve across his eyes. But Phil, with the delicate perception of a +finer nature, felt that the truest kindness he could show his friend +was to distract his thoughts from himself, to spare him any comments, +and lessen the embarrassment which would surely follow such unwonted +confidence. + +"Now I'll relieve Flint, and he will give you a laugh. Come on, Hiram, +and tell us about your Beulah." + +The gentleman addressed had performed his duty by sitting on a fence +and "righting up" his pockets, to beguile the tedium of his exile. +Before his multitudinous possessions could be restored to their native +sphere, Thorn was himself again, and on his feet. + +"Stay where you are, Phil; I like to tramp, it seems like old times, +and I know you're tired. Just forget all this I've been saying, and go +on as before. Thank you, boys! thank you," and with a grasp of the two +hands extended to him, he strode away along the path already worn by +his own restless feet. + +"It's done him good, and I'm glad of that; but I'd like to see the +little baggage that bewitched the poor old boy, wouldn't you, Phil?" + +"Hush! here's Flint." + +"What's up naow? want me tew address the meetin', hey? I'm willin', +only the laugh's ruther ag'inst me, ef I tell that story; expect +you'll like it all the better fer that." Flint coiled up his long +limbs, put his hands in his pockets, chewed meditatively for a moment, +and then began, with his slowest drawl:-- + +"Waal, sir, it's pretty nigh ten year ago, I was damster daown tew +Oldtaown, clos't to Banggore. My folks lived tew Bethel; there was +only the old man, and Aunt Siloam, keepin' house fer him, seein' as I +was the only chick he hed. I hedn't heared from 'em fer a long spell, +when there come a letter sayin' the old man was breakin' up. He'd said +it every spring fer a number er years, and I didn't mind it no more'n +the breakin' up er the river; not so much, jest then; fer the gret +spring drive was comin' on, and my hands was tew full to quit work all +tew oncet. I sent word I'd be 'long 'fore a gret while, and byme-by I +went. I ought tew hev gone at fust; but they'd sung aout 'Wolf!' so +often I warn't scared; an' sure 'nuff the wolf did come at last. +Father hed been dead and berried a week when I got there, and aunt +was so mad she wouldn't write, nor scurcely speak tew me for a +consider'ble spell. I didn't blame her a mite, and felt jest the wust +kind; so I give in every way, and fetched her raound. Yeou see I bed +a cousin who'd kind er took my place tew hum while I was off, an' +the old man hed left him a good slice er his money, an' me the farm, +hopin' to keep me there. He'd never liked the lumberin' bizness, an' +hankered arfter me a sight, I faound. Waal, seem' haow 'twas, I tried +tew please him, late as it was; but ef there was ennything I did +spleen ag'inst it was farmin', 'specially arfter the smart times I'd +ben hevin', up Oldtaown way. Yeou don't know nothin' abaout it; but ef +yeou want tew see high dewin's, jest hitch onto a timber-drive an' go +it daown along them lakes and rivers, say from Kaumchenungamooth tew +Punnobscot Bay. Guess yeou'd see a thing or tew, an' find livin' on a +log come as handy as ef you was born a turtle. + +"Waal, I stood it one summer; but it was the longest kind of a job. +Come fall I turned contry, darned the farm, and vaowed I'd go back tew +loggin'. Aunt hed got fond er me by that time, and felt dreadful bad +abaout my leavin' on her. Cousin Siah, as we called Josiah, didn't +cotton tew the old woman, though he did tew her cash; but we hitched +along fust-rate. She was 'tached tew the place, hated tew hev it let +or sold, thought I'd go to everlastin' rewin ef I took tew lumberin' +ag'in, an' hevin' a tidy little sum er money all her own, she took +a notion tew buy me off. 'Hiram,' sez she, 'ef yeou'll stay to hum, +merry some smart girl, an' kerry on the farm, I'll leave yeou the hull +er my fortin. Ef yeou don't, I'll leave every cent on't tew Siah, +though he ain't done as waal by me as yeou hev. Come,' sez she, 'I'm +breakin' up like brother; I shan't wurry any one a gret while, and +'fore spring I dessay you'll hev cause tew rejice that yeou done as +Aunt Si counselled yeou.' + +"Now, that idee kinder took me, seem' I hedn't no overpaourin' love +fer cousin; but I brewdid over it a spell 'fore I 'greed. Fin'lly, I +said I'd dew it, as it warn't a hard nor a bad trade; and begun to +look raound fer Mis Flint, Jr. Aunt was dreadf'l pleased; but 'mazin' +pertickler as tew who was goin' tew stan' in her shoes, when she was +fetched up ag'inst the etarnal boom. There was a sight er likely +womenfolks raound taown; but aunt she set her foot daown that Mis +Flint must be smart, pious, an' good-natered; harnsome she didn't say +nothin' abaout, bein' the humliest woman in the State er Maine. I hed +my own calk'lations on that p'int, an' went sparkin' two or three er +the pootiest gals, all that winter. I warn't in no hurry, fer merryin' +is an awful resky bizness; an' I wan't goan to be took in by nobuddy. +Some haouw I couldn't make up my mind which I'd hev, and kept dodgin', +all ready to slew raound, an' hitch on tew ary one that seemed +likeliest. 'Long in March, aunt, she ketched cold, took tew her bed, +got wuss, an' told me tew hurry up, fer nary cent should I hev, ef I +warn't safely merried 'fore she stepped out. I thought that was ruther +craoudin' a feller; but I see she was goan sure, an' I'd got inter a +way er considerin' the cash mine, so that it come hard to hear abaout +givin' on 't up. Off I went that evenin' an' asked Almiry Nash ef +she'd hev me. No, she wouldn't; I'd shilly-shallyed so long, she'd got +tired er waitin' and took tew keepin' company with a doctor daown ter +Banggore, where she'd ben visitin' a spell. I didn't find that as hard +a nub to swaller, as I'd a thought I would, though Almiry was the +richest, pootiest, and good-naterest of the lot. Aunt larfed waal, an' +told me tew try ag'in; so a couple er nights arfter, I spruced up, an' +went over to Car'line Miles's; she was as smart as old cheese, an' +waal off in tew the barg'in. I was just as sure she'd hev me, as I be +that I'm gittin' the rewmatiz a settin' in this ma'sh. But that minx, +Almiry, hed ben and let on abaout her own sarsy way er servin' on +me, an' Car'line jest up an' said she warn't goan to hev annybuddy's +leavin's; so daown I come ag'in. + +"Things was gettin' desper't by that time; fer aunt was failin' rapid, +an' the story hed leaked aout some way, so the hull taown was gigglin' +over it. I thought I'd better quit them parts; but aunt she showed me +her will all done complete, 'sceptin the fust name er the legatee. +'There,' sez she, 'it all depends on yeou, whether that place is took +by Hiram or Josiah. It's easy done, an' so it's goan tew stan till the +last minit.' That riled me consid'able, an' I streaked off tew May +Jane Simlin's. She wan't very waal off, nor extra harnsome, but she +was pious the worst kind, an' dreadf'l clever to them she fancied. +But I was daown on my luck ag'in; fer at the fust word I spoke of +merryin', she showed me the door, an' give me to understan' that she +couldn't think er hevin' a man that warn't a church-member, that +hadn't experienced religion, or even ben struck with conviction, an' +all the rest on't. Ef anny one hed a wanted tew hev seen a walkin' +hornet's nest, they could hev done it cheap that night, as I went hum. +I jest bounced intew the kitchen, chucked my hat intew one corner, +my coat intew 'nother, kicked the cat, cussed the fire, drawed up a +chair, and set scaoulin' like sixty, bein' tew mad fer talkin'. The +young woman that was nussin' aunt,--Bewlah Blish, by name,--was a +cooking grewel on the coals, and 'peared tew understan' the mess I was +in; but she didn't say nothin', only blowed up the fire, fetched me a +mug er cider, an' went raound so kinder quiet, and sympathizing that I +found the wrinkles in my temper gettin' smoothed aout 'mazin' quick; +an' fore long I made a clean breast er the hull thing. Bewlah larfed, +but I didn't mind her doin' on't, for she sez, sez she, real sort o' +cunnin',-- + +"'Poor Hiram! they didn't use yeou waal. Yeou ought to hev tried some +er the poor an' humly girls; they'd a been glad an' grateful fer such +a sweetheart as yeou be.' + +"I was good-natered ag'in by that time, an' I sez, larfin' along with +her, 'Waal, I've got three mittens, but I guess I might's waal hev +'nother, and that will make two pair complete. Say, Bewlah, will yeou +hev me?' + +"'Yes, I will.' sez she. + +"'Reelly?' sez I. + +"'Solemn trew,' sez she. + +"Ef she'd up an' slapped me in the face, I shouldn't hev ben more +throwed aback, fer I never mistrusted she cared two chips for me. I +jest set an' gawped; fer she was 'solemn trew,' I see that with half +an eye, an' it kinder took my breath away. Bewlah drawed the grewel +off the fire, wiped her hands, an' stood lookin' at me a minnet, then +she sez, slow an' quiet, but tremblin' a little, as women hev a way er +doin', when they've consid'able steam aboard,-- + +"'Hiram, other folks think lumberin' has spilt yeou; _I_ don't; they +call you rough an' rewd; _I_ know you've got a real kind heart fer +them as knows haow tew find it. Them girls give yeou up so easy, +'cause they never loved yeou, an' yeou give them up 'cause you only +thought abaout their looks an' money. I'm humly, an' I'm poor; but +I've loved yeou ever sence we went a-nuttin' years ago, an' yeou shook +daown fer me, kerried my bag, and kissed me tew the gate, when all the +others shunned me, 'cause my father drank an' I was shabby dressed, +ugly, an' shy. Yeou asked me in sport, I answered in airnest; but I +don't expect nothin' unless yeou mean as I mean. Like me, Hiram, or +leave me, it won't make no odds in my lovin' of yeou, nor helpin' of +yeou, ef I kin.' + +"'Tain't easy tew say haouw I felt, while she was goin' on that way, +but my idees was tumblin' raound inside er me, as ef half a dozen dams +was broke loose all tew oncet. One think was ruther stiddier 'n the +rest, an' that was that I liked Bewlah more 'n I knew. I begun tew see +what kep' me loafin' tew hum so much, sence aunt was took daown; why I +wan't in no hurry tew git them other gals, an' haow I come tew pocket +my mittens so easy arfter the fust rile was over. Bewlah _was_ humly, +poor in flesh, dreadful freckled, hed red hair, black eyes, an' a gret +mold side of her nose. But I'd got wonted tew her; she knowed my ways, +was a fust rate housekeeper, real good-tempered, and pious without +flingin' on't in yer face. She was a lonely creeter,--her folks bein' +all dead but one sister, who didn't use her waal, an' somehow I kinder +yearned over her, as they say in Scripter. For all I set an' gawped, I +was coming raound fast, though I felt as I used tew, when I was goin' +to shoot the rapids, kinder breathless an' oncertin, whether I'd come +aout right side up or not. Queer, warn't it?" + +"Love, Flint; that was a sure symptom of it." + +"Waal, guess 'twas; anyway I jumped up all of a sudden, ketched Bewlah +raound the neck, give her a hearty kiss, and sung aout, 'I'll dew it +sure's my name's Hi Flint!' The words was scarcely out of my maouth, +'fore daown come Dr. Parr. He' d ben up tew see aunt, an' said she +wouldn't last the night threw, prob'ly. That give me a scare er the +wust kind; an' when I told doctor haow things was, he sez, kinder +jokin',-- + +"'Better git merried right away, then. Parson Dill is tew come an' see +the old lady, an' he'll dew both jobs tew oncet.' + +"'Will yeou, Bewlah?' sez I. + +"'Yes, Hiram, to 'blige yeou,' sez she. + +"With that, I put it fer the license; got it, an' was back in less 'n +half an haour, most tuckered aout with the flurry of the hull concern. +Quick as I'd been, Bewlah hed faound time tew whip on her best gaoun, +fix up her hair, and put a couple er white chrissanthymums intew +her hand'chif pin. Fer the fust time in her life, she looked +harnsome,--leastways _I_ thought so,--with a pretty color in her +cheeks, somethin' brighter'n a larf shinin' in her eyes, and her lips +smilin' an' tremblin', as she come to me an' whispered so's't none er +the rest could hear,-- + +"'Hiram, don't yeou dew it, ef yeou'd ruther not. I've stood it a gret +while alone, an' I guess I can ag'in.' + +"Never yeou mind what I said or done abaout that; but we was merried +ten minutes arfter, 'fore the kitchen fire, with Dr. Parr an' aour +hired man, fer witnesses; an' then we all went up tew aunt. She was +goan fast, but she understood what I told her, hed strength tew fill +up the hole in the will, an' to say, a-kissin' Bewlah, 'Yeou'll be a +good wife, an' naow yeou ain't a poor one.' + +"I couldn't help givin' a peek tew the will, and there I see not Hiram +Flint nor Josiah Flint, but Bewlah Flint, wrote every which way, but +as plain as the nose on yer face. 'It won't make no odds, dear,' +whispered my wife, peekin' over my shoulder. 'Guess it won't!' sez I, +aout laoud; 'I'm glad on't, and it ain't a cent more'n yeou derserve.' + +"That pleased aunt. 'Riz me, Hiram,' sez she; an' when I'd got her +easy, she put her old arms raound my neck, an' tried to say, 'God +bless you, dear--,' but died a doin' of it; an' I ain't ashamed +tew say I boohooed real hearty, when I laid her daown, fer she was +dreadf'l good tew me, an' I don't forgit her in a hurry." + +"How's Bewlah?" asked Dick, after the little tribute of respect all +paid to Aunt Siloam's memory, by a momentary silence. + +"Fust-rate! that harum-scarum venter er mine was the best I ever made. +She's done waal by me, hes Bewlah; ben a grand good housekeeper, kin +kerry on the farm better 'n me, any time, an' is as dutif'l an' lovin' +a wife as,--waal, as annything that _is_ extra dutif'l and lovin'." + +"Got any boys to brag of?" + +"We don't think much o' boys daown aour way; they're 'mazin' resky +stock to fetch up,--alluz breakin' baounds, gittin' intew the paound, +and wurryin' your life aout somehaow 'nother. Gals naow doos waal; +I've got six o' the likeliest the is goin', every one on 'em is the +very moral of Bewlah,--red hair, black eyes, quiet ways, an' a mold +'side the nose. Baby's ain't growed yet; but I expect tew see it in a +consid'able state o' forrardness, when I git hum, an' wouldn't miss it +fer the world." + +The droll expression of Flint's face, and the satisfied twang of his +last words, were irresistible. Dick and Phil went off into a shout of +laughter; and even Thorn's grave lips relapsed into a smile at the +vision of six little Flints with their six little moles. As if the +act were an established ceremony, the "paternal head" produced his +pocket-book, selected a worn black-and-white paper, which he spread in +his broad palm, and displayed with the air of a connoisseur. + +"There, thet's Bewlah! we call it a cuttin'; but the proper name's a +silly-hoot, I b'leeve. I've got a harnsome big degarrytype tew hum, +but the heft on't makes it bad tew kerry raound, so I took this. I +don't tote it abaout inside my shirt, as some dew,--it ain't my way; +but I keep it in my wallet long with my other valleu'bles, and guess I +set as much store by it as ef it was all painted up, and done off to +kill." + +The "silly-hoot" was examined with interest, and carefully stowed away +again in the old brown wallet, which was settled in its place with a +satisfied slap; then Flint said briskly,-- + +"Naouw, Phil, yeou close this interestin' and instructive meeting; and +be spry, fer time's most up." + +"I haven't much to tell, but must begin with a confession which I have +often longed but never dared to make before, because I am a coward." + +"Sho! who's goan to b'leeve that o' a man who fit like a wild-cat, wuz +offered permotion on the field, and reported tew headquarters arfter +his fust scrimmage. Try ag'in, Phil." + +"Physical courage is as plentiful as brass buttons, nowadays, but +moral courage is a rarer virtue; and I'm lacking in it, as I'll prove. +You think me a Virginian; I'm an Alabamian by birth, and was a Rebel +three months ago." + +This confession startled his hearers, as he knew it would, for he +had kept his secret well. Thorn laid his hand involuntarily upon his +rifle, Dick drew off a little, and Flint illustrated one of his own +expressions, for he "gawped." Phil laughed that musical laugh of his, +and looked up at them with his dark face waking into sudden life, as +he went on:-- + +"There's no treason in the camp, for I'm as fierce a Federalist as any +of you now, and you may thank a woman for it. When Lee made his raid +into Pennsylvania, I was a lieutenant in the--well, never mind what +regiment, it hasn't signalized itself since, and I'd rather not hit my +old neighbors when they are down. In one of the skirmishes during our +retreat, I got a wound and was left for dead. A kind old Quaker found +and took me home; but though I was too weak to talk, I had my senses +by that time, and knew what went on about me. Everything was in +confusion, even in that well-ordered place: no surgeon could be got at +first, and a flock of frightened women thee'd and thou'd one another +over me, but hadn't wit enough to see that I was bleeding to death. +Among the faces that danced before my dizzy eyes was one that seemed +familiar, probably because no cap surrounded it. I was glad to have +it bending over me, to hear a steady voice say, 'Give me a bandage, +quick!' and when none was instantly forthcoming to me, the young lady +stripped up a little white apron she wore, and stanched the wound in +my shoulder. I was not as badly hurt as I supposed, but so worn-out, +and faint from loss of blood, they believed me to be dying, and so did +I, when the old man took off his hat and said,-- + +"Friend, if thee has anything to say, thee had better say it, for thee +probably has not long to live.' + +"I thought of my little sister, far away in Alabama, fancied she came +to me, and muttered, 'Amy, kiss me good-by.' The women sobbed at that; +but the girl bent her sweet compassionate face to mine, and kissed me +on the forehead. That was my wife." + +"So you seceded from Secession right away, to pay for that +lip-service, hey?" + +"No, Thorn, not right away,--to my shame be it spoken. I'll tell +you how it came about. Margaret was not old Bent's daughter, but a +Massachusetts girl on a visit, and a long one it proved, for she +couldn't go till things were quieter. While she waited, she helped +take care of me; for the good souls petted me like a baby when they +found that a Rebel could be a gentleman. I held my tongue, and behaved +my best to prove my gratitude, you know. Of course, I loved Margaret +very soon. How could I help it? She was the sweetest woman I had ever +seen, tender, frank, and spirited; all I had ever dreamed of and +longed for. I did not speak of this, nor hope for a return, because I +knew she was a hearty Unionist, and thought she only tended me from +pity. But suddenly she decided to go home, and when I ventured to wish +she would stay longer, she would not listen, and said, 'I must not +stay; I should have gone before.' + +"The words were nothing, but as she uttered them the color came up +beautifully over all her face, and her eyes filled as they looked away +from mine. Then I knew that she loved me, and my secret broke out +against my will. Margaret was forced to listen, for I would not let +her go, but she seemed to harden herself against me, growing colder, +stiller, statelier, as I went on, and when I said in my desperate +way,-- + +"'You should love me, for we are bid to love our enemies,' she flashed +an indignant look at me and said,-- + +"'I will not love what I cannot respect! Come to me a loyal man, and +see what answer I shall give you.' + +"Then she went away. It was the wisest thing she could have done, +for absence did more to change me than an ocean of tears, a year +of exhortations. Lying there, I missed her every hour of the day, +recalled every gentle act, kind word, and fair example she had given +me. I contrasted my own belief with hers, and found a new significance +in the words honesty and honor, and, remembering her fidelity to +principle, was ashamed of my own treason to God and to herself. +Education, prejudice, and interest, are difficult things to overcome, +and that was the hottest fight I ever passed through, for as I tell +you, I was a coward. But love and loyalty won the day, and, asking no +quarter, the Rebel surrendered." + +"Phil Beaufort, you're a brick!" cried Dick, with a sounding slap on +his comrade's shoulder. + +"A brand snatched from the burnin'. Hallelujah!" chanted Flint, +seesawing with excitement. + +"Then you went to find your wife? How? Where?" asked Thorn, forgetting +vigilance in interest. + +"Friend Bent hated war so heartily that he would have nothing to do +with paroles, exchanges, or any martial process whatever, but bade me +go when and where I liked, remembering to do by others as I had been +done by. Before I was well enough to go, however, I managed, by means +of Copperhead influence and returned prisoners, to send a letter to my +father and receive an answer. You can imagine what both contained; and +so I found myself penniless, but not poor, an outcast, but not alone. +Old Bent treated me like a prodigal son, and put money in my purse; +his pretty daughters loved me for Margaret's sake, and gave me a +patriotic salute all round when I left them, the humblest, happiest +man in Pennsylvania. Margaret once said to me that this was the time +for deeds, not words; that no man should stand idle, but serve the +good cause with head, heart, and hand, no matter in what rank; for +in her eyes a private fighting for liberty was nobler than a dozen +generals defending slavery. I remembered that, and, not having +influential friends to get me a commission, enlisted in one of her own +Massachusetts regiments, knowing that no act of mine would prove my +sincerity like that. You should have seen her face when I walked in +upon her, as she sat alone, busied with the army work, as I'd so often +seen her sitting by my bed; it showed me all she had been suffering +in silence, all I should have lost had I chosen darkness instead of +light. She hoped and feared so much she could not speak, neither could +I, but dropped my cloak, and showed her that, through love of her, I +had become a soldier of the Union. How I love the coarse blue uniform! +for when she saw it, she came to me without a word and kept her +promise in a month." + +"Thunder! what a harnsome woman!" exclaimed Flint, as Phil, opening +the golden case that held his talisman, showed them the beautiful, +beloved face of which he spoke. + +"Yes! and a right noble woman too. I don't deserve her, but I will. We +parted on our wedding-day, for orders to be _off_ came suddenly, and +she would not let me go until I had given her my name to keep. We were +married in the morning, and at noon I had to go. Other women wept as +we marched through the city, but my brave Margaret kept her tears till +we were gone, smiling and waving her hand to me,--the hand that wore +the wedding-ring,--till I was out of sight. That image of her is +before me day and night, and day and night her last words are ringing +in my ears,-- + +"'I give you freely, do your best. Better a true man's widow than a +traitor's wife.' + +"Boys, I've only stood on the right side for a month; I've only fought +one battle, earned one honor; but I believe these poor achievements +are an earnest of the long atonement I desire to make for +five-and-twenty years of blind transgression. You say I fight well. +Have I not cause to dare much?--for in owning many slaves, I too +became a slave; in helping to make many freemen, I liberate myself. +You wonder why I refused promotion. Have I any right to it yet? Are +there not men who never sinned as I have done, and beside whose +sacrifices mine look pitifully small? You tell me I have no ambition. +I have the highest, for I desire to become God's noblest work,--an +honest man,--living, to make Margaret happy in a love that every hour +grows worthier of her own,--dying to make death proud to take me." + +Phil had risen while he spoke, as if the enthusiasm of his mood lifted +him into the truer manhood he aspired to attain. Straight and strong +he stood up in the moonlight, his voice deepened by unwonted +energy, his eye clear and steadfast, his whole face ennobled by the +regenerating power of this late loyalty to country, wife, and self, +and bright against the dark blue of his jacket shone the pictured +face, the only medal he was proud to wear. + +Ah, brave, brief moment, cancelling years of wrong! Ah, fair and fatal +decoration, serving as a mark for a hidden foe! The sharp crack of a +rifle broke the stillness of the night, and with those hopeful words +upon his lips, the young man sealed his purpose with his life. + + + + +THE BARON'S GLOVES; + +OR, + +AMY'S ROMANCE + +"All is fair in love and war." + + +I + +HOW THEY WERE FOUND + + +"What a long sigh! Are you tired, Amy?" + +"Yes, and disappointed as well. I never would have undertaken this +journey if I had not thought it would be full of novelty, romance, and +charming adventures." + +"Well, we have had several adventures." + +"Bah! losing one's hat in the Rhine, getting left at a dirty little +inn, and having our pockets picked, are not what I call adventures. I +wish there were brigands in Germany--it needs something of that sort +to enliven its stupidity." + +"How can you call Germany stupid when you have a scene like this +before you?" said Helen, with a sigh of pleasure, as she looked from +the balcony which overhangs the Rhine at the hotel of the "Three +Kings" at Coblentz. Ehrenbreitstein towered opposite, the broad river +glittered below, and a midsummer moon lent its enchantment to the +landscape. + +As she spoke, her companion half rose from the low chair where she +lounged, and showed the pretty, piquant face of a young girl. She +seemed in a half melancholy, half petulant mood; and traces of recent +illness were visible in the languor of her movements and the pallor of +her cheeks. + +"Yes, it is lovely; but I want adventures and romance of some sort +to make it quite perfect. I don't care what, if something would only +happen." + +"My dear, you are out of spirits and weary now, to-morrow you'll be +yourself again. Do not be ungrateful to uncle or unjust to yourself. +Something pleasant will happen, I've no doubt. In fact, something +_has_ happened that you may make a little romance out of, perhaps, for +lack of a more thrilling adventure." + +"What do you mean?" and Amy's listless face brightened. + +"Speak low; there are balconies all about us, and we may be +overheard," said Helen, drawing nearer after an upward glance. + +"What is the beginning of a romance?" whispered Amy, eagerly. + +"A pair of gloves. Just now, as I stood here, and you lay with your +eyes shut, these dropped from the balcony overhead. Now amuse yourself +by weaving a romance out of them and their owner." + +Amy seized them, and stepping inside the window, examined them by the +candle. + +"A gentleman's gloves, scented with violets! Here's a little hole +fretted by a ring on the third finger. Bless me! here are the +initials, 'S.P.,' stamped on the inside, with a coat of arms below. +What a fop to get up his gloves in this style! They are exquisite, +though. Such a delicate color, so little soiled, and so prettily +ornamented! Handsome hands wore these. I'd like to see the man." + +Helen laughed at the girl's interest, and was satisfied if any trifle +amused her _ennui_. + +"I will send them back by the _kellner_, and in that way we may +discover their owner," she said. + +But Amy arrested her on the way to the door. + +"I've a better plan; these waiters are so stupid you'll get nothing +out of them. Here's the hotel book sent up for our names; let us look +among the day's arrivals and see who 'S.P.' is. He came to-day, I'm +sure, for the man said the rooms above were just taken, so we could +not have them." + +Opening the big book, Amy was soon intently poring over the long list +of names, written in many hands and many languages. + +"I've got it! Here he is--oh, Nell, he's a baron! Isn't that charming? +'Sigismund von Palsdorf, Dresden.' We _must_ see him, for I know he's +handsome, if he wears such distracting gloves." + +"You'd better take them up yourself, then." + +"You know I can't do that; but I shall ask the man a few questions, +just to get an idea what sort of person the baron is. Then I shall +change my mind and go down to dinner; shall look well about me, and if +the baron is agreeable I shall make uncle return the gloves. He will +thank us, and I can say I've known a real baron. That will be so nice +when we go home. Now, don't be duennaish and say I'm silly, but let me +do as I like, and come and dress." + +Helen submitted, and when the gong pealed through the house, Major +Erskine marched into the great _salle à manger_, with a comely niece +on each arm. The long tables were crowded, and they had to run the +gauntlet of many eyes as they made their way to the head of the upper +table. Before she touched her soup, Amy glanced down the line of +faces opposite, and finding none that answered the slight description +elicited from the waiter, she leaned a little forward to examine those +on her own side of the table. Some way down sat several gentlemen, and +as she bent to observe them, one did the same, and she received an +admiring glance from a pair of fine black eyes. Somewhat abashed, she +busied herself with her soup: but the fancy had taken possession of +her, and presently she whispered to Helen,-- + +"Do you see any signs of the baron?" + +"On my left; look at the hands." + +Amy looked and saw a white, shapely hand with an antique ring on the +third finger. Its owner's face was averted, but as he conversed with +animation, the hand was in full play, now emphasizing an opinion, now +lifting a glass, or more frequently pulling at a blond beard which +adorned the face of the unknown. Amy shook her head decidedly. + +"I hate light men, and don't think that is the baron, for the gloves +are a size too small for those hands. Lean back and look some four or +five seats lower down on the right. See what sort of person the dark +man with the fine eyes is." + +Helen obeyed, but almost instantly bent to her plate again, smiling in +spite of herself. + +"That is an Englishman; he stares rudely, says 'By Jove!' and wears no +jewelry or beard." + +"Now, I'm disappointed. Well, keep on the watch, and tell me if you +make any discoveries, for I _will_ find the baron." + +Being hungry, Amy devoted herself to her dinner, till dessert was on +the table. She was languidly eating grapes, while Helen talked with +the major, when the word "baron" caught her ear. The speakers sat at a +table behind her, so that she could not see them without turning quite +round, which was impossible; but she listened eagerly to the following +scrap of chat:-- + +"Is the baron going on to-morrow?" asked a gay voice in French. + +"Yes, he is bound for Baden-Baden. The season is at its height, and he +must make his game while the ball is rolling, or it is all up with the +open-handed Sigismund," answered a rough voice. + +"Won't his father pardon the last escapade?" asked a third, with a +laugh. + +"No, and he is right. The duel was a bad affair, for the man almost +died, and the baron barely managed to get out of the scrape through +court influence. When is the wedding to be?" + +"Never, Palsdorf says. There is everything but love in the bargain, +and he swears he'll not agree to it. I like that." + +"There is much nobleness in him, spite of his vagaries. He will sow +his wild oats and make a grand man in time. By the by, if we are going +to the fortress, we must be off. Give Sigismund the word; he is dining +at the other table with Power," said the gay voice. + +"Take a look at the pretty English girl as you go by; it will do your +eyes good, after the fat Frauleins we have seen of late," added the +rough one. + +Three gentlemen rose, and as they passed Amy stole a glance at them; +but seeing several pairs of eyes fixed on herself, she turned away +blushing, with the not unpleasant consciousness that "the pretty +English girl" was herself. Longing to see which Sigismund was, she +ventured to look after the young men, who paused behind the man with +the blond beard, and also touched the dark-eyed gentleman on the +shoulder. All five went down the hall and stood talking near the door. + +"Uncle, I wish to go," said Amy, whose will was law to the amiable +major. Up he rose, and Amy added, as she took his arm, "I'm seized +with a longing to go to Baden-Baden and see a little gambling. You are +not a wild young man, so you can be trusted there." + +"I hope so. Now you are a sensible little woman, and we'll do our best +to have a gay time. Wait an instant till I get my hat." + +While the major searched for the missing article the girls went on, +and coming to the door, Amy tried to open it. The unwieldy foreign +lock resisted her efforts, and she was just giving it an impatient +little shake, when a voice said behind her,-- + +"Permit me, mademoiselle;" at the same moment a handsome hand turned +the latch, the flash of a diamond shone before her, and the door +opened. + +"_Merci, monsieur_," she murmured, turning as she went out; but Helen +was close behind her, and no one else to be seen except the massive +major in the rear. + +"Did you see the baron?" she whispered eagerly, as they went +up-stairs. + +"No; where was he?" + +"He opened the door for me. I knew him by his hand and ring. He was +close to you." + +"I did not observe him, being busy gathering up my dress. I thought +the person was a waiter, and never looked at him," said Helen, with +provoking indifference. + +"How unfortunate! Uncle, you are going to see the fortress; we don't +care for it; but I want you to take these gloves and inquire for Baron +Sigismund Palsdorf. He will be there with a party of gentlemen. You +can easily manage it, men are so free and easy. Mind what he is like, +and come home in time to tell me all about it." + +Away went the major, and the cousins sat on the balcony enjoying the +lovely night, admiring the picturesque scene, and indulging in +the flights of fancy all girls love, for Helen, in spite of her +three-and-twenty years, was as romantic as Amy at eighteen. It was +past eleven when the major came, and the only greeting he received was +the breathless question,-- + +"Did you find him?" + +"I found something much better than any baron, a courier. I've wanted +one ever since we started; for two young ladies and their baggage are +more than one man can do his duty by, Karl Hoffman had such excellent +testimonials from persons I know, that I did not hesitate to engage +him, and he comes to-morrow; so henceforth I've nothing to do but +devote myself to you." + +"How very provoking! Did you bring the gloves back?" asked Amy, still +absorbed in the baron. + +The major tossed them to her, and indulged in a hearty laugh at her +girlish regrets; then bade them good-night, and went away to give +orders for an early start next morning. + +Tired of talking, the girls lay down in the two little white beds +always found in German hotels, and Amy was soon continuing in sleep +the romance she had begun awake. She dreamed that the baron proved to +be the owner of the fine eyes; that he wooed and won her, and they +were floating down the river to the chime of wedding-bells. + +At this rapturous climax she woke to find the air full of music, and +to see Helen standing tall and white in the moonlight that streamed in +at the open window. + +"Hush, hide behind the curtains and listen; it's a serenade," +whispered Helen, as Amy stole to her side. + +Shrouded in the drapery, they leaned and listened till the song ended, +then Amy peeped; a dark group stood below; all were bareheaded, and +now seemed whispering together. Presently a single voice rose, singing +an exquisite little French canzonet, the refrain of which was a +passionate repetition of the word "_Amie_." She thought she recognized +the voice, and the sound of her own name uttered in such ardent tones +made her heart beat and her color rise, for it seemed to signify that +the serenade was for them. As the last melodious murmur ceased, there +came a stifled laugh from below, and something fell into the balcony. +Neither dared stir till the sound of departing feet reassured them; +then creeping forward Amy drew in a lovely bouquet of myrtle, roses, +and great German forget-me-nots, tied with a white ribbon and +addressed in a dashing hand to _La belle Helène_. + +"Upon my life, the romance has begun in earnest," laughed Helen, +as she examined the flowers. "You are serenaded by some unknown +nightingale, and I have flowers tossed up to me in the charming old +style. Of course it is the baron, Amy." + +"I hope so; but whoever it is, they are regular troubadours, and I'm +delighted. I know the gloves will bring us fun of some kind. Do you +take one and I'll take the other, and see who will find the baron +first. Isn't it odd that they knew our names?" + +"Amy, the writing on this card is very like that in the big book. I +may be bewitched by this mid-summer moonlight, but it really is very +like it. Come and see." + +The two charming heads bent over the card, looking all the more +charming for the dishevelled curls and braids that hung about them as +the girls laughed and whispered together in the softly brilliant light +that filled the room. + +"You are right; it is the same. The men who stared so at dinner are +gay students perhaps, and ready for any prank. Don't tell uncle, but +let us see what will come of it. I begin to enjoy myself heartily +now--don't you?" said Amy, laying her glove carefully away. + +"I enjoyed myself before, but I think '_La belle Helène_' gives an +added relish to life, _Amie_," laughed Nell, putting her flowers in +water; and then both went back to their pillows, to dream delightfully +till morning. + + +II + +KARL, THE COURIER + + +"Three days, at least, before we reach Baden. How tiresome it is that +uncle won't go faster!" said Amy, as she tied on her hat next morning, +wondering as she did so if the baron would take the same boat. + +"As adventures have begun, I feel assured that they will continue to +cheer the way; so resign yourself and be ready for anything," replied +Helen, carefully arranging her bouquet in her travelling-basket. + +A tap at the door, which stood half open, made both look up. A tall, +brown, gentlemanly man, in a gray suit, with a leathern bag slung over +his shoulder, stood there, hat in hand, and meeting Helen's eyes, +bowed respectfully, saying in good English, but with a strong German +accent,-- + +"Ladies, the major desired me to tell you the carriage waits." + +"Why, who--" began Amy, staring with her blue eyes full of wonder at +the stranger. + +He bowed again, and said, simply,-- + +"Karl Hoffman, at your service, mademoiselle." + +"The courier--oh, yes! I forgot all about it. Please take these +things." + +Amy began to hand him her miscellaneous collection of bags, books, +shawls and cushions. + +"I'd no idea couriers were such decent creatures," whispered Amy, as +they followed him along the hall. + +"Don't you remember the raptures Mrs. Mortimer used to have over their +Italian courier, and her funny description of him? 'Beautiful to +behold, with a night of hair, eyes full of an infinite tenderness, and +a sumptuous cheek.'" + +Both girls laughed, and Amy averred that Karl's eyes danced with +merriment as he glanced over his shoulder, as the silvery peal sounded +behind him. + +"Hush! he understands English; we must be careful," said Helen, and +neither spoke again till they reached the carriage. + +Everything was ready, and as they drove away, the major, leaning +luxuriously back, exclaimed,-- + +"Now I begin to enjoy travelling, for I'm no longer worried by +the thought of luggage, time-tables, trains, and the everlasting +perplexity of thalers, kreutzers, and pfenniges. This man is a +treasure; everything is done in the best manner, and his knowledge of +matters is really amazing." + +"He's a very gentlemanly-looking person," said Amy, eying a decidedly +aristocratic foot through the front window of the carriage, for Karl +sat up beside the driver. + +"He _is_ a gentleman, my dear. Many of these couriers are well born +and educated, but, being poor, prefer this business to any other, as +it gives them variety, and often pleasant society. I've had a long +talk with Hoffman, and find him an excellent and accomplished fellow. +He has lost his fortune, it seems, through no fault of his own, so +being fond of a roving life, turned courier for a time, and we are +fortunate to have secured him." + +"But one doesn't know how to treat him," said Helen. "I don't like +to address him as a servant, and yet it's not pleasant to order a +gentleman about." + +"Oh, it will be easy enough as we go on together. Just call him +Hoffman, and behave as if you knew nothing about his past. He begged +me not to mention it, but I thought you'd like the romance of the +thing. Only don't either of you run away with him, as Ponsonby's +daughter did with her courier, who wasn't a gentleman, by the way." + +"Not handsome enough," said Amy. "I don't like blue eyes and black +hair. His manners are nice, but he looks like a gipsy, with his brown +face and black beard: doesn't he, Nell?" + +"Not at all. Gipsies haven't that style of face; they are thin, sharp, +and cunning in feature as in nature. Hoffman has large, well-moulded +features, and a mild, manly expression, which gives one confidence in +him." + +"He has a keen, wicked look in his blue eyes, as you will see, Nell. +I mean mischievously, not malignantly wicked. He likes fun, I'm sure, +for he laughed about the 'sumptuous cheek' till his own were red, +though he dared not show it, and was as grave as an owl when we met +uncle," said Amy, smiling at the recollection. + +"We shall go by boat to Biebrich, and then by rail to Heidelberg. We +shall get in late to-morrow night, but can rest a day, and then on to +Baden. Here we are; now make yourselves easy, as I do, and let Karl +take care of everything." + +And putting his hands in his pockets, the major strolled about the +boat, while the courier made matters comfortable for the day. So +easily and well did he do his duty, that both girls enjoyed watching +him after he had established them on the shady side of the boat, with +camp-stools for their feet, cushions to lean on, books and bags laid +commodiously at hand. + +As they sailed up the lovely Rhine they grew more and more +enthusiastic in their admiration and curiosity, and finding the meagre +description of the guide-books very unsatisfactory, Amy begged her +uncle to tell her all the legends of picturesque ruin, rock and river, +as they passed. + +"Bless me, child, I know nothing; but here's Hoffman, a German born, +who will tell you everything, I dare say. Karl, what's that old castle +up there? The young ladies want to know about it." + +Leaning on the railing, Hoffman told the story so well that he was +kept explaining and describing for an hour, and when he went away to +order lunch, Amy declared it was as pleasant as reading fairy tales to +listen to his dramatic histories and legends. + +At lunch the major was charmed to find his favorite wines and dishes +without any need of consulting dictionary or phrase-book beforehand, +or losing his temper in vain attempts to make himself understood. + +On reaching Biebrich, tired and hungry, at nightfall, everything was +ready for them, and all went to bed praising Karl, the courier, though +Amy, with unusual prudence, added,-- + +"He is a new broom now; let us wait a little before we judge." + +All went well next day till nightfall, when a most untoward accident +occurred, and Helen's adventures began in earnest. The three occupied +a _coupé_, and being weary with long sitting, Helen got out at one of +the stations where the train paused for ten minutes. A rosy sunset +tempted her to the end of the platform, and there she found, what +nearly all foreign railway stations possess, a charming little garden. + +Amy was very tired, rather cross, and passionately fond of flowers, so +when an old woman offered to pull a nosegay for "the gracious lady," +Helen gladly waited for it, hoping to please the invalid. Twice the +whistle warned her, and at last she ran back, but only in time to see +the train move away, with her uncle gesticulating wildly to the guard, +who shook his stupid German head, and refused to see the dismayed +young lady imploring him to wait for her. + +Just as the train was vanishing from the station, a man leaped from +a second-class carriage at the risk of his neck, and hurried back to +find Helen looking pale and bewildered, as well she might, left alone +and moneyless at night in a strange town. + +"Mademoiselle, it is I; rest easy; we can soon go on; a train passes +in two hours, and we can telegraph to Heidelberg that they may not +fear for you." + +"Oh, Hoffman, how kind of you to stop for me! What should I have done +without you, for uncle takes care of all the money, and I have only my +watch." + +Helen's usual self-possession rather failed her in the flurry of the +moment, and she caught Karl's arm with a feminine little gesture of +confidence very pleasant to see. Leading her to the waiting-room, he +ordered supper, and put her into the care of the woman of the place, +while he went to make inquiries and dispatch the telegram. In half an +hour he returned, finding Helen refreshed and cheerful, though a trace +of anxiety was still visible in her watchful eyes. + +"All goes excellently, mademoiselle. I have sent word to several posts +along the road that we are coming by the night train, so that Monsieur +le Major will rest tranquil till we meet. It is best that I give you +some money, lest such a mishap should again occur; it is not likely so +soon; nevertheless, here is both gold and silver. With this, one can +make one's way everywhere. Now, if mademoiselle will permit me to +advise, she will rest for an hour, as we must travel till dawn. I will +keep guard without and watch for the train." + +He left her, and having made herself comfortable on one of the sofas, +she lay watching the tall shadow pass and repass door and window, as +Karl marched up and down the platform, with the tireless tramp of a +sentinel on duty. A pleasant sense of security stole over her, and +with a smile at Amy's enjoyment of the adventure when it was over, +Helen fell asleep. + +A far-off shriek half woke her, and starting up, she turned to meet +the courier coming in to wake her. Up thundered the train, every +carriage apparently full of sleepy passengers, and the guard in a +state of sullen wrath at some delay, the consequences of which would +fall heaviest on him. + +From carriage to carriage hurried Karl and his charge, to be met with +everywhere by the cry, "All full," in many languages, and with every +aspect of inhospitality. One carriage only showed two places; the +other seats were occupied by six students, who gallantly invited the +lady to enter. But Helen shrunk back, saying,-- + +"Is there no other place?" + +"None, mademoiselle; this, or remain till morning," said Karl. + +"Where will you go if I take this place?" + +"Among the luggage,--anywhere; it is nothing. But we must decide at +once." + +"Come with me; I'm afraid to be locked in here alone," said Helen, +desperately. + +"Mademoiselle forgets I am her courier." + +"I do not forget that you are a gentleman. Pray come in; my uncle will +thank you." + +"I will," and with a sudden brightening of the eyes, a grateful +glance, and an air of redoubled respect, Hoffman followed her into the +carriage. + +They were off at once, and the thing was done before Helen had time +to feel anything but the relief which the protection of his presence +afforded her. + +The young gentlemen stared at the veiled lady and her grim escort, +joked under their breath, and looked wistfully at the suppressed +cigars, but behaved with exemplary politeness till sleep overpowered +them, and one after the other dropped off asleep to dream of their +respective Gretchens. + +Helen could not sleep, and for hours sat studying the unconscious +faces before her, the dim landscape flying past the windows, or forgot +herself in reveries. + +Hoffman remained motionless and silent, except when she addressed +him, wakeful also, and assiduous in making the long night as easy as +possible. + +It was past midnight, and Helen's heavy eyelids were beginning to +droop, when suddenly there came an awful crash, a pang of mortal fear, +then utter oblivion. + +As her senses returned she found herself lying in a painful position +under what had been the roof of the car; something heavy weighed +down her lower limbs, and her dizzy brain rung with a wild uproar of +shrieks and groans, eager voices, the crash of wood and iron, and the +shrill whistle of the engine, as it rushed away for help. + +Through the darkness she heard the pant as of some one struggling +desperately, then a cry close by her, followed by a strong voice +exclaiming, in an agony of suspense,-- + +"My God, will no one come!" + +"Hoffman, are you there?" cried Helen, groping in the gloom, with a +thrill of joy at the sound of a familiar voice. + +"Thank heaven, you are safe. Lie still. I will save you. Help is +coming. Have no fear!" panted the voice, with an undertone of fervent +gratitude in its breathless accents. + +"What has happened? Where are the rest?" + +"We have been thrown down an embankment. The lads are gone for help. +God only knows what harm is done." + +Karl's voice died in a stifled groan, and Helen cried out in alarm,-- + +"Where are you? You are hurt?" + +"Not much. I keep the ruins from falling in to crush us. Be quiet, +they are coming." + +A shout answered the faint halloo he gave as if to guide them to the +spot, and a moment after, five of the students were swarming about the +wreck, intent on saving the three whose lives were still in danger. + +A lamp torn from some demolished carriage was held through an opening, +and Helen saw a sight that made her blood chill in her veins. Across +her feet, crushed and bleeding, lay the youngest of the students, and +kneeling close beside him was Hoffman, supporting by main strength a +mass of timber, which otherwise would fall and crush them all. His +face was ghastly pale, his eyes haggard with pain and suspense, and +great drops stood upon his forehead. But as she looked, he smiled with +a cheery.-- + +"Bear up, dear lady, we shall soon be out of danger. Now, lads, work +with a will; my strength is going fast." + +They did work like heroes, and even in her pain and peril, Helen +admired the skill, energy, and courage of the young men, who, an hour +ago, had seemed to have no ideas above pipes and beer. Soon Hoffman +was free, the poor senseless youth lifted out, and then, as tenderly +as if she were a child, they raised and set her down, faint but +unhurt, in a wide meadow, already strewn with sad tokens of the wreck. + +Karl was taken possession of as well as herself, forced to rest a +moment, drink a cordial draught from some one's flask, and be praised, +embraced, and enthusiastically blessed by the impetuous youths. + +"Where is the boy who was hurt? Bring him to me. I am strong now. +I want to help. I have salts in my pocket, and I can bind up his +wounds," said Helen, soon herself again. + +Karl and Helen soon brought back life and sense to the boy, and never +had human face looked so lovely as did Helen's to the anxious comrades +when she looked up in the moonlight with a joyful smile, and softly +whispered,-- + +"He is alive." + +For an hour terrible confusion reigned, then the panic subsided a +little, and such of the carriages as were whole were made ready to +carry away as many as possible; the rest must wait till a return train +could be sent for them. + +A struggle of course ensued, for every one wished to go on, and fear +made many selfish. The wounded, the women and children, were taken, as +far as possible, and the laden train moved away, leaving many anxious +watchers behind. + +Helen had refused to go, and had given her place to poor Conrad, +thereby overwhelming his brother and comrades with gratitude. Two went +on with the wounded lad; the rest remained, and chivalrously devoted +themselves to Helen as a body-guard. + +The moon shone clearly, the wide field was miles from any hamlet, +and a desolate silence succeeded to the late uproar, as the band of +waiters roamed about, longing for help and dawn. + +"Mademoiselle, you shiver; the dew falls, and it is damp here; we must +have a fire;" and Karl was away to a neighboring hedge, intent on +warming his delicate charge if he felled a forest to do it. + +The students rushed after him, and soon returned in triumph to build +a glorious fire, which drew all forlorn wanderers to its hospitable +circle. A motley assemblage; but mutual danger and discomfort produced +mutual sympathy and good will, and a general atmosphere of friendship +pervaded the party. + +"Where is the brave Hoffman?" asked Wilhelm, the blond student, who, +being in the Werther period of youth, was already madly in love with +Helen, and sat at her feet catching cold in the most romantic manner. + +"Behold me! The little ones cry for hunger, so I ransack the ruins and +bring away my spoils. Eat, Kinder, eat and be patient." + +As he spoke Karl appeared with an odd collection of baskets, bags, and +bottles, and with a fatherly air that won all the mothers, he gave +the children whatever first appeared, making them laugh in spite of +weariness and hunger by the merry speeches which accompanied his +gifts. + +"You too need something. Here is your own basket with the lunch I +ordered you. In a sad state of confusion, but still eatable. See, +it is not bad," and he deftly spread on a napkin before Helen cold +chicken, sandwiches, and fruit. + +His care for the little ones as well as for herself touched her and +her eyes filled, as she remembered that she owed her life to him, and +recalled the sight of his face in the overturned car. + +Her voice trembled a little as she thanked him, and the moonlight +betrayed her wet eyes. He fancied she was worn out with excitement and +fatigue, and anxious to cheer her spirits, he whispered to Wilhelm and +his mates,-- + +"Sing, then, comrades, and while away this tedious night. It is hard +for all to wait so long, and the babies need a lullaby." + +The young men laughed and sang as only German students can sing, +making the night musical with blithe drinking songs, tender love-lays, +battle-hymns, and Volkslieder sweeter than any songs across the water. + +Every heart was cheered and warmed by the magic of the music, the +babies fell asleep, strangers grew friendly, fear changed to courage, +and the most forlorn felt the romance of that bivouac under the summer +sky. + +Dawn was reddening the east when a welcome whistle broke up the camp. +Every one hurried to the railway, but Helen paused to gather a handful +of blue forget-me-nots, saying to Hoffman, who waited with her wraps +on his arm,-- + +"It has been a happy night, in spite of the danger and discomfort. I +shall not soon forget it; and take these as a souvenir." + +He smiled, standing bare-headed in the chilly wind, for his hat was +lost, his coat torn, hair dishevelled, and one hand carelessly bound +up in his handkerchief. Helen saw these marks of the night's labors +and perils for the first time, and as soon as they were seated desired +to see his hand. + +"It is nothing,--a scratch, a mere scratch, I give you my word, +mademoiselle," he began, but Wilhelm unceremoniously removed the +handkerchief, showing a torn and bleeding hand which must have been +exquisitely painful. + +Helen turned pale, and with a reproachful glance skilfully bound it up +again, saying, as she handed a silken scarf to Wilhelm,-- + +"Make of that a sling, please, and put the poor hand in it. Care must +be taken, or harm will come of it." + +Hoffman submitted in bashful silence, as if surprised and touched by +the young lady's interest. She saw that, and added gratefully,-- + +"I do not forget that you saved my life, though you seem to have done +so. My uncle will thank you better than I can." + +"I already have my reward, mademoiselle," he returned, with a +respectful inclination and a look she could neither understand nor +forget. + + +III + +AMY'S ADVENTURE + + +The excitement and suspense of the major and Amy can be imagined when +news of the accident reached them. Their gratitude and relief were +intense when Helen appeared next morning, with the faithful Hoffman +still at his post, though no longer able to disguise the fact that he +was suffering from his wound. + +When the story had been told, Karl was put under the surgeon's care, +and all remained at Heidelberg for several days to rest and recover. + +On the afternoon of the last day the major and young ladies drove off +to the castle for a farewell view. Helen began to sketch the great +stone lion's head above the grand terrace, the major smoked and +chatted with a party of English artists whom he had met, and Amy, +with a little lad for a guide, explored the old castle to her heart's +content. + +The sun set, and twilight began to fall when Helen put up her pencils, +and the major set off to find Amy, who had been appearing and +disappearing in every nook and cranny of the half-ruined castle. + +Nowhere could he find her, and no voice answered when he called. The +other visitors were gone, and the place seemed deserted, except by +themselves and the old man who showed the ruins. + +Becoming alarmed lest the girl had fallen somewhere, or lost her way +among the vaults where the famous Tun lies, the major called out old +Hans with his lantern, and searched high and low. + +Amy's hat, full of flowers and ferns, was found in the Lady's Walk, as +the little terrace is called, but no other trace appeared, and Helen +hurried to and fro in great distress, fearing all manner of dangers. + +Meanwhile Amy, having explored every other part of the castle, went to +take another look at the Tun, the dwarf, and the vaults. + +Now little Anderl, her guide, had a great fear of ghosts, and legions +were said to haunt the ruins after nightfall, so when Amy rambled on +deeper and deeper into the gloom the boy's courage ebbed away with +every step; yet he was ashamed to own his fear, seeing that she had +none. + +Amy wanted to see a certain cell, where a nun was said to have pined +to death because she would not listen to the Margraf's love. The +legend pleased the romantic girl, and forgetful of waning daylight, +gathering damps, and Anderl's reluctant service, she ran on, up steps +and down, delighted with little arched doors, rusty chains on the +walls, glimpses of sky through shattered roofs, and all manner of +mysterious nooks and corners. Coming at last to a narrow cell, with a +stone table, and heavy bolts on the old door, she felt sure this was +poor Elfrida's prison, and called Anderl to come on with his candle, +for the boy had lighted one, for his own comfort rather than hers. Her +call was unanswered, and glancing back, she saw the candle placed on +the ground, but no Anderl. + +"Little coward, he has run away," she said, laughing; and having +satisfied her curiosity, turned to retrace her steps,--no easy task to +one ignorant of the way, for vault after vault opened on both sides, +and no path was discernible. In vain she tried to recall some +landmark, the gloom had deepened and nothing was clear. On she +hurried, but found no opening, and really frightened, stopped at last, +calling the boy in a voice that woke a hundred echoes. But Anderl had +fled home, thinking the lady would find her way back, and preferring +to lose his kreutzers to seeing a ghost. + +Poor Amy's bewilderment and alarm increased with every moment's delay, +and hoping to come out somewhere, she ran on till a misstep jostled +the candle from her hand and extinguished it. + +Left in the dark, her courage deserted her, and she screamed +desperately, like a lost child, and was fast getting into a state of +frantic terror, when the sound of an approaching step reassured her. + +Holding her breath, she heard a quick tread drawing nearer, as if +guided by her cries, and, straining her eyes, she caught the outline +of a man's figure in the gloom. + +A sensation of intense joy rushed over her, and she was about to +spring forward, when she remembered that as she could speak no German +how could she explain her plight to the stranger, if he understood +neither French nor English? + +Fear took possession of her at the thought of meeting some rough +peasant, or some rollicking student, to whom she could make no +intelligible appeal or explanation. + +Crouching close against the wall, she stood mute till the figure was +very near. She was in the shadow of an angle, and the man paused, as +if looking for the person who called for help. + +"Who is lost here?" said a clear voice, in German. + +Amy shrunk closer to the wall, fearing to speak, for the voice was +that of a young man, and a low laugh followed the words, as if the +speaker found the situation amusing. + +"Mortal, ghost or devil, I'll find it," exclaimed the voice, and +stepping forward, a hand groped for and found her. + +"Lottchen, is it thou? Little rogue, thou shalt pay dearly for leading +me such a chase." + +As he spoke he drew the girl toward him, but with a faint cry, a vain +effort to escape, Amy's terror reached its climax, and spent with +fatigue and excitement, she lost consciousness. + +"Who the deuce is it, then? Lottchen never faints on a frolic. Some +poor little girl lost in earnest. I must get her out of this gloomy +place at once, and find her party afterward." + +Lifting the slight figure in his arms, the young man hurried on, and +soon came out through a shattered gateway into the shrubbery which +surrounds the base of the castle. + +Laying her on the grass, he gently chafed her hands, eying the pale, +pretty face meantime with the utmost solicitude. + +At his first glimpse of it he had started, smiled and made a gesture +of pleasure and surprise, then gave himself entirely to the task of +recovering the poor girl whom he had frightened out of her senses. + +Very soon she looked up with dizzy eyes, and clasping her hands +imploringly, cried, in English, like a bewildered child,-- + +"I am lost! Oh, take me to my uncle." + +"I will, the moment you can walk. Upon my soul, I meant to help you +when I followed; but as you did not answer, I fancied it was Lottchen, +the keeper's little girl. Pardon the fright I've caused you, and let +me take you to your friends." + +The true English accent of the words, and the hearty tone of sincerity +in the apology, reassured Amy at once, and, rising, she said, with a +faint smile and a petulant tone,-- + +"I was very silly, but my guide ran away, my candle went out, I lost +the path, and can speak no German; so I was afraid to answer you at +first; and then I lost my wits altogether, for it's rather startling +to be clutched in the dark, sir." + +"Indeed it is. I was very thoughtless, but now let me atone for +it. Where is your uncle, Miss Erskine?" asked the stranger, with +respectful earnestness. + +"You know my name?" cried Amy in her impulsive way. + +"I have that happiness," was the answer, with a smile. + +"But I don't know _you_, sir;" and she peered at him, trying to see +his face in the darkness, for the copse was thick, and twilight had +come on rapidly. + +"Not yet; I live in hope. Shall we go? Your uncle will be uneasy." + +"Where are we?" asked Amy, glad to move on, for the interview was +becoming too personal even for her, and the stranger's manner +fluttered her, though she enjoyed the romance of the adventure +immensely. + +"We are in the park which surrounds the castle. You were near the +entrance to it from the vaults when you fainted." + +"I wish I had kept on a little longer, and not disgraced myself by +such a panic." + +"Nay, that is a cruel wish, for then I should have lost the happiness +of helping you." + +They had been walking side by side, but were forced to pause on +reaching a broken flight of steps, for Amy could not see the way +before her. + +"Let me lead you; it is steep and dark, but better than going a long +way round through the dew," he said, offering his hand. + +"Must we return by these dreadful vaults?" faltered Amy, shrinking +back. + +"It is the shortest and safest route, I assure you." + +"Are you sure you know the way?" + +"Quite sure. I have lived here by the week together. Do you fear to +trust me?" + +"No; but it is so dark, and everything is so strange to me. Can we get +down safely? I see nothing but a black pit." + +And Amy still hesitated, with an odd mixture of fear and coquetry. + +"I brought you up in safety; shall I take you down again?" asked the +stranger, with a smile flickering over his face. + +Amy felt rather than saw it, and assuming an air of dignified +displeasure, motioned him to proceed, which he did for three steps; +then Amy slipped, and gladly caught at the arm extended to save her. + +Without a word he took her hand and led her back through the labyrinth +she had threaded in her bewilderment. A dim light filled the place, +but with unerring steps her guide went on till they emerged into the +courtyard. + +Major Erskine's voice was audible, giving directions to the keeper, +and Helen's figure visible as she groped among the shadows of the +ruined chapel for her cousin. + +"There are my friends. Now I am safe. Come and let them thank you," +cried Amy, in her frank, childlike warmth of manner. + +"I want no thanks--forgive me--adieu," and hastily kissing the little +hand that had lain so confidingly in his, the stranger was gone. + +Amy rushed at once to Helen, and when the lost lamb had been welcomed, +chidden, and exulted over, they drove home, listening to the very +brief account which Amy gave of her adventure. + +"Naughty little gad-about, how could you go and terrify me so, +wandering in vaults with mysterious strangers, like the Countess of +Rudolstadt. You are as wet and dirty as if you had been digging a +well, yet you look as if you liked it," said Helen, as she led Amy +into their room at the hotel. + +"I do," was the decided answer, as the girl pulled a handkerchief off +her head, and began to examine the corners of it. Suddenly she uttered +a cry and flew to the light, exclaiming,-- + +"Nell, Nell, look here! The same letters, 'S.P.,' the same coat of +arms, the same perfume--it was the baron!" + +"What? who? are you out of your mind?" said Helen, examining the +large, fine cambric handkerchief, with its delicately stamped initials +under the stag's head, and three stars on a heart-shaped shield. +"Where did you get it?" she added, as she inhaled the soft odor of +violets shaken from its folds. + +Amy blushed and answered shyly, "I didn't tell you all that happened +before uncle, but now I will. My hat was left behind, and when I +recovered my wits after my fright, I found this tied over my head. Oh, +Nell, it was very charming there in that romantic old park, and going +through the vaults with him, and having my hand kissed at parting. No +one ever did that before, and I like it." + +Amy glanced at her hand as she spoke, and stood staring as if struck +dumb, for there on her forefinger shone a ring she had never seen +before. + +"Look! look! mine is gone, and this in its place! Oh, Nell, what shall +I do?" she said, looking half frightened, half pleased. + +Helen examined the ring and shook her head, for it was far more +valuable than the little pearl one which it replaced. Two tiny +hands of finest gold were linked together about a diamond of great +brilliancy; and on the inside appeared again the initials, "S.P." + +"How did it happen?" she asked, rather sternly. + +"Upon my word, I don't know, unless he put it on while I was stupidly +fainting. Rude man, to take advantage of me so. But, Nell, it is +splendid, and what _shall_ I do about it?" + +"Tell uncle, find out the man and send back his things. It really is +absurd, the manner in which German boys behave;" and Helen frowned, +though she was strongly tempted to laugh at the whole thing. + +"He was neither a German nor a boy, but an English gentleman, I'm +sure," began Amy, rather offended. + +"But 'S.P.' is a baron, you know, unless there are two Richmonds in +the field," broke in Helen. + +"I forgot that; never mind, it deepens the mystery; and after this +performance, I'm prepared for any enormity. It's my fate; I submit." +said Amy, tragically, as she waved her hand to and fro, pleased with +the flash of the ring. + +"Amy, I think on the whole I won't speak to uncle. He is quick to take +offence, especially where we are concerned. He doesn't understand +foreign ways, and may get into trouble. We will manage it quietly +ourselves." + +"How, Nell?" + +"Karl is discreet; we will merely say we found these things and wish +to discover the owner. He may know this 'S.P.' and, having learned his +address, we can send them back. The man will understand; and as we +leave to-morrow, we shall be out of the way before he can play any new +prank." + +"Have in Karl at once, for if I wear this lovely thing long I shall +not be able to let it go at all. How dared the creature take such a +liberty!" and Amy pulled off the ring with an expression of great +scorn. + +"Come into the _salon_ and see what Karl says to the matter. Let me +speak, or you will say too much. One must be prudent before--" + +She was going to say "servants," but checked herself, and substituted +"strangers," remembering gratefully how much she owed this man. + +Hoffman came, looking pale, and with his hand in a sling, but was as +gravely devoted as ever, and listened to Helen's brief story with +serious attention. + +"I will inquire, mademoiselle, and let you know at once. It is easy to +find persons if one has a clue. May I see the handkerchief?" + +Helen showed it. He glanced at the initials, and laid it down with a +slight smile. + +"The coat-of-arms is English, mademoiselle." + +"Are you sure?" + +"Quite so; I understand heraldry." + +"But the initials stand for Sigismund Palsdorf, and we know he is a +German baron," broke in Amy, forgetting prudence in eagerness. + +"If mademoiselle knows the name and title of this gentleman it will +not be hard to find him." + +"We only fancy it is the same because of the initials. I dare say it +is a mistake, and the man is English. Inquire quietly, Hoffman, if +you please, as this ring is of value, and I wish to restore it to its +owner," said Helen, rather sharply. + +"I shall do so, mademoiselle," and with his gentlemanly bow, the +courier left the room. + +"Bless me, what's that?" cried Amy, a moment afterward, as a ringing +laugh echoed through the corridor,--a laugh so full of hearty and +infectious merriment that both girls smiled involuntarily, and Amy +peeped out to see who the blithe personage might be. + +An old gentleman was entering his room near by, and Karl was just +about to descend the stairs. Both looked back at the girlish face +peeping at them, but both were quite grave, and the peal of laughter +remained a mystery, like all the rest of it. + +Late in the evening Hoffman returned to report that a party of young +Englishmen had visited the castle that afternoon, and had left by +the evening train. One of them had been named Samuel Peters, and he, +doubtless, was the owner of the ring. + +A humorous expression lurked in the couriers eye as he made his +report, and heard Amy exclaim, in a tone of disgust and comical +despair,-- + +"Samuel Peters! That spoils all the romance and dims the beauty of the +diamond. To think that a Peters should be the hero to whom I owe my +safety, and a Samuel should leave me this token of regard!" + +"Hush, Amy," whispered Helen. "Thanks, Hoffman; we must wait now for +chance to help us." + + +IV + +A POLISH EXILE + + +"Room for one here, sir," said the guard, as the train stopped at +Carlsruhe next day, on its way from Heidelberg to Baden. + +The major put down his guide-book, Amy opened her eyes, and Helen +removed her shawl from the opposite seat, as a young man, wrapped in +a cloak, with a green shade over his eyes, and a general air of +feebleness, got in and sank back with a sigh of weariness or pain. +Evidently an invalid, for his face was thin and pale, his dark hair +cropped short, and the ungloved hand attenuated and delicate as a +woman's. A sidelong glance from under the deep shade seemed to satisfy +him regarding his neighbors, and drawing his cloak about him with a +slight shiver, he leaned into the corner and seemed to forget that he +was not alone. + +Helen and Amy exchanged glances of compassionate interest, for women +always pity invalids, especially if young, comely and of the opposite +sex. The major took one look, shrugged his shoulders, and returned +to his book. Presently a hollow cough gave Helen a pretext for +discovering the nationality of the newcomer. + +"Do the open windows inconvenience you, sir?" she asked, in English. + +No answer; the question evidently unintelligible. + +She repeated it in French, lightly touching his cloak to arrest his +attention. + +Instantly a smile broke over the handsome mouth, and in the purest +French he assured her that the fresh air was most agreeable, and +begged pardon for annoying them with his troublesome cough. + +"Not an invalid, I hope, sir?" said the major, in his bluff yet kindly +voice. + +"They tell me I can have no other fate; that my malady is fatal; but I +still hope and fight for my life; it is all I have to give my country +now." + +A stifled sigh and a sad emphasis on the last word roused the sympathy +of the girls, the interest of the major. + +He took another survey, and said, with a tone of satisfaction, as +he marked the martial carriage of the young man, and caught a fiery +glance of the half-hidden eyes,-- + +"You are a soldier, sir?" + +"I was; I am nothing now but an exile, for Poland is in chains." + +The words "Poland" and "exile" brought up all the pathetic stories of +that unhappy country which the three listeners had ever heard, and won +their interest at once. + +"You were in the late revolution, perhaps?" asked the major, giving +the unhappy outbreak the most respectful name he could use. + +"From beginning to end." + +"Oh, tell us about it; we felt much sympathy for you, and longed to +have you win," cried Amy, with such genuine interest and pity in her +tone, it was impossible to resist. + +Pressing both hands upon his breast, the young man bent low, with a +flush of feeling on his pale cheek, and answered eagerly,-- + +"Ah, you are kind; it is balm to my sore heart to hear words like +these. I thank you, and tell you what you will. It is but little that +I do, yet I give my life, and die a long death, instead of a quick, +brave one with my comrades." + +"You are young to have borne a part in a revolution, sir," said the +major, who pricked up his ears like an old war-horse at the sound of +battle. + +"My friends and myself left the University at Varsovie, as volunteers; +we did our part, and now all lie in their graves but three." + +"You were wounded, it seems?" + +"Many times. Exposure, privation, and sorrow will finish what the +Russian bullets began. But it is well. I have no wish to see my +country enslaved, and I can no longer help her." + +"Let us hope that a happier future waits for you both. Poland loves +liberty too well, and has suffered too much for it, to be kept long in +captivity." + +Helen spoke warmly, and the young man listened with a brightening +face. + +"It is a kind prophecy; I accept it, and take courage. God knows I +need it," he added, low to himself. + +"Are you bound for Italy?" said the major, in a most un-English fit of +curiosity. + +"For Geneva first, Italy later, unless Montreaux is mild enough for me +to winter in. I go to satisfy my friends, but doubt if it avails." + +"Where is Montreaux?" asked Amy. + +"Near Clarens, where Rousseau wrote his Heloise, and Vevay, where +so many English go to enjoy Chillon. The climate is divine for +unfortunates like myself, and life more cheap there than in Italy." + +Here the train stopped again, and Hoffman came to ask if the ladies +desired anything. + +At the sound of his voice the young Pole started, looked up, and +exclaimed, with the vivacity of a foreigner, in German,-- + +"By my life, it is Karl! Behold me, old friend, and satisfy me that it +is thyself by a handshake." + +"Casimer! What wind blows thee hither, my boy, in such sad plight?" +replied Hoffman, grasping the slender hand outstretched to him. + +"I fly from an enemy for the first time in my life, and, like all +cowards, shall be conquered in the end. I wrote thee I was better, but +the wound in the breast reopened, and nothing but a miracle will save +me. I go to Switzerland; and thou?" + +"Where my master commands. I serve this gentleman, now." + +"Hard changes for both, but with health thou art king of +circumstances, while I?--Ah well, the good God knows best. Karl, go +thou and buy me two of those pretty baskets of grapes; I will please +myself by giving them to these pitying angels. Speak they German?" + +"One, the elder; but they understand not this rattle of ours." + +Karl disappeared, and Helen, who _had_ understood the rapid dialogue, +tried to seem as unconscious as Amy. + +"Say a friendly word to me at times; I am so homesick and +faint-hearted, my Hoffman. Thanks; they are almost worthy the lips +that shall taste them." + +Taking the two little osier baskets, laden with yellow and purple +clusters, Casimer offered them, with a charming mixture of timidity +and grace, to the girls, saying, like a grateful boy,-- + +"You give me kind words and good hopes; permit that I thank you in +this poor way." + +"I drink success to Poland." cried Helen, lifting a great, juicy grape +to her lips, like a little purple goblet, hoping to hide her confusion +under a playful air. + +The grapes went round, and healths were drunk with much merriment, +for in travelling on the Continent it is impossible for the gruffest, +primmest person to long resist the frank courtesy and vivacious chat +of foreigners. + +The major was unusually social and inquisitive, and while the soldiers +fought their battles over again the girls listened and took notes, +with feminine wits on the alert to catch any personal revelations +which might fall from the interesting stranger. The wrongs and +sufferings of Poland were discussed so eloquently that both young +ladies were moved to declare the most undying hatred of Russia, +Prussia, and Austria, the most intense sympathy for "poor Pologne." +All day they travelled together, and as Baden-Baden approached, they +naturally fell to talking of the gay place. + +"Uncle, I must try my fortune once. I've set my heart upon it, and +so has Nell. We want to know how gamblers feel, and to taste the +fascination of the game which draws people here from all parts of +Europe," said Amy, in her half-pleading, half-imperious way. + +"You may risk one napoleon each, as I foolishly promised you should, +when I little thought you would ever have an opportunity to remind me +of my promise. It's not an amusement for respectable Englishwomen, or +men either. You will agree with me there, monsieur?" and the major +glanced at the Pole, who replied, with his peculiar smile:-- + +"Surely, yes. It is great folly and waste of time and money; yet I +have known one man who found some good in it, or, rather, brought good +out of it. I have a friend who has a mania for giving. His own fortune +was spent in helping needy students at the University, and poor +professors. This displeased his father, and he refused supplies, +except enough for his simple personal wants. Sigismund chafed at this, +and being skilful at all games, as a gentleman may be in the way of +amusement, he resolved to play with those whose money was wasted on +frivolities, and give his winnings to his band of paupers." + +"How did it succeed, this odd fancy?" asked Helen, with an interested +face, while Amy pinched her arm at the word "Sigismund." + +"Excellently. My friend won often, and as his purpose became known it +caused no unkind feeling, this unusual success, for fortune seemed to +favor his kind object." + +"Wrong, nevertheless, to do evil that good may come of it," said the +major, morally. + +"It may be so: but it is not for me to censure my benefactor. He has +done much for my countrymen and myself, and is so truly noble I can +see no fault in him." + +"What an odd name! Sigismund is German, is it not?" asked Amy, in the +most artless tone of interest. + +"Yes, mademoiselle, and Palsdorf is a true German; much courage, +strength and intellect, with the gayety and simplicity of a boy. He +hates slavery of all kinds, and will be free at all costs. He is a +good son, but his father is tyrannical, and asks too much. Sigismund +will not submit to sell himself, and so is in disgrace for a time." + +"Palsdorf!--was not that the name of the count or baron we heard them +talking of at Coblentz?" said Helen to Amy, with a well-feigned air of +uncertainty. + +"Yes; I heard something of a duel and a broken betrothal, I think. The +people seemed to consider the baron a wild young man, so it could not +have been your friend, sir," was Amy's demure reply, glancing at Helen +with mirthful eyes, as if to say, "How our baron haunts us!" + +"It is the same, doubtless. Many consider him wild, because he is +original, and dares act for himself. As it is well known, I may tell +you the truth of the duel and the betrothal, if you care to hear a +little romance." + +Casimer looked eager to defend his friend, and as the girls were +longing to hear the romance, permission was given. + +"In Germany, you know, the young people are often betrothed in +childhood by the parents, and sometimes never meet till they are +grown. Usually all goes well; but not always, for love cannot come at +command. Sigismund was plighted, when a boy of fifteen, to his +young cousin, and then sent away to the University till of age. On +returning, he was to travel a year or two, and then marry. He gladly +went away, and with increasing disquiet saw the time draw near when he +must keep his troth-plight." + +"Hum! loved some one else. Very unfortunate to be sure," said the +major with a sigh. + +"Not so; he only loved his liberty, and pretty Minna was less dear +than a life of perfect freedom. He went back at the appointed +time, saw his cousin, tried to do his duty and love her; found it +impossible, and, discovering that Minna loved another, vowed he would +never make her unhappiness as well as his own. The old baron stormed, +but the young one was firm, and would not listen to a marriage without +love; but pleaded for Minna, wished his rival success, and set out +again on his travels." + +"And the duel?" asked the major, who took less interest in love than +war. + +"That was as characteristic as the other act. A son of one high in +office at Berlin circulated false reports of the cause of Palsdorf's +refusal of the alliance--reports injurious to Minna. Sigismund settled +the matter in the most effectual manner, by challenging and wounding +the man. But for court influence it would have gone hardly with my +friend. The storm, however, has blown over; Minna will be happy with +her lover, and Sigismund with his liberty, till he tires of it." + +"Is he handsome, this hero of yours?" said Amy, feeling the ring under +her glove, for in spite of Helen's advice, she insisted on wearing it, +that it might be at hand to return at any moment, should chance again +bring the baron in their way. + +"A true German of the old type; blond and blue-eyed, tall and strong. +My hero in good truth--brave and loyal, tender and true," was the +enthusiastic answer. + +"I hate fair men," pouted Amy, under her breath, as the major asked +some question about hotels. + +"Take a new hero, then; nothing can be more romantic than that," +whispered Helen, glancing at the pale, dark-haired figure wrapped in +the military cloak opposite. + +"I will, and leave the baron to you;" said Amy, with a stifled laugh. + +"Hush! Here are Baden and Karl," replied Helen, thankful for the +interruption. + +All was bustle in a moment, and taking leave of them with an air +of reluctance, the Pole walked away, leaving Amy looking after him +wistfully, quite unconscious that she stood in everybody's way, and +that her uncle was beckoning impatiently from the carriage door. + +"Poor boy! I wish he had some one to take care of him." she sighed, +half aloud. + +"Mademoiselle, the major waits;" and Karl came up, hat in hand, just +in time to hear her and glance after Casimer, with an odd expression. + + +V + +LUDMILLA + + +"I wonder what that young man's name was. Did he mention it, Helen?" +said the major, pausing in his march up and down the room, as if the +question was suggested by the sight of the little baskets, which the +girls had kept. + +"No, uncle; but you can easily ask Hoffman," replied Helen. + +"By the way, Karl, who was the Polish gentleman who came on with +us?" asked the major a moment afterward, as the courier came in with +newspapers. + +"Casimer Teblinski, sir." + +"A baron?" asked Amy, who was decidedly a young lady of one idea just +then. + +"No, mademoiselle, but of a noble family, as the 'ski' denotes, for +that is to Polish and Russian names what 'von' is to German and 'de' +to French." + +"I was rather interested in him. Where did you pick him up, Hoffman?" +said the major. + +"In Paris, where he was with fellow-exiles." + +"He is what he seems, is he?--no impostor, or anything of that sort? +One is often deceived, you know." + +"On my honor, sir, he is a gentleman, and as brave as he is +accomplished and excellent." + +"Will he die?" asked Amy, pathetically. + +"With care he would recover, I think; but there is no one to nurse +him, so the poor lad must take his chance and trust in heaven for +help." + +"How sad! I wish we were going his way, so that we might do something +for him--at least give him the society of his friend." + +Helen glanced at Hoffman, feeling that if he were not already engaged +by them, he would devote himself to the invalid without any thought of +payment. + +"Perhaps we are. You want to see the Lake of Geneva, Chillon, and that +neighborhood. Why not go now, instead of later?" + +"Will you, uncle? That's capital! We need say nothing, but go on and +help the poor boy, if we can." + +Helen spoke like a matron of forty, and looked as full of maternal +kindness as if the Pole were not out of his teens. + +The courier bowed, the major laughed behind his paper, and Amy gave a +sentimental sigh to the memory of the baron, in whom her interest was +failing. + +They only caught a glimpse of the Pole that evening at the Kursaal, +but next morning they met, and he was invited to join their party for +a little expedition. + +The major was in fine spirits, and Helen assumed her maternal air +toward both invalids, for the sound of that hollow cough always +brought a shadow over her face, recalling the brother she had lost. + +Amy was particularly merry and charming, and kept the whole party +laughing at her comical efforts to learn Polish and teach English as +they drove up the mountainside to the old Schloss. + +"I'm not equal to mounting all those steps for a view I've seen a +dozen times; but pray take care of the child, Nell, or she'll get lost +again, as at Heidelberg," said the major, when they had roamed about +the lower part of the place; for a cool seat in the courtyard and a +glass of beer were more tempting than turrets and prospects to the +stout gentleman. + +"She shall not be lost; I am her body-guard. It is steep--permit that +I lead you, mademoiselle;" Casimer offered his hand to Amy, and they +began their winding way. As she took the hand, the girl blushed and +half smiled, remembering the vaults and the baron. + +"I like this better," she said to herself, as they climbed step by +step, often pausing to rest in the embrasures of the loopholes, +where the sun glanced in, the balmy wind blew, and vines peeped from +without, making a pretty picture of the girl, as she sat with rosy +color on her usually pale cheeks, brown curls fluttering about her +forehead, laughing lips, and bright eyes full of pleasant changes. +Leaning opposite in the narrow stairway, Casimer had time to study the +little tableau in many lights, and in spite of the dark glasses, +to convey warm glances of admiration, of which, however, the young +coquette seemed utterly unconscious. + +Helen came leisurely after, and Hoffman followed with a telescope, +wishing, as he went, that his countrywomen possessed such dainty feet +as those going on before him, for which masculine iniquity he will be +pardoned by all who have seen the foot of a German Fraulein. + +It was worth the long ascent, that wide-spread landscape basking in +the August glow. + +Sitting on a fallen block of stone, while Casimer held a sun-umbrella +over her, Amy had raptures at her ease; while Helen sketched and asked +questions of Hoffman, who stood beside her, watching her progress with +interest. Once when, after repeated efforts to catch a curious effect +of light and shade, she uttered an impatient little exclamation, Karl +made a gesture as if to take the pencil and show her, but seemed to +recollect himself and drew back with a hasty "Pardon, mademoiselle." +Helen glanced up and saw the expression of his face, which plainly +betrayed that for a moment the gentleman had forgotten he was a +courier. She was glad of it, for it was a daily trial to her to order +this man about; and following the womanly impulse, she smiled and +offered the pencil, saying simply,-- + +"I felt sure you understood it; please show me." + +He did so, and a few masterly strokes gave the sketch what it needed. +As he bent near her to do this Helen stole a glance at the grave, dark +face, and suddenly a disturbed look dawned in the eyes fixed on the +glossy black locks pushed off the courier's forehead, for he had +removed his hat when she spoke to him. He seemed to feel that +something was amiss, shot a quick glance at her, returned the pencil +and rose erect, with an almost defiant air, yet something of shame in +his eye, as his lips moved as if to speak impetuously. But not a word +did he utter, for Helen touched her forehead significantly, and said +in a low tone,-- + +"I am an artist; let me recommend Vandyke brown, which is _not_ +affected by heat." + +Hoffman looked over his shoulder at the other pair, but Amy was +making an ivy wreath for her hat, and the Pole pulling sprays for the +absorbing work. Speaking rapidly, Karl said, with a peculiar blending +of merriment, humility, and anxiety in his tone,-- + +"Mademoiselle, you are quick to discover my disguise; will you also be +kind in concealing? I have enemies as well as friends, whom I desire +to escape: I would earn my bread unknown; Monsieur le Major keeps my +foolish secret; may I hope for equal goodness from yourself?" + +"You may, I do not forget that I owe my life to you, nor that you are +a gentleman. Trust me, I never will betray you." + +"Thanks, thanks! there will come a time when I may confess the truth +and be myself, but not yet," and his regretful tone was emphasized by +an impatient gesture, as if concealment was irksome. + +"Nell, come down to lunch; uncle is signalling as if he'd gone mad. +No, monsieur, it is quite impossible; you cannot reach the harebells +without risking too much; come away and forget that I wanted them." + +Amy led the way, and all went down more quietly than they came up, +especially Helen and Hoffman. An excellent lunch waited on one of the +tables in front of the old gateway, and having done justice to it, the +major made himself comfortable with a cigar, bidding the girls keep +near, for they must be off in half an hour. Hoffman went to see to the +horses, Casimer strolled away with him, and the young ladies went to +gather wild flowers at the foot of the tower. + +"Not a harebell here; isn't it provoking, when they grow in tufts up +there, where one can't reach them. Mercy, what's that? Run, Nell, the +old wall is coming down!" + +Both had been grubbing in a damp nook, where ferns and mosses grew +luxuriantly; the fall of a bit of stone and a rending sound above made +them fly back to the path and look up. + +Amy covered her eyes, and Helen grew pale, for part way down the +crumbling tower, clinging like a bird to the thick ivy stems, hung +Casimer, coolly gathering harebells from the clefts of the wall. + +"Hush; don't cry out or speak; it may startle him. Crazy boy! Let us +see what he will do," whispered Helen. + +"He can't go back, the vines are so torn and weak; and how will he get +down the lower wall? for you see the ivy grows up from that ledge, and +there is nothing below. How could he do it? I was only joking when I +lamented that there were no knights now, ready to leap into a lion's +den for a lady's glove," returned Amy, half angry. + +In breathless silence they watched the climber till his cap was full +of flowers, and taking it between his teeth, he rapidly swung down to +the wide ledge, from which there appeared to be no way of escape but a +reckless leap of many feet on to the turf below. + +The girls stood in the shadow of an old gateway, unperceived, and +waited anxiously what should follow. + +Lightly folding and fastening the cap together, he dropped it down, +and, leaning forward, tried to catch the top of a young birch rustling +close by the wall. Twice he missed it; the first time he frowned, but +the second he uttered an emphatic, "Deuce take it!" + +Helen and Amy looked at each other with a mutual smile and +exclamation,-- + +"He knows some English, then!" + +There was time for no more--a violent rustle, a boyish laugh, and down +swung the slender tree, with the young man clinging to the top. + +As he landed safely, Helen cried, "Bravo!" and Amy rushed out, +exclaiming reproachfully, yet admiringly,-- + +"How could you do it and frighten us so? I shall never express a wish +before you again, for if I wanted the moon you'd rashly try to get it, +I know." + +"_Certainement_, mademoiselle," was the smiling reply. Casimer +presented the flowers, as if the exploit was a mere trifle. + +"Now I shall go and press them at once in uncle's guide-book. Come and +help me, else you will be in mischief again." And Amy led the way to +the major with her flowers and their giver. + +Helen roamed into one of the ruined courts for a last look at a +fountain which pleased her eye. A sort of cloister ran round the +court, open on both sides, and standing in one of these arched nooks, +she saw Hoffman and a young girl talking animatedly. The girl was +pretty, well dressed, and seemed refusing something for which +the other pleaded eagerly. His arm was about her, and she leaned +affectionately upon him, with a white hand now and then caressing his +face, which was full of sparkle and vivacity now. They seemed about to +part as Helen looked, for the maiden standing on tiptoe, laughingly +offered her blooming cheek, and as Karl kissed it warmly, he said in +German, so audibly Helen heard every word,-- + +"Farewell, my Ludmilla. Keep silent and I shall soon be with you. +Embrace the little one, and do not let him forget me." + +Both left the place as they spoke, each going a different way, and +Helen slowly returned to her party, saying to herself in a troubled +tone,-- + +"'Ludmilla' and 'the little one' are his wife and child, doubtless. I +wonder if uncle knows that." + +When Hoffman next appeared she could not resist looking at him; but +the accustomed gravity was resumed, and nothing remained of the glow +and brightness he had worn when with Ludmilla in the cloister. + + +VI + +CHATEAU DE LA TOUR + + +Helen looked serious and Amy indignant when their uncle joined them, +ready to set out by the afternoon train, all having dined and rested +after the morning's excursion. + +"Well, little girls, what's the matter now?" he asked, paternally, for +the excellent man adored his nieces. + +"Helen says it's not best to go on with the Pole, and is perfectly +nonsensical, uncle," began Amy, petulantly, and not very coherently. + +"Better be silly now than sorry by and by. I only suggested that, +being interesting, and Amy romantic, she might find this young man too +charming, if we see too much of him," said Helen. + +"Bless my soul, what an idea!" cried the major. "Why, Nell, he's an +invalid, a Catholic, and a foreigner, any one of which objections are +enough to settle that matter. Little Amy isn't so foolish as to be in +danger of losing her heart to a person so entirely out of the question +as this poor lad, is she?" + +"Of course not. _You_ do me justice, uncle. Nell thinks she may pity +and pet any one she likes because she is five years older than I, +and entirely forgets that she is a great deal more attractive than a +feeble thing like me. I should as soon think of losing my heart to +Hoffman as to the Pole, even if he wasn't what he is. One may surely +be kind to a dying man, without being accused of coquetry;" and Amy +sobbed in the most heart-rending manner. + +Helen comforted her by withdrawing all objections, and promising +to leave the matter in the major's hands. But she shook her head +privately when she saw the ill-disguised eagerness with which her +cousin glanced up and down the platform after they were in the train, +and she whispered to her uncle, unobserved,-- + +"Leave future meetings to chance, and don't ask the Pole in, if you +can help it." + +"Nonsense, my dear. You are as particular as your aunt. The lad amuses +me, and you can't deny you like to nurse sick heroes," was all the +answer she got, as the major, with true masculine perversity, put his +head out of the window and hailed Casimer as he was passing with a +bow. + +"Here, Teblinski, my good fellow, don't desert us. We've always a +spare seat for you, if you haven't pleasanter quarters." + +With a flush of pleasure the young man came up, but hesitated to +accept the invitation till Helen seconded it with a smile of welcome. + +Amy was in an injured mood, and, shrouded in a great blue veil, +pensively reclined in her corner as if indifferent to everything about +her. But soon the cloud passed, and she emerged in a radiant state of +good humor, which lasted unbroken until the journey ended. + +For two days they went on together, a very happy party, for the major +called in Hoffman to see his friend and describe the places through +which they passed. An arrangement very agreeable to all, as Karl was a +favorite, and every one missed him when away. + +At Lausanne they waited while he crossed the lake to secure rooms at +Vevay. On his return he reported that all the hotels and _pensions_ +were full, but that at La Tour he had secured rooms for a few weeks in +a quaint old chateau on the banks of the lake. + +"Count Severin is absent in Egypt, and the housekeeper has permission +to let the apartments to transient visitors. The suite of rooms I +speak of were engaged to a party who are detained by sickness--they +are cheap, pleasant, and comfortable. A _salon_ and four bed-rooms. I +engaged them all, thinking that Teblinski might like a room there till +he finds lodgings at Montreaux. We can enter at once, and I am sure +the ladies will approve of the picturesque place." + +"Well done, Hoffman; off we go without delay, for I really long to +rest my old bones in something like a home, after this long trip," +said the major, who always kept his little troop in light marching +order. + +The sail across that loveliest of lakes prepared the new-comers to be +charmed with all they saw; and when, entering by the old stone gate, +they were led into a large saloon, quaintly furnished and opening into +a terrace-garden overhanging the water, with Chillon and the Alps in +sight, Amy declared nothing could be more perfect, and Helen's face +proved her satisfaction. + +An English widow and two quiet old German professors on a vacation +were the only inmates besides themselves and the buxom Swiss +housekeeper and her maids. + +It was late when our party arrived, and there was only time for a +hasty survey of their rooms and a stroll in the garden before dinner. + +The great chamber, with its shadowy bed, dark mirrors, ghostly +wainscot-doors and narrow windows, had not been brightened for a long +time by such a charming little apparition as Amy when she shook out +her airy muslins, smoothed her curls, and assumed all manner of +distracting devices for the captivation of mankind. Even Helen, though +not much given to personal vanity, found herself putting flowers in +her hair, and studying the effect of bracelets on her handsome arms, +as if there was some especial need of looking her best on this +occasion. + +Both were certainly great ornaments to the drawing-room that evening, +as the old professors agreed while they sat blinking at them, like a +pair of benign owls. Casimer surprised them by his skill in music, +for, though forbidden to sing on account of his weak lungs, he +played as if inspired. Amy hovered about him like a moth; the major +cultivated the acquaintance of the plump widow; and Helen stood at the +window, enjoying the lovely night and music, till something happened +which destroyed her pleasure in both. + +The window was open, and, leaning from it, she was watching the lake, +when the sound of a heavy sigh caught her ear. There was no moon, but +through the starlight she saw a man's figure among the shrubs below, +sitting with bent head and hidden face in the forlorn attitude of one +shut out from the music, light, and gayety that reigned within. + +"It is Karl," she thought, and was about to speak, when, as if +startled by some sound she did not hear, he rose and vanished in the +gloom of the garden. + +"Poor man! he thought of his wife and child, perhaps, sitting here +alone while all the rest make merry, with no care for him. Uncle must +see to this;" and Helen fell into a reverie till Amy came to propose +retiring. + +"I meant to have seen where all these doors led, but was so busy +dressing I had no time, so must leave it for my amusement to-morrow. +Uncle says it's a very Radcliffian place. How like an angel that man +did play!" chattered Amy, and lulled herself to sleep by humming the +last air Casimer had given them. + +Helen could not sleep, for the lonely figure in the garden haunted +her, and she wearied herself with conjectures about Hoffman and his +mystery. Hour after hour rung from the cuckoo-clock in the hall, but +still she lay awake, watching the curious shadows in the room, and +exciting herself with recalling the tales of German goblins with which +the courier had amused them the day before. + +"It is close and musty here, with all this old tapestry and stuff +about; I'll open the other window," she thought; and, noiselessly +slipping from Amy's side, she threw on wrapper and slippers, lighted +her candle and tried to unbolt the tall, diamond-paned lattice. It was +rusty and would not yield, and, giving it up, she glanced about to see +whence air could be admitted. There were four doors in the room, all +low and arched, with clumsy locks and heavy handles. One opened into +a closet, one into the passage; the third was locked, but the fourth +opened easily, and, lifting her light, she peeped into a small octagon +room, full of all manner of curiosities. What they were she had no +time to see, for her startled eyes were riveted on an object that +turned her faint and cold with terror. + +A heavy table stood in the middle of the room, and seated at it, +with some kind of weapon before him, was a man who looked over his +shoulder, with a ghastly face half hidden by hair and beard, and +fierce black eyes as full of malignant menace as was the clinched hand +holding the pistol. One instant Helen looked, the next flung to the +door, bolted it and dropped into a chair, trembling in every limb. The +noise did not wake Amy, and a moment's thought showed Helen the wisdom +of keeping her in ignorance of this affair. She knew the major was +close by, and possessing much courage, she resolved to wait a little +before rousing the house. + +Hardly had she collected herself, when steps were heard moving softly +in the octagon room. Her light had gone out as she closed the door, +and sitting close by in the dark, she heard the sound of some one +breathing as he listened at the key-hole. Then a careful hand tried +the door, so noiselessly that no sleeper would have been awakened; and +as if to guard against a second surprise, the unknown person drew two +bolts across the door and stole away. + +"Safe for a time; but I'll not pass another night under this roof, +unless this is satisfactorily cleared up," thought Helen, now feeling +more angry than frightened. + +The last hour that struck was three, and soon the summer dawn reddened +the sky. Dressing herself, Helen sat by Amy, a sleepless guard, till +she woke, smiling and rosy as a child. Saying nothing of her last +night's alarm, Helen went down to breakfast a little paler than usual, +but otherwise unchanged. The major never liked to be disturbed till +he had broken his fast, and the moment they rose from the table he +exclaimed,-- + +"Now, girls, come and see the mysteries of Udolpho." + +"I'll say nothing, yet," thought Helen, feeling braver by daylight, +yet troubled by her secret, for Hoffman might be a traitor, and this +charming chateau a den of thieves. Such things had been, and she was +in a mood to believe anything. + +The upper story was a perfect museum of antique relics, very +entertaining to examine. Having finished these, Hoffman, who acted as +guide, led them into a little gloomy room containing a straw pallet, +a stone table with a loaf and pitcher on it, and, kneeling before a +crucifix, where the light from a single slit in the wall fell on him, +was the figure of a monk. The waxen mask was life-like, the attitude +effective, and the cell excellently arranged. Amy cried out when she +first saw it, but a second glance reassured her, and she patted the +bald head approvingly, as Karl explained.-- + +"Count Severin is an antiquarian, and amuses himself with things of +this sort. In old times there really was a hermit here, and this is +his effigy. Come down these narrow stairs, if you please, and see the +rest of the mummery." + +Down they went, and the instant Helen looked about her, she burst into +a hysterical laugh, for there sat her ruffian, exactly as she saw him, +glaring over his shoulder with threatening eyes, and one hand on the +pistol. They all looked at her, for she was pale, and her merriment +unnatural; so, feeling she had excited curiosity, she gratified it by +narrating her night's adventure. Hoffman looked much concerned. + +"Pardon, mademoiselle, the door should have been bolted on this +side. It usually is, but that room being unused, it was forgotten. I +remembered it, and having risen early, crept up to make sure that you +did not come upon this ugly thing unexpectedly. But I was too late, it +seems; you have suffered, to my sorrow." + +"Dear Nell, and that was why I found you so pale and cold and quiet, +sitting by me when I woke, guarding me faithfully as you promised you +would. How brave and kind you were!" + +"Villain! I should much like to fire your own pistols at you for this +prank of yours." + +And Casimer laughingly filliped the image on its absurdly aquiline +nose. + +"What in the name of common sense is this goblin here for?" demanded +the major, testily. + +"There is a legend that once the owner of the chateau amused himself +by decoying travellers here, putting them to sleep in that room, and +by various devices alluring them thither. Here, one step beyond the +threshold of the door, was a trap, down which the unfortunates were +precipitated to the dungeon at the bottom of the tower, there to die +and be cast into the lake through a water-gate, still to be seen. +Severin keeps this flattering likeness of the rascal, as he does +the monk above, to amuse visitors by daylight, not at night, +mademoiselle." + +And Hoffman looked wrathfully at the image, as if he would much enjoy +sending it down the trap. + +"How ridiculous! I shall not go about this place alone, for fear of +lighting upon some horror of this sort. I've had enough; come away +into the garden; it's full of roses, and we may have as many as we +like." + +As she spoke Amy involuntarily put out her hand for Casimer to lead +her down the steep stone steps, and he pressed the little hand with a +tender look which caused it to be hastily withdrawn. + +"Here are your roses. Pretty flower; I know its meaning in English, +for it is the same with us. To give a bud to a lady is to confess +the beginning of love, a half open one tells of its growth, and a +full-blown one is to declare one's passion. Do you have that custom in +your land, mademoiselle?" + +He had gathered the three as he spoke, and held the bud separately +while looking at his companion wistfully. + +"No, we are not poetical, like your people, but it is a pretty fancy," +and Amy settled her bouquet with an absorbed expression, though +inwardly wondering what he would do with his flowers. + +He stood silent a moment, with a sudden flush sweeping across his +face, then flung all three into the lake with a gesture that made the +girl start, and muttered between his teeth: + +"No, no; for me it is too late." + +She affected not to hear, but making up a second bouquet, she gave +it to him, with no touch of coquetry in compassionate eyes or gentle +voice. + +"Make your room bright with these. When one is ill nothing is so +cheering as the sight of flowers." + +Meantime the others had descended and gone their separate ways. + +As Karl crossed the courtyard a little child ran to meet him with +outstretched arms and a shout of satisfaction. He caught it up and +carried it away on his shoulder, like one used to caress and be +caressed by children. + +Helen, waiting at the door of the tower while the major dusted his +coat, saw this, and said, suddenly, directing his attention to man and +child,-- + +"He seems fond of little people. I wonder if he has any of his own." + +"Hoffman? No, my dear; he's not married; I asked him that when I +engaged him." + +"And he said he was not?" + +"Yes; he's not more than five or six-and-twenty, and fond of a +wandering life, so what should he want of a wife and a flock of +bantlings?" + +"He seems sad and sober sometimes, and I fancied he might have some +domestic trouble to harass him. Don't you think there is something +peculiar about him?" asked Helen, remembering Hoffman's hint that her +uncle knew his wish to travel incognito, and wondering if he would +throw any light upon the matter. But the major's face was impenetrable +and his answer unsatisfactory. + +"Well, I don't know. Every one has some worry or other, and as for +being peculiar, all foreigners seem more or less so to us, they are so +unreserved and demonstrative. I like Hoffman more and more every day, +and shall be sorry when I part with him." + +"Ludmilla is his sister, then, or he didn't tell uncle the truth. It +is no concern of mine; but I wish I knew," thought Helen anxiously, +and then wondered why she should care. + +A feeling of distrust had taken possession of her and she determined +to be on the watch, for the unsuspicious major would be easily duped, +and Helen trusted more to her own quick and keen eye than to his +experience. She tried to show nothing of the change in her manner: but +Hoffman perceived it, and bore it with a proud patience which often +touched her heart, but never altered her purpose. + + +VII + +AT FAULT + + +Four weeks went by so rapidly that every one refused to believe it +when the major stated the fact at the breakfast-table, for all had +enjoyed themselves so heartily that they had been unconscious of the +lapse of time. + +"You are not going away, uncle?" cried Amy, with a panic-stricken +look. + +"Next week, my dear; we must be off, for we've much to do yet, and I +promised mamma to bring you back by the end of October." + +"Never mind Paris and the rest of it; this is pleasanter. I'd rather +stay here--" + +There Amy checked herself and tried to hide her face behind her +coffee-cup, for Casimer looked up in a way that made her heart flutter +and her cheeks burn. + +"Sorry for it, Amy; but go we must, so enjoy your last week with all +your might, and come again next year." + +"It will never be again what it is now," sighed Amy; and Casimer +echoed the words "next year," as if sadly wondering if the present +year would not be his last. + +Helen rose silently and went into the garden, for of late she had +fallen into the way of reading and working in the little pavilion +which stood in an angle of the wall, overlooking lake and mountains. + +A seat at the opposite end of the walk was Amy's haunt, for she liked +the sun, and within a week or two something like constraint had +existed between the cousins. Each seemed happier apart, and each was +intent on her own affairs. Helen watched over Amy's health, but no +longer offered advice or asked confidence. She often looked anxious, +and once or twice urged the major to go, as if conscious of some +danger. + +But the worthy man seemed to have been bewitched as well as the young +folks, and was quite happy sitting by the plump, placid widow, or +leisurely walking with her to the chapel on the hillside. + +All seemed waiting for something to break up the party, and no one had +the courage to do it. The major's decision took every one by surprise, +and Amy and Casimer looked as if they had fallen from the clouds. + +The persistency with which the English lessons had gone on was +amazing, for Amy usually tired of everything in a day or two. Now, +however, she was a devoted teacher, and her pupil did her great credit +by the rapidity with which he caught the language. It looked like +pleasant play, sitting among the roses day after day, Amy affecting to +embroider while she taught, Casimer marching to and fro on the wide, +low wall, below which lay the lake, while he learned his lesson; then +standing before her to recite, or lounging on the turf in frequent +fits of idleness, both talking and laughing a great deal, and +generally forgetting everything but the pleasure of being together. +They wrote little notes as exercises--Amy in French, Casimer in +English, and each corrected the other's. + +All very well for a time; but as the notes increased the corrections +decreased, and at last nothing was said of ungrammatical French or +comical English and the little notes were exchanged in silence. + +As Amy took her place that day she looked forlorn, and when her pupil +came her only welcome was a reproachful-- + +"You are very late, sir." + +"It is fifteen of minutes yet to ten clocks," was Casimer's reply, in +his best English. + +"Ten o'clock, and leave out 'of' before minutes. How many times must I +tell you that?" said Amy, severely, to cover her first mistake. + +"Ah, not many times; soon all goes to finish, and I have none person +to make this charming English go in my so stupide head." + +"What will you do then?" + +"I _jeter_ myself into the lake." + +"Don't be foolish; I'm dull to-day, and want to be cheered up; suicide +isn't a pleasant subject." + +"Good! See here, then--a little _plaisanterie_--what you call joke. +Can you will to see it?" and he laid a little pink cocked-hat note on +her lap, looking like a mischievous boy as he did so. + +"'Mon Casimer Teblinski;' I see no joke;" and Amy was about to tear it +up, when he caught it from destruction, and holding it out of reach, +said, laughing wickedly,-- + +"The 'mon' is one abbreviation of 'monsieur,' but you put no +little--how do you say?--period at the end of him; it goes now in +English--_My_ Casimer Teblinski,' and that is of the most charming +address." + +Amy colored, but had her return shot ready. + +"Don't exult; that was only an oversight, not a deliberate deception +like that you put upon me. It was very wrong and rude, and I shall not +forgive it." + +"_Mon Dieu_! where have I gone in sinning! I am a _polisson_, as I say +each day, but not a villain, I swear to you. Say to me that which I +have made of wrong, and I will do penance." + +"You told me '_Ma drogha_' was the Polish for 'My pupil,' and let me +call you so a long time; I am wiser now," replied Amy, with great +dignity. + +"Who has said stupidities to you, that you doubt me?" and Casimer +assumed an injured look, though his eyes danced with merriment. + +"I heard Hoffman singing a Polish song to little Roserl, the burden of +which was, '_Ma drogha, Ma drogha_,' and when I asked him to translate +it, those two words meant, 'My darling.' How dare you, ungrateful +creature that you are!" + +As Amy spoke, half-confusedly, half-angrily, Casimer went down upon +his knees, with folded hands and penitent face, exclaiming, in good +English,-- + +"Be merciful to me a sinner. I was tempted, and I could not resist." + +"Get up this instant, and stop laughing. Say your lesson, for this +will be your last," was the stern reply, though Amy's face dimpled all +over with suppressed merriment. + +He rose meekly, but made such sad work with the verb "To love," that +his teacher was glad to put an end to it, by proposing to read her +French to him. It was "Thaddeus of Warsaw," a musty little translation +which she had found in the house, and begun for her own amusement. +Casimer read a little, seemed interested, and suggested that they read +it together, so that he might correct her accent. Amy agreed, and +they were in the heart of the sentimental romance, finding it more +interesting than most modern readers, for the girl had an improved +Thaddeus before her, and the Pole a fairer, kinder Mary Beaufort. + +Dangerous times for both, but therein lay the charm; for, though Amy +said to herself each night, "Sick, Catholic, and a foreigner,--it can +never be," yet each morning she felt, with increasing force, how blank +her day would be without him. And Casimer, honorably restraining every +word of love, yet looked volumes, and in spite of the glasses, the +girl felt the eloquence of the fine eyes they could not entirely +conceal. + +To-day, as she read, he listened with his head leaning on his hand, +and though she never had read worse, he made no correction, but sat so +motionless, she fancied at last that he had actually fallen asleep. +Thinking to rouse him, she said, in French,-- + +"Poor Thaddeus! don't you pity him?--alone, poor, sick, and afraid to +own his love." + +"No, I hate him, the absurd imbecile, with his fine boots and plumes, +and tragedy airs. He was not to be pitied, for he recovered health, he +found a fortune, he won his Marie. His sufferings were nothing; there +was no fatal blight on him, and he had time and power to conquer his +misfortunes, while I--" + +Casimer spoke with sudden passion, and pausing abruptly, turned his +face away, as if to hide some emotion he was too proud to show. + +Amy's heart ached, and her eyes filled, but her voice was sweet and +steady, as she said, putting by the book, like one weary of it,-- + +"Are you suffering to-day? Can we do anything for you? Please let us, +if we may." + +"You give me all I can receive; no one can help my pain yet; but a +time will come when something may be done for me; then I will speak." +And, to her great surprise, he rose and left her, without another +word. + +She saw him no more till evening; then he looked excited, played +stormily, and would sing in defiance of danger. The trouble in Amy's +face seemed reflected in Helen's, though not a word had passed between +them. She kept her eye on Casimer, with an intentness that worried +Amy, and even when he was at the instrument Helen stood near him, as +if fascinated, watching the slender hands chase one another up and +down the keys with untiring strength and skill. + +Suddenly she left the room and did not return. Amy was so nervous by +that time, she could restrain herself no longer, and slipping out, +found her cousin in their chamber, poring over a glove. + +"Oh, Nell, what is it? You are so odd to-night I can't understand you. +The music excites me, and I'm miserable, and I want to know what has +happened," she said, tearfully. + +"I've found him!" whispered Helen, eagerly, holding up the glove with +a gesture of triumph. + +"Who?" asked Amy, blinded by her tears. + +"The baron." + +"Where?--when?" cried the girl, amazed. + +"Here, and now." + +"Don't take my breath away; tell me quick, or I shall get hysterical." + +"Casimer is Sigismund Palsdorf, and no more a Pole than I am," was +Helen's answer. + +Amy dropped in a heap on the floor, not fainting, but so amazed she +had neither strength nor breath left. Sitting by her, Helen rapidly +went on,-- + +"I had a feeling as if something was wrong, and began to watch. The +feeling grew, but I discovered nothing till to-day. It will make you +laugh, it was so unromantic. As I looked over uncle's things when the +laundress brought them this afternoon, I found a collar that was not +his. It was marked 'S.P.,' and I at once felt a great desire to know +who owned it. The woman was waiting for her money, and I asked her. +'Monsieur Pologne,' she said, for his name is too much for her. She +took it into his room, and that was the end of it." + +"But it may be another name; the initials only a coincidence," +faltered Amy, looking frightened. + +"No, dear, it isn't; there is more to come. Little Roserl came crying +through the hall an hour ago, and I asked what the trouble was. She +showed me a prettily-bound prayer-book which she had taken from the +Pole's room to play with, and had been ordered by her mother to carry +back. I looked into it; no name, but the same coat-of-arms as the +glove and the handkerchief. To-night as he played I examined his +hands; they are peculiar, and some of the peculiarities have left +traces on the glove. I am sure it is he, for on looking back many +things confirm the idea. He says he is a _polisson_, a rogue, fond +of jokes, and clever at playing them. The Germans are famous for +masquerading and practical jokes; this is one, I am sure, and uncle +will be terribly angry if he discovers it." + +"But why all this concealment?" cried Amy. "Why play jokes on us? You +look so worried I know you have not told me all you know or fear." + +"I confess I do fear that these men are political plotters as well as +exiles. There are many such, and they make tools of rich and ignorant +foreigners to further their ends. Uncle is rich, generous, and +unsuspicious; and I fear that while apparently serving and enjoying us +they are using him." + +"Heavens, it may be! and that would account for the change we see in +him. I thought he was in love with the widow, but that may be only a +cloak to hide darker designs. Karl brought us here, and I dare say it +is a den of conspirators!" cried Amy, feeling as if she were getting +more of an adventure than she had bargained for. + +"Don't be alarmed! I am on the watch, and mean to demand an +explanation from uncle, or take you away on my own responsibility, if +I can." + +Here a maid tapped to say that tea was served. + +"We must go down, or some one will suspect trouble. Plead headache to +excuse your paleness, and I'll keep people away. We will manage the +affair and be off as soon as possible," said Helen, as Amy followed +her, too bewildered to answer. + +Casimer was not in the room, the major and Mrs. Cumberland were +sipping tea side by side, and the professors roaming vaguely about. To +leave Amy in peace, Helen engaged them both in a lively chat, and her +cousin sat by the window trying to collect her thoughts. Some one was +pacing up and down the garden, hatless, in the dew. + +Amy forgot everything but the danger of such exposure to her reckless +friend. His cloak and hat lay on a chair; she caught them up and +glided unperceived from the long window. + +"You are so imprudent I fear for you, and bring your things," said a +timid voice, as the little white figure approached the tall black one, +striding down the path tempestuously. + +"You to think of me, forgetful of yourself! Little angel of kindness, +why do you take such care of me?" cried Casimer, eagerly taking not +only the cloak, but the hands that held it. + +"I pitied you because you were ill and lonely. You do not deserve +my pity, but I forgive that, and would not see you suffer," was the +reproachful answer, as Amy turned away. + +But he held her fast, saying earnestly,-- + +"What have I done? You are angry. Tell me my fault and I will amend." + +"You have deceived me." + +"How?" + +"Will you own the truth?" and in her eagerness to set her fears at +rest, Amy forgot Helen. + +"I will." + +She could not see his face, but his voice was steady and his manner +earnest. + +"Tell me, then, is not your true name Sigismund Palsdorf?" + +He started, but answered instantly,-- + +"It is not." + +"You are not the baron?" cried Amy. + +"No; I will swear it if you wish." + +"Who, then, are you?" + +"Shall I confess?" + +"Yes, I entreat you." + +"Remember, you command me to speak." + +"I do. Who are you?" + +"Your lover." + +The words were breathed into her ear as softly as ardently, but they +startled her so much she could find no reply, and, throwing himself +down before her, Casimer poured out his passion with an impetuosity +that held her breathless. + +"Yes, I love you, and I tell it, vain and dishonorable as it is in one +like me. I try to hide it. I say 'it cannot be.' I plan to go away. +But you keep me; you are angel-good to me; you take my heart, you care +for me, teach me, pity me, and I can only love and die. I know it is +folly; I ask nothing; I pray to God to bless you always, and I say, +Go, go, before it is too late for you, as now for me!" + +"Yes, I must go--it is all wrong. Forgive me. I have been very +selfish. Oh, forget me and be happy," faltered Amy, feeling that her +only safety was in flight. + +"Go! go!" he cried, in a heart-broken tone, yet still kissed and clung +to her hands till she tore them away and fled into the house. + +Helen missed her soon after she went, but could not follow for several +minutes; then went to their chamber and there found Amy drowned in +tears, and terribly agitated. + +Soon the story was told with sobs and moans, and despairing +lamentations fit to touch a heart of stone. + +"I do love him--oh, I do; but I didn't know it till he was so unhappy, +and now I've done this dreadful harm. He'll die, and I can't help him, +see him, or be anything to him. Oh, I've been a wicked, wicked girl, +and never can be happy any more." + +Angry, perplexed, and conscience-stricken, for what now seemed blind +and unwise submission to the major, Helen devoted herself to calming +Amy, and when at last the poor, broken-hearted little soul fell asleep +in her arms, she pondered half the night upon the still unsolved +enigma of the Baron Sigismund. + + +VIII + +MORE MYSTERY + + +"Uncle, can I speak to you a moment?" said Helen, very gravely, as +they left the breakfast-room next morning. + +"Not now, my dear, I'm busy," was the hasty reply, as the major +shawled Mrs. Cumberland for an early promenade. + +Helen knit her brows irefully, for this answer had been given her half +a dozen times lately when she asked for an interview. It was evident +he wished to avoid all lectures, remonstrances, and explanations; and +it was also evident that he was in love with the widow. + +"Lovers are worse than lunatics to manage, so it is vain to try to get +any help from him," sighed Helen, adding, as her uncle was gallantly +leading his stout divinity away into the garden: "Amy has a bad +headache, and I shall stay to take care of her, so we can't join +your party to Chillon, sir. We have been there once, so you needn't +postpone it for us." + +"Very well, my dear," and the major walked away, looking much +relieved. + +As Helen was about to leave the _salon_ Casimer appeared. A single +glance at her face assured him that she knew all, and instantly +assuming a confiding, persuasive air that was irresistible, he said, +meekly,-- + +"Mademoiselle, I do not deserve a word from you, but it desolates me +to know that I have grieved the little angel who is too dear to me. +For her sake, pardon that I spoke my heart in spite of prudence, and +permit me to send her this." + +Helen glanced from the flowers he held to his beseeching face, and her +own softened. He looked so penitent and anxious, she had not the heart +to reproach him. + +"I will forgive you and carry your gift to Amy on one condition," she +said, gravely. + +"Ah, you are kind! Name, then, the condition. I implore you, and I +will agree." + +"Tell me, then, on your honor as a gentleman, are you not Baron +Palsdorf?" + +"On my honor as a gentleman, I swear to you I am not." + +"Are you, in truth, what you profess to be?" + +"I am, in truth, Amy's lover, your devoted servant, and a most unhappy +man, with but a little while to live. Believe this and pity me, +dearest Mademoiselle Helène." + +She did pity him, her eyes betrayed that, and her voice was very kind, +as she said,-- + +"Pardon my doubts. I trust you now, and wish with all my heart that +it was possible to make you happy. You know it is not, therefore I am +sure you will be wise and generous, and spare Amy further grief by +avoiding her for the little time we stay. Promise me this, Casimer." + +"I may see her if I am dumb? Do not deny me this. I will not speak, +but I must look at my little and dear angel when she is near." + +He pleaded so ardently with lips and hands, and eager eyes, that Helen +could not deny him, and when he had poured out his thanks she left +him, feeling very tender toward the unhappy young lover, whose passion +was so hopeless, yet so warm. + +Amy was at breakfast in her room, sobbing and sipping, moaning and +munching, for, though her grief was great, her appetite was good, and +she was in no mood to see anything comical in cracking eggshells +while she bewailed her broken heart, or in eating honey in the act of +lamenting the bitterness of her fate. + +Casimer would have become desperate had he seen her in the little blue +wrapper, with her bright hair loose on her shoulders, and her +pretty face wet with tears, as she dropped her spoon to seize his +flowers,--three dewy roses, one a bud, one half and the other fully +blown, making a fragrant record and avowal of the love which she must +renounce. + +"Oh, my dear boy! how can I give him up, when he is so fond, and I am +all he has? Helen, uncle must let me write or go to mamma. She shall +decide; I can't; and no one else has a right to part us," sobbed Amy, +over her roses. + +"Casimer will not marry, dear; he is too generous to ask such a +sacrifice," began Helen, but Amy cried indignantly,-- + +"It is no sacrifice; I'm rich. What do I care for his poverty?" + +"His religion!" hinted Helen, anxiously. + +"It need not part us; we can believe what we will. He is good; why +mind whether he is Catholic or Protestant?" + +"But a Pole, Amy, so different in tastes, habits, character, and +beliefs. It is a great risk to marry a foreigner; races are so +unlike." + +"I don't care if he is a Tartar, a Calmuck, or any of the other wild +tribes; I love him, he loves me, and no one need object if I don't." + +"But, dear, the great and sad objection still remains--his health. He +just said he had but a little while to live." + +Amy's angry eyes grew dim, but she answered, with soft earnestness,-- + +"So much the more need of me to make that little while happy. Think +how much he has suffered and done for others; surely I may do +something for him. Oh, Nell, can I let him die alone and in exile, +when I have both heart and home to give him?" + +Helen could say no more; she kissed and comforted the faithful little +soul, feeling all the while such sympathy and tenderness that she +wondered at herself, for with this interest in the love of another +came a sad sense of loneliness, as if she was denied the sweet +experience that every woman longs to know. + +Amy never could remain long under a cloud, and seeing Helen's tears, +began to cheer both her cousin and herself. + +"Hoffman said he might live with care, don't you remember? and Hoffman +knows the case better than we. Let us ask him if Casimer is worse. You +do it; I can't without betraying myself." + +"I will," and Helen felt grateful for any pretext to address a +friendly word to Karl, who had looked sad of late, and had been less +with them since the major became absorbed in Mrs. Cumberland. + +Leaving Amy to compose herself, Helen went away to find Hoffman. It +was never difficult, for he seemed to divine her wishes and appear +uncalled the moment he was wanted. Hardly had she reached her favorite +nook in the garden when he approached with letters, and asked with +respectful anxiety, as she glanced at and threw them by with an +impatient sigh,-- + +"Has mademoiselle any orders? Will the ladies drive, sail, or make a +little expedition? It is fine, and mademoiselle looks as if the air +would refresh her. Pardon that I make the suggestion." + +"No, Hoffman, I don't like the air of this place, and intend to leave +as soon as possible." And Helen knit her delicate dark brows with +an expression of great determination. "Switzerland is the refuge of +political exiles, and I hate plots and disguises; I feel oppressed by +some mystery, and mean to solve or break away from it at once." + +She stopped abruptly, longing to ask his help, yet withheld by a +sudden sense of shyness in approaching the subject, though she had +decided to speak to Karl of the Pole. + +"Can I serve you, mademoiselle? If so, pray command me," he said, +eagerly, coming a step nearer. + +"You can, and I intend to ask your advice, for there can be nothing +amiss in doing so, since you are a friend of Casimer's." + +"I am both friend and confidant, mademoiselle," he answered, as +if anxious to let her understand that he knew all, without the +embarrassment of words. She looked up quickly, relieved, yet troubled. + +"He has told you, then?" + +"Everything, mademoiselle. Pardon me if this afflicts you; I am his +only friend here, and the poor lad sorely needed comfort." + +"He did. I am not annoyed; I am glad, for I know you will sustain him. +Now I may speak freely, and be equally frank. Please tell me if he is +indeed fatally ill?" + +"It was thought so some months ago; now I hope. Happiness cures many +ills, and since he has loved, he has improved. I always thought care +would save him; he is worth it." + +Hoffman paused, as if fearful of venturing too far; but Helen seemed +to confide freely in him, and said, softly,-- + +"Ah, if it were only wise to let him be happy. It is so bitter to deny +love." + +"God knows it is!" + +The exclamation broke from Hoffman as if an irrepressible impulse +wrung it from him. + +Helen started, and for a moment neither spoke. She collected herself +soonest, and without turning, said, quietly,-- + +"I have been troubled by a strong impression that Casimer is not what +he seems. Till he denied it on his honor I believed him to be Baron +Palsdorf. Did he speak the truth when he said he was not?" + +"Yes, mademoiselle." + +"Then, Casimer Teblinski is his real name?" + +No answer. + +She turned sharply, and added,-- + +"For my cousin's sake, I must know the truth. Several curious +coincidences make me strongly suspect that he is passing under an +assumed name." + +Not a word said Hoffman, but looked on the ground, as motionless and +expressionless as a statue. + +Helen lost patience, and in order to show how much she had discovered, +rapidly told the story of the gloves, ring, handkerchief, prayer-book +and collar, omitting all hint of the girlish romance they had woven +about these things. + +As she ended, Hoffman looked up with a curious expression, in which +confusion, amusement, admiration and annoyance seemed to contend. + +"Mademoiselle," he said, gravely, "I am about to prove to you that +I feel honored by the confidence you place in me. I cannot break my +word, but I will confess to you that Casimer does _not_ bear his own +name." + +"I knew it!" said Helen, with a flash of triumph in her eyes. "He _is_ +the baron, and no Pole. You Germans love masquerades and jokes. This +is one, but I must spoil it before it is played out." + +"Pardon; mademoiselle is keen, but in this she is mistaken. Casimer is +_not_ the baron; he did fight for Poland, and his name is known and +honored there. Of this I solemnly assure you." + +She stood up and looked him straight in the face. He met her eye to +eye, and never wavered till her own fell. + +She mused a few minutes, entirely forgetful of herself in her +eagerness to solve the mystery. + +Hoffman stood so near that her dress touched him, and the wind blew +her scarf against his hand; and as she thought he watched her while +his eyes kindled, his color rose, and once he opened his lips to +speak, but she moved at the instant, and exclaimed,-- + +"I have it!" + +"Now for it," he muttered, as if preparing for some new surprise or +attack. + +"When uncle used to talk about the Polish revolution, there was, I +remember a gallant young Pole who did something brave. The name +just flashed on me, and it clears up my doubts. Stanislas +Prakora--'S.P.'--and Casimer is the man." + +Helen spoke with an eager, bright face, as if sure of the truth now; +but, to her surprise, Hoffman laughed, a short, irrepressible laugh, +full of hearty but brief merriment. He sobered in a breath, and with +an entire change of countenance said, in an embarrassed tone,-- + +"Pardon my rudeness; mademoiselle's acuteness threw me off my guard. +I can say nothing till released from my promise; but mademoiselle may +rest assured that Casimer Teblinski is as good and brave a man as +Stanislas Prakora." + +Helen's eyes sparkled, for in this reluctant reply she read +confirmation of her suspicion, and thought that Amy would rejoice to +learn that her lover was a hero. + +"You _are_ exiles, but still hope and plot, and never relinquish your +hearts' desire?" + +"Never, mademoiselle!" + +"You are in danger?" + +"In daily peril of losing all we most love and long for," answered +Karl, with such passion that Helen found patriotism a lovely and +inspiring thing. + +"You have enemies?" she asked, unable to control her interest, and +feeling the charm of these confidences. + +"Alas! yes," was the mournful reply, as Karl dropped his eyes to hide +the curious expression of mirth which he could not banish from them. + +"Can you not conquer them, or escape the danger they place you in?" + +"We hope to conquer, we cannot escape." + +"This accounts for your disguise and Casimer's false name?" + +"Yes. We beg that mademoiselle will pardon us the anxiety and +perplexity we have caused her, and hope that a time will soon arrive +when we may be ourselves. I fear the romantic interest with which +the ladies have honored us will be much lessened, but we shall still +remain their most humble and devoted servants." + +Something in his tone nettled Helen, and she said sharply,-- + +"All this may be amusing to you, but it spoils my confidence in others +to know they wear masks. Is your name also false?" + +"I am Karl Hoffman, as surely as the sun shines, mademoiselle. Do not +wound me by a doubt," he said, eagerly. + +"And nothing more?" + +She smiled as she spoke, and glanced at his darkened skin with a shake +of the head. + +"I dare not answer that." + +"No matter; I hate titles, and value people for their own worth, not +for their rank." + +Helen spoke impulsively, and, as if carried away by her words and +manner, Hoffman caught her hand and pressed his lips to it ardently, +dropped it, and was gone, as if fearing to trust himself a moment +longer. + +Helen stood where he left her, thinking, with a shy glance from her +hand to the spot where he had stood,-- + +"It _is_ pleasant to have one's hand kissed, as Amy said. Poor Karl, +his fate is almost as hard as Casimer's." + +Some subtile power seemed to make the four young people shun one +another carefully, though all longed to be together. The major +appeared to share the secret disquiet that made the rest roam +listlessly about, till little Roserl came to invite them to a _fête_ +in honor of the vintage. All were glad to go, hoping in the novelty +and excitement to recover their composure. + +The vineyard sloped up from the chateau, and on the hillside was a +small plateau of level sward, shadowed by a venerable oak now hung +with garlands, while underneath danced the chateau servants with their +families, to the music of a pipe played by little Friedel. As the +gentlefolk approached, the revel stopped, but the major, who was in an +antic mood and disposed to be gracious, bade Friedel play on, and as +Mrs. Cumberland refused his hand with a glance at her weeds, the major +turned to the Count's buxom housekeeper, and besought her to waltz +with him. She assented, and away they went as nimbly as the best. Amy +laughed, but stopped to blush, as Casimer came up with an imploring +glance, and whispered,-- + +"Is it possible that I may enjoy one divine waltz with you before I +go?" + +Amy gave him her hand with a glad assent, and Helen was left alone. +Every one was dancing but herself and Hoffman, who stood near by, +apparently unconscious of the fact. He glanced covertly at her, and +saw that she was beating time with foot and hand, that her eyes shone, +her lips smiled. He seemed to take courage at this, for, walking +straight up to her, he said, as coolly as if a crown-prince,-- + +"Mademoiselle, may I have the honor?" + +A flash of surprise passed over her face, but there was no anger, +pride, or hesitation in her manner, as she leaned toward him with a +quiet "Thanks, monsieur." + +A look of triumph was in his eyes as he swept her away to dance, as +she had never danced before, for a German waltz is full of life and +spirit, wonderfully captivating to English girls, and German gentlemen +make it a memorable experience when they please. As they circled round +the rustic ball-room, Hoffman never took his eyes off Helen's, and, +as if fascinated, she looked up at him, half conscious that he was +reading her heart as she read his. He said not a word, but his +face grew very tender, very beautiful in her sight, as she forgot +everything except that he had saved her life and she loved him. When +they paused, she was breathless and pale; he also; and seating her he +went away to bring her a glass of wine. As her dizzy eyes grew clear, +she saw a little case at her feet, and taking it up, opened it. A worn +paper, containing some faded forget-me-nots and these words, fell +out,-- + +"Gathered where Helen sat on the night of August 10th." + +There was just time to restore its contents to the case, when Hoffman +returned, saw it, and looked intensely annoyed as he asked, quickly,-- + +"Did you read the name on it?" + +"I saw only the flowers;" and Helen colored beautifully as she spoke. + +"And read _them_?" he asked, with a look she could not meet. + +She was spared an answer, for just then a lad came up, saying, as he +offered a note,-- + +"Monsieur Hoffman, madame, at the hotel, sends you this, and begs you +to come at once." + +As he impatiently opened it, the wind blew the paper into Helen's lap. +She restored it, and in the act, her quick eye caught the signature, +"Thine ever, Ludmilla." + +A slight shadow passed over her face, leaving it very cold and quiet. +Hoffman saw the change, and smiled, as if well pleased, but assuming +suddenly his usual manner, said deferentially,-- + +"Will mademoiselle permit me to visit my friend for an hour?--she is +expecting me." + +"Go, then, we do not need you," was the brief reply, in a careless +tone, as if his absence was a thing of no interest to any one. + +"Thanks; I shall not be long away;" and giving her a glance that made +her turn scarlet with anger at its undisguised admiration, he walked +away, humming gayly to himself Goethe's lines,-- + + "Maiden's heart and city's wall + Were made to yield, were made to fall; + When we've held them each their day, + Soldier-like we march away." + + +IX + +"S.P." AND THE BARON + + +Dinner was over, and the _salon_ deserted by all but the two young +ladies, who sat apart, apparently absorbed in novels, while each +was privately longing for somebody to come, and with the charming +inconsistency of the fair sex, planning to fly if certain somebodies +_did_ appear. + +Steps approached; both buried themselves in their books; both held +their breath and felt their hearts flutter as they never had done +before at the step of mortal man. The door opened; neither looked up, +yet each was conscious of mingled disappointment and relief when the +major said, in a grave tone, "Girls, I've something to tell you." + +"We know what it is, sir," returned Helen, coolly. + +"I beg your pardon, but you don't, my dear, as I will prove in five +minutes, if you will give me your attention." + +The major looked as if braced up to some momentous undertaking; and +planting himself before the two young ladies, dashed bravely into the +subject. + +"Girls, I've played a bold game, but I've won it, and will take the +consequences." + +"They will fall heaviest on you, uncle," said Helen, thinking he was +about to declare his love for the widow. + +The major laughed, shrugged his shoulders, and answered, stoutly,-- + +"I'll bear them; but you are quite wrong, my dear, in your surmises, +as you will soon see. Helen is my ward, and accountable to me alone. +Amy's mother gave her into my charge, and won't reproach me for +anything that has passed when I explain matters. As to the lads they +must take care of themselves." + +Suddenly both girls colored, fluttered, and became intensely +interested. The major's eyes twinkled as he assumed a perfectly +impassive expression, and rapidly delivered himself of the following +thunderbolt,-- + +"Girls, you have been deceived, and the young men you love are +impostors." + +"I thought so," muttered Helen, grimly. + +"Oh, uncle, don't, don't say that!" cried Amy, despairingly. + +"It's true, my dears; and the worst of it is, I knew the truth all the +time. Now, don't have hysterics, but listen and enjoy the joke as I +do. At Coblentz, when you sat in the balcony, two young men overheard +Amy sigh for adventures, and Helen advise making a romance out of the +gloves one of the lads had dropped. They had seen you by day; both +admired you, and being idle, gay young fellows, they resolved +to devote their vacation to gratifying your wishes and enjoying +themselves. We met at the Fortress; I knew one of them, and liked the +other immensely; so when they confided their scheme to me I agreed +to help them carry it out, as I had perfect confidence in both, and +thought a little adventure or two would do you good." + +"Uncle, you were mad," said Helen; and Amy added, tragically,-- + +"You don't know what trouble has come of it." + +"Perhaps I was; that remains to be proved. I do know everything, and +fail to see any trouble, so don't cry, little girl," briskly replied +the inexplicable major. "Well, we had a merry time planning our prank. +One of the lads insisted on playing courier, though I objected. He'd +done it before, liked the part, and would have his way. The other +couldn't decide, being younger and more in love; so we left him to +come into the comedy when he was ready. Karl did capitally, as you +will allow; and I am much attached to him, for in all respects he has +been true to his word. He began at Coblentz; the other, after doing +the mysterious at Heidelberg, appeared as an exile, and made quick +work with the prejudices of my well-beloved nieces--hey, Amy?" + +"Go on; who are they?" cried both girls, breathlessly. + +"Wait a bit; I'm not bound to expose the poor fellows to your scorn +and anger. No; if you are going to be high and haughty, to forget +their love, refuse to forgive their frolic, and rend their hearts with +reproaches, better let them remain unknown." + +"No, no; we will forget and forgive, only speak!" was the command of +both. + +"You promise to be lenient and mild, to let them confess their +motives, and to award a gentle penance for their sins?" + +"Yes, we promise!" + +"Then, come in, my lads, and plead for your lives." + +As he spoke the major threw open the door, and two gentlemen entered +the room--one, slight and dark, with brilliant black eyes; the other +tall and large, with blond hair and beard. Angry, bewildered, and +shame-stricken as they were, feminine curiosity overpowered all other +feelings for the moment, and the girls sat looking at the culprits +with eager eyes, full of instant recognition; for though the disguise +was off, and neither had seen them in their true characters but once, +they felt no doubt, and involuntarily exclaimed,-- + +"Karl!" + +"Casimer." + +"No, young ladies; the courier and exile are defunct, and from their +ashes rise Baron Sigismund Palsdorf, my friend, and Sidney Power, my +nephew. I give you one hour to settle the matter; then I shall return +to bestow my blessing or to banish these scapegraces forever." + +And, having fired his last shot, the major prudently retreated, +without waiting to see its effect. + +It was tremendous, for it carried confusion into the fair enemy's +camp; and gave the besiegers a momentary advantage of which they were +not slow to avail themselves. + +For a moment the four remained mute and motionless: then Amy, like all +timid things, took refuge in flight, and Sidney followed her into the +garden, glad to see the allies separated. Helen, with the courage of +her nature, tried to face and repulse the foe; but love was stronger +than pride, maiden shame overcame anger, and, finding it vain to meet +and bear down the steady, tender glance of the blue eyes fixed upon +her, she dropped her head into her hands and sat before him, like one +conquered but too proud to cry "Quarter." Her lover watched her till +she hid her face, then drew near, knelt down before her, and said, +with an undertone of deep feeling below the mirthful malice of his +words,-- + +"Mademoiselle, pardon me that I am a foolish baron, and dare to offer +you the title that you hate. I have served you faithfully for a month, +and, presumptuous as it is, I ask to be allowed to serve you all my +life. Helen, say you forgive the deceit for love's sake." + +"No; you are false and forsworn. How can I believe that anything is +true?" + +And Helen drew away the hand of which he had taken possession. + +"Heart's dearest, you trusted me in spite of my disguise; trust +me still, and I will prove that I am neither false nor forsworn. +Catechise me, and see if I was not true in spite of all my seeming +deception." + +"You said your name was Karl Hoffman," began Helen, glad to gain a +little time to calm herself before the momentous question came. + +"It is; I have many, and my family choose to call me Sigismund," was +the laughing answer. + +"I'll never call you so; you shall be Karl, the courier, all your life +to me," cried Helen, still unable to meet the ardent eyes before her. + +"Good; I like that well; for it assures me that all my life I shall be +something to you, my heart. What next?" + +"When I asked if you were the baron, you denied it." + +"Pardon! I simply said my name was Hoffman. You did not ask me point +blank if I was the baron; had you done so, I think I should have +confessed all, for it was very hard to restrain myself this morning." + +"No, not yet; I have more questions;" and Helen warned him away, as it +became evident that he no longer considered restraint necessary. + +"Who is Ludmilla?" she said, sharply. + +"My faith, that is superb!" exclaimed the baron, with a triumphant +smile at her betrayal of jealousy. "How if she is a former love?" he +asked, with a sly look at her changing face. + +"It would cause me no surprise; I am prepared for anything." + +"How if she is my dearest sister, for whom I sent, that she might +welcome you and bring the greetings of my parents to their new +daughter?" + +"Is it, indeed, so?" + +And Helen's eyes dimmed as the thought of parents, home and love +filled her heart with tenderest gratitude, for she had long been an +orphan. + +"_Leibchen_, it is true; to-morrow you shall see how dear you already +are to them, for I write often and they wait eagerly to receive you." + +Helen felt herself going very fast, and made an effort to harden her +heart, lest too easy victory should reward this audacious lover. + +"I may not go; I also have friends, and in England we are not won in +this wild way. I will yet prove you false; it will console me for +being so duped if I can call you traitor. You said Casimer had fought +in Poland." + +"Crudest of women, he did, but under his own name, Sidney Power." + +"Then, he was not the brave Stanislas?--and there is no charming +Casimer?" + +"Yes, there are both,--his and my friends, in Paris; true Poles, and +when we go there you shall see them." + +"But his illness was a ruse?" + +"No; he was wounded in the war and has been ill since. Not of a fatal +malady, I own; his cough misled you, and _he_ has no scruples in +fabling to any extent. I am not to bear the burden of his sins." + +"Then, the romances he told us about your charity, your virtues, +and--your love of liberty were false?" said Helen, with a keen glance, +for these tales had done much to interest her in the unknown baron. + +Sudden color rose to his forehead, and for the first time his eyes +fell before hers,--not in shame, but with a modest man's annoyance at +hearing himself praised. + +"Sidney is enthusiastic in his friendship, and speaks too well for me. +The facts are true, but he doubtless glorified the simplest by his +way of telling it. Will you forgive my follies, and believe me when I +promise to play and duel no more?" + +"Yes." + +She yielded her hand now, and her eyes were full of happiness, yet she +added, wistfully,-- + +"And the betrothed, your cousin, Minna,--is she, in truth, not dear to +you?" + +"Very dear, but less so than another; for I could not learn of her in +years what I learned in a day when I met you. Helen, this was begun in +jest,--it ends in solemn earnest, for I love my liberty, and I have +lost it, utterly and forever. Yet I am glad; look in my face and tell +me you believe it." + +He spoke now as seriously as fervently, and with no shadow on her own, +Helen brushed back the blond hair and looked into her lover's face. +Truth, tenderness, power, and candor were written there in characters +that could not lie; and with her heart upon her lips, she answered, as +he drew her close,-- + +"I do believe, do love you, Sigismund!" Meanwhile another scene was +passing in the garden. Sidney, presuming upon his cousinship, took +possession of Amy, bidding her "strike but hear him." Of course she +listened with the usual accompaniment of tears and smiles, reproaches +and exclamations, varied by cruel exultations and coquettish commands +to go away and never dare approach her again. + +"_Ma drogha_, listen and be appeased. Years ago you and I played +together as babies, and our fond mammas vowed we should one day mate. +When I was a youth of fourteen and you a mite of seven I went away to +India with my father, and at our parting promised to come back and +marry you. Being in a fret because you couldn't go also, you haughtily +declined the honor, and when I offered a farewell kiss, struck me with +this very little hand. Do you remember it?" + +"Not I. Too young for such nonsense." + +"I do, and I also remember that in my boyish way I resolved to keep my +word sooner or later, and I've done it." + +"We shall see, sir," cried Amy, strongly tempted to repeat her part of +the childish scene as well as her cousin, but her hand was not free, +and he got the kiss without the blow. + +"For eleven years we never met. You forgot me, and 'Cousin Sidney' +remained an empty name. I was in India till four years ago; since then +I've been flying about Germany and fighting in Poland, where I nearly +got my quietus." + +"My dear boy, were you wounded?" + +"Bless you, yes; and very proud of it I am. I'll show you my scars +some day; but never mind that now. A while ago I went to England, +seized with a sudden desire to find my wife." + +"I admire your patience in waiting; so flattering to me, you know," +was the sharp answer. + +"It looks like neglect, I confess; but I'd heard reports of your +flirtations, and twice of your being engaged, so I kept away till my +work was done. Was it true?" + +"I never flirt, Sidney, and I was only engaged a little bit once or +twice. I didn't like it, and never mean to do so any more." + +"I shall see that you don't flirt; but you are very much engaged now, +so put on your ring and make no romances about any 'S.P.' but myself." + +"I shall wait till you clear your character; I'm not going to care for +a deceitful impostor. What made you think of this prank?" + +"You did." + +"I? How?" + +"When in England I saw your picture, though you were many a mile away, +and fell in love with it. Your mother told me much about you, and I +saw she would not frown upon my suit. I begged her not to tell you I +had come, but let me find you and make myself known when I liked. +You were in Switzerland, and I went after you. At Coblentz I met +Sigismund, and told him my case; he is full of romance, and when we +overheard you in the balcony we were glad of the hint. Sigismund was +with me when you came, and admired Helen immensely, so he was wild to +have a part in the frolic. I let him begin, and followed you unseen to +Heidelberg, meaning to personate an artist. Meeting you at the castle, +I made a good beginning with the vaults and the ring, and meant to +follow it up by acting the baron, you were so bent on finding him, but +Sigismund forbade it. Turning over a trunk of things left there the +year before, I came upon my old Polish uniform, and decided to be a +Thaddeus." + +"How well you did it! Wasn't it hard to act all the time?" asked Amy, +wonderingly. + +"Very hard with Helen, she is so keen, but not a bit so with you, for +you are such a confiding soul any one could cheat you. I've betrayed +myself a dozen times, and you never saw it. Ah, it was capital fun to +play the forlorn exile, study English, and flirt with my cousin." + +"It was very base. I should think you'd be devoured with remorse. +Aren't you sorry?" + +"For one thing. I cropped my head lest you should know me. I was proud +of my curls, but I sacrificed them all to you." + +"Peacock! Did you think that one glimpse of your black eyes and fine +hair would make such an impression that I should recognize you again?" + +"I did, and for that reason disfigured my head, put on a mustache, and +assumed hideous spectacles. Did you never suspect my disguise, Amy?" + +"No. Helen used to say that she felt something was wrong, but I never +did till the other night." + +"Didn't I do that well? I give you my word it was all done on the spur +of the minute. I meant to speak soon, but had not decided how, when +you came out so sweetly with that confounded old cloak, of which I'd +no more need than an African has of a blanket. Then a scene I'd read +in a novel came into my head, and I just repeated it _con amore_. Was +I very pathetic and tragical. Amy?" + +"I thought so then. It strikes me as ridiculous now, and I can't help +feeling sorry that I wasted so much pity on a man who--" + +"Loves you with all his heart and soul. Did you cry and grieve over +me, dear little tender thing? and do you think now that I am a +heartless fellow, bent only on amusing myself at the expense of +others? It's not so; and you shall see how true and good and steady I +can be when I have any one to love and care for me. I've been alone so +long it's new and beautiful to be petted, confided in, and looked up +to by an angel like you." + +He was in earnest now; she felt it, and her anger melted away like dew +before the sun. + +"Poor boy! You will go home with us now, and let us take care of you +in quiet England. You'll play no more pranks, but go soberly to work +and do something that shall make me proud to be your cousin, won't +you?" + +"If you'll change 'cousin' to 'wife' I'll be and do whatever you +please. Amy, when I was a poor, dying, Catholic foreigner you loved me +and would have married me in spite of everything. Now that I'm your +well, rich, Protestant cousin, who adores you as that Pole never +could, you turn cold and cruel. Is it because the romance is gone, or +because your love was only a girl's fancy, after all?" + +"You deceived me and I can't forget it; but I'll try," was the soft +answer to his reproaches. + +"Are you disappointed that I'm not a baron?" + +"A little bit." + +"Shall I be a count? They gave me a title in Poland, a barren honor, +but all they had to offer, poor souls, in return for a little blood. +Will you be Countess Zytomar and get laughed at for your pains, or +plain Mrs. Power, with a good old English name?" + +"Neither, thank you; it's only a girlish fancy, which will soon be +forgotten. Does the baron love Helen?" asked Amy, abruptly. + +"Desperately, and she?" + +"I think he will be happy; she is not one to make confidantes, but I +know by her tenderness with me, her sadness lately, and something in +her way of brightening when he comes, that she thinks much of him and +loves Karl Hoffman. How it will be with the baron I cannot say." + +"No fear of him; he wins his way everywhere. I wish I were as +fortunate;" and the gay young gentleman heaved an artful sigh and +coughed the cough that always brought such pity to the girl's soft +eyes. + +She glanced at him as he leaned pensively on the low wall, looking +down into the lake, with the level rays of sunshine on his comely face +and figure. Something softer than pity stole into her eye, as she +said, anxiously,-- + +"You are not really ill, Sidney?" + +"I have been, and still need care, else I may have a relapse," was the +reply of this treacherous youth, whose constitution was as sound as a +bell. + +Amy clasped her hands, as if in a transport of gratitude, exclaiming, +fervently,-- + +"What a relief it is to know that you are not doomed to--" + +She paused with a shiver, as if the word were too hard to utter, and +Sidney turned to her with a beaming face, which changed to one of +mingled pain and anger, as she added, with a wicked glance,-- + +"Wear spectacles." + +"Amy, you've got no heart!" he cried, in a tone that banished her last +doubt of his love and made her whisper tenderly, as she clung to his +arm,-- + +"No, dear; I've given it all to you." + +Punctual to the minute, Major Erskine marched into the _salon_, with +Mrs. Cumberland on his arm, exclaiming, as he eyed the four young +people together again,-- + +"Now, ladies, is it to be 'Paradise Lost' or 'Regained' for the +prisoners at the bar?" + +At this point the astonished gentleman found himself taken possession +of by four excited individuals, for the girls embraced and kissed him, +the young men wrung his hand and thanked him, and all seemed bent +on assuring him that they were intensely happy, grateful and +affectionate. + +From this assault he emerged flushed and breathless, but beaming with +satisfaction, and saying paternally,-- + +"Bless you, my children, bless you. I hoped and worked for this, and +to prove how well I practise what I preach, let me present to you--my +wife." + +As he drew forward the plump widow with a face full of smiles +and tears, a second rush was made, and congratulations, salutes, +exclamations and embraces were indulged in to every one's +satisfaction. + +As the excitement subsided the major said, simply,-- + +"We were married yesterday at Montreaux. Let me hope that you will +prove as faithful as I have been, as happy as I am, as blest as I +shall be. I loved this lady in my youth, have waited many years, and +am rewarded at last, for love never comes too late." + +The falter in his cheery voice, the dimness of his eyes, the smile on +his lips, and the gesture with which he returned the pressure of the +hand upon his arm, told the little romance of the good major's life +more eloquently than pages of fine writing, and touched the hearts of +those who loved him. + +"I have been faithful for eleven years. Give me my reward soon, won't +you, dear?" whispered Sidney. + +"Don't marry me to-morrow, and if mamma is willing I'll think about it +by and by," answered Amy. + +"It is beautiful! let us go and do likewise," said Sigismund to his +betrothed. + +But Helen, anxious to turn the thoughts of all from emotions too deep +for words, drew from her pocket a small pearl-colored object, which +she gave to Amy with mock solemnity, as she said, turning to lay her +hand again in her lover's,-- + +"Amy, our search is over. _You_ may keep the gloves; _I_ have the +baron." + + + + +MY RED CAP + +"He who serves well need not fear to ask his wages." + + +I + + +It was under a blue cap that I first saw the honest face of Joe +Collins. In the third year of the late war a Maine regiment was +passing through Boston, on its way to Washington. The Common was all +alive with troops and the spectators who clustered round them to say +God-speed, as the brave fellows marched away to meet danger and death +for our sakes. + +Every one was eager to do something; and, as the men stood at ease, +the people mingled freely with them, offering gifts, hearty grips of +the hand, and hopeful prophecies of victory in the end. Irresistibly +attracted, my boy Tom and I drew near, and soon, becoming excited by +the scene, ravaged the fruit-stands in our neighborhood for tokens of +our regard, mingling candy and congratulations, peanuts and prayers, +apples and applause, in one enthusiastic jumble. + +While Tom was off on his third raid, my attention was attracted by +a man who stood a little apart, looking as if his thoughts were far +away. All the men were fine, stalwart fellows, as Maine men usually +are; but this one over-topped his comrades, standing straight and +tall as a Norway pine, with a face full of the mingled shrewdness, +sobriety, and self-possession of the typical New Englander. I liked +the look of him; and, seeing that he seemed solitary, even in a crowd, +I offered him my last apple with a word of interest. The keen blue +eyes met mine gratefully, and the apple began to vanish in vigorous +bites as we talked; for no one thought of ceremony at such a time. + +"Where are you from?" + +"Woolidge, ma'am." + +"Are you glad to go?" + +"Wal, there's two sides to that question. I calk'late to do my duty, +and do it hearty: but it _is_ rough on a feller leavin' his folks, for +good, maybe." + +There was a sudden huskiness in the man's voice that was not +apple-skins, though he tried to make believe that it was. I knew a +word about home would comfort him, so I went on with my questions. + +"It is very hard. Do you leave a family?" + +"My old mother, a sick brother,--and Lucindy." + +The last word was uttered in a tone of intense regret, and his brown +cheek reddened as he added hastily, to hide some embarrassment.-- + +"You see, Jim went last year, and got pretty well used up; so I felt +as if I'd ought to take my turn now. Mother was a regular old hero +about it and I dropped everything, and come off. Lucindy didn't think +it was my duty; and that made it awful hard, I tell you." + +"Wives are less patriotic than mothers," I began; but he would not +hear Lucindy blamed, and said quickly,-- + +"She ain't my wife yet, but we calk'lated to be married in a month +or so; and it was wus for her than for me, women lot so on not being +disappointed. I _couldn't_ shirk, and here I be. When I git to work, I +shall be all right: the first wrench is the tryin' part." + +Here he straightened his broad shoulders, and turned his face toward +the flags fluttering far in front, as if no backward look should +betray the longing of his heart for mother, home, and wife. I liked +that little glimpse of character; and when Tom returned with empty +hands, reporting that every stall was exhausted, I told him to find +out what the man would like best, then run across the street and get +it. + +"I know without asking. Give us your purse, and I'll make him as happy +as a king," said the boy, laughing, as he looked up admiringly at +our tall friend, who looked down on him with an elder-brotherly air +pleasant to see. While Tom was gone, I found out Joe's name and +business, promised to write and tell his mother how finely the +regiment went off, and was just expressing a hope that we might meet +again, for I too was going to the war as nurse, when the order to +"Fall in!" came rolling down the ranks, and the talk was over. Fearing +Tom would miss our man in the confusion, I kept my eye on him till the +boy came rushing up with a packet of tobacco in one hand and a good +supply of cigars in the other. Not a romantic offering, certainly, but +a very acceptable one, as Joe's face proved, as we scrambled these +treasures into his pockets, all laughing at the flurry, while less +fortunate comrades helped us, with an eye to a share of these fragrant +luxuries by and by. There was just time for this, a hearty shake of +the big hand, and a grateful "Good-by, ma'am;" then the word was +given, and they were off. Bent on seeing the last of them, Tom and I +took a short cut, and came out on the wide street down which so many +troops marched that year; and, mounting some high steps, we watched +for our man, as we already called him. + +As the inspiring music, the grand tramp, drew near, the old thrill +went through the crowd, the old cheer broke out. But it was a +different scene now than in the first enthusiastic, hopeful days. +Young men and ardent boys filled the ranks then, brave by instinct, +burning with loyal zeal, and blissfully unconscious of all that lay +before them. Now the blue coats were worn by mature men, some gray, +all grave and resolute: husbands and fathers, with the memory of wives +and children tugging at their heart-strings; homes left desolate +behind them, and before them the grim certainty of danger, hardship, +and perhaps the lifelong helplessness worse than death. Little of the +glamour of romance about the war now: they saw it as it was, a long, +hard task; and here were the men to do it well. Even the lookers-on +were different now. Once all was wild enthusiasm and glad uproar; now +men's lips were set, and women's smileless as they cheered; fewer +handkerchiefs whitened the air, for wet eyes needed them; and sudden +lulls, almost solemn in their stillness, followed the acclamations +of the crowd. All watched with quickened breath and brave souls that +living wave, blue below, and bright with a steely glitter above, as +it flowed down the street and away to distant battle-fields already +stained with precious blood. + +"There he is! The outside man, and tallest of the lot. Give him a +cheer, auntie: he sees us, and remembers!" cried Tom, nearly tumbling +off his perch, as he waved his hat, and pointed out Joe Collins. + +Yes, there he was, looking up, with a smile on his brave brown face, +my little nosegay in his button-hole, a suspicious bulge in the pocket +close by, and doubtless a comfortable quid in his mouth, to cheer the +weary march. How like an old friend he looked, though we had only met +fifteen minutes ago; how glad we were to be there to smile back at +him, and send him on his way feeling that, even in a strange city, +there was some one to say, "God bless you, Joe!" We watched the +tallest blue cap till it vanished, and then went home in a glow of +patriotism,--Tom to long for his turn to come, I to sew vigorously on +the gray gown the new nurse burned to wear as soon as possible, and +both of us to think and speak often of poor Joe Collins and his +Lucindy. All this happened long ago; but it is well to recall those +stirring times,--to keep fresh the memory of sacrifices made for us by +men like these; to see to it that the debt we owe them is honestly, +gladly paid; and, while we decorate the graves of those who died, to +remember also those who still live to deserve our grateful care. + + +II + + +I never expected to see Joe again; but, six months later, we did meet +in a Washington hospital one winter's night. A train of ambulances had +left their sad freight at our door, and we were hurrying to get the +poor fellows into much needed beds, after a week of hunger, cold, and +unavoidable neglect. All forms of pain were in my ward that night, and +all borne with the pathetic patience which was a daily marvel to those +who saw it. + +Trying to bring order out of chaos, I was rushing up and down the +narrow aisle between the rows of rapidly filling beds, and, after +brushing several times against a pair of the largest and muddiest +boots I ever saw, I paused at last to inquire why they were impeding +the passageway. I found they belonged to a very tall man who seemed to +be already asleep or dead, so white and still and utterly worn out he +looked as he lay there, without a coat, a great patch on his forehead, +and the right arm rudely bundled up. Stooping to cover him, I saw that +he was unconscious, and, whipping out my brandy-bottle and salts, soon +brought him round, for it was only exhaustion. + +"Can you eat?" I asked, as he said, "Thanky, ma'am," after a long +draught of water and a dizzy stare. + +"Eat! I'm starvin'!" he answered, with such a ravenous glance at a +fat nurse who happened to be passing, that I trembled for her, and +hastened to take a bowl of soup from her tray. + +As I fed him, his gaunt, weather-beaten face had a familiar look; but +so many such faces had passed before me that winter, I did not recall +this one till the ward-master came to put up the cards with the +new-comers' names above their beds. My man seemed absorbed in his +food; but I naturally glanced at the card, and there was the name +"Joseph Collins" to give me an additional interest in my new patient. + +"Why, Joe! is it really you?" I exclaimed, pouring the last spoonful +of soup down his throat so hastily that I choked him. + +"All that's left of me. Wal, ain't this luck, now?" gasped Joe, as +gratefully as if that hospital-cot was a bed of roses. + +"What is the matter? A wound in the head and arm?" I asked, feeling +sure that no slight affliction had brought Joe there. + +"Right arm gone. Shot off as slick as a whistle. I tell you, it's a +sing'lar kind of a feelin' to see a piece of your own body go flyin' +away, with no prospect of ever coming back again," said Joe, trying to +make light of one of the greatest misfortunes a man can suffer. + +"That is bad, but it might have been worse. Keep up your spirits, Joe; +and we will soon have you fitted out with a new arm almost as good as +new." + +"I guess it won't do much lumberin', so that trade is done for. I +s'pose there's things left-handed fellers can do, and I must learn 'em +as soon as possible, since my fightin' days are over," and Joe looked +at his one arm with a sigh that was almost a groan, helplessness is +such a trial to a manly man,--and he was eminently so. + +"What can I do to comfort you most, Joe? I'll send my good Ben to help +you to bed, and will be here myself when the surgeon goes his rounds. +Is there anything else that would make you more easy?" + +"If you could just drop a line to mother to let her know I'm alive, it +would be a sight of comfort to both of us. I guess I'm in for a long +spell of hospital, and I'd lay easier if I knew mother and Lucindy +warn't frettin' about me." + +He must have been suffering terribly, but he thought of the women who +loved him before himself, and, busy as I was, I snatched a moment to +send a few words of hope to the old mother. Then I left him "layin' +easy," though the prospect of some months of wearing pain would have +daunted most men. If I had needed anything to increase my regard for +Joe, it would have been the courage with which he bore a very bad +quarter of an hour with the surgeons; for his arm was in a dangerous +state, the wound in the head feverish for want of care; and a heavy +cold on the lungs suggested pneumonia as an added trial to his list of +ills. + +"He will have a hard time of it, but I think he will pull through, +as he is a temperate fellow, with a splendid constitution," was the +doctor's verdict, as he left us for the next man, who was past help, +with a bullet through his lungs. + +"I don'no as I hanker to live, and be a burden. If Jim was able to do +for mother, I feel as if I wouldn't mind steppin' out now I'm so fur +along. As he ain't, I s'pose I must brace up, and do the best I can," +said Joe, as I wiped the drops from his forehead, and tried to look as +if his prospect was a bright one. + +"You will have Lucindy to help you, you know; and that will make +things easier for all." + +"Think so? 'Pears to me I couldn't ask her to take care of three +invalids for my sake. She ain't no folks of her own, nor much means, +and ought to marry a man who can make things easy for her. Guess I'll +have to wait a spell longer before I say anything to Lucindy about +marryin' now;" and a look of resolute resignation settled on Joe's +haggard face as he gave up his dearest hope. + +"I think Lucindy will have something to say, if she is like most +women, and you will find the burdens much lighter, for sharing them +between you. Don't worry about that, but get well, and go home as soon +as you can." + +"All right, ma'am;" and Joe proved himself a good soldier by obeying +orders, and falling asleep like a tired child, as the first step +toward recovery. + +For two months I saw Joe daily, and learned to like him very much, he +was so honest, genuine, and kind-hearted. So did his mates, for he +made friends with them all by sharing such small luxuries as came to +him, for he was a favorite; and, better still, he made sunshine in +that sad place by the brave patience with which he bore his own +troubles, the cheerful consolation he always gave to others. A droll +fellow was Joe at times, for under his sobriety lay much humor; and I +soon discovered that a visit from him was more efficacious than other +cordials in cases of despondency and discontent. Roars of laughter +sometimes greeted me as I went into his ward, and Joe's jokes were +passed round as eagerly as the water-pitcher. + +Yet he had much to try him, not only in the ills that vexed his flesh, +but the cares that tried his spirit, and the future that lay before +him, full of anxieties and responsibilities which seemed so heavy now +when the strong right arm, that had cleared all obstacles away before, +was gone. The letters I wrote for him, and those he received, told +the little story very plainly; for he read them to me, and found much +comfort in talking over his affairs, as most men do when illness +makes them dependent on a woman. Jim was evidently sick and selfish. +Lucindy, to judge from the photograph cherished so tenderly under +Joe's pillow, was a pretty, weak sort of a girl, with little character +or courage to help poor Joe with his burdens. The old mother was very +like her son, and stood by him "like a hero," as he said, but was +evidently failing, and begged him to come home as soon as he was able, +that she might see him comfortably settled before she must leave him. +Her courage sustained his, and the longing to see her hastened his +departure as soon as it was safe to let him go; for Lucindy's letters +were always of a dismal sort, and made him anxious to put his shoulder +to the wheel. + +"She always set consider'ble by me, mother did, bein' the oldest; and +I wouldn't miss makin' her last days happy, not if it cost me all the +arms and legs I've got," said Joe, as he awkwardly struggled into the +big boots an hour after leave to go home was given him. + +It was pleasant to see his comrades gather round him with such hearty +adieus that his one hand must have tingled; to hear the good wishes +and the thanks called after him by pale creatures in their beds; and +to find tears in many eyes beside my own when he was gone, and nothing +was left of him but the empty cot, the old gray wrapper, and the name +upon the wall. + +I kept that card among my other relics, and hoped to meet Joe again +somewhere in the world. He sent me one or two letters, then I went +home; the war ended soon after, time passed, and the little story of +my Maine lumberman was laid away with many other experiences which +made that part of my life a very memorable one. + + +III + + +Some years later, as I looked out of my window one dull November day, +the only cheerful thing I saw was the red cap of a messenger who was +examining the slate that hung on a wall opposite my hotel. A tall man +with gray hair and beard, one arm, and a blue army-coat. I always +salute, figuratively at least, when I see that familiar blue, +especially if one sleeve of the coat is empty; so I watched the +messenger with interest as he trudged away on some new errand, wishing +he had a better day and a thicker pair of boots. He was an unusually +large, well-made man, and reminded me of a fine building going to +ruin before its time; for the broad shoulders were bent, there was a +stiffness about the long legs suggestive of wounds or rheumatism, and +the curly hair looked as if snow had fallen on it too soon. Sitting at +work in my window, I fell into the way of watching my Red Cap, as I +called him, with more interest than I did the fat doves on the roof +opposite, or the pert sparrows hopping in the mud below. I liked the +steady way in which he plodded on through fair weather or foul, as if +intent on doing well the one small service he had found to do. I liked +his cheerful whistle as he stood waiting for a job under the porch +of the public building where his slate hung, watching the luxurious +carriages roll by, and the well-to-do gentlemen who daily passed him +to their comfortable homes, with a steady, patient sort of face, as if +wondering at the inequalities of fortune, yet neither melancholy nor +morose over the small share of prosperity which had fallen to his lot. + +I often planned to give him a job, that I might see him nearer; but +I had few errands, and little Bob, the hall-boy, depended on doing +those: so the winter was nearly over before I found out that my Red +Cap was an old friend. + +A parcel came for me one day, and bidding the man wait for an answer, +I sat down to write it, while the messenger stood just inside the +door like a sentinel on duty. When I looked up to give my note and +directions, I found the man staring at me with a beaming yet bashful +face, as he nodded, saying heartily,-- + +"I mistrusted it was you, ma'am, soon's I see the name on the bundle, +and I guess I ain't wrong. It's a number of years sence we met, and +you don't remember Joe Collins as well as he does you, I reckon?" + +"Why, how you have changed! I've been seeing you every day all winter, +and never knew you," I said, shaking hands with my old patient, and +very glad to see him. + +"Nigh on to twenty years makes consid'able of a change in folks, +'specially if they have a pretty hard row to hoe." + +"Sit down and warm yourself while you tell me all about it; there is +no hurry for this answer, and I'll pay for your time." + +Joe laughed as if that was a good joke, and sat down as if the fire +was quite as welcome as the friend. + +"How are they all at home?" I asked, as he sat turning his cap round, +not quite knowing where to begin. + +"I haven't got any home nor any folks neither;" and the melancholy +words banished the brightness from his rough face like a cloud. +"Mother died soon after I got back. Suddin', but she was ready, and I +was there, so she was happy. Jim lived a number of years, and was a +sight of care, poor feller; but we managed to rub along, though we had +to sell the farm: for I couldn't do much with one arm, and doctor's +bills right along stiddy take a heap of money. He was as comfortable +as he could be; and, when he was gone, it wasn't no great matter, for +there was only me, and I don't mind roughin' it." + +"But Lucindy, where was she?" I asked very naturally. + +"Oh! she married another man long ago. Couldn't expect her to take +me and my misfortins. She's doin' well, I hear, and that's a comfort +anyway." + +There was a look on Joe's face, a tone in Joe's voice as he spoke, +that plainly showed how much he had needed comfort when left to bear +his misfortunes all alone. But he made no complaint, uttered no +reproach, and loyally excused Lucindy's desertion with a simple sort +of dignity that made it impossible to express pity or condemnation. + +"How came you here, Joe?" I asked, making a sudden leap from past to +present. + +"I had to scratch for a livin', and can't do much: so, after tryin' a +number of things, I found this. My old wounds pester me a good deal, +and rheumatism is bad winters; but, while my legs hold out, I can git +on. A man can't set down and starve; so I keep waggin' as long as I +can. When I can't do no more, I s'pose there's almshouse and hospital +ready for me." + +"That is a dismal prospect, Joe. There ought to be a comfortable place +for such as you to spend your last days in. I am sure you have earned +it." + +"Wal, it does seem ruther hard on us when we've give all we had, and +give it free and hearty, to be left to knock about in our old age. But +there's so many poor folks to be took care of, we don't get much of +a chance, for _we_ ain't the beggin' sort," said Joe, with a wistful +look at the wintry world outside, as if it would be better to lie +quiet under the snow, than to drag out his last painful years, +friendless and forgotten, in some refuge of the poor. + +"Some kind people have been talking of a home for soldiers, and I hope +the plan will be carried out. It will take time; but, if it comes to +pass, you shall be one of the first men to enter that home, Joe, if I +can get you there." + +"That sounds mighty cheerin' and comfortable, thanky, ma'am. Idleness +is dreadful tryin' to me, and I'd rather wear out than rust out; so I +guess I can weather it a spell longer. But it will be pleasant to look +forrard to a snug harbor bymeby. I feel a sight better just hearin' +tell about it." He certainly looked so, faint as the hope was; for the +melancholy eyes brightened as if they already saw a happier refuge in +the future than almshouse, hospital, or grave, and, when he trudged +away upon my errand, he went as briskly as if every step took him +nearer to the promised home. + +After that day it was all up with Bob, for I told my neighbors Joe's +story, and we kept him trotting busily, adding little gifts, and +taking the sort of interest in him that comforted the lonely fellow, +and made him feel that he had not outlived his usefulness. I never +looked out when he was at his post that he did not smile back at me; I +never passed him in the street that the red cap was not touched with a +military flourish; and, when any of us beckoned to him, no twinge of +rheumatism was too sharp to keep him from hurrying to do our errands, +as if he had Mercury's winged feet. + +Now and then he came in for a chat, and always asked how the Soldiers' +Home was prospering; expressing his opinion that "Boston was the +charitablest city under the sun, and he was sure he and his mates +would be took care of somehow." + +When we parted in the spring, I told him things looked hopeful, bade +him be ready for a good long rest as soon as the hospitable doors were +open, and left him nodding cheerfully. + + +IV + + +But in the autumn I looked in vain for Joe. The slate was in its old +place, and a messenger came and went on his beat; but a strange face +was under the red cap, and this man had two arms and one eye. I asked +for Collins, but the new-comer had only a vague idea that he was dead; +and the same answer was given me at headquarters, though none of the +busy people seemed to know when or where he died. So I mourned for +Joe, and felt that it was very hard he could not have lived to enjoy +the promised refuge; for, relying upon the charity that never fails, +the Home was an actual fact now, just beginning its beneficent career. +People were waking up to this duty, money was coming in, meetings were +being held, and already a few poor fellows were in the refuge, feeling +themselves no longer paupers, but invalid soldiers honorably supported +by the State they had served. Talking it over one day with a friend, +who spent her life working for the Associated Charities, she said,-- + +"By the way, there is a man boarding with one of my poor women, who +ought to be got into the Home, if he will go. I don't know much about +him, except that he was in the army, has been very ill with rheumatic +fever, and is friendless. I asked Mrs. Flanagin how she managed to +keep him, and she said she had help while he was sick, and now he is +able to hobble about, he takes care of the children, so she is able to +go out to work. He won't go to his own town, because there is nothing +for him there but the almshouse, and he dreads a hospital; so +struggles along, trying to earn his bread tending babies with his one +arm. A sad case, and in your line; I wish you'd look into it." + +"That sounds like my Joe, one arm and all. I'll go and see him; I've a +weakness for soldiers, sick or well." + +I went, and never shall forget the pathetic little tableau I saw as I +opened Mrs. Flanagin's dingy door; for she was out, and no one heard +my tap. The room was redolent of suds, and in a grove of damp clothes +hung on lines sat a man with a crying baby laid across his lap, while +he fed three small children standing at his knee with bread and +molasses. How he managed with one arm to keep the baby from squirming +on to the floor, the plate from upsetting, and to feed the hungry +urchins who stood in a row with open mouths, like young birds, was +past my comprehension. But he did, trotting baby gently, dealing out +sweet morsels patiently, and whistling to himself, as if to beguile +his labors cheerfully. + +The broad back, the long legs, the faded coat, the low whistle were +all familiar; and, dodging a wet sheet, I faced the man to find it +was indeed my Joe! A mere shadow of his former self, after months of +suffering that had crippled him for life, but brave and patient still; +trying to help himself, and not ask aid though brought so low. + +For an instant I could not speak to him, and, encumbered with baby, +dish, spoon, and children, he could only stare at me with a sudden +brightening of the altered face that made it full of welcome before a +word was uttered. + +"They told me you were dead, and I only heard of you by accident, not +knowing I should find my old friend alive, but not well, I'm afraid?" + +"There ain't much left of me but bones and pain, ma'am. I'm powerful +glad to see you all the same. Dust off a chair, Patsey, and let the +lady set down. You go in the corner, and take turns lickin' the dish, +while I see company," said Joe, disbanding his small troop, and +shouldering the baby as if presenting arms in honor of his guest. + +"Why didn't you let me know how sick you were? And how came they to +think you dead?" I asked, as he festooned the wet linen out of the +way, and prepared to enjoy himself as best he could. + +"I did send once, when things was at the wust; but you hadn't got +back, and then somehow I thought I was goin' to be mustered out for +good, and so wouldn't trouble nobody. But my orders ain't come yet, +and I am doing the fust thing that come along. It ain't much, but the +good soul stood by me, and I ain't ashamed to pay my debts this way, +sence I can't do it in no other;" and Joe cradled the chubby baby in +his one arm as tenderly as if it had been his own, though little Biddy +was not an inviting infant. + +"That is very beautiful and right, Joe, and I honor you for it; but +you were not meant to tend babies, so sing your last lullabies, and be +ready to go to the Home as soon as I can get you there." + +"Really, ma'am? I used to lay and kind of dream about it when I +couldn't stir without yellin' out; but I never thought it would ever +come to happen. I see a piece in the paper describing it, and it +sounded dreadful nice. Shouldn't wonder if I found some of my mates +there. They were a good lot, and deservin' of all that could be done +for 'em," said Joe, trotting the baby briskly, as if the prospect +excited him, as well it might, for the change from that damp nursery +to the comfortable quarters prepared for him would be like going from +Purgatory to Paradise. + +"I don't wonder you don't get well living in such a place, Joe. You +should have gone home to Woolwich, and let your friends help you," I +said, feeling provoked with him for hiding himself. + +"No, ma'am!" he answered, with a look I never shall forget, it was so +full of mingled patience, pride, and pain. "I haven't a relation +in the world but a couple of poor old aunts, and they couldn't do +anything for me. As for asking help of folks I used to know, I +couldn't do it; and if you think I'd go to Lucindy, though she is wal +off, you don't know Joe Collins. I'd die fust! If she was poor and I +rich, I'd do for her like a brother; but I couldn't ask no favors of +her, not if I begged my vittles in the street, or starved. I forgive, +but I don't forgit in a hurry; and the woman that stood by me when I +was down is the woman I believe in, and can take my bread from without +shame. Hooray for Biddy Flanagin! God bless her!" and, as if to find a +vent for the emotion that filled his eyes with grateful tears, Joe +led off the cheer, which the children shrilly echoed, and I joined +heartily. + +"I shall come for you in a few days; so cuddle the baby and make much +of the children before you part. It won't take you long to pack up, +will it?" I asked, as we subsided with a general laugh. + +"I reckon not as I don't own any clothes but what I set in, except a +couple of old shirts and them socks. My hat's stoppin' up the winder, +and my old coat is my bed-cover. I'm awful shabby, ma'am, and that's +one reason I don't go out more. I can hobble some, but I ain't got +used to bein' a scarecrow yet," and Joe glanced from the hose without +heels that hung on the line to the ragged suit he wore, with a +resigned expression that made me long to rush out and buy up half the +contents of Oak Hall on the spot. + +Curbing this wild impulse I presently departed with promises of speedy +transportation for Joe, and unlimited oranges to assuage the pangs of +parting for the young Flanagins, who escorted me to the door, while +Joe waved the baby like a triumphal banner till I got round the +corner. + +There was such a beautiful absence of red tape about the new +institution that it only needed a word in the right ear to set things +going; and then, with a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all +together, Joe Collins was taken up and safely landed in the Home he so +much needed and so well deserved. + +A happier man or a more grateful one it would be hard to find, and if +a visitor wants an enthusiastic guide about the place, Joe is the one +to take, for all is comfort, sunshine, and good-will to him; and +he unconsciously shows how great the need of this refuge is, as +he hobbles about on his lame feet, pointing out its beauties, +conveniences, and delights with his one arm, while his face shines, +and his voice quavers a little as he says gratefully,-- + +"The State don't forget us, you see, and this is a Home wuth havin'. +Long life to it!" + + + + +WHAT THE BELLS SAW AND SAID + +[Written in 1867.] + +"Bells ring others to church, but go not in themselves." + + +No one saw the spirits of the bells up there in the old steeple at +midnight on Christmas Eve. Six quaint figures, each wrapped in a +shadowy cloak and wearing a bell-shaped cap. All were gray-headed, for +they were among the oldest bell-spirits of the city, and "the light of +other days" shone in their thoughtful eyes. Silently they sat, looking +down on the snow-covered roofs glittering in the moonlight, and the +quiet streets deserted by all but the watchmen on their chilly rounds, +and such poor souls as wandered shelterless in the winter night. +Presently one of the spirits said, in a tone, which, low as it was, +filled the belfry with reverberating echoes,-- + +"Well, brothers, are your reports ready of the year that now lies +dying?" + +All bowed their heads, and one of the oldest answered in a sonorous +voice:-- + +"My report isn't all I could wish. You know I look down on the +commercial part of our city and have fine opportunities for seeing +what goes on there. It's my business to watch the business men, and +upon my word I'm heartily ashamed of them sometimes. During the war +they did nobly, giving their time and money, their sons and selves to +the good cause, and I was proud of them. But now too many of them have +fallen back into the old ways, and their motto seems to be, 'Every one +for himself, and the devil take the hindmost.' Cheating, lying and +stealing are hard words, and I don't mean to apply them to _all_ who +swarm about below there like ants on an ant-hill--_they_ have other +names for these things, but I'm old-fashioned and use plain words. +There's a deal too much dishonesty in the world, and business seems to +have become a game of hazard in which luck, not labor, wins the prize. +When I was young, men were years making moderate fortunes, and were +satisfied with them. They built them on sure foundations, knew how to +enjoy them while they lived, and to leave a good name behind them when +they died. + +"Now it's anything for money; health, happiness, honor, life itself, +are flung down on that great gaming-table, and they forget everything +else in the excitement of success or the desperation of defeat. Nobody +seems satisfied either, for those who win have little time or taste +to enjoy their prosperity, and those who lose have little courage or +patience to support them in adversity. They don't even fail as they +used to. In my day when a merchant found himself embarrassed he didn't +ruin others in order to save himself, but honestly confessed the +truth, gave up everything, and began again. But now-a-days after all +manner of dishonorable shifts there comes a grand crash; many suffer, +but by some hocus-pocus the merchant saves enough to retire upon and +live comfortably here or abroad. It's very evident that honor and +honesty don't mean now what they used to mean in the days of old May, +Higginson and Lawrence. + +"They preach below here, and very well too sometimes, for I often +slide down the rope to peep and listen during service. But, bless you! +they don't seem to lay either sermon, psalm or prayer to heart, for +while the minister is doing his best, the congregation, tired with +the breathless hurry of the week, sleep peacefully, calculate their +chances for the morrow, or wonder which of their neighbors will lose +or win in the great game. Don't tell me! I've seen them do it, and if +I dared I'd have startled every soul of them with a rousing peal. Ah, +they don't dream whose eye is on them, they never guess what secrets +the telegraph wires tell as the messages fly by, and little know +what a report I give to the winds of heaven as I ring out above them +morning, noon, and night." And the old spirit shook his head till the +tassel on his cap jangled like a little bell. + +"There are some, however, whom I love and honor," he said, in a +benignant tone, "who honestly earn their bread, who deserve all the +success that comes to them, and always keep a warm corner in their +noble hearts for those less blest than they. These are the men who +serve the city in times of peace, save it in times of war, deserve the +highest honors in its gift, and leave behind them a record that keeps +their memories green. For such an one we lately tolled a knell, my +brothers; and as our united voices pealed over the city, in all +grateful hearts, sweeter and more solemn than any chime, rung the +words that made him so beloved,-- + +"'Treat our dead boys tenderly, and send them home to me.'" + +He ceased, and all the spirits reverently uncovered their gray heads +as a strain of music floated up from the sleeping city and died among +the stars. + +"Like yours, my report is not satisfactory in all respects," began the +second spirit, who wore a very pointed cap and a finely ornamented +cloak. But, though his dress was fresh and youthful, his face was +old, and he had nodded several times during his brother's speech. +"My greatest affliction during the past year has been the terrible +extravagance which prevails. My post, as you know, is at the court end +of the city, and I see all the fashionable vices and follies. It is +a marvel to me how so many of these immortal creatures, with such +opportunities for usefulness, self-improvement and genuine happiness +can be content to go round and round in one narrow circle of +unprofitable and unsatisfactory pursuits. I do my best to warn them; +Sunday after Sunday I chime in their ears the beautiful old hymns +that sweetly chide or cheer the hearts that truly listen and believe; +Sunday after Sunday I look down on them as they pass in, hoping to see +that my words have not fallen upon deaf ears; and Sunday after Sunday +they listen to words that should teach them much, yet seem to go by +them like the wind. They are told to love their neighbor, yet too many +hate him because he possesses more of this world's goods or honors +than they: they are told that a rich man cannot enter the kingdom of +heaven, yet they go on laying up perishable wealth, and though often +warned that moth and rust will corrupt, they fail to believe it till +the worm that destroys enters and mars their own chapel of ease. Being +a spirit, I see below external splendor and find much poverty of heart +and soul under the velvet and the ermine which should cover rich and +royal natures. Our city saints walk abroad in threadbare suits, and +under quiet bonnets shine the eyes that make sunshine in the shady +places. Often as I watch the glittering procession passing to and fro +below me. I wonder if, with all our progress, there is to-day as much +real piety as in the times when our fathers, poorly clad, with weapon +in one hand and Bible in the other, came weary distances to worship in +the wilderness with fervent faith unquenched by danger, suffering and +solitude. + +"Yet in spite of my fault-finding I love my children, as I call +them, for all are not butterflies. Many find wealth no temptation to +forgetfulness of duty or hardness of heart. Many give freely of their +abundance, pity the poor, comfort the afflicted, and make our city +loved and honored in other lands as in our own. They have their cares, +losses, and heartaches as well as the poor; it isn't all sunshine with +them, and they learn, poor souls, that + + "'Into each life some rain must fall, + Some days must be dark and dreary.' + +"But I've hopes of them, and lately they have had a teacher so genial, +so gifted, so well-beloved that all who listen to him must be better +for the lessons of charity, good-will and cheerfulness which he brings +home to them by the magic of tears and smiles. We know him, we love +him, we always remember him as the year comes round, and the blithest +song our brazen tongues utter is a Christmas carol to the Father of +'The Chimes!'" + +As the spirit spoke his voice grew cheery, his old face shone, and in +a burst of hearty enthusiasm he flung up his cap and cheered like a +boy. So did the others, and as the fairy shout echoed through the +belfry a troop of shadowy figures, with faces lovely or grotesque, +tragical or gay, sailed by on the wings of the wintry wind and waved +their hands to the spirits of the bells. + +As the excitement subsided and the spirits reseated themselves, +looking ten years younger for that burst, another spoke. A venerable +brother in a dingy mantle, with a tuneful voice, and eyes that seemed +to have grown sad with looking on much misery. + +"He loves the poor, the man we've just hurrahed for, and he makes +others love and remember them, bless him!" said the spirit. "I hope +he'll touch the hearts of those who listen to him here and beguile +them to open their hands to my unhappy children over yonder. If I +could set some of the forlorn souls in my parish beside the happier +creatures who weep over imaginary woes as they are painted by his +eloquent lips, that brilliant scene would be better than any sermon. +Day and night I look down on lives as full of sin, self-sacrifice and +suffering as any in those famous books. Day and night I try to +comfort the poor by my cheery voice, and to make their wants known by +proclaiming them with all my might. But people seem to be so intent on +business, pleasure or home duties that they have no time to hear and +answer my appeal. There's a deal of charity in this good city, and +when the people do wake up they work with a will; but I can't help +thinking that if some of the money lavished on luxuries was spent on +necessaries for the poor, there would be fewer tragedies like that +which ended yesterday. It's a short story, easy to tell, though long +and hard to live; listen to it. + +"Down yonder in the garret of one of the squalid houses at the foot of +my tower, a little girl has lived for a year, fighting silently and +single-handed a good fight against poverty and sin. I saw her when she +first came, a hopeful, cheerful, brave-hearted little soul, alone, yet +not afraid. She used to sit all day sewing at her window, and her lamp +burnt far into the night, for she was very poor, and all she earned +would barely give her food and shelter. I watched her feed the doves, +who seemed to be her only friends; she never forgot them, and daily +gave them the few crumbs that fell from her meagre table. But there +was no kind hand to feed and foster the little human dove, and so she +starved. + +"For a while she worked bravely, but the poor three dollars a week +would not clothe and feed and warm her, though the things her busy +fingers made sold for enough to keep her comfortably if she had +received it. I saw the pretty color fade from her cheeks; her eyes +grew hollow, her voice lost its cheery ring, her step its elasticity, +and her face began to wear the haggard, anxious look that made its +youth doubly pathetic. Her poor little gowns grew shabby, her shawl so +thin she shivered when the pitiless wind smote her, and her feet were +almost bare. Rain and snow beat on the patient little figure going +to and fro, each morning with hope and courage faintly shining, each +evening with the shadow of despair gathering darker round her. It was +a hard time for all, desperately hard for her, and in her poverty, sin +and pleasure tempted her. She resisted, but as another bitter winter +came she feared that in her misery she might yield, for body and soul +were weakened now by the long struggle. She knew not where to turn +for help; there seemed to be no place for her at any safe and happy +fireside; life's hard aspect daunted her, and she turned to death, +saying confidingly, 'Take me while I'm innocent and not afraid to go.' + +"I saw it all! I saw how she sold everything that would bring money +and paid her little debts to the utmost penny; how she set her poor +room in order for the last time; how she tenderly bade the doves +good-by, and lay down on her bed to die. At nine o'clock last night as +my bell rang over the city, I tried to tell what was going on in the +garret where the light was dying out so fast. I cried to them with all +my strength.-- + +"'Kind souls, below there! a fellow-creature is perishing for lack +of charity! Oh, help her before it is too late! Mothers, with little +daughters on your knees, stretch out your hands and take her in! Happy +women, in the safe shelter of home, think of her desolation! Rich men, +who grind the faces of the poor, remember that this soul will one day +be required of you! Dear Lord, let not this little sparrow fall to +the ground! Help, Christian men and women, in the name of Him whose +birthday blessed the world!' + +"Ah me! I rang, and clashed, and cried in vain. The passers-by only +said, as they hurried home, laden with Christmas cheer: 'The old bell +is merry to-night, as it should be at this blithe season, bless it!' + +"As the clocks struck ten, the poor child lay down, saying, as she +drank the last bitter draught life could give her, 'It's very cold, +but soon I shall not feel it;' and with her quiet eyes fixed on the +cross that glimmered in the moonlight above me, she lay waiting for +the sleep that needs no lullaby. + +"As the clock struck eleven, pain and poverty for her were over. It +was bitter cold, but she no longer felt it. She lay serenely sleeping, +with tired heart and hands, at rest forever. As the clocks struck +twelve, the dear Lord remembered her, and with fatherly hand led her +into the home where there is room for all. To-day I rung her knell, +and though my heart was heavy, yet my soul was glad; for in spite of +all her human woe and weakness, I am sure that little girl will keep a +joyful Christmas up in heaven." + +In the silence which the spirits for a moment kept, a breath of softer +air than any from the snowy world below swept through the steeple and +seemed to whisper, "Yes!" + +"Avast there! fond as I am of salt water, I don't like this kind," +cried the breezy voice of the fourth spirit, who had a tiny ship +instead of a tassel on his cap, and who wiped his wet eyes with the +sleeve of his rough blue cloak. "It won't take me long to spin my +yarn; for things are pretty taut and ship-shape aboard our craft. +Captain Taylor is an experienced sailor, and has brought many a ship +safely into port in spite of wind and tide, and the devil's own +whirlpools and hurricanes. If you want to see earnestness come aboard +some Sunday when the Captain's on the quarter-deck, and take an +observation. No danger of falling asleep there, no more than there is +up aloft, 'when the stormy winds do blow.' Consciences get raked fore +and aft, sins are blown clean out of the water, false colors are +hauled down and true ones run up to the masthead, and many an immortal +soul is warned to steer off in time from the pirates, rocks and +quicksands of temptation. He's a regular revolving light, is the +Captain,--a beacon always burning and saying plainly, 'Here are +life-boats, ready to put off in all weathers and bring the shipwrecked +into quiet waters.' He comes but seldom now, being laid up in the home +dock, tranquilly waiting till his turn comes to go out with the tide +and safely ride at anchor in the great harbor of the Lord. Our crew +varies a good deal. Some of 'em have rather rough voyages, and come +into port pretty well battered; land-sharks fall foul of a good many, +and do a deal of damage; but most of 'em carry brave and tender hearts +under the blue jackets, for their rough nurse, the sea, manages to +keep something of the child alive in the grayest old tar that makes +the world his picture-book. We try to supply 'em with life-preservers +while at sea, and make 'em feel sure of a hearty welcome when ashore, +and I believe the year '67 will sail away into eternity with a +satisfactory cargo. Brother North-End made me pipe my eye; so I'll +make him laugh to pay for it, by telling a clerical joke I heard the +other day. Bellows didn't make it, though he might have done so, as +he's a connection of ours, and knows how to use his tongue as well +as any of us. Speaking of the bells of a certain town, a reverend +gentleman affirmed that each bell uttered an appropriate remark so +plainly, that the words were audible to all. The Baptist bell cried, +briskly, 'Come up and be dipped! come up and be dipped!' The +Episcopal bell slowly said, 'Apos-tol-ic suc-cess-ion! apos-tol-ic +suc-cess-ion!' The Orthodox bell solemnly pronounced, 'Eternal +damnation! eternal damnation!' and the Methodist shouted, invitingly, +'Room for all! room for all!'" + +As the spirit imitated the various calls, as only a jovial bell-sprite +could, the others gave him a chime of laughter, and vowed they would +each adopt some tuneful summons, which should reach human ears and +draw human feet more willingly to church. + +"Faith, brother, you've kept your word and got the laugh out of us," +cried a stout, sleek spirit, with a kindly face, and a row of little +saints round his cap and a rosary at his side. "It's very well we are +doing this year; the cathedral is full, the flock increasing, and the +true faith holding its own entirely. Ye may shake your heads if you +will and fear there'll be trouble, but I doubt it. We've warm hearts +of our own, and the best of us don't forget that when we were +starving, America--the saints bless the jewel!--sent us bread; when we +were dying for lack of work, America opened her arms and took us in, +and now helps us to build churches, homes and schools by giving us a +share of the riches all men work for and win. It's a generous nation +ye are, and a brave one, and we showed our gratitude by fighting for +ye in the day of trouble and giving ye our Phil, and many another +broth of a boy. The land is wide enough for us both, and while we work +and fight and grow together, each may learn something from the other. +I'm free to confess that your religion looks a bit cold and hard to +me, even here in the good city where each man may ride his own hobby +to death, and hoot at his neighbors as much as he will. You seem to +keep your piety shut up all the week in your bare, white churches, and +only let it out on Sundays, just a trifle musty with disuse. You set +your rich, warm and soft to the fore, and leave the poor shivering at +the door. You give your people bare walls to look upon, common-place +music to listen to, dull sermons to put them asleep, and then wonder +why they stay away, or take no interest when they come. + +"We leave our doors open day and night; our lamps are always burning, +and we may come into our Father's house at any hour. We let rich and +poor kneel together, all being equal there. With us abroad you'll see +prince and peasant side by side, school-boy and bishop, market-woman +and noble lady, saint and sinner, praying to the Holy Mary, whose +motherly arms are open to high and low. We make our churches inviting +with immortal music, pictures by the world's great masters, and rites +that are splendid symbols of the faith we hold. Call it mummery if +ye like, but let me ask you why so many of your sheep stray into our +fold? It's because they miss the warmth, the hearty, the maternal +tenderness which all souls love and long for, and fail to find in your +stern. Puritanical belief. By Saint Peter! I've seen many a lukewarm +worshipper, who for years has nodded in your cushioned pews, wake and +glow with something akin to genuine piety while kneeling on the stone +pavement of one of our cathedrals, with Raphael's angels before his +eyes, with strains of magnificent music in his ears, and all about +him, in shapes of power or beauty, the saints and martyrs who have +saved the world, and whose presence inspires him to follow their +divine example. It's not complaining of ye I am, but just reminding ye +that men are but children after all, and need more tempting to virtue +than they do to vice, which last comes easy to 'em since the Fall. Do +your best in your own ways to get the poor souls into bliss, and good +luck to ye. But remember, there's room in the Holy Mother Church for +all, and when your own priests send ye to the divil, come straight to +us and we'll take ye in." + +"A truly Catholic welcome, bull and all," said the sixth spirit, who, +in spite of his old-fashioned garments, had a youthful face, earnest, +fearless eyes, and an energetic voice that woke the echoes with its +vigorous tones. "I've a hopeful report, brothers, for the reforms of +the day are wheeling into rank and marching on. The war isn't over nor +rebeldom conquered yet, but the Old Guard has been 'up and at 'em' +through the year. There has been some hard fighting, rivers of ink +have flowed, and the Washington dawdlers have signalized themselves by +a 'masterly inactivity.' The political campaign has been an anxious +one; some of the leaders have deserted; some been mustered out; some +have fallen gallantly, and as yet have received no monuments. But at +the Grand Review the Cross of the Legion of Honor will surely shine on +many a brave breast that won no decoration but its virtue here; for +the world's fanatics make heaven's heroes, poets say. + +"The flock of Nightingales that flew South during the 'winter of our +discontent' are all at home again, some here and some in Heaven. But +the music of their womanly heroism still lingers in the nation's +memory, and makes a tender minor-chord in the battle-hymn of freedom. + +"The reform in literature isn't as vigorous as I could wish; but a +sharp attack of mental and moral dyspepsia will soon teach _our_ +people that French confectionery and the bad pastry of Wood, Bracdon, +Yates & Co. is not the best diet for the rising generation. + +"Speaking of the rising generation reminds me of the schools. They are +doing well; they always are, and we are justly proud of them. +There may be a slight tendency toward placing too much value +upon book-learning; too little upon home culture. Our girls are +acknowledged to be uncommonly pretty, witty and wise, but some of +us wish they had more health and less excitement, more domestic +accomplishments and fewer ologies and isms, and were contented with +simple pleasures and the old-fashioned virtues, and not quite so fond +of the fast, frivolous life that makes them old so soon. I am fond +of our girls and boys. I love to ring for their christenings and +marriages, to toll proudly for the brave lads in blue, and tenderly +for the innocent creatures whose seats are empty under my old roof. +I want to see them anxious to make Young America a model of virtue, +strength and beauty, and I believe they will in time. + +"There have been some important revivals in religion; for the world +won't stand still, and we must keep pace or be left behind to +fossilize. A free nation must have a religion broad enough to embrace +all mankind, deep enough to fathom and fill the human soul, high +enough to reach the source of all love and wisdom, and pure enough to +satisfy the wisest and the best. Alarm bells have been rung, anathemas +pronounced, and Christians, forgetful of their creed, have abused +one another heartily. But the truth always triumphs in the end, and +whoever sincerely believes, works and waits for it, by whatever +name he calls it, will surely find his own faith blessed to him in +proportion to his charity for the faith of others. + +"But look!--the first red streaks of dawn are in the East. Our vigil +is over, and we must fly home to welcome in the holidays. Before we +part, join with me, brothers, in resolving that through the coming +year we will with all our hearts and tongues,-- + + "'Ring out the old, ring in the new, + Ring out the false, ring in the true; + Ring in the valiant man and free, + Ring in the Christ that is to be.'" + +Then hand in hand the spirits of the bells floated away, singing in +the hush of dawn the sweet song the stars sung over Bethlehem,--"Peace +on earth, good will to men." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KITTY'S CLASS DAY AND OTHER +STORIES*** + + +******* This file should be named 10360-8.txt or 10360-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/3/6/10360 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** diff --git a/old/10360-8.zip b/old/10360-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..31f2ba3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10360-8.zip diff --git a/old/10360.txt b/old/10360.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..801cdf9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10360.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9381 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Kitty's Class Day And Other Stories, by +Louisa M. Alcott + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Kitty's Class Day And Other Stories + +Author: Louisa M. Alcott + +Release Date: December 1, 2003 [eBook #10360] + +Language: English + +Chatacter set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KITTY'S CLASS DAY AND OTHER +STORIES*** + + +E-text prepared by Josephine Paolucci and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +KITTY'S CLASS DAY AND OTHER STORIES + +By + +Louisa M. Alcott + +Author of "Little Women," etc. + +Originally published under the title + +"PROVERB STORIES" + +1882 + + + + + + +[Illustration: Deeper in the wood sounded the measured ring of axes] + + + +PREFACE + + +Being forbidden to write anything at present I have collected various +waifs and strays to appease the young people who clamor for more, +forgetting that mortal brains need rest. + +As many girls have asked to see what sort of tales Jo March wrote at +the beginning of her career, I have added "The Baron's Gloves," as a +sample of the romantic rubbish which paid so well once upon a time. If +it shows them what _not_ to write it will not have been rescued from +oblivion in vain. + +L. M. ALCOTT. + + + + +CONTENTS + + KITTY'S CLASS DAY + AUNT KIPP + PSYCHE'S ART + A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS + ON PICKET DUTY + THE BARON'S GLOVES + MY RED CAP + WHAT THE BELLS SAW AND SAID + + + + +PROVERB STORIES + + + + +KITTY'S CLASS DAY + +"A stitch in time saves nine." + + +"O Pris, Pris, I'm really going! Here's the invitation--rough +paper--Chapel--spreads--Lyceum Hall--everything splendid; and Jack to +take care of me!" + +As Kitty burst into the room and performed a rapturous _pas seul_, +waving the cards over her head, sister Priscilla looked up from her +work with a smile of satisfaction on her quiet face. + +"Who invites you, dear?" + +"Why, Jack, of course,--dear old cousin Jack. Nobody else ever thinks +of me, or cares whether I have a bit of pleasure now and then. Isn't +he kind? Mayn't I go? and, O Pris, what _shall_ I wear?" + +Kitty paused suddenly, as if the last all-important question had a +solemnizing effect upon both mind and body. + +"Why, your white muslin, silk sacque, and new hat, of course," began +Pris with an air of surprise. But Kitty broke in impetuously,-- + +"I'll never wear that old muslin again; it's full of darns, up to my +knees, and all out of fashion. So is my sacque; and as for my hat, +though it does well enough here, it would be absurd for Class Day." + +"You don't expect an entirely new suit for this occasion,--do you?" +asked Pris, anxiously. + +"Yes, I do, and I'll tell you how I mean to get it. I've planned +everything; for, though I hardly dreamed of going, I amused myself by +thinking how I could manage if I _did_ get invited." + +"Let us hear." And Pris took up her work with an air of resignation. + +"First, my dress," began Kitty, perching herself on the arm of the +sofa, and entering into the subject with enthusiasm. "I've got the ten +dollars grandpa sent me, and with eight of it I'm going to buy +Lizzie King's organdie muslin. She got it in Paris; but her aunt +providentially--no, unfortunately--died; so she can't wear it, and +wants to get rid of it. She is bigger than I am, you know; so there is +enough for a little mantle or sacque, for it isn't made up. The skirt +is cut off and gored, with a splendid train--" + +"My dear, you don't mean you are going to wear one of those absurd, +new-fashioned dresses?" exclaimed Pris, lifting hands and eyes. + +"I do! Nothing would induce me to go to Class Day without a train. +It's been the desire of my heart to have one, and now I _will_, if +I never have another gown to my back!" returned Kitty, with immense +decision. + +Pris shook her head, and said, "Go on!" as if prepared for any +extravagance after that. + +"We can make it ourselves," continued Kitty, "and trim it with the +same. It's white with blue stripes and daisies in the stripes; the +loveliest thing you ever saw, and can't be got here. So simple, +yet distingue, I know you'll like it. Next, my bonnet,"--here the +solemnity of Kitty's face and manner was charming to behold. "I shall +make it out of one of my new illusion undersleeves. I've never worn +them; and the puffed part will be a plenty for a little fly-away +bonnet of the latest style. I've got blue ribbons to tie it with, and +have only to look up some daisies for the inside. With my extra two +dollars I shall buy my gloves, and pay my fares,--and there I am, all +complete." + +She looked so happy, so pretty, and full of girlish satisfaction, that +sister Pris couldn't bear to disturb the little plan, much as she +disapproved of it. They were poor, and every penny had to be counted. +There were plenty of neighbors to gossip and criticise, and plenty of +friends to make disagreeable remarks on any unusual extravagance. +Pris saw things with the prudent eyes of thirty, but Kitty with the +romantic eyes of seventeen; and the elder sister, in the kindness of +her heart, had no wish to sadden life to those bright young eyes, +or deny the child a harmless pleasure. She sewed thoughtfully for a +minute, then looked up, saying, with the smile that always assured +Kitty the day was won,-- + +"Get your things together, and we will see what can be done. But +remember, dear, that it is both bad taste and bad economy for poor +people to try to ape the rich." + +"You're a perfect angel, Pris; so don't moralize. I'll run and get the +dress, and we'll begin at once, for there is much to do, and only +two days to do it in." And Kitty skipped away, singing "Lauriger +Horatius," at the top of her voice. + +Priscilla soon found that the girl's head was completely turned by the +advice and example of certain fashionable young neighbors. It was in +vain for Pris to remonstrate and warn. + +"Just this once let me do as others do, and thoroughly enjoy myself." +pleaded Kitty; and Pris yielded, saying to herself, "She shall have +her wish, and if she learns a lesson, neither time nor money will be +lost." + +So they snipped and sewed, and planned and pieced, going through all +the alternations of despair and triumph, worry and satisfaction, which +women undergo when a new suit is under way. Company kept coming, for +news of Kitty's expedition had flown abroad, and her young friends +must just run in to hear about it, and ask what she was going to wear; +while Kitty was so glad and proud to tell, and show, and enjoy her +little triumph that many half hours were wasted, and the second day +found much still to do. + +The lovely muslin didn't hold out, and Kitty sacrificed the waist to +the train, for a train she must have or the whole thing would be an +utter failure. A little sacque was eked out, however, and when the +frills were on, it was "ravishing," as Kitty said, with a sigh of +mingled delight and fatigue. The gored skirt was a fearful job, as any +one who has ever plunged into the mysteries will testify; and before +the facing, even experienced Pris quailed. + +The bonnet also was a trial, for when the lace was on, it was +discovered that the ribbons didn't match the dress. Here was a +catastrophe! Kitty frantically rummaged the house, the shops, the +stores of her friends, and rummaged in vain. There was no time to send +to the city, and despair was about to fall on Kitty, when Pris rescued +her by quietly making one of the small sacrifices which were easy to +her because her life was spent for others. Some one suggested a strip +of blue illusion,--and that could be got; but, alas! Kitty had +no money, for the gloves were already bought. Pris heard the +lamentations, and giving up fresh ribbons for herself, pulled her +sister out of a slough of despond with two yards of "heavenly tulle." + +"Now the daisies; and oh, dear me, not one can I find in this +poverty-stricken town," sighed Kitty, prinking at the glass, and +fervently hoping that nothing would happen to her complexion over +night. + +"I see plenty just like those on your dress," answered Pris, nodding +toward the meadow full of young whiteweed. + +"Pris, you're a treasure! I'll wear real ones; they keep well, I know, +and are so common I can refresh my bonnet anywhere. It's a splendid +idea." + +Away rushed Kitty to return with an apron full of American daisies. A +pretty cluster was soon fastened just over the left-hand frizzle of +bright hair, and the little bonnet was complete. + +"Now, Pris, tell me how I look," cried Kitty, as she swept into the +room late that afternoon in full gala costume. + +It would have been impossible for the primmest, the sourest, or the +most sensible creature in the world to say that it wasn't a pretty +sight. The long train, the big chignon, the apology for a bonnet, were +all ridiculous,--no one could deny that,--but youth, beauty, and a +happy heart made even those absurdities charming. The erect young +figure gave an air to the crisp folds of the delicate dress; the +bright eyes and fresh cheeks under the lace rosette made one forget +its size; and the rippling brown hair won admiration in spite of the +ugly bunch which disfigured the girl's head. The little jacket set +"divinely," the new gloves were as immaculate as white kids could be, +and to crown all, Lizzie King, in a burst of generosity, lent Kitty +the blue and white Paris sunshade which she couldn't use herself. + +"Now I could die content; I'm perfect in all respects, and I know Jack +won't be ashamed of me. I really owe it to him to look my best, you +know, and that's why I'm so particular," said Kitty, in an apologetic +tone, as she began to lay away her finery. + +"I hope you will enjoy every minute of the time, deary. Don't forget +to finish running up the facing; I've basted it carefully, and would +do it if my head didn't ache so, I really can't hold it up any +longer," answered Pris, who had worked like a disinterested bee, while +Kitty had flown about like a distracted butterfly. + +"Go and lie down, you dear, kind soul, and don't think of my nonsense +again," said Kitty, feeling remorseful, till Pris was comfortably +asleep, when she went to her room and revelled in her finery till +bedtime. So absorbed was she in learning to manage her train +gracefully, that she forgot the facing till very late. Then, being +worn out with work and worry, she did, what girls are too apt to do, +stuck a pin here and there, and, trusting to Priscilla's careful +bastings, left it as it was, retiring to dream of a certain Horace +Fletcher, whose aristocratic elegance had made a deep impression upon +her during the few evenings she had seen him. + +Nothing could have been lovelier than the morning, and few hearts +happier than Kitty's, as she arrayed herself with the utmost care, and +waited in solemn state for the carriage; for muslin trains and dewy +roads were incompatible, and one luxury brought another. + +"My goodness, where did she get that stylish suit?" whispered Miss +Smith to Miss Jones, as Kitty floated into the station with all sail +set, finding it impossible to resist the temptation to astonish +certain young ladies who had snubbed her in times past, which snubs +had rankled, and were now avenged. + +"I looked everywhere for a muslin for to-day and couldn't find any I +liked, so I was forced to wear my mauve silk," observed Miss Smith, +complacently settling the silvery folds of her dress. + +"It's very pretty, but one ruins a silk at Class Day, you know. I +thought this organdie would be more comfortable and appropriate this +warm day. A friend brought it from Paris, and it's like one the +Princess of Wales wore at the great flower-show this year," returned +Kitty, with the air of a young lady who had all her dresses from +Paris, and was intimately acquainted with the royal family. + +"Those girls" were entirely extinguished by this stroke, and hadn't +a word to say for themselves, while Kitty casually mentioned Horace +Fletcher, Lyceum Hall, and Cousin Jack, for _they_ had only a little +Freshman brother to boast of, and were _not_ going to Lyceum Hall. + +As she stepped out of the cars at Cambridge, Jack opened his honest +blue eyes and indulged in a low whistle of astonishment: for if there +was anything he especially hated, it was the trains, chignons and tiny +bonnets then in fashion. He was very fond of Kitty, and prided himself +on being able to show his friends a girl who was charming, and yet not +over-dressed. + +"She has made a regular guy of herself; I won't tell her so, and the +dear little soul shall have a jolly time in spite of her fuss and +feathers. But I do wish she had let her hair alone and worn that +pretty hat of hers." + +As this thought passed through Jack's mind he smiled and bowed and +made his way among the crowd, whispering as he drew his cousin's arm +through his own,-- + +"Why, Kitty, you're got up regardless of expense, aren't you? I'm so +glad you came, we'll have a rousing good time, and you shall see all +the fun." + +"Oh, thank you, Jack! Do I look nice, really? I tried to be a credit +to you and Pris, and I did have such a job of it. I'll make you laugh +over it some time. A carriage for me? Bless us, how fine we are!" and +Kitty stepped in, feeling that only one thing more was needed to make +her cup overflow. That one thing was speedily vouchsafed, for before +her skirts were smoothly settled, Jack called out, in his hearty +way,-- + +"How are you, Fletcher? If you are bound for Chapel I'll take you up." + +"Thanks; good-morning, Miss Heath." + +It was all done in an instant, and the next thing Kitty knew she was +rolling away with the elegant Horace sitting opposite. How little +it takes to make a young girl happy! A pretty dress, sunshine, and +somebody opposite, and they are blest. Kitty's face glowed and dimpled +with pleasure as she glanced about her, especially when _she_, sitting +in state with two gentlemen all to herself, passed "those girls" +walking in the dust with a beardless boy; she felt that she could +forgive past slights, and did so with a magnanimous smile and bow. + +Both Jack and Fletcher had graduated the year before, but still took +an interest in their old haunts, and patronized the fellows who were +not yet through the mill, at least the Seniors and Juniors; of Sophs +and Freshs they were sublimely unconscious. Greeted by frequent slaps +on the shoulder, and hearty "How are you, old fellows," they piloted +Kitty to a seat in the chapel. An excellent place, but the girl's +satisfaction was marred by Fletcher's desertion, and she could not see +anything attractive about the dashing young lady in the pink bonnet to +whom he devoted himself, "because she was a stranger," Kitty said. + +Everybody knows what goes on in the Chapel, after the fight and +scramble are over. The rustle and buzz, the music, the oratory and the +poem, during which the men cheer and the girls simper; the professors +yawn, and the poet's friends pronounce him a second Longfellow. Then +the closing flourishes, the grand crush, and general scattering. + +Then the fun really begins, as far as the young folks are concerned. +_They_ don't mind swarming up and down stairs in a solid phalanx; they +can enjoy half a dozen courses of salad, ice and strawberries, with +stout gentlemen crushing their feet, anxious mammas sticking sharp +elbows into their sides, and absent-minded tutors walking over them. +They can flirt vigorously in a torrid atmosphere of dinner, dust, +and din; can smile with hot coffee running down their backs, small +avalanches of ice-cream descending upon their best bonnets, and +sandwiches, butter-side down, reposing on their delicate silks. They +know that it is a costly rapture, but they carefully refrain from +thinking of the morrow, and energetically illustrate the Yankee maxim +which bids us enjoy ourselves in our early bloom. + +Kitty did have "a rousing good time;" for Jack was devoted, taking +her everywhere, showing her everything, feeding and fanning her, +and festooning her train with untiring patience. How many forcible +expressions he mentally indulged in as he walked on that unlucky train +we will not record; he smiled and skipped and talked of treading on +flowers in a way that would have charmed Kitty, if some one else had +not been hovering about "The Daisy," as Fletcher called her. + +After he returned, she neglected Jack, who took it coolly, and was +never in the way unless she wanted him. For the first time in her +life, Kitty deliberately flirted. The little coquetries, which are as +natural to a gay young girl as her laughter, were all in full play, +and had she gone no further no harm would have been done. But, +excited by the example of those about her, Kitty tried to enact the +fashionable young lady, and, like most novices, she overdid the part. +Quite forgetting her cousin, she tossed her head, twirled her fan, +gave affected little shrieks at college jokes, and talked college +slang in a way that convulsed Fletcher, who enjoyed the fun immensely. + +Jack saw it all, shook his head and said nothing; but his face +grew rather sober as he watched Kitty, flushed, dishevelled, and +breathless, whirling round Lyceum Hall, on the arm of Fletcher, who +danced divinely, as all the girls agreed. Jack had proposed going, but +Kitty had frowned, so he fell back, leaving her to listen and laugh, +blush and shrink a little at her partner's flowery compliments and +admiring glances. + +"If she stands that long she's not the girl I took her for," thought +Jack, beginning to lose patience. "She doesn't look like my little +Kitty, and somehow I don't feel half so fond and proud of her as +usual. I know one thing, _my_ daughters shall never be seen knocking +about in that style." + +As if the thought suggested the act, Jack suddenly assumed an air of +paternal authority, and, arresting his cousin as she was about to +begin again, he said, in a tone she had never heard before,-- + +"I promised Pris to take care of you, so I shall carry you off to +rest, and put yourself to rights after this game of romps. I advise +you to do the same, Fletcher, or give your friend in the pink bonnet a +turn." + +Kitty took Jack's arm pettishly, but glanced over her shoulder with +such an inviting smile that Fletcher followed, feeling very much like +a top, in danger of tumbling down the instant he stopped spinning. As +she came out Kitty's face cleared, and, assuming her sprightliest air, +she spread her plumage and prepared to descend with effect, for a +party of uninvited _peris_ stood at the gate of this Paradise casting +longing glances at the forbidden splendors within. Slowly, that all +might see her, Kitty sailed down, with Horace, the debonair, in her +wake, and was just thinking to herself, "Those girls won't get over +this very soon, I fancy," when all in one moment she heard Fletcher +exclaim, wrathfully, "Hang the flounces!" she saw a very glossy black +hat come skipping down the steps, felt a violent twitch backward, and, +to save herself from a fall, sat down on the lower step with most +undignified haste. + +It was impossible for the bystanders to help laughing, for there was +Fletcher hopping wildly about, with one foot nicely caught in a muslin +loop, and there sat Kitty longing to run away and hide herself, yet +perfectly helpless, while every one tittered. Miss Jones and Miss +Smith laughed shrilly, and the despised little Freshman completed her +mortification, by a feeble joke about Kitty Heath's new man-trap. It +was only an instant, but it seemed an hour before Fletcher freed her, +and snatching up the dusty beaver, left her with a flushed countenance +and an abrupt bow. + +If it hadn't been for Jack, Kitty would have burst into tears then and +there, so terrible was the sense of humiliation which oppressed her. +For his sake she controlled herself, and, bundling up her torn train, +set her teeth, stared straight before her, and let him lead her in +dead silence to a friend's room near by. There he locked the door, and +began to comfort her by making light of the little mishap. But Kitty +cried so tragically, that he was at his wit's end, till the ludicrous +side of the affair struck her, and she began to laugh hysterically. +With a vague idea that vigorous treatment was best for that feminine +ailment, Jack was about to empty the contents of an ice-pitcher over +her, when she arrested him, by exclaiming, incoherently,-- + +"Oh, don't!--it was so funny!--how can you laugh, you cruel boy?--I'm +disgraced, forever--take me home to Pris, oh, take me home to Pris!" + +"I will, my dear, I will; but first let me right you up a bit; you +look as if you had been hazed, upon my life you do;" and Jack laughed +in spite of himself at the wretched little object before him, for +dust, dancing, and the downfall produced a ruinous spectacle. + +That broke Kitty's heart; and, spreading her hands before her face, +she was about to cry again, when the sad sight which met her eyes +dispelled the gathering tears. The new gloves were both split up the +middle and very dirty with clutching at the steps as she went down. + +"Never mind, you can wash them," said Jack, soothingly. + +"I paid a dollar and a half for them, and they can't be washed," +groaned Kitty. + +"Oh, hang the gloves! I meant your hands," cried Jack, trying to keep +sober. + +"No matter for my hands, I mourn my gloves. But I won't cry any more, +for my head aches now so I can hardly see." And Kitty threw off her +bonnet, as if even that airy trifle hurt her. + +Seeing how pale she looked, Jack tenderly suggested a rest on the old +sofa, and a wet handkerchief on her hot forehead, while he got the +good landlady to send her up a cup of tea. As Kitty rose to comply +she glanced at her dress, and, clasping her hands, exclaimed, +tragically,--"The facing, the fatal facing! That made all the +mischief, for if I'd sewed it last night it wouldn't have ripped +to-day; if it hadn't ripped Fletcher wouldn't have got his foot in it, +I shouldn't have made an object of myself, he wouldn't have gone off +in a rage, and--who knows what might have happened?" + +"Bless the what's-its-name if it has settled him," cried Jack. "He is +a contemptible fellow not to stay and help you out of the scrape he +got you into. Follow his lead and don't trouble yourself about him." + +"Well, he _was_ rather absurd to-day, I allow; but he _has_ got +handsome eyes and hands, and he _does_ dance like an angel," sighed +Kitty, as she pinned up the treacherous loop which had brought +destruction to her little castle in the air. + +"Handsome eyes, white hands, and angelic feet don't make a man. Wait +till you can do better, Kit." + +With an odd, grave look, that rather startled Kitty, Jack vanished, to +return presently with a comfortable cup of tea and a motherly old lady +to help repair damages and soothe her by the foolish little purrings +and pattings so grateful to female nerves after a flurry. + +"I'll come back and take you out to see the dance round the tree when +you've had a bit of a rest," said Jack, vibrating between door and +sofa as if it wasn't easy to get away. + +"Oh, I couldn't," cried Kitty, with a shudder at the bare idea of +meeting any one. "I can't be seen again to-night; let me stay here +till my train goes." + +"I thought it had gone, already," said Jack, with an irrepressible +twinkle of the eye that glanced at the draggled dress sweeping the +floor. + +"How _can_ you joke about it!" and the girl's reproachful eyes filled +with tears of shame. "I know I've been very silly, Jack, but I've had +my punishment, and I don't need any more. To feel that you despise me +is worse than all the rest." + +She ended with a little sob, and turned her face away to hide the +trembling of her lips. At that, Jack flushed up, his eyes shone, +and he stooped suddenly as if to make some impetuous reply. But, +remembering the old lady (who, by the by, was discreetly looking out +of the window), he put his hands in his pockets and strolled out of +the room. + +"I've lost them both by this day's folly," thought Kitty, as Mrs. +Brown departed with the teacup. "I don't care for Fletcher, for I dare +say he didn't mean half he said, and I was only flattered because he +is rich and handsome and the girls glorify him. But I shall miss Jack, +for I've known and loved him all my life. How good he's been to me +to-day! so patient, careful, and kind, though he must have been +ashamed of me. I know he didn't like my dress; but he never said a +word and stood by me through everything. Oh, I wish I'd minded Pris! +then he would have respected me, at least; I wonder if he ever will, +again?" + +Following a sudden impulse, Kitty sprang up, locked the door, and then +proceeded to destroy all her little vanities as far as possible. She +smoothed out her crimps with a wet and ruthless hand; fastened up her +pretty hair in the simple way Jack liked; gave her once cherished +bonnet a spiteful shake, as she put it on, and utterly extinguished it +with a big blue veil. She looped up her dress, leaving no vestige of +the now hateful train, and did herself up uncompromisingly in the +Quakerish gray shawl Pris had insisted on her taking for the evening. +Then she surveyed herself with pensive satisfaction, saying, in the +tone of one bent on resolutely mortifying the flesh,-- + +"Neat but not gaudy; I'm a fright, but I deserve it, and it's better +than being a peacock." + +Kitty had time to feel a little friendless and forlorn, sitting there +alone as twilight fell, and amused herself by wondering if Fletcher +would come to inquire about her, or show any further interest in her; +yet when the sound of a manly tramp approached, she trembled lest it +should be the victim of the fatal facing. The door opened, and with a +sigh of relief she saw Jack come in, bearing a pair of new gloves in +one hand and a great bouquet of June roses in the other. + +"How good of you to bring me these! They are more refreshing than +oceans of tea. You know what I like, Jack; thank you very much" cried +Kitty, sniffing at her roses with grateful rapture. + +"And you know what I like," returned Jack, with an approving glance at +the altered figure before him. + +"I'll never do so any more," murmured Kitty, wondering why she felt +bashful all of a sudden, when it was only cousin Jack. + +"Now put on your gloves, dear, and come out and hear the music: your +train doesn't go for two hours yet, and you mustn't mope here all that +time," said Jack, offering his second gift. + +"How did you know my size?" asked Kitty, putting on the gloves in a +hurry; for though Jack had called her "dear" for years, the little +word had a new sound to-night. + +"I guessed,--no, I didn't, I had the old ones with me; they are no +good now, are they?" and too honest to lie, Jack tried to speak +carelessly, though he turned red in the dusk, well knowing that the +dirty little gloves were folded away in his left breast-pocket at that +identical moment. + +"Oh, dear, no! these fit nicely. I'm ready, if you don't mind going +with such a fright," said Kitty, forgetting her dread of seeing people +in her desire to get away from that room, because for the first time +in her life she wasn't at ease with Jack. + +"I think I like the little gray moth better than the fine butterfly," +returned Jack, who, in spite of his invitation, seemed to find +"moping" rather pleasant. + +"You are a rainy-day friend, and he isn't," said Kitty, softly, as she +drew him away. + +Jack's only answer was to lay his hand on the little white glove +resting so confidingly on his arm, and, keeping it there, they roamed +away into the summer twilight. + +Something had happened to the evening and the place, for both seemed +suddenly endowed with uncommon beauty and interest. The dingy old +houses might have been fairy palaces, for anything they saw to the +contrary; the dusty walks, the trampled grass, were regular Elysian +fields to them, and the music was the music of the spheres, though +they found themselves "Right in the middle of the boom, jing, jing." +For both had made a little discovery,--no, not a little one, the +greatest and sweetest man and woman can make. In the sharp twinge of +jealousy which the sight of Kitty's flirtation with Fletcher gave him, +and the delight he found in her after conduct, Jack discovered how +much he loved her. In the shame, gratitude, and half sweet, half +bitter emotion that filled her heart, Kitty felt that to her Jack +would never be "only cousin Jack" any more. All the vanity, coquetry, +selfishness, and ill-temper of the day seemed magnified to heinous +sins, for now her only thought was, "seeing these faults, he _can't_ +care for me. Oh, I wish I was a better girl!" + +She did not say "for his sake," but in the new humility, the ardent +wish to be all that a woman should be, little Kitty proved how true +her love was, and might have said with Portia,-- + + "For myself alone, I would not be + Ambitious in my wish; but, for you, + I would be trebled twenty times myself; + A thousand times more fair, + Ten thousand times more rich." + +All about them other pairs were wandering under the patriarchal elms, +enjoying music, starlight, balmy winds, and all the luxuries of the +season. If the band had played + + "Oh, there's nothing half so sweet in life + As love's young dream--" + +it is my private opinion that it would have suited the audience to +a T. Being principally composed of elderly gentlemen with large +families, they had not that fine sense of the fitness of things so +charming to see, and tooted and banged away with waltzes and marches, +quite regardless of the flocks of Romeos and Juliets philandering all +about them. + +Under cover of a popular medley, Kitty overheard Fletcher quizzing her +for the amusement of Miss Pinkbonnet, who was evidently making up +for lost time. It was feeble wit, but it put the finishing stroke to +Kitty's vanity, and she dropped a tear in her blue tissue retreat, and +clung to Jack, feeling that she had never valued him half enough. She +hoped he didn't hear the gossip going on at the other side of the tree +near which they stood; but he did, for his hand involuntarily doubled +itself up into a very dangerous-looking fist, and he darted such +fiery glances at the speaker, that, if the thing had been possible. +Fletcher's ambrosial curls would have been scorched off his head. + +"Never mind, and don't get angry, Jack. They are right about one +thing,--the daisies in my bonnet _were_ real, and I _couldn't_ afford +any others. I don't care much, only Pris worked so hard to get me +ready I hate to have my things made fun of." + +"He isn't worth a thrashing, so we'll let it pass this time," said +Jack, irefully, yet privately resolving to have it out with Fletcher +by and by. + +"Why, Kitty, I thought the real daisies the prettiest things about +your dress. Don't throw them away. I'll wear them just to show that +noodle that I prefer nature to art;" and Jack gallantly stuck the +faded posy in his button-hole, while Kitty treasured up the hint so +kindly given for future use. + +If a clock with great want of tact hadn't insisted on telling them +that it was getting late, Kitty never would have got home, for both +the young people felt inclined to loiter about arm in arm through the +sweet summer night forever. + +Jack had meant to say something before she went, and was immensely +surprised to find the chance lost for the present. He wanted to go +home with her and free his mind; but a neighborly old gentleman having +been engaged as escort, there would have been very little satisfaction +in a travelling trio; so he gave it up. He was very silent as they +walked to the station with Dr. Dodd trudging behind them. Kitty +thought he was tired, perhaps glad to be rid of her, and meekly +accepted her fate. But as the train approached, she gave his hand an +impulsive squeeze, and said very gratefully,-- + +"Jack, I can't thank you enough for your kindness to your silly little +cousin; but I never shall forget it, and if I ever can return it in +any way, I will with all my heart." + +Jack looked down at the young face almost pathetic now with weariness, +humility, and pain, yet very sweet, with that new shyness in the +loving eyes, and, stooping suddenly, he kissed it, whispering in a +tone that made the girl's heart flutter,-- + +"I'll tell you how you may return it 'with all your heart,' by and by. +Good-night, my Kitty." + +"Have you had a good time, dear?" asked Pris, as her sister appeared +an hour later. + +"Don't I look as if I had?" and, throwing off her wraps, Kitty +revolved slowly before her that she might behold every portion of the +wreck. "My gown is all dust, crumple, and rags, my bonnet perfectly +limp and flat, and my gloves are ruined; I've broken Lizzie's parasol, +made a spectacle of myself, and wasted money, time, and temper; yet my +Class Day isn't a failure, for Jack is the dearest boy in the world, +and I'm very, very happy!" + +Pris looked at her a minute, then opened her arms without a word, and +Kitty forgot all her little troubles in one great joy. + +When Miss Smith and Miss Jones called a few days after to tell her +that Mr. Fletcher was going abroad, the amiable creatures were +entirely routed by finding Jack there in a most unmistakable +situation. He blandly wished Horace "bon voyage," and regretted that +he wouldn't be there to the wedding in October. Kitty devoted herself +to blushing beautifully, and darning many rents in a short daisy +muslin skirt, "which I intend to wear a great deal, because Jack likes +it, and so do I," she said, with a demure look at her lover, who +laughed as if that was the best joke of the season. + + + + +AUNT KIPP + +"Children and fools speak the truth." + + +I + + +"What's that sigh for, Polly dear?" "I'm tired, mother, tired of +working and waiting. If I'm ever going to have any fun, I want it +_now_ while I can enjoy it." + +"You shouldn't wait another hour if I could have my way; but you +know how helpless I am;" and poor Mrs. Snow sighed dolefully, as she +glanced about the dingy room and pretty Mary turning her faded gown +for the second time. + +"If Aunt Kipp would give us the money she is always talking about, +instead of waiting till she dies, we should be _so_ comfortable. She +is a dreadful bore, for she lives in such terror of dropping dead with +her heart-complaint that she doesn't take any pleasure in life herself +or let any one else; so the sooner she goes the better for all of us," +said Polly, in a desperate tone; for things looked very black to her +just then. + +"My dear, don't say that," began her mother, mildly shocked; but a +bluff little voice broke in with the forcible remark,-- + +"She's everlastingly telling me never to put off till to-morrow what +can be done to-day; next time she comes I'll remind her of that, and +ask her, if she is going to die, why she doesn't do it?" + +"Toady! you're a wicked, disrespectful boy; never let me hear you say +such a thing again about your dear Aunt Kipp." + +"She isn't dear! You know we all hate her, and you are more afraid of +her than you are of spiders,--so now." + +The young personage whose proper name had been corrupted into Toady, +was a small boy of ten or eleven, apple-cheeked, round-eyed, and +curly-headed; arrayed in well-worn, gray knickerbockers, profusely +adorned with paint, glue, and shreds of cotton. Perched on a high +stool, at an isolated table in a state of chaos, he was absorbed in +making a boat, entirely oblivious of the racking tooth-ache which had +been his excuse for staying from school. As cool, saucy, hard-handed, +and soft-hearted a little specimen of young America was Toady as you +would care to see; a tyrant at home, a rebel at school, a sworn foe +to law, order, and Aunt Kipp. This young person was regarded as a +reprobate by all but his mother, sister, and sister's sweetheart, Van +Bahr Lamb. Having been, through much anguish of flesh and spirit, +taught that lying was a deadly sin, Toady rushed to the other extreme, +and bolted out the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, +at all times and places, with a startling abruptness that brought +wrath and dismay upon his friends and relatives. + +"It's wicked to fib; you've whipped that into me and you can't rub it +out," he was wont to say, with vivid recollection of the past tingling +in the chubby portions of his frame. + +"Mind your chips, Toady, and take care what you say to Aunt Kipp, or +you'll be as poor as a little rat all the days of your life," said +Polly, warningly. + +"I don't want her old money, and I'll tell her so if she bothers me +about it. I shall go into business with Van and take care of the whole +lot; so don't you preach, Polly," returned Toady, with as much dignity +as was compatible with a great dab of glue on the end of his snub +nose. + +"Mother, did aunt say anything about coming this week?" asked Polly, +after a pause of intense thought over a breadth with three darns, two +spots, and a burn. + +"Yes; she wrote that she was too feeble to come at present, as she had +such dreadful palpitations she didn't dare stir from her room. So we +are quite safe for the next week at least, and--bless my soul, there +she is now!" + +Mrs. Snow clasped her hands with a gesture of dismay, and sat as if +transfixed by the spectacle of a ponderous lady, in an awe-inspiring +bonnet, who came walking slowly down the street. Polly gave a groan, +and pulled a bright ribbon from her hair. Toady muttered, "Oh, +bother!" and vainly attempted to polish up his countenance with a +fragmentary pocket-handkerchief. + +"Nothing but salt fish for dinner," wailed Mrs. Snow, as the shadow of +the coming event fell upon her. + +"Van will make a fool of himself, and ruin everything," sighed Polly, +glancing at the ring on her finger. + +"I know she'll kiss me; she never _will_ let a fellow alone," growled +Toady, scowling darkly. + +The garden gate clashed, dust flew from the door-mat, a heavy step +echoed in the hall, an imperious voice called "Sophy!" and Aunt Kipp +entered with a flourish of trumpets, for Toady blew a blast through +his fingers which made the bows totter on her bonnet. + +"My dear aunt, I'm very glad to see you," murmured Mrs. Snow, +advancing with a smile of welcome; for though as weak as water gruel, +she was as kind-hearted a little woman as ever lived. + +"What a fib that was!" said Toady, _sotto voce_. + +"We were just saying we were afraid you wouldn't"--began Mary, when a +warning, "Mind now, Polly," caused her to stop short and busy herself +with the newcomer's bag and umbrella. + +"I changed my mind. Theodore, come and kiss me," answered Aunt Kipp, +briefly. + +"Yes'm," was the plaintive reply, and, closing his eyes, Toady awaited +his fate with fortitude. + +But the dreaded salute did not come, for Aunt Kipp exclaimed in +alarm,-- + +"Mercy on us! has the boy got the plague?" + +"No'm, it's paint, and dirt, and glue, and it _won't_ come off," said +Toady, stroking his variegated countenance with grateful admiration +for the stains that saved him. + +"Go and wash this moment, sir. Thank Heaven, _I've_ got no boys," +cried Aunt Kipp. as if boys were some virulent disease which she had +narrowly escaped. + +With a hasty peck at the lips of her two elder relatives, the old lady +seated herself, and slowly removed the awful bonnet, which in shape +and hue much resembled a hearse hung with black crape. + +"I'm glad you are better," said Mary, reverently receiving the +funereal head-gear. + +"I'm _not_ better," cut in Aunt Kipp. "I'm worse, much worse; my days +are numbered; I stand on the brink of the tomb, and may drop at any +moment." + +Toady's face was a study, as he glanced up at the old lady's florid +countenance, down at the floor, as if in search of the above-mentioned +"brink," and looked unaffectedly anxious to see her drop. "Why don't +you, then?" was on his lips; but a frown from Polly restrained him, +and he sat himself down on the rug to contemplate the corpulent +victim. + +"Have a cup of tea, aunt?" said Mrs. Snow. + +"I will." + +"Lie down and rest a little," suggested Polly. + +"I won't." + +"Can we do anything for you?" said both. + +"Take my things away, and have dinner early." + +Both departed to perform these behests, and, leaning back in her +chair, Aunt Kipp reposed. + +"I say, what's a bore?" asked Toady from the rug, where he sat rocking +meditatively to and fro, holding on by his shoe-strings. + +"It's a kind of a pig, very fierce, and folks are afraid of 'em," said +Aunt Kipp, whose knowledge of Natural History was limited. + +"Good for Polly! so you are!" sung out the boy, with the hearty +child's laugh so pleasant to most ears. + +"What do you mean, sir?" demanded the old lady, irefully poking at him +with her umbrella. + +"Why, Polly said you were a bore," explained Toady, with artless +frankness. "You _are_ fat, you know, and fierce sometimes, and folks +are afraid of you. Good, wasn't it?" + +"Very! Mary is a nice, grateful, respectful, loving niece, and I +shan't forget her, she may depend on that," and Aunt Kipp laughed +grimly. + +"May she? well, that's jolly now. She was afraid you wouldn't give her +the money; so I'll tell her it's all right;" and innocent Toady nodded +approvingly. + +"Oh, she expects some of my money, does she?" + +"Course she does; ain't you always saying you'll remember us in your +will, because father was your favorite nephew, and all that? I'll tell +you a secret, if you won't let Polly know I spoke first. You'll find +it out to-night, for you 'd see Van and she were sweethearts in a +minute." + +"Sweethearts?" cried Aunt Kipp, turning red in the face. + +"Yes'm. Van settled it last week, and Polly's been so happy ever +since. Mother likes it, and _I_ like it, for I'm fond of Van, though +I do call him Baa-baa, because he looks like a sheep. We all like it, +and we 'd all say so, if we were not afraid of you. Mother and Polly, +I mean; of course we men don't mind, but we don't want a fuss. You +won't make one, will you, now?" + +Anything more expressive of brotherly good-will, persuasive frankness, +and a placid consciousness of having "fixed it," than Toady's dirty +little face, it would be hard to find. Aunt Kipp eyed him so fiercely +that even before she spoke a dim suspicion that something was wrong +began to dawn on his too-confiding soul. + +"_I_ don't like it, and I'll put a stop to it. I won't have any +ridiculous baa-baas in my family. If Mary counts on my money to begin +housekeeping with, she'll find herself mistaken; for not one penny +shall she have, married or single, and you may tell her so." + +Toady was so taken aback by this explosion that he let go his +shoe-strings, fell over with a crash, and lay flat, with shovel and +tongs spread upon him like a pall. In rushed Mrs. Snow and Polly, to +find the boy's spirits quite quenched, for once, and Aunt Kipp in a +towering passion. It all came out in one overwhelming flood of words, +and Toady fled from the storm to wander round the house, a prey to +the deepest remorse. The meekness of that boy at dinner-time was so +angelic that Mrs. Snow would have feared speedy translation for him, +if she had not been very angry. Polly's red eyes, and Aunt Kipp's +griffinesque expression of countenance, weighed upon his soul so +heavily, that even roly-poly pudding failed to assuage his trouble, +and, taking his mother into the china-closet, he anxiously inquired +"if it was all up with Polly?" + +"I'm afraid so, for aunt vows she will make a new will to-morrow, and +leave every penny to the Charitable Rag-bag Society," sighed Mrs. +Snow. + +"I didn't mean to do it, I truly didn't! I thought I'd just 'give her +a hint,' as you say. She looked all right, and laughed when I told her +about being a bore, and I thought she liked it. If she was a man, I'd +thrash her for making Polly cry;" and Toady shook his fist at Aunt +Kipp's umbrella, which was an immense relief to his perturbed spirit. + +"Bless the boy! I do believe he would!" cried Mrs. Snow, watching the +little turkey-cock with maternal pride. "You can't do that: so just be +careful and not make any more mischief, dear." + +"I'll try, mother; but I'm always getting into scrapes with Aunt Kipp. +She's worse than measles, any day,--such an old aggrawater! Van's +coming this afternoon, won't he make her pleasant again?" + +"Oh, dear, no! He will probably make things ten times worse, he's so +bashful and queer. I'm afraid our last chance is gone, deary, and we +must rub along as we have done." + +One sniff of emotion burst from Toady, and for a moment he laid his +head in the knife-tray, overcome with disappointment and regret. +But scorning to yield to unmanly tears, he was soon himself again. +Thrusting his beloved jackknife, with three blades and a file, into +Polly's hand, he whispered, brokenly,-- + +"Keep it forever 'n' ever; I'm awful sorry!" Then, feeling that the +magnitude of this sacrifice atoned for everything, he went to watch +for Van,--the forlorn hope to which he now clung. + + +II + + +"Sophy, I'm surprised at your want of judgment. Do you really mean +to let your girl marry this Lamb? Why, the man's a fool!" began Aunt +Kipp, after dinner, by way of opening a pleasant conversation with her +relatives. + +"Dear me, aunt! how can you know that, when you never saw him?" mildly +returned Mrs. Snow. + +"I've heard of him, and that's enough for me. I've a deal of +penetration in judging character, and I tell you Van Bahr Lamb is a +fool." + +The amiable old lady thought this would rouse Polly, against whom her +anger still burned hotly. But Polly also possessed penetration; +and, well knowing that contradiction would delight Aunt Kipp, she +completely took the wind out of her sails, by coolly remarking,-- + +"I like fools." + +"Bless my heart! what does the girl mean?" ejaculated Aunt Kipp. + +"Just what I say. If Van is a fool, I prefer simpletons to wiseacres. +I know he is shy and awkward, and does absurd things now and then. But +I also know that he has the kindest heart that ever was; is unselfish, +faithful and loving; that he took good care of his old parents till +they died, and never thought of himself while they needed him. He +loves me dearly; will wait for me a dozen years, if I say so, and work +all his days to make me happy. He's a help and comfort to mother, a +good friend to Toady, and I love and respect and am proud of him, +though you do say he is a fool," cried Polly heartily. + +"And you insist on marrying him?" demanded Aunt Kipp. + +"Yes, I do." + +"Then I wish a carriage immediately," was the somewhat irrelevant +reply. + +"Why, aunt, you don't mean to go so soon?" cried Mrs. Snow, with a +reproachful glance at the rebellious Polly. + +"Far from it. I wish to see Judge Banks about altering my will," was +the awful answer. + +Polly's face fell; her mother gave a despairing sigh; Toady, who had +hovered about the door, uttered a suppressed whistle of dismay; and +Mrs. Kipp looked about her with vengeful satisfaction. + +"Get the big carryall and old Bob, so the boy can drive, and all of +you come; the trip will do you good." + +It was like Aunt Kipp to invite her poor relations to go and "nip +their own noses off," as she elegantly expressed it. It was a party of +pleasure that just suited her, for all the fun was on her side. She +grew affable at once, was quite pressing in her invitation, regretted +that Sophy was too busy to go, praised Polly's hat; and professed +herself quite satisfied with "that dear boy" for a driver. The "dear +boy" distorted his young countenance frightfully behind her back, but +found a balm for every wound in the delight of being commander of the +expedition. + +The big carryall appeared, and, with much creaking and swaying Mrs. +Kipp was got into the back seat, where the big bonnet gloomed like a +thunder-cloud. Polly, in a high state of indignation, which only made +her look ten times prettier, sat in front with Toady, who was a sight +to see as he drove off with his short legs planted against the boot, +his elbows squared, and the big whip scientifically cracking now +and then. Away they went, leaving poor Mrs. Snow to bewail herself +dismally after she had smiled and nodded them out of sight. + +"Don't go over any bridges or railroad crossings or by any saw-mills," +said the old lady, as if the town could be suddenly remodelled to suit +her taste. + +"Yes'm," returned Toady, with a crack which would have done honor to a +French postilion. + +It was a fine day, and the young people would have enjoyed the ride in +spite of the breakers ahead, if Aunt Kipp hadn't entertained the +girl with a glowing account of the splendors of her own wedding, and +aggravated the boy by frequent pokes and directions in the art of +driving, of which she was of course, profoundly ignorant. Polly +couldn't restrain a tear or two, in thinking of her own poor little +prospects, and Toady was goaded to desperation. + +"I'll give her a regular shaking up; it'll make her hold her tongue +and do her good," he said to himself, as a stony hill sloped +temptingly before him. + +A sly chuck, and some mysterious manoeuvre with the reins, and Bob +started off at a brisk trot, as if he objected to the old lady as much +as her mischievous little nephew. + +"Hold him in! Keep a taut rein! Lord 'a mercy, he's running away!" +shrieked Aunt Kipp, or tried to shriek, for the bouncing and bumping +jerked the words out of her mouth with ludicrous incoherency. + +"I am holding him, but he _will_ go," said Toady, with a wicked +triumph in his eye as he glanced back at Polly. + +The next minute the words were quite true; for, as he spoke, two or +three distracted hens flew squalling over the wall and scattered +about, under, over, and before the horse, as only distracted hens +could do. It was too much for Bob's nerves; and, taking matters into +his own hands, or feet, rather, he broke into a run, and rattled the +old lady over the stones with a velocity which left her speechless. + +Polly laughed, and Toady chuckled, as they caught glimpses of the +awful bonnet vibrating wildly in the background, and felt the frantic +clutchings of the old lady's hands. But both grew sober as a shrill +car-whistle sounded not far off; and Bob, as if possessed by an +evil spirit, turned suddenly into the road that led to the railroad +crossing. + +"That will do, Toady; now pull up, for we can't get over in time," +said Polly, glancing anxiously toward the rapidly approaching puffs of +white smoke. + +"I can't, Polly,--I really can't," cried the boy, tugging with all his +might, and beginning to look scared. + +Polly lent her aid; but Bob scarcely seemed to feel it, for he had +been a racer once, and when his blood was up he was hard to handle. +His own good sense might have checked him, if Aunt Kipp hadn't +unfortunately recovered her voice at this crisis, and uttered a +succession of the shrillest screams that ever saluted mortal ears. +With a snort and a bound Bob dashed straight on toward the crossing, +as the train appeared round the bend. + +"Let me out! Let me out! Jump! Jump!" shrieked Aunt Kipp, thrusting +her head out of the window, while she fumbled madly for the +door-handle. + +"O Toady, save us! save us!" gasped Polly, losing her presence of +mind, and dropping the reins to cling to her brother, with a woman's +instinctive faith in the stronger sex. + +But Toady held on manfully, though his arms were nearly pulled off, +for "Never say die," was his motto, and the plucky little lad wouldn't +show fear before the women. + +"Don't howl; we'll do it! Hi, Bob!" and with a savage slash of the +whip, an exciting cry, a terrible reeling and rattling, they _did_ do +it; for Bob cleared the track at a breakneck pace, just in time for +the train to sweep swiftly by behind them. + +Aunt Kipp dropped in a heap, Polly looked up at her brother, with a +look which he never forgot; and Toady tried to say, stoutly, "It's all +right!" with lips that were white and dry in spite of himself. + +"We shall smash up at the bridge," he muttered, as they tore through +the town, where every one obligingly shouted, waved their hats, and +danced about on the sidewalks, doing nothing but add to Bob's fright +and the party's danger. But Toady was wrong,--they did not smash up at +the bridge; for, before they reached the perilous spot, one man had +the sense to fly straight at the horse's head and hold on till the +momentary check enabled others to lend a hand. + +The instant they were safe, Polly, like a regular heroine, threw +herself into the arms of her dishevelled preserver, who of course was +Van, and would have refreshed herself with hysterics if the sight of +Toady hadn't steadied her. The boy sat as stiff and rigid as a wooden +figure till they took the reins from him; then all the strength seemed +to go out of him, and he leaned against his sister, as white and +trembling as she, whispering with an irrepressible sob,-- + +"O Polly, wasn't it horrid? Tell mother I stood by you like a man. Do +tell her that!" + +If any one had had time or heart to laugh, they certainly would have +done it when, after much groping, heaving, and hoisting. Mrs. Kipp +was extricated and restored to consciousness; for a more ludicrously +deplorable spectacle was seldom seen. Quite unhurt, though much +shaken, the old lady insisted on believing herself to be dying, and +kept the town in a ferment till three doctors had pronounced her +perfectly well able to go home. Then the perversity of her nature +induced her to comply, that she might have the satisfaction of dying +on the way, and proving herself in the right. + +Unfortunately she did not expire, but, having safely arrived, went to +bed in high dudgeon, and led Polly and her mother a sad life of it for +two weary days. Having heard of Toady's gallant behavior, she solemnly +ordered him up to receive her blessing. But the sight of Aunt Kipp's +rubicund visage, surrounded by the stiff frills of an immense +nightcap, caused the irreverent boy to explode with laughter in his +handkerchief, and to be hustled away by his mother before Aunt Kipp +discovered the true cause of his convulsed appearance. + +"Ah! poor dear, his feelings are too much for him. He sees my doom +in my face, and is overcome by what you refuse to believe. I shan't +forget that boy's devotion. Now leave me to the meditations befitting +these solemn hours." + +Mrs. Snow retired, and Aunt Kipp tried to sleep; but the murmur of +voices, and the sound of stifled laughter in the next room disturbed +her repose. + +"They are rejoicing over my approaching end, knowing that I haven't +changed my will. Mercenary creatures, don't exult too soon! there's +time yet," she muttered; and presently, unable to control her +curiosity, she crept out of bed to listen and peep through the +keyhole. + +Van Bahr Lamb did look rather like a sheep. He had a blond curly +head, a long face, pale, mild eyes, a plaintive voice, and a general +expression of innocent timidity strongly suggestive of animated +mutton. But Baa-baa was a "trump," as Toady emphatically declared, and +though every one laughed at him, every one liked him, and that is +more than can be said of many saints and sages. He adored Polly, was +dutifully kind to her mother, and had stood by T. Snow, Jr., in many +an hour of tribulation with fraternal fidelity. Though he had long +blushed, sighed, and cast sheep's eyes at the idol of his affections, +only till lately had he dared to bleat forth his passion. Polly loved +him because she couldn't help it; but she was proud, and wouldn't +marry till Aunt Kipp's money was hers, or at least a sure prospect +of it; and now even the prospect of a prospect was destroyed by +that irrepressible Toady. They were talking of this as the old lady +suspected, and of course the following conversation afforded her +intense satisfaction. + +"It's a shame to torment us as she does, knowing how poor we are and +how happy a little of her money would make us. I'm tired of being a +slave to a cruel old woman just because she's rich. If it was not for +mother, I declare I'd wash my hands of her entirely, and do the best I +could for myself." + +"Hooray for Polly! I always said let her money go and be jolly without +it," cried Toady, who, in his character of wounded hero, reposed with +a lordly air on the sofa, enjoying the fragrance of the opodeldoc with +which his strained wrists were bandaged. + +"It's on your account, children, that I bear with aunt's temper as I +do. I don't want anything for myself, but I really think she owes it +to your dear father, who was devoted to her while he lived, to provide +for his children when he couldn't;" after which remarkably spirited +speech for her, Mrs. Snow dropped a tear, and stitched away on a small +trouser-leg which was suffering from a complicated compound fracture. + +"Don't you worry about me, mother; I'll take care of myself and you +too," remarked Toady, with the cheery belief in impossibilities which +makes youth so charming. + +"Now, Van, tell us what to do, for things have come to such a pass +that we must either break away altogether or be galley-slaves as long +as Aunt Kipp lives," said Polly, who was a good deal excited about the +matter. + +"Well, really, my dear, I don't know," hesitated Van, who did know +what _he_ wanted, but thought it might be selfish to urge it. "Have +you tried to soften your aunt's heart?" he asked, after a moment's +meditation. + +"Good gracious, Van, she hasn't got any," cried Polly, who firmly +believed it. + +"It's hossified," thoughtfully remarked Toady, quite unconscious of +any approach to a joke till every one giggled. + +"You've had hossification enough for one while, my lad," laughed Van. +"Well, Polly, if the old lady has no heart you'd better let her go, +for people without hearts are not worth much." + +"That's a beautiful remark, Van, and a wise one. I just wish she could +hear you make it, for she called you a fool," said Polly, irefully. + +"Did she? Well, I don't mind, I'm used to it," returned Van, placidly; +and so he was, for Polly called him a goose every day of her life, and +he enjoyed it immensely. + +"Then you think, dear, if we stopped worrying about aunt and her +money, and worked instead of waiting, that we shouldn't be any poorer +and might be a great deal happier than we are now?" asked Polly, +making a pretty little tableau as she put her hand through Van's arm +and looked up at him with as much love, respect, and reliance as if he +had been six feet tall, with the face of an Apollo and the manners of +a Chesterfield. + +"Yes, my dear, I do, for it has troubled me a good deal to see you so +badgered by that very uncomfortable old lady. Independence is a very +nice thing, and poverty isn't half as bad as this sort of slavery. But +you are not going to be poor, nor worry about anything. We'll just be +married and take mother and Toady home and be as jolly as grigs, and +never think of Mrs. K. again,--unless she loses her fortune, or +gets sick, or comes to grief in any way. We'd lend her a hand then, +wouldn't we, Polly?" and Van's mild face was pleasant to behold as he +made the kindly proposition. + +"Well, we'd think of it," said Polly, trying not to relent, but +feeling that she was going very fast. + +"Let's do it!" cried Toady, fired with the thought of privy conspiracy +and rebellion. "Mother would be so comfortable with Polly, and +I'd help Van in the store, when I've learned that confounded +multiplication table," he added with a groan; "and if Aunt Kipp comes +a visiting, we'll just say 'Not at home,' and let her trot off again." + +"It sounds very nice, but aunt will be dreadfully offended and I don't +wish to be ungrateful," said Mrs. Snow, brightening visibly. + +"There's no ingratitude about it," cried Van. "She might have done +everything to make you love, and respect, and admire her, and been a +happy, useful, motherly, old soul; but she didn't choose to, and now +she must take the consequences. No one cares for her, because she +cares for nobody; her money's the plague of her life, and not a single +heart will ache when she dies." + +"Poor Aunt Kipp!" said Polly, softly. + +Mrs. Snow echoed the words, and for a moment all thought pitifully of +the woman whose life had given so little happiness, whose age had won +so little reverence, and whose death would cause so little regret. +Even Toady had a kind thought for her, as he broke the silence, saying +soberly,-- + +"You'd better put tails on my jackets, mother; then the next time we +get run away with, Aunt Kipp will have something to hold on by." + +It was impossible to help laughing at the recollection of the old lady +clutching at the boy till he had hardly a button left, and at the +paternal air with which he now proposed a much-desired change of +costume, as if intent on Aunt Kipp's future accommodation. + +Under cover of the laugh, the old lady stole back to bed, wide awake, +and with subjects enough to meditate upon now. The shaking up had +certainly done her good, for somehow the few virtues she possessed +came to the surface, and the mental shower-bath just received had +produced a salutary change. Polly wouldn't have doubted her aunt's +possession of a heart, if she could have known the pain and loneliness +that made it ache, as the old woman crept away; and Toady wouldn't +have laughed if he had seen the tears on the face, between the big +frills, as Aunt Kipp laid it on the pillow, muttering, drearily,-- + +"I might have been a happy, useful woman, but I didn't choose to, and +now it's too late." + +It _was_ too late to be all she might have been, for the work of +seventy selfish years couldn't be undone in a minute. But with regret, +rose the sincere wish to earn a little love before the end came, and +the old perversity gave a relish to the reformation, for even while +she resolved to do the just and generous thing, she said to herself,-- + +"They say I've got no heart; I'll show 'em that I have: they don't +want my money; I'll _make_ 'em take it: they turn their backs on me; +I'll just render myself so useful and agreeable that they can't do +without me." + + +III + + +Aunt Kipp sat bolt upright in the parlor, hemming a small +handkerchief, adorned with a red ship, surrounded by a border of +green monkeys. Toady suspected that this elegant article of dress was +intended for him, and yearned to possess it; so, taking advantage of +his mother's and Polly's absence, he strolled into the room, and, +seating himself on a high, hard chair, folded his hands, crossed his +legs, and asked for a story with the thirsting-for-knowledge air which +little boys wear in the moral story-books. + +Now Aunt Kipp had one soft place in her heart, though it _was_ +partially ossified, as she very truly declared, and Toady was +enshrined therein. She thought there never was such a child, and loved +him as she had done his father before him, though the rack wouldn't +have forced her to confess it. She scolded, snubbed, and predicted +he'd come to a bad end in public; but she forgave his naughtiest +pranks, always brought him something when she came, and privately +intended to make his future comfortable with half of her fortune. +There was a dash and daring, a generosity and integrity, about the +little fellow, that charmed her. Sophy was weak and low-spirited, +Polly pretty and headstrong, and Aunt Kipp didn't think much of either +of them; but Toady defied, distracted, and delighted her, and to Toady +she clung, as the one sunshiny thing in her sour, selfish old age. + +When he made his demure request, she looked at him, and her eyes began +to twinkle, for the child's purpose was plainly seen in the loving +glances cast upon the pictorial pocket-handkerchief. + +"A story? Yes, I'll tell you one about a little boy who had a kind +old--ahem!--grandma. She was rich, and hadn't made up her mind who she'd +leave her money to. She was fond of the boy,--a deal fonder than he +deserved,--for he was as mischievous a monkey as any that ever lived +in a tree, with a curly tail. He put pepper in her snuff-box,"--here +Toady turned scarlett,--"he cut up her bestt frisette to make a mane +for his rocking-horse,"--Toady opened his mouth impulsively, but shut +it again without betraying himself--"he repeated rude things to her, +and called her 'an old aggrewater,'"--here Toady wriggled in his +chair, and gave a little gasp. + +"If you are tired I won't go on," observed Aunt Kipp, mildly. + +"I'm not tired, 'm; it's a very interesting story," replied Toady, +with a gravity that nearly upset the old lady. + +"Well, in spite of all this, that kind, good, forgiving grandma left +that bad boy twenty thousand dollars when she died. What do you think +of that?" asked Aunt Kipp, pausing suddenly with her sharp eye on him. + +"I--I think she was a regular dear," cried Toady, holding on to the +chair with both hands, as if that climax rather took him off his legs. + +"And what did the boy do about it?" continued Aunt Kipp, curiously. + +"He bought a velocipede, and gave his sister half, and paid his +mother's rent, and put a splendid marble cherakin over the old lady, +and had a jolly good time, and--" + +"What in the world is a cherakin?" laughed Aunt Kipp, as Toady paused +for breath. + +"Why, don't you know? It's a angel crying, or pointing up, or flapping +his wings. They have them over graves; and I'll give you the biggest +one I can find when you die. But I'm not in a _very_ great hurry to +have you." + +"Thankee, dear; I'm in no hurry, myself. But, Toady, the boy did wrong +in giving his sister half; she didn't deserve _any_; and the grandma +left word she wasn't to have a penny of it." + +"Really?" cried the boy, with a troubled face. + +"Yes, really. If he gave her any he lost it all; the old lady said so. +Now what do you think?" asked Aunt Kipp, who found it impossible to +pardon Polly,--perhaps because she was young, and pretty, and much +beloved. + +Toady's eyes kindled, and his red cheeks grew redder still, as he +cried out defiantly,-- + +"I think she was a selfish pig,--don't you?" + +"No, I don't, sir; and I'm sure that little boy wasn't such a fool as +to lose the money. He minded his grandma's wishes, and kept it all." + +"No, he didn't," roared Toady, tumbling off his chair in great +excitement. "He just threw it out a winder, and smashed the old +cherakin all to bits." + +Aunt Kipp dropped her work with a shrill squeak, for she thought the +boy was dangerous, as he stood before her, sparring away at nothing as +the only vent for his indignation. + +"It isn't an interesting story," he cried; "and I won't hear any more; +and I won't have your money if I mayn't go halves with Polly; and I'll +work to earn more than that, and we'll all be jolly together, and you +may give your twenty thousand to the old rag-bags, and so I tell you, +Aunt Kipp." + +"Why, Toady, my boy, what's the matter?" cried a mild voice at the +door, as young Lamb came trotting up to the rescue. + +"Never you mind, Baa-baa; I shan't do it; and it's a mean shame Polly +can't have half; then she could marry you and be so happy," blubbered +Toady, running to try to hide his tears of disappointment in the +coat-skirts of his friend. + +"Mr. Lamb, I suppose you _are_ that misguided young man?" said Aunt +Kipp, as if it was a personal insult to herself. + +"Van Bahr Lamb, ma'am, if you please. Yes, thank you," murmured +Baa-Baa, bowing, blushing, and rumpling his curly fleece in bashful +trepidation. + +"Don't thank me," cried the old lady. "I'm not going to give you +anything,--far from it. I object to you altogether. What business have +you to come courting my niece?" + +"Because I love her, ma'am," returned Van, with unexpected spirit. + +"No, you don't; you want her money, or rather my money. She depends +on it; but you'll both be disappointed, for she won't have a penny of +it," cried Aunt Kipp, who, in spite of her good resolutions, found it +impossible to be amiable all at once. + +"I'm glad of it!" burst out Van, indignant at her accusation. "I +didn't want Polly for the money; I always doubted if she got it; and I +never wished her to make herself a slave to anybody. I've got enough +for all, if we're careful; and when my share of the Van Bahr property +comes, we shall live in clover." + +"What's that? What property are you talking of?" demanded Aunt Kipp, +pricking up her ears. + +"The great Van Bahr estate, ma'am. There has been a long lawsuit about +it, but it's nearly settled, and there isn't much doubt that we shall +get it. I am the last of our branch, and my share will be a large +one." + +"Oh, indeed! I wish you joy," said Aunt Kipp, with sudden affability; +for she adored wealth, like a few other persons in the world. "But +suppose you don't get it, how then?" + +"Then I shall try to be contented with my salary of two thousand, and +make Polly as happy as I can. Money doesn't _always_ make people happy +or agreeable, I find." And Van looked at Aunt Kipp in a way that would +have made her hair stand erect if she had possessed any. She stared +at him a moment, then, obeying one of the odd whims that made an +irascible weathercock of her, she said, abruptly,-- + +"If you had capital should you go into business for yourself, Mr. +Lambkin?" + +"Yes, ma'am, at once," replied Van, promptly. + +"Suppose you lost the Van Bahr money, and some one offered you a tidy +little sum to start with, would you take it?" + +"It would depend upon who made the offer, ma'am," said Van, looking +more like a sheep than ever, as he stood staring in blank surprise. + +"Suppose it was me, wouldn't you take it?" asked Aunt Kipp, blandly, +for the new fancy pleased her. + +"No, thank you, ma'am," said Van, decidedly. + +"And why not, pray?" cried the old lady, with a shrillness that made +him jump, and Toady back to the door precipitately. + +"Because, if you'll excuse my speaking plainly, I think you owe +anything you may have to spare to your niece, Mrs. Snow;" and, having +freed his mind, Van joined Toady, ready to fly if necessary. + +"You're an idiot, sir," began Aunt Kipp, in a rage again. + +"Thank you, ma'am." And Van actually laughed and bowed in return for +the compliment. + +"Hold your tongue, sir," snapped the old lady. "You're a fool and +Sophy is another. She's no strength of mind, no sense about anything; +and would make ducks and drakes of my money in less than no time if I +gave it to her, as I've thought of doing." + +"Mrs. Kipp, you forget who you are speaking to. Mrs. Snow's sons love +and respect her if you don't, and they won't hear anything untrue +or unkind said of a good woman, a devoted mother, and an almost +friendless widow." + +Van wasn't a dignified man at all, but as he said that with a sudden +flash of his mild eyes, there was something in his face and manner +that daunted Aunt Kipp more than the small fist belligerently shaken +at her from behind the sofa. The poor old soul was cross, and worried, +and ashamed of herself, and being as feeble-minded as Sophy in many +respects, she suddenly burst into tears, and, covering her face with +the gay handkerchief, cried as if bent on floating the red ship in a +sea of salt water without delay. + +"I'm a poor, lonely, abused old woman," she moaned, with a green +monkey at each eye. "No one loves me, or minds me, or thanks me when +I want to help 'em. My money's only a worryment and a burden, and I +don't know what to do with it, for people I don't want to leave it to +ought to have it, and people I do like won't take it. Oh, deary me, +what _shall_ I do! what shall I do!" + +"Shall I tell you, ma'am?" asked Van, gently, for, though she was a +very provoking old lady, he pitied and wished to help her. + +A nod and a gurgle seemed to give consent, and, boldly advancing, Van +said, with blush and a stammer, but a very hearty voice,-- + +"I think, ma'am, if you'd do the right thing with your money you'd be +at ease and find it saved a deal of worry all round. Give it to Mrs. +Snow; she deserves it, poor lady, for she's had a hard time, and done +her duty faithfully. Don't wait till you are--that is, till you--well, +till you in point of fact die, ma'am. Give it now, and enjoy the +happiness it will make. Give it kindly, let them see you're glad to +do it, and I am sure you'll find them grateful; I'm sure you won't be +lonely any more, or feel that you are not loved and thanked. Try it, +ma'am, just try it," cried Van, getting excited by the picture he +drew. "And I give you my word I'll do my best to respect and love you +like a son, ma'am." + +He knew that he was promising a great deal, but for Polly's sake he +felt that he could make even that Herculean effort. Aunt Kipp was +surprised and touched; but the contrary old lady couldn't make up her +mind to yield so soon, and wouldn't have done it if Toady hadn't taken +her by storm. Having a truly masculine horror of tears, a very tender +heart under his tailless jacket, and being much "tumbled up and down +in his own mind" by the events of the week, the poor little lad felt +nerved to attempt any novel enterprise, even that of voluntarily +embracing Aunt Kipp. First a grimy little hand came on her shoulder, +as she sat sniffing behind the handkerchief; then, peeping out, she +saw an apple-cheeked face very near her own, with eyes full of pity, +penitence, and affection; and then she heard a choky little voice say +earnestly,-- + +"Don't cry, aunty; I'm sorry I was rude. Please be good to Mother and +Polly, and I'll love and take care of you, and stand by you all my +life. Yes, I'll--I'll _kiss_ you, I will, by George!" And with one +promiscuous plunge the Spartan boy cast himself into her arms. + +That finished Aunt Kipp; she hugged him dose, and cried out with a +salute that went off like a pistol-shot,-- + +"Oh, my dear, my dear! this is better than a dozen cherakins!" + +When Toady emerged, somewhat flushed and tumbled, Mrs. Snow, Polly, +and Van were looking on with faces full of wonder, doubt, and +satisfaction. To be an object of interest was agreeable to Aunt +Kipp; and, as her old heart was really softened, she met them with a +gracious smile, and extended the olive-branch generally. + +"Sophy, I shall give my money to _you_ at once and entirely, only +asking that you'll let me stay with you when Polly's gone. I'll do my +best to be agreeable, and you'll bear with me because I'm a cranky, +solitary old woman, and I loved your husband." + +Mrs. Snow hugged her on the spot, and gushed, of course, murmuring +thanks, welcomes, and promises in one grateful burst. + +"Polly, I forgive you; I consent to your marriage, and will provide +your wedding finery. Mr. Lamb, you are not a fool, but a very +excellent young man. I thank you for saving my life, and I wish you +well with all my heart. You needn't say anything. I'm far from strong, +and all this agitation is shortening my life." + +Polly and Van shook her hand heartily, and beamed upon each other like +a pair of infatuated turtle-doves with good prospects. + +"Toady, you are as near an angel as a boy can be. Put a name to +whatever you most wish for in the world, and it's yours," said Aunt +Kipp, dramatically waving the rest away. + +With his short legs wide apart, his hands behind him, and his rosy +face as round and radiant as a rising sun, Toady stood before the fire +surveying the scene with the air of a man who has successfully carried +through a difficult and dangerous undertaking, and wasn't proud. His +face brightened, then fell, as he heaved a sigh, and answered, with a +shake of his curly head,-- + +"You can't give me what I want most. There are three things, and I've +got to wait for them all." + +"Gracious me, what are they?" cried the old lady, good-naturedly, for +she felt better already. + +"A mustache, a beaver, _and_ a sweetheart," answered Toady, with his +eyes fixed wistfully on Baa-baa, who possessed all these blessings, +and was particularly enjoying the latter at that moment. + +How Aunt Kipp did laugh at this early budding of romance in her +pet! And all the rest joined her, for Toady's sentimental air was +irresistible. + +"You precocious chick! I dare say you will have them all before we +know where we are. Never mind, deary; you shall have my little watch, +and the silver-headed cane with a _boar's_ head on it," answered the +old lady, in high good-humor. "You needn't blush, dear; I don't bear +malice; so let's forget and forgive. I shall settle things to-morrow, +and have a free mind. You are welcome to my money, and I hope I shall +live to see you all enjoy it." + +So she did; for she lived to see Sophy plump, cheery, and care-free; +Polly surrounded by a flock of Lambkins; Van in possession of a +generous slice of the Van Bahr fortune; Toady revelling in the objects +of his desire; and, best of all, she lived to find that it is never +too late to make oneself useful, happy, and beloved. + + + + +PSYCHE'S ART + +"Handsome is that handsome does." + + +I + + +Once upon a time there raged in a certain city one of those +fashionable epidemics which occasionally attack our youthful +population. It wasn't the music mania, nor gymnastic convulsions, nor +that wide-spread malady, croquet. Neither was it one of the new dances +which, like a tarantula-bite, set every one a twirling, nor stage +madness, nor yet that American lecturing influenza which yearly sweeps +over the land. No, it was a new disease called the Art fever, and it +attacked the young women of the community with great violence. + +Nothing but time could cure it, and it ran its course to the dismay, +amusement, or edification of the beholders, for its victims did all +manner of queer things in their delirium. They begged potteries +for clay, drove Italian plaster-corkers out of their wits with +unexecutable orders got neuralgia and rheumatism sketching perched on +fences and trees like artistic hens, and caused a rise in the price of +bread, paper, and charcoal, by their ardor in crayoning. They covered +canvas with the expedition of scene-painters, had classes, lectures, +receptions, and exhibitions, made models of each other, and rendered +their walls hideous with bad likenesses of all their friends. Their +conversation ceased to be intelligible to the uninitiated, and they +prattled prettily of "chiaro oscuro, French sauce, refraction of the +angle of the eye, seventh spinus process, depth and juiciness of +color, tender touch, and a good tone." Even in dress the artistic +disorder was visible; some cast aside crinoline altogether, and +stalked about with a severe simplicity of outline worthy of Flaxman. +Others flushed themselves with scarlet, that no landscape which they +adorned should be without some touch of Turner's favorite tint. Some +were _blue_ in every sense of the word, and the heads of all were +adorned with classic braids, curls tied Hebe-wise, or hair dressed a +la hurricane. + +It was found impossible to keep them safe at home, and, as the fever +grew, these harmless maniacs invaded the sacred retreats where artists +of the other sex did congregate, startling those anchorites with +visions of large-eyed damsels bearing portfolios in hands delicately +begrimed with crayon, chalk, and clay, gliding through the corridors +hitherto haunted only by shabby paletots, shadowy hats, and cigar +smoke. This irruption was borne with manly fortitude, not to say +cheerfulness, for studio doors stood hospitably open as the fair +invaders passed, and studies from life were generously offered them in +glimpses of picturesque gentlemen posed before easels, brooding over +master-pieces in "a divine despair," or attitudinizing upon couches as +if exhausted by the soarings of genius. + +An atmosphere of romance began to pervade the old buildings when the +girls came, and nature and art took turns. There were peepings and +whisperings, much stifled laughter and whisking in and out; not to +mention the accidental rencontres, small services, and eye telegrams, +which somewhat lightened the severe studies of all parties. + +Half a dozen young victims of this malady met daily in one of the +cells of a great art beehive called "Raphael's Rooms," and devoted +their shining hours to modelling fancy heads, gossiping the while; for +the poor things found the road to fame rather dull and dusty without +such verbal sprinklings. + +"Psyche Dean, you've had an adventure! I see it in your face; so tell +it at once, for we are stupid as owls here to-day," cried one of the +sisterhood, as a bright-eyed girl entered with some precipitation. + +"I dropped my portfolio, and a man picked it up, that's all." replied +Psyche, hurrying on her gray linen pinafore. + +"That won't do; I know something interesting happened, for you've been +blushing, and you look brisker than usual this morning," said the +first speaker, polishing off the massive nose of her Homer. + +"It wasn't anything," began Psyche a little reluctantly. "I was coming +up in a hurry when I ran against a man coming down in a hurry. My +portfolio slipped, and my papers went flying all about the landing. Of +course we both laughed and begged pardon, and I began to pick them +up, but he wouldn't let me; so I held the book while he collected the +sketches. I saw him glance at them as he did so, and that made me +blush, for they are wretched things, you know." + +"Not a bit of it; they are capital, and you are a regular genius, as +we all agree," cut in the Homeric Miss Cutter. + +"Never tell people they are geniuses unless you wish to spoil them," +returned Psyche severely. "Well, when the portfolio was put to rights +I was going on, but he fell to picking up a little bunch of violets +I had dropped; you know I always wear a posy into town to give me +inspiration. I didn't care for the dusty flowers, and told him so, and +hurried away before any one came. At the top of the stairs I peeped +over the railing, and there he was, gathering up every one of those +half-dead violets as carefully as if they had been tea-roses." + +"Psyche Dean, you have met your fate this day!" exclaimed a third +damsel, with straw-colored tresses, and a good deal of weedy shrubbery +in her hat, which gave an Ophelia-like expression to her sentimental +countenance. + +Psyche frowned and shook her head, as if half sorry she had told her +little story. + +"Was he handsome?" asked Miss Larkins, the believer in fate. + +"I didn't particularly observe." + +"It was the red-headed man, whom we call Titian: he's always on the +stairs." + +"No, it wasn't; his hair was brown and curly," cried Psyche, +innocently falling into the trap. + +"Like Peerybingle's baby when its cap was taken off," quoted Miss +Dickenson, who pined to drop the last two letters of her name. + +"Was it Murillo, the black-eyed one?" asked the fair Cutter, for the +girls had a name for all the attitudinizers and promenaders whom they +oftenest met. + +"No, he had gray eyes, and very fine ones they were too," answered +Psyche, adding, as if to herself, "he looked as I imagine Michael +Angelo might have looked when young." + +"Had he a broken nose, like the great Mike?" asked an irreverent +damsel. + +"If he had, no one would mind it, for his head is splendid; he took +his hat off, so I had a fine view. He isn't handsome, but he'll _do_ +something," said Psyche, prophetically, as she recalled the strong, +ambitious face which she had often observed, but never mentioned +before. + +"Well, dear, considering that you didn't 'particularly look' at the +man, you've given us a very good idea of his appearance. We'll call +him Michael Angelo, and he shall be your idol. I prefer stout old +Rembrandt myself, and Larkie adores that dandified Raphael," said the +lively Cutter, slapping away at Homer's bald pate energetically, as +she spoke. + +"Raphael is a dear, but Rubens is more to my taste now," returned Miss +Larkins. "He was in the hall yesterday talking with Sir Joshua, who +had his inevitable umbrella, like a true Englishman. Just as I came +up, the umbrella fell right before me. I started back; Sir Joshua +laughed, but Rubens said, 'Deuce take it!' and caught up the umbrella, +giving me a never-to-be-forgotten look. It was perfectly thrilling." + +"Which,--the umbrella, the speech, or the look?" asked Psyche, who was +not sentimental. + +"Ah, you have no soul for art in nature, and nature in art," sighed +the amber-tressed Larkins. "I have, for I feed upon a glance, a tint, +a curve, with exquisite delight. Rubens is adorable (_as a study_); +that lustrous eye, that night of hair, that sumptuous cheek, are +perfect. He only needs a cloak, lace collar, and slouching hat to be +the genuine thing." + +"This isn't the genuine thing by any means. What _does_ it need?" said +Psyche, looking with a despondent air at the head on her stand. + +Many would have pronounced it a clever thing; the nose was strictly +Greek, the chin curved upward gracefully, the mouth was sweetly +haughty, the brow classically smooth and low, and the breezy hair well +done. But something was wanting; Psyche felt that, and could have +taken her Venus by the dimpled shoulders, and given her a hearty +shake, if that would have put strength and spirit into the lifeless +face. + +"Now _I_ am perfectly satisfied with my Apollo, though you all insist +that it is the image of Theodore Smythe. He says so himself, and +assures me it will make a sensation when we exhibit," remarked Miss +Larkins, complacently caressing the ambrosial locks of her Smythified +Phebus. + +"What shall you do if it does not?" asked Miss Cutter, with elegance. + +"I shall feel that I have mistaken my sphere, shall drop my tools, +veil my bust, and cast myself into the arms of Nature, since Art +rejects me;" replied Miss Larkins, with a tragic gesture and an +expression which strongly suggested that in her eyes nature meant +Theodore. + +"She must have capacious arms if she is to receive all Art's rejected +admirers. Shall I be one of them?" + +Psyche put the question to herself as she turned to work, but somehow +ambitious aspirations were not in a flourishing condition that +morning; her heart was not in tune, and head and hands sympathized. +Nothing went well, for certain neglected home-duties had dogged +her into town, and now worried her more than dust, or heat, or the +ceaseless clatter of tongues. Tom, Dick, and Harry's unmended hose +persisted in dancing a spectral jig before her mental eye, mother's +querulous complaints spoilt the song she hummed to cheer herself, and +little May's wistful face put the goddess of beauty entirely out of +countenance. + +"It's no use; I can't work till the clay is wet again. Where is +Giovanni?" she asked, throwing down her tools with a petulant gesture +and a dejected air. + +"He is probably playing truant in the empty upper rooms, as usual. I +can't wait for him any longer, so I'm doing his work myself," answered +Miss Dickenson, who was tenderly winding a wet bandage round her +Juno's face, one side of which was so much plumper than the other that +it looked as if the Queen of Olympus was being hydropathically treated +for a severe fit of ague. + +"I'll go and find the little scamp; a run will do me good; so will a +breath of air and a view of the park from the upper windows." + +Doffing her apron, Psyche strolled away up an unfrequented staircase +to the empty apartments, which seemed to be too high even for the +lovers of High Art. On the western side they were shady and cool, and, +leaning from one of the windows, Psyche watched the feathery tree-tops +ruffled by the balmy wind, that brought spring odors from the hills, +lying green and sunny far away. Silence and solitude were such +pleasant companions that the girl forgot herself, till a shrill +whistle disturbed her day-dreams, and reminded her what she came for. +Following the sound she found the little Italian errand-boy busily +uncovering a clay model which stood in the middle of a scantily +furnished room near by. + +"He is not here; come and look; it is greatly beautiful," cried +Giovanni, beckoning with an air of importance. + +Psyche did look and speedily forgot both her errand and herself. It +was the figure of a man, standing erect, and looking straight +before him with a wonderfully lifelike expression. It was neither a +mythological nor a historical character, Psyche thought, and was glad +of it, being tired to death of gods and heroes. She soon ceased to +wonder what it was, feeling only the indescribable charm of something +higher than beauty. Small as her knowledge was, she could see and +enjoy the power visible in every part of it; the accurate anatomy of +the vigorous limbs, the grace of the pose, the strength and spirit in +the countenance, clay though it was. A majestic figure, but the spell +lay in the face, which, while it suggested the divine, was full of +human truth and tenderness, for pain and passion seemed to have passed +over it, and a humility half pathetic, a courage half heroic seemed to +have been born from some great loss or woe. + +How long she stood there Psyche did not know. Giovanni went away +unseen, to fill his water-pail, and in the silence she just stood and +looked. Her eyes kindled, her color rose, despondency and discontent +vanished, and her soul was in her face, for she loved beauty +passionately, and all that was best and truest in her did honor to the +genius of the unknown worker. + +"If I could do a thing like that, I'd die happy!" she exclaimed +impetuously, as a feeling of despair came over her at the thought of +her own poor attempts. + +"Who did it, Giovanni?" she asked, still looking up at the grand face +with unsatisfied eyes. + +"Paul Gage." + +It was not the boy's voice, and, with a start, Psyche turned to see +her Michael Angelo, standing in the doorway, attentively observing +her. Being too full of artless admiration to think of herself just +yet, she neither blushed nor apologized, but looked straight at him, +saying heartily,-- + +"You have done a wonderful piece of work, and I envy you more than I +can tell!" + +The enthusiasm in her face, the frankness of her manner, seemed to +please him, for there was no affectation about either. He gave her a +keen, kind glance out of the "fine gray eyes," a little bow, and a +grateful smile, saying quietly,--"Then my Adam is not a failure in +spite of his fall?" + +Psyche turned from the sculptor to his model with increased admiration +in her face, and earnestness in her voice, as she exclaimed +delighted,-- + +"Adam! I might have known it was he. O sir, you have indeed succeeded, +for you have given that figure the power and pathos of the first man +who sinned and suffered, and began again." + +"Then I am satisfied." That was all he said, but the look he gave his +work was a very eloquent one, for it betrayed that he had paid the +price of success in patience and privation, labor and hope. + +"What can one do to learn your secret?" asked the girl wistfully, for +there was nothing in the man's manner to disturb her self-forgetful +mood, but much to foster it, because to the solitary worker this +confiding guest was as welcome as the doves who often hopped in at his +window. + +"Work and wait, and meantime feed heart, soul, and imagination with +the best food one can get," he answered slowly, finding it impossible +to give a receipt for genius. + +"I can work and wait a long time to gain my end; but I don't know +where to find the food you speak of?" she answered, looking at him +like a hungry child. + +"I wish I could tell you, but each needs different fare, and each must +look for it in different places." + +The kindly tone and the sympathizing look, as well as the lines in his +forehead, and a few gray hairs among the brown, gave Psyche courage to +say more. + +"I love beauty so much that I not only want to possess it myself, +but to gain the power of seeing it in all things, and the art of +reproducing it with truth. I have tried very hard to do it, but +something is wanting; and in spite of my intense desire I never get +on." + +As she spoke the girl's eyes filled and fell in spite of herself, and +turning a little with sudden shamefacedness she saw, lying on the +table beside her among other scraps in manuscript and print, the +well-known lines,-- + + "I slept, and dreamed that life was beauty; + I woke, and found that life was duty. + Was thy dream then a shadowy lie? + Toil on, sad heart, courageously, + And thou shall find thy dream to be + A noonday light and truth to thee." + +She knew them at a glance, had read them many times, but now they came +home to her with sudden force, and, seeing that his eye had followed +hers, she said in her impulsive fashion.-- + +"Is doing one's duty a good way to feed heart, soul, and imagination?" + +As if he had caught a glimpse of what was going on in her mind, Paul +answered emphatically,-- + +"Excellent; for if one is good, one is happy, and if happy, one can +work well. Moulding character is the highest sort of sculpture, and +all of us should learn that art before we touch clay or marble." + +He spoke with the energy of a man who believed what he said, and did +his best to be worthy of the rich gift bestowed upon him. The sight +of her violets in a glass of water, and Giovanni staring at her with +round eyes, suddenly recalled Psyche to a sense of the proprieties +which she had been innocently outraging for the last ten minutes. A +sort of panic seized her; she blushed deeply, retreated precipitately +to the door, and vanished, murmuring thanks and apologies as she went. + +"Did you find him? I thought you had forgotten," said Miss Dickenson, +now hard at work. + +"Yes, I found him. No, I shall not forget," returned Psyche, thinking +of Gage, not Giovanni. + +She stood before her work eying it intently for several minutes; then, +with an expression of great contempt for the whole thing, she suddenly +tilted her cherished Venus on to the floor, gave the classical face +a finishing crunch, and put on her hat in a decisive manner, saying +briefly to the dismayed damsels,-- + +"Good-by, girls; I shan't come any more, for I'm going to work at home +hereafter." + + +II + + +The prospect of pursuing artistic studies at home was not brilliant, +as one may imagine when I mention that Psyche's father was a painfully +prosaic man, wrapt in flannel, so to speak; for his woollen mills left +him no time for anything but sleep, food, and newspapers. Mrs. Dean +was one of those exasperating women who pervade their mansions like +a domestic steam-engine one week and take to their sofas the next, +absorbed by fidgets and foot-stoves, shawls and lamentations. There +were three riotous and robust young brothers, whom it is unnecessary +to describe except by stating that they were _boys_ in the broadest +sense of that delightful word. There was a feeble little sister, whose +patient, suffering face demanded constant love and care to mitigate +the weariness of a life of pain. And last, but not least by any means, +there were two Irish ladies, who, with the best intentions imaginable, +produced a universal state of topsy-turviness when left to themselves +for a moment. + +But being very much in earnest about doing her duty, not because it +_was_ her duty, but as a means toward an end, Psyche fell to work with +a will, hoping to serve both masters at once. So she might have done, +perhaps, if flesh and blood had been as plastic as clay, but the live +models were so exacting in their demands upon her time and strength, +that the poor statues went to the wall. Sculpture and sewing, calls +and crayons, Ruskin and receipt-books, didn't work well together, and +poor Psyche found duties and desires desperately antagonistic. Take a +day as a sample. + +"The washing and ironing are well over, thank goodness, mother quiet, +the boys out of the way, and May comfortable, so I'll indulge myself +in a blissful day after my own heart," Psyche said, as she shut +herself into her little studio, and prepared to enjoy a few hours of +hard study and happy day-dreams. + +With a book on her lap, and her own round white arm going through all +manner of queer evolutions, she was placidly repeating, "Deltoides, +Biceps, Triceps, Pronator, Supinator, Palmanis, Flexor carpi +ulnaris--" + +"Here's Flexis what-you-call-ums for you," interrupted a voice, which +began in a shrill falsetto and ended in a gruff bass, as a flushed, +dusty, long-legged boy burst in, with a bleeding hand obligingly +extended for inspection. + +"Mercy on us, Harry! what have you done to yourself now? Split your +fingers with a cricket-ball again?" cried Psyche, as her arms went up +and her book went down. + +"I just thrashed one of the fellows because he got mad and said father +was going to fail." + +"O Harry, is he?" + +"Of course he isn't! It's hard times for every one, but father will +pull through all right. No use to try and explain it all; girls can't +understand business; so you just tie me up, and don't worry," was the +characteristic reply of the young man, who, being three years her +junior, of course treated the weaker vessel with lordly condescension. + +"What a dreadful wound! I hope nothing is broken, for I haven't +studied the hand much yet, and may do mischief doing it up," said +Psyche, examining the great grimy paw with tender solicitude. + +"Much good your biceps, and deltoids, and things do you, if you can't +right up a little cut like that," squeaked the ungrateful hero. + +"I'm not going to be a surgeon, thank heaven; I intend to make +perfect hands and arms, not mend damaged ones," retorted Psyche, in a +dignified tone, somewhat marred by a great piece of court-plaster on +her tongue. + +"I should say a surgeon could improve _that_ perfect thing, if he +didn't die a-laughing before he began," growled Harry, pointing with +a scornful grin at a clay arm humpy with muscles, all carefully +developed in the wrong places. + +"Don't sneer, Hal, for you don't know anything about it. Wait a few +years and see if you're not proud of me." + +"Sculp away and do something, then I'll hurrah for your mud-pies +like a good one;" with which cheering promise the youth left, having +effectually disturbed his sister's peaceful mood. + +Anxious thoughts of her father rendered "biceps, deltoids, and things" +uninteresting, and hoping to compose her mind, she took up The Old +Painters and went on with the story of Claude Lorraine. She had just +reached the tender scene where,-- + +"Calista gazed with enthusiasm, while she looked like a being of +heaven rather than earth. 'My friend,' she cried, 'I read in thy +picture thy immortality!' As she spoke, her head sunk upon his bosom, +and it was several moments before Claude perceived that he supported a +lifeless form." + +"How sweet!" said Psyche, with a romantic sigh. + +"Faith, and swate it is, thin!" echoed Katy, whose red head had just +appeared round the half opened door. "It's gingy-bread I'm making the +day, miss, and will I be puttin' purlash or sallyrathis into it, if ye +plase?" + +"Purlash, by all means," returned the girl, keeping her countenance, +fearing to enrage Katy by a laugh; for the angry passions of the +red-haired one rose more quickly than her bread. + +As she departed with alacrity to add a spoonful of starch and a pinch +of whiting to her cake, Psyche, feeling better for her story and her +smile, put on her bib and paper cap and fell to work on the deformed +arm. An hour of bliss, then came a ring at the door-bell, followed by +Biddy to announce callers, and add that as "the mistress was in her +bed, miss must go and take care of 'em." Whereat "miss" cast down her +tools in despair, threw her cap one way, her bib another, and went in +to her guests with anything but a rapturous welcome. + +Dinner being accomplished after much rushing up and down stairs with +trays and messages for Mrs. Dean, Psyche fled again to her studio, +ordering no one to approach under pain of a scolding. All went well +till, going in search of something, she found her little sister +sitting on the floor with her cheek against the studio door. + +"I didn't mean to be naughty, Sy, but mother is asleep, and the boys +all gone, so I just came to be near you; it's so lonely everywhere," +she said, apologetically, as she lifted up the heavy head that always +ached. + +"The boys are very thoughtless. Come in and stay with me; you are such +a mouse you won't disturb me. Wouldn't you like to play be a model and +let me draw your arm, and tell you all about the nice little bones and +muscles?" asked Psyche, who had the fever very strong upon her just +then. + +May didn't look as if the proposed amusement overwhelmed her with +delight, but meekly consented to be perched upon a high stool with +one arm propped up by a dropsical plaster cherub, while Psyche drew +busily, feeling that duty and pleasure were being delightfully +combined. + +"Can't you hold your arm still, child? It shakes so I can't get it +right," she said, rather impatiently. + +"No, it will tremble 'cause it's weak. I try hard, Sy, but there +doesn't seem to be much strongness in me lately." + +"That's better; keep it so a few minutes and I'll be done," cried the +artist, forgetting that a few minutes may seem ages. + +"My arm is so thin you can see the bunches nicely,--can't you?" + +"Yes, dear." + +Psyche glanced up at the wasted limb, and when she drew again there +was a blur before her eyes for a minute. + +"I wish I was as fat as this white boy; but I get thinner every day +somehow, and pretty soon there won't be any of me left but my little +bones," said the child, looking at the winged cherub with sorrowful +envy. + +"Don't, my darling; don't say that," cried Psyche, dropping her work +with a sudden pang at her heart. "I'm a sinful, selfish girl to keep +you here! you're weak for want of air; come out and see the chickens, +and pick dandelions, and have a good romp with the boys." + +The weak arms were strong enough to clasp Psyche's neck, and the tired +face brightened beautifully as the child exclaimed, with grateful +delight,-- + +"Oh, I'd like it very much! I wanted to go dreadfully; but everybody +is so busy all the time. I don't want to play, Sy; but just to lie on +the grass with my head in your lap while you tell stories and draw me +pretty things as you used to." + +The studio was deserted all that afternoon, for Psyche sat in the +orchard drawing squirrels on the wall, pert robins hopping by, +buttercups and mosses, elves and angels; while May lay contentedly +enjoying sun and air, sisterly care, and the "pretty things" she loved +so well. Psyche did not find the task a hard one; for this time her +heart was in it, and if she needed any reward she surely found it; for +the little face on her knee lost its weary look, and the peace and +beauty of nature soothed her own troubled spirit, cheered her heart, +and did her more good than hours of solitary study. + +Finding, much to her own surprise, that her fancy was teeming with +lovely conceits, she did hope for a quiet evening. But mother wanted a +bit of gossip, father must have his papers read to him, the boys had +lessons and rips and grievances to be attended to, May's lullaby could +not be forgotten, and the maids had to be looked after, lest burly +"cousins" should be hidden in the boiler, or lucifer matches among +the shavings. So Psyche's day ended, leaving her very tired, rather +discouraged, and almost heart-sick with the shadow of a coming sorrow. + +All summer she did her best, but accomplished very little, as she +thought; yet this was the teaching she most needed, and in time she +came to see it. In the autumn May died, whispering, with her arms +about her sister's neck,-- + +"You make me so happy, Sy, I wouldn't mind the pain if I could stay a +little longer. But if I can't, good-by, dear, good-by." + +Her last look and word and kiss were all for Psyche, who felt then +with grateful tears that her summer had not been wasted; for the smile +upon the little dead face was more to her than any marble perfection +her hands could have carved. + +In the solemn pause which death makes in every family, Psyche said, +with the sweet self-forgetfulness of a strong yet tender nature,-- + +"I must not think of myself, but try to comfort them;" and with this +resolution she gave herself heart and soul to duty, never thinking of +reward. + +A busy, anxious, humdrum winter, for, as Harry said, "it was hard +times for every one." Mr. Dean grew gray with the weight of business +cares about which he never spoke; Mrs. Dean, laboring under the +delusion that an invalid was a necessary appendage to the family, +installed herself in the place the child's death left vacant, and the +boys needed much comforting, for the poor lads never knew how much +they loved "the baby" till the little chair stood empty. All turned to +Sy for help and consolation, and her strength seemed to increase with +the demand upon it. Patience and cheerfulness, courage and skill came +at her call like good fairies who had bided their time. Housekeeping +ceased to be hateful, and peace reigned in parlor and kitchen while +Mrs. Dean, shrouded in shawls, read Hahnemann's Lesser Writings on her +sofa. Mr. Dean sometimes forgot his mills when a bright face came +to meet him, a gentle hand smoothed the wrinkles out of his anxious +forehead, and a daughterly heart sympathized with all his cares. The +boys found home very pleasant with Sy always there ready to "lend a +hand," whether it was to make fancy ties, help conjugate "a confounded +verb," pull candy, or sing sweetly in the twilight when all thought of +little May and grew quiet. + +The studio door remained locked till her brothers begged Psyche to +open it and make a bust of the child. A flush of joy swept over her +face at the request, and her patient eyes grew bright and eager, as +a thirsty traveller's might at the sight or sound of water. Then it +faded as she shook her head, saying with a regretful sigh, "I'm afraid +I've lost the little skill I ever had." + +But she tried, and with great wonder and delight discovered that she +could work as she had never done before. She thought the newly found +power lay in her longing to see the little face again; for it grew +like magic under her loving hands, while every tender memory, sweet +thought, and devout hope she had ever cherished, seemed to lend their +aid. But when it was done and welcomed with tears and smiles, and +praise more precious than any the world could give, then Psyche said +within herself, like one who saw light at last,-- + +"He was right; doing one's duty _is_ the way to feed heart, soul, and +imagination; for if one is good, one is happy, and if happy, one can +work well." + + +III + + +"She broke her head and went home to come no more," was Giovanni's +somewhat startling answer when Paul asked about Psyche, finding that +he no longer met her on the stairs or in the halls. He understood what +the boy meant, and with an approving nod turned to his work again, +saying, "I like that! If there is any power in her, she has taken the +right way to find it out, I suspect." + +How she prospered he never asked; for, though he met her more +than once that year, the interviews were brief ones in street, +concert-room, or picture-gallery, and she carefully avoided speaking +of herself. But, possessing the gifted eyes which can look below the +surface of things, he detected in the girl's face something better +than beauty, though each time he saw it, it looked older and more +thoughtful, often anxious and sad. + +"She is getting on," he said to himself with a cordial satisfaction +which gave his manner a friendliness as grateful to Psyche as his wise +reticence. + +Adam was finished at last, proved a genuine success, and Paul heartily +enjoyed the well-earned reward for years of honest work. One blithe +May morning, he slipped early into the art-gallery, where the statue +now stood, to look at his creation with paternal pride. He was quite +alone with the stately figure that shone white against the purple +draperies and seemed to offer him a voiceless welcome from its marble +lips. He gave it one loving look, and then forgot it, for at the feet +of his Adam lay a handful of wild violets, with the dew still on +them. A sudden smile broke over his face as he took them up, with the +thought, "She has been here and found my work good." + +For several moments he stood thoughtfully turning the flowers to and +fro in his hands; then, as if deciding some question within himself, +he said, still smiling,-- + +"It is just a year since she went home; she must have accomplished +something in that time; I'll take the violets as a sign that I may go +and ask her what." + +He knew she lived just out of the city, between the river and the +mills, and as he left the streets behind him, he found more violets +blooming all along the way like flowery guides to lead him right. +Greener grew the road, balmier blew the wind, and blither sang the +birds, as he went on, enjoying his holiday with the zest of a boy, +until he reached a most attractive little path winding away across the +fields. The gate swung invitingly open, and all the ground before it +was blue with violets. Still following their guidance he took the +narrow path, till, coming to a mossy stone beside a brook, he sat down +to listen to the blackbirds singing deliciously in the willows over +head. Close by the stone, half hidden in the grass lay a little book, +and, taking it up he found it was a pocket-diary. No name appeared on +the fly-leaf, and, turning the pages to find some clue to its owner, +he read here and there enough to give him glimpses into an innocent +and earnest heart which seemed to be learning some hard lesson +patiently. Only near the end did he find the clue in words of his own, +spoken long ago, and a name. Then, though longing intensely to know +more, he shut the little book and went on, showing by his altered face +that the simple record of a girl's life had touched him deeply. + +Soon an old house appeared nestling to the hillside with the river +shining in the low green meadows just before it. + +"She lives there," he said, with as much certainty as if the pansies +by the door-stone spelt her name, and, knocking, he asked for Psyche. + +"She's gone to town, but I expect her home every minute. Ask the +gentleman to walk in and wait, Katy," cried a voice from above, where +the whisk of skirts was followed by the appearance of an inquiring eye +over the banisters. + +The gentleman did walk in, and while he waited looked about him. The +room, though very simply furnished, had a good deal of beauty in it, +for the pictures were few and well chosen, the books such as never +grow old, the music lying on the well-worn piano of the sort which is +never out of fashion, and standing somewhat apart was one small statue +in a recess full of flowers. Lovely in its simple grace and truth was +the figure of a child looking upward as if watching the airy flight of +some butterfly which had evidently escaped from the chrysalis still +lying in the little hand. + +Paul was looking at it with approving eyes when Mrs. Dean appeared +with his card in her hand, three shawls on her shoulders, and in her +face a somewhat startled expression, as if she expected some novel +demonstration from the man whose genius her daughter so much admired. + +"I hope Miss Psyche is well," began Paul, with great discrimination if +not originality. + +The delightfully commonplace remark tranquillized Mrs. Dean at once, +and, taking off the upper shawl with a fussy gesture, she settled +herself for a chat. + +"Yes, thank heaven, Sy is well. I don't know what would become of us +if she wasn't. It has been a hard and sorrowful year for us with Mr. +Dean's business embarrassments, my feeble health, and May's death. +I don't know that you were aware of our loss, sir;" and unaffected +maternal grief gave sudden dignity to the faded, fretful face of the +speaker. + +Paul murmured his regrets, understanding better now the pathetic words +on a certain tear-stained page of the little book still in his pocket. + +"Poor dear, she suffered everything, and it came very hard upon Sy, +for the child wasn't happy with any one else, and almost lived in +her arms," continued Mrs. Dean, dropping the second shawl to get her +handkerchief. + +"Miss Psyche has not had much time for art-studies this year, I +suppose?" said Paul, hoping to arrest the shower, natural as it was. + +"How could she with two invalids, the housekeeping, her father and the +boys to attend to? No, she gave that up last spring, and though it was +a great disappointment to her at the time, she has got over it now, I +hope," added her mother, remembering as she spoke that Psyche even now +went about the house sometimes pale and silent, with a hungry look in +her eyes. + +"I am glad to hear it," though a little shadow passed over his face +as Paul spoke, for he was too true an artist to believe that any work +could be as happy as that which he loved and lived for. "I thought +there was much promise in Miss Psyche, and I sincerely believe that +time will prove me a true prophet," he said, with mingled regret and +hope in his voice, as he glanced about the room, which betrayed the +tastes still cherished by the girl. + +"I'm afraid ambition isn't good for women; I mean the sort that makes +them known by coming before the public in any way. But Sy deserves +some reward, I'm sure, and I know she'll have it, for a better +daughter never lived." + +Here the third shawl was cast off, as if the thought of Psyche, or the +presence of a genial guest had touched Mrs. Dean's chilly nature with +a comfortable warmth. + +Further conversation was interrupted by the avalanche of boys which +came tumbling down the front stairs, as Tom, Dick, and Harry shouted +in a sort of chorus,-- + +"Sy, my balloon has got away; lend us a hand at catching him!" + +"Sy, I want a lot of paste made, right off." + +"Sy, I've split my jacket down the back; come sew me up, there's a +dear!" + +On beholding a stranger the young gentlemen suddenly lost their +voices, found their manners, and with nods and grins took themselves +away as quietly as could be expected of six clumping boots and an +unlimited quantity of animal spirits in a high state of effervescence. +As they trooped off, an unmistakable odor of burnt milk pervaded the +air, and the crash of china, followed by an Irish wail, caused Mrs. +Dean to clap on her three shawls again and excuse herself in visible +trepidation. + +Paul laughed quietly to himself, then turned sober and said, "Poor +Psyche!" with a sympathetic sigh. He roamed about the room impatiently +till the sound of voices drew him to the window to behold the girl +coming up the walk with her tired old father leaning on one arm, the +other loaded with baskets and bundles, and her hands occupied by a +remarkably ugly turtle. + +"Here we are!" cried a cheery voice, as they entered without observing +the new-comer. "I've done all my errands and had a lovely time. There +is Tom's gunpowder, Dick's fishhooks, and one of Professor Gazzy's +famous turtles for Harry. Here are your bundles, mother dear, and, +best of all, here's father home in time for a good rest before dinner. +I went to the mill and got him." + +Psyche spoke as if she had brought a treasure; and so she had, +for though Mr. Dean's face usually was about as expressive as the +turtle's, it woke and warmed with the affection which his daughter had +fostered till no amount of flannel could extinguish it. His big hand +patted her cheek very gently as he said, in a tone of fatherly love +and pride,-- + +"My little Sy never forgets old father, does she?" + +"Good gracious me, my dear, there's such a mess in the kitchen! Katy's +burnt up the pudding, put castor-oil instead of olive in the salad, +smashed the best meat-dish, and here's Mr. Gage come to dinner," cried +Mrs. Dean in accents of despair as she tied up her head in a fourth +shawl. + +"Oh, I'm so glad; I'll go in and see him a few minutes, and then I'll +come and attend to everything; so don't worry, mother." + +"How did you find me out?" asked Psyche as she shook hands with her +guest and stood looking up at him with all the old confiding frankness +in her face and manner. + +"The violets showed me the way." + +She glanced at the posy in his button-hole and smiled. + +"Yes, I gave them to Adam, but I didn't think you would guess. I +enjoyed your work for an hour to-day, and I have no words strong +enough to express my admiration." + +"There is no need of any. Tell me about yourself: what have you been +doing all this year?" he asked, watching with genuine satisfaction the +serene and sunny face before him, for discontent, anxiety, and sadness +were no longer visible there. + +"I've been working and waiting," she began. + +"And succeeding, if I may believe what I see and hear and read," he +said, with an expressive little wave of the book as he laid it down +before her. + +"My diary! I didn't know I had lost it. Where did you find it?" + +"By the brook where I stopped to rest. The moment I saw your name I +shut it up. Forgive me, but I can't ask pardon for reading a few pages +of that little gospel of patience, love, and self-denial." + +She gave him a reproachful look, and hurried the telltale book out of +sight as she said, with a momentary shadow on her face,-- + +"It has been a hard task; but I think I have learned it, and am just +beginning to find that my dream _is_ 'a noonday light and truth,' to +me." + +"Then you do not relinquish your hopes, and lay down your tools?" he +asked, with some eagerness. + +"Never! I thought at first that I could not serve two masters, but +in trying to be faithful to one I find I am nearer and dearer to the +other. My cares and duties are growing lighter every day (or I have +learned to bear them better), and when my leisure does come I shall +know how to use it, for my head is full of ambitious plans, and I feel +that I can do something _now_." + +All the old enthusiasm shone in her eyes, and a sense of power +betrayed itself in voice and gesture as she spoke. + +"I believe it," he said heartily. "You have learned the secret, as +that proves." + +Psyche looked at the childish image as he pointed to it, and into her +face there came a motherly expression that made it very sweet. + +"That little sister was so dear to me I could not fail to make her +lovely, for I put my heart into my work. The year has gone, but I +don't regret it, though this is all I have done." + +"You forget your three wishes; I think the year has granted them." + +"What were they?" + +"To possess beauty in yourself, the power of seeing it in all things, +and the art of reproducing it with truth." + +She colored deeply under the glance which accompanied the threefold +compliment, and answered with grateful humility,-- + +"You are very kind to say so; I wish I could believe it." Then, as if +anxious to forget herself, she added rather abruptly,-- + +"I hear you think of giving your Adam a mate,--have you begun yet?" + +"Yes, my design is finished, all but the face." + +"I should think you could image Eve's beauty, since you have succeeded +so well with Adam's." + +"The features perhaps, but not the expression. That is the charm of +feminine faces, a charm so subtile that few can catch and keep it. I +want a truly womanly face, one that shall be sweet and strong without +being either weak or hard. A hopeful, loving, earnest face with a +tender touch of motherliness in it, and perhaps the shadow of a grief +that has softened but not saddened it." + +"It will be hard to find a face like that." + +"I don't expect to find it in perfection; but one sometimes sees faces +which suggest all this, and in rare moments give glimpses of a lovely +possibility." + +"I sincerely hope you will find one then," said Psyche, thinking of +the dinner. + +"Thank you; _I_ think I have." + +Now, in order that every one may be suited, we will stop here, and +leave our readers to finish the story as they like. Those who prefer +the good old fashion may believe that the hero and heroine fell in +love, were married, and lived happily ever afterward. But those who +can conceive of a world outside of a wedding-ring may believe that the +friends remained faithful friends all their lives, while Paul won fame +and fortune, and Psyche grew beautiful with the beauty of a serene and +sunny nature, happy in duties which became pleasures, rich in the art +which made life lovely to herself and others, and brought rewards in +time. + + + + +A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS + +"A handful of good life is worth a bushel of learning." + + +"Dear Emily,--I have a brilliant idea, and at once hasten to share it +with you. Three weeks ago I came up here to the wilds of Vermont to +visit my old aunt, also to get a little quiet and distance in which +to survey certain new prospects which have opened before me, and to +decide whether I will marry a millionnaire and become a queen of +society, or remain 'the charming Miss Vaughan' and wait till the +conquering hero comes. + +"Aunt Plumy begs me to stay over Christmas, and I have consented, as I +always dread the formal dinner with which my guardian celebrates the +day. + +"My brilliant idea is this. I'm going to make it a real old-fashioned +frolic, and won't you come and help me? You will enjoy it immensely I +am sure, for Aunt is a character. Cousin Saul worth seeing, and Ruth +a far prettier girl than any of the city rose-buds coming out this +season. Bring Leonard Randal along with you to take notes for his new +books; then it will be fresher and truer than the last, clever as it +was. + +"The air is delicious up here, society amusing, this old farmhouse +full of treasures, and your bosom friend pining to embrace you. Just +telegraph yes or no, and we will expect you on Tuesday. + +"Ever yours, + +"SOPHIE VAUGHAN." + + +"They will both come, for they are as tired of city life and as fond +of change as I am," said the writer of the above, as she folded her +letter and went to get it posted without delay. + +Aunt Plumy was in the great kitchen making pies; a jolly old soul, +with a face as ruddy as a winter apple, a cheery voice, and the +kindest heart that ever beat under a gingham gown. Pretty Ruth was +chopping the mince, and singing so gaily as she worked that the +four-and-twenty immortal blackbirds could not have put more music into +a pie than she did. Saul was piling wood into the big oven, and Sophie +paused a moment on the threshold to look at him, for she always +enjoyed the sight of this stalwart cousin, whom she likened to a Norse +viking, with his fair hair and beard, keen blue eyes, and six feet of +manly height, with shoulders that looked broad and strong enough to +bear any burden. + +His back was toward her, but he saw her first, and turned his flushed +face to meet her, with the sudden lighting up it always showed when +she approached. + +"I've done it, Aunt; and now I want Saul to post the letter, so we can +get a speedy answer." + +"Just as soon as I can hitch up, cousin;" and Saul pitched in his last +log, looking ready to put a girdle round the earth in less than forty +minutes. + +"Well, dear, I ain't the least mite of objection, as long as it +pleases you. I guess we can stan' it ef your city folks can. I presume +to say things will look kind of sing'lar to 'em, but I s'pose that's +what they come for. Idle folks do dreadful queer things to amuse 'em;" +and Aunt Plumy leaned on the rolling-pin to smile and nod with a +shrewd twinkle of her eye, as if she enjoyed the prospect as much as +Sophie did. + +"I shall be afraid of 'em, but I'll try not to make you ashamed of +me," said Ruth, who loved her charming cousin even more than she +admired her. + +"No fear of that, dear. They will be the awkward ones, and you must +set them at ease by just being your simple selves, and treating them +as if they were every-day people. Nell is very nice and jolly when she +drops her city ways, as she must here. She will enter into the spirit +of the fun at once, and I know you'll all like her. Mr. Randal is +rather the worse for too much praise and petting, as successful people +are apt to be, so a little plain talk and rough work will do him good. +He is a true gentleman in spite of his airs and elegance, and he will +take it all in good part, if you treat him like a man and not a lion." + +"I'll see to him," said Saul, who had listened with great interest to +the latter part of Sophie's speech, evidently suspecting a lover, and +enjoying the idea of supplying him with a liberal amount of "plain +talk and rough work." + +"I'll keep 'em busy if that's what they need, for there will be a +sight to do, and we can't get help easy up here. Our darters don't +hire out much. Work to home till they marry, and don't go gaddin' +'round gettin' their heads full of foolish notions, and forgettin' all +the useful things their mothers taught 'em." + +Aunt Plumy glanced at Ruth as she spoke, and a sudden color in the +girl's cheeks proved that the words hit certain ambitious fancies of +this pretty daughter of the house of Basset. + +"They shall do their parts and not be a trouble; I'll see to that, +for you certainly are the dearest aunt in the world to let me take +possession of you and yours in this way," cried Sophie, embracing the +old lady with warmth. + +Saul wished the embrace could be returned by proxy, as his mother's +hands were too floury to do more than hover affectionately round the +delicate face that looked so fresh and young beside her wrinkled one. +As it could not be done, he fled temptation and "hitched up" without +delay. + +The three women laid their heads together in his absence, and Sophie's +plan grew apace, for Ruth longed to see a real novelist and a fine +lady, and Aunt Plumy, having plans of her own to further, said "Yes, +dear," to every suggestion. + +Great was the arranging and adorning that went on that day in the +old farmhouse, for Sophie wanted her friends to enjoy this taste of +country pleasures, and knew just what additions would be indispensable +to their comfort; what simple ornaments would be in keeping with the +rustic stage on which she meant to play the part of prima donna. + +Next day a telegram arrived accepting the invitation, for both the +lady and the lion. They would arrive that afternoon, as little +preparation was needed for this impromptu journey, the novelty of +which was its chief charm to these _blase_ people. + +Saul wanted to get out the double sleigh and span, for he prided +himself on his horses, and a fall of snow came most opportunely +to beautify the landscape and add a new pleasure to Christmas +festivities. + +But Sophie declared that the old yellow sleigh, with Punch, the +farm-horse, must be used, as she wished everything to be in keeping; +and Saul obeyed, thinking he had never seen anything prettier than his +cousin when she appeared in his mother's old-fashioned camlet cloak +and blue silk pumpkin hood. He looked remarkably well himself in his +fur coat, with hair and beard brushed till they shone like spun gold, +a fresh color in his cheek, and the sparkle of amusement in his eyes, +while excitement gave his usually grave face the animation it needed +to be handsome. + +Away they jogged in the creaking old sleigh, leaving Ruth to make +herself pretty, with a fluttering heart, and Aunt Plumy to dish up a +late dinner fit to tempt the most fastidious appetite. + +"She has not come for us, and there is not even a stage to take us up. +There must be some mistake," said Emily Herrick, as she looked about +the shabby little station where they were set down. + +"That is the never-to-be-forgotten face of our fair friend, but the +bonnet of her grandmother, if my eyes do not deceive me," answered +Randal, turning to survey the couple approaching in the rear. + +"Sophie Vaughan, what do you mean by making such a guy of yourself?" +exclaimed Emily, as she kissed the smiling face in the hood and stared +at the quaint cloak. + +"I'm dressed for my part, and I intend to keep it up. This is our +host, my cousin, Saul Basset. Come to the sleigh at once, he will see +to your luggage," said Sophie, painfully conscious of the antiquity of +her array as her eyes rested on Emily's pretty hat and mantle, and the +masculine elegance of Randal's wraps. + +They were hardly tucked in when Saul appeared with a valise in +one hand and a large trunk on his shoulder, swinging both on to a +wood-sled that stood near by as easily as if they had been hand-bags. + +"That is your hero, is it? Well, he looks it, calm and comely, +taciturn and tall," said Emily, in a tone of approbation. + +"He should have been named Samson or Goliath; though I believe it was +the small man who slung things about and turned out the hero in the +end," added Randal, surveying the performance with interest and a +touch of envy, for much pen work had made his own hands as delicate as +a woman's. + +"Saul doesn't live in a glass house, so stones won't hurt him. +Remember sarcasm is forbidden and sincerity the order of the day. You +are country folks now, and it will do you good to try their simple, +honest ways for a few days." + +Sophie had no time to say more, for Saul came up and drove off with +the brief remark that the baggage would "be along right away." + +Being hungry, cold and tired, the guests were rather silent during the +short drive, but Aunt Plumy's hospitable welcome, and the savory fumes +of the dinner awaiting them, thawed the ice and won their hearts at +once. + +"Isn't it nice? Aren't you glad you came?" asked Sophie, as she led +her friends into the parlor, which she had redeemed from its primness +by putting bright chintz curtains to the windows, hemlock boughs +over the old portraits, a china bowl of flowers on the table, and a +splendid fire on the wide hearth. + +"It is perfectly jolly, and this is the way I begin to enjoy myself," +answered Emily, sitting down upon the home-made rug, whose red flannel +roses bloomed in a blue list basket. + +"If I may add a little smoke to your glorious fire, it will be quite +perfect. Won't Samson join me?" asked Randal, waiting for permission, +cigar-case in hand. + +"He has no small vices, but you may indulge yours," answered Sophie, +from the depths of a grandmotherly chair. + +Emily glanced up at her friend as if she caught a new tone in her +voice, then turned to the fire again with a wise little nod, as if +confiding some secret to the reflection of herself in the bright brass +andiron. + +"His Delilah does not take this form. I wait with interest to discover +if he has one. What a daisy the sister is. Does she ever speak?" asked +Randal, trying to lounge on the haircloth sofa, where he was slipping +uncomfortably about. + +"Oh yes, and sings like a bird. You shall hear her when she gets over +her shyness. But no trifling, mind you, for it is a jealously guarded +daisy and not to be picked by any idle hand," said Sophie warningly, +as she recalled Ruth's blushes and Randal's compliments at dinner. + +"I should expect to be annihilated by the big brother if I attempted +any but the 'sincerest' admiration and respect. Have no fears on that +score, but tell us what is to follow this superb dinner. An apple bee, +spinning match, husking party, or primitive pastime of some sort, I +have no doubt." + +"As you are new to our ways I am going to let you rest this evening. +We will sit about the fire and tell stories. Aunt is a master hand +at that, and Saul has reminiscences of the war that are well worth +hearing if we can only get him to tell them." + +"Ah, he was there, was he?" + +"Yes, all through it, and is Major Basset, though he likes his plain +name best. He fought splendidly and had several wounds, though only a +mere boy when he earned his scars and bars. I'm very proud of him for +that," and Sophie looked so as she glanced at the photograph of +a stripling in uniform set in the place of honor on the high +mantel-piece. + +"We must stir him up and hear these martial memories. I want some new +incidents, and shall book all I can get, if I may." + +Here Randal was interrupted by Saul himself, who came in with an +armful of wood for the fire. + +"Anything more I can do for you, cousin?" he asked, surveying the +scene with a rather wistful look. + +"Only come and sit with us and talk over war times with Mr. Randal." + +"When I've foddered the cattle and done my chores I'd be pleased to. +What regiment were you in?" asked Saul, looking down from his lofty +height upon the slender gentleman, who answered briefly,-- + +"In none. I was abroad at the time." + +"Sick?" + +"No, busy with a novel." + +"Took four years to write it?" + +"I was obliged to travel and study before I could finish it. These +things take more time to work up than outsiders would believe." + +"Seems to me our war was a finer story than any you could find in +Europe, and the best way to study it would be to fight it out. If you +want heroes and heroines you'd have found plenty of 'em there." + +"I have no doubt of it, and shall be glad to atone for my seeming +neglect of them by hearing about your own exploits. Major." + +Randal hoped to turn the conversation gracefully, but Saul was not +to be caught, and left the room, saying, with a gleam of fun in his +eye,-- + +"I can't stop now; heroes can wait, pigs can't." + +The girls laughed at this sudden descent from the sublime to the +ridiculous, and Randal joined them, feeling his condescension had not +been unobserved. + +As if drawn by the merry sound Aunt Plumy appeared, and being +established in the rocking-chair fell to talking as easily as if she +had known her guests for years. + +"Laugh away, young folks, that's better for digestion than any of the +messes people use. Are you troubled with dyspepsy, dear? You didn't +seem to take your vittles very hearty, so I mistrusted you was +delicate," she said, looking at Emily, whose pale cheeks and weary +eyes told the story of late hours and a gay life. + +"I haven't eaten so much for years, I assure you, Mrs. Basset; but +it was impossible to taste all your good things. I am not dyspeptic, +thank you, but a little seedy and tired, for I've been working rather +hard lately." + +"Be you a teacher? or have you a 'perfessun,' as they call a trade +nowadays?" asked the old lady in a tone of kindly interest, which +prevented a laugh at the idea of Emily's being anything but a beauty +and a belle. The others kept their countenances with difficulty, and +she answered demurely,-- + +"I have no trade as yet, but I dare say I should be happier if I had." + +"Not a doubt on't, my dear." + +"What would you recommend, ma'am?" + +"I should say dressmakin' was rather in your line, ain't it? Your +clothes is dreadful tasty, and do you credit if you made 'em +yourself." and Aunt Plumy surveyed with feminine interest the simple +elegance of the travelling dress which was the masterpiece of a French +modiste. + +"No, ma'am, I don't make my own things, I'm too lazy. It takes so much +time and trouble to select them that I have only strength left to wear +them." + +"Housekeepin' used to be the favorite perfessun in my day. It ain't +fashionable now, but it needs a sight of trainin' to be perfect in all +that's required, and I've an idee it would be a sight healthier and +usefuller than the paintin' and music and fancy work young women do +nowadays." + +"But every one wants some beauty in their lives, and each one has a +different sphere to fill, if one can only find it." + +"'Pears to me there's no call for so much art when nater is full of +beauty for them that can see and love it. As for 'spears' and so on, +I've a notion if each of us did up our own little chores smart and +thorough we needn't go wanderin' round to set the world to rights. +That's the Lord's job, and I presume to say He can do it without any +advice of ourn." + +Something in the homely but true words seemed to rebuke the three +listeners for wasted lives, and for a moment there was no sound but +the crackle of the fire, the brisk click of the old lady's knitting +needles, and Ruth's voice singing overhead as she made ready to join +the party below. + +"To judge by that sweet sound you have done one of your 'chores' very +beautifully, Mrs. Basset, and in spite of the follies of our day, +succeeded in keeping one girl healthy, happy and unspoiled," said +Emily, looking up into the peaceful old face with her own lovely one +full of respect and envy. + +"I do hope so, for she's my ewe lamb, the last of four dear little +girls; all the rest are in the burying ground 'side of father. I don't +expect to keep her long, and don't ought to regret when I lose her, +for Saul is the best of sons; but daughters is more to mothers +somehow, and I always yearn over girls that is left without a broodin' +wing to keep 'em safe and warm in this world of tribulation." + +Aunt Plumy laid her hand on Sophie's head as she spoke, with such a +motherly look that both girls drew nearer, and Randal resolved to put +her in a book without delay. + +Presently Saul returned with little Ruth hanging on his arm and shyly +nestling near him as he took the three-cornered leathern chair in the +chimney nook, while she sat on a stool close by. + +"Now the circle is complete and the picture perfect. Don't light the +lamps yet, please, but talk away and let me make a mental study +of you. I seldom find so charming a scene to paint," said Randal, +beginning to enjoy himself immensely, with a true artist's taste for +novelty and effect. + +"Tell us about your book, for we have been reading it as it comes out +in the magazine, and are much exercised about how it's going to +end," began Saul, gallantly throwing himself into the breach, for a +momentary embarrassment fell upon the women at the idea of sitting for +their portraits before they were ready. + +"Do you really read my poor serial up here, and do me the honor to +like it?" asked the novelist, both flattered and amused, for his work +was of the aesthetic sort, microscopic studies of character, and +careful pictures of modern life. + +"Sakes alive, why shouldn't we?" cried Aunt Plumy. "We have some +eddication, though we ain't very genteel. We've got a town libry, kep +up by the women mostly, with fairs and tea parties and so on. We have +all the magazines reg'lar, and Saul reads out the pieces while Ruth +sews and I knit, my eyes bein' poor. Our winter is long and evenins +would be kinder lonesome if we didn't have novils and newspapers to +cheer 'em up." + +"I am very glad I can help to beguile them for you. Now tell me what +you honestly think of my work? Criticism is always valuable, and I +should really like yours, Mrs. Basset," said Randal, wondering what +the good woman would make of the delicate analysis and worldly wisdom +on which he prided himself. + +Short work, as Aunt Plumy soon showed him, for she rather enjoyed +freeing her mind at all times, and decidedly resented the insinuation +that country folk could not appreciate light literature as well as +city people. + +"I ain't no great of a jedge about anything but nat'ralness of books, +and it really does seem as if some of your men and women was dreadful +uncomfortable creaters. 'Pears to me it ain't wise to be always +pickin' ourselves to pieces and pryin' into things that ought to +come gradual by way of experience and the visitations of Providence. +Flowers won't blow worth a cent ef you pull 'em open. Better wait and +see what they can do alone. I do relish the smart sayins, the odd ways +of furrin parts, and the sarcastic slaps at folkses weak spots. But +massy knows, we can't live on spice-cake and Charlotte Ruche, and I +do feel as if books was more sustainin' ef they was full of every-day +people and things, like good bread and butter. Them that goes to the +heart and ain't soon forgotten is the kind I hanker for. Mis Terry's +books now, and Mis Stowe's, and Dickens's Christmas pieces,--them is +real sweet and cheerin', to my mind." + +As the blunt old lady paused it was evident she had produced a +sensation, for Saul smiled at the fire, Ruth looked dismayed at +this assault upon one of her idols, and the young ladies were both +astonished and amused at the keenness of the new critic who dared +express what they had often felt. Randal, however, was quite composed +and laughed good-naturedly, though secretly feeling as if a pail of +cold water had been poured over him. + +"Many thanks, madam; you have discovered my weak point with surprising +accuracy. But you see I cannot help 'picking folks to pieces,' as you +have expressed it; that is my gift, and it has its attractions, as the +sale of my books will testify. People like the 'spice-bread,' and as +that is the only sort my oven will bake, I must keep on in order to +make my living." + +"So rumsellers say, but it ain't a good trade to foller, and I'd chop +wood 'fore I'd earn my livin' harmin' my feller man. 'Pears to me I'd +let my oven cool a spell, and hunt up some homely, happy folks to +write about; folks that don't borrer trouble and go lookin' for holes +in their neighbors' coats, but take their lives brave and cheerful; +and rememberin' we are all human, have pity on the weak, and try to +be as full of mercy, patience and lovin' kindness as Him who made +us. That sort of a book would do a heap of good; be real warmin' and +strengthening and make them that read it love the man that wrote it, +and remember him when he was dead and gone." + +"I wish I could!" and Randal meant what he said, for he was as tired +of his own style as a watch-maker might be of the magnifying glass +through which he strains his eyes all day. He knew that the heart was +left out of his work, and that both mind and soul were growing morbid +with dwelling on the faulty, absurd and metaphysical phases of life +and character. He often threw down his pen and vowed he would write no +more; but he loved ease and the books brought money readily; he was +accustomed to the stimulant of praise and missed it as the toper +misses his wine, so that which had once been a pleasure to himself and +others was fast becoming a burden and a disappointment. + +The brief pause which followed his involuntary betrayal of discontent +was broken by Ruth, who exclaimed, with a girlish enthusiasm that +overpowered girlish bashfulness,-- + +"_I_ think all the novels are splendid! I hope you will write hundreds +more, and I shall live to read 'em." + +"Bravo, my gentle champion! I promise that I will write one more at +least, and have a heroine in it whom your mother will both admire and +love," answered Randal, surprised to find how grateful he was for the +girl's approval, and how rapidly his trained fancy began to paint the +background on which he hoped to copy this fresh, human daisy. + +Abashed by her involuntary outburst, Ruth tried to efface herself +behind Saul's broad shoulder, and he brought the conversation back to +its starting-point by saying in a tone of the most sincere interest,-- + +"Speaking of the serial, I am very anxious to know how your hero comes +out. He is a fine fellow, and I can't decide whether he is going to +spoil his life marrying that silly woman, or do something grand and +generous, and not be made a fool of." + +"Upon my soul, I don't know myself. It is very hard to find new +finales. Can't you suggest something, Major? then I shall not be +obliged to leave my story without an end, as people complain I am +rather fond of doing." + +"Well, no, I don't think I've anything to offer. Seems to me it isn't +the sensational exploits that show the hero best, but some great +sacrifice quietly made by a common sort of man who is noble without +knowing it. I saw a good many such during the war, and often wish I +could write them down, for it is surprising how much courage, goodness +and real piety is stowed away in common folks ready to show when the +right time comes." + +"Tell us one of them, and I'll bless you for a hint. No one knows the +anguish of an author's spirit when he can't ring down the curtain on +an effective tableau," said Randal, with a glance at his friends to +ask their aid in eliciting an anecdote or reminiscence. + +"Tell about the splendid fellow who held the bridge, like Horatius, +till help came up. That was a thrilling story, I assure you," answered +Sophie, with an inviting smile. + +But Saul would not be his own hero, and said briefly: + +"Any man can be brave when the battle-fever is on him, and it only +takes a little physical courage to dash ahead." He paused a moment, +with his eyes on the snowy landscape without, where twilight was +deepening; then, as if constrained by the memory that winter scene +evoked, he slowly continued,-- + +"One of the bravest things I ever knew was done by a poor fellow who +has been a hero to me ever since, though I only met him that night. +It was after one of the big battles of that last winter, and I was +knocked over with a broken leg and two or three bullets here and +there. Night was coming on, snow falling, and a sharp wind blew over +the field where a lot of us lay, dead and alive, waiting for the +ambulance to come and pick us up. There was skirmishing going on not +far off, and our prospects were rather poor between frost and fire. I +was calculating how I'd manage, when I found two poor chaps close by +who were worse off, so I braced up and did what I could for them. One +had an arm blown away, and kept up a dreadful groaning. The other +was shot bad, and bleeding to death for want of help, but never +complained. He was nearest, and I liked his pluck, for he spoke +cheerful and made me ashamed to growl. Such times make dreadful brutes +of men if they haven't something to hold on to, and all three of us +were most wild with pain and cold and hunger, for we'd fought all day +fasting, when we heard a rumble in the road below, and saw lanterns +bobbing round. That meant life to us, and we all tried to holler; two +of us were pretty faint, but I managed a good yell, and they heard it. + +"'Room for one more. Hard luck, old boys, but we are full and must +save the worst wounded first. Take a drink, and hold on till we come +back,' says one of them with the stretcher. + +"'Here's the one to go,' I says, pointin' out my man, for I saw by the +light that he was hard hit. + +"'No, that one. He's got more chances than I, or this one; he's young +and got a mother; I'll wait,' said the good feller, touchin' my arm, +for he 'd heard me mutterin' to myself about this dear old lady. We +always want mother when we are down, you know." + +Saul's eyes turned to the beloved face with a glance of tenderest +affection, and Aunt Plumy answered with a dismal groan at the +recollection of his need that night, and her absence. + +"Well, to be short, the groaning chap was taken, and my man left. I +was mad, but there was no time for talk, and the selfish one went off +and left that poor feller to run his one chance. I had my rifle, and +guessed I could hobble up to use it if need be; so we settled back to +wait without much hope of help, everything being in a muddle. And wait +we did till morning, for that ambulance did not come back till next +day, when most of us were past needing it. + +"I'll never forget that night. I dream it all over again as plain as +if it was real. Snow, cold, darkness, hunger, thirst, pain, and all +round us cries and cursing growing less and less, till at last only +the wind went moaning over that meadow. It was awful! so lonesome, +helpless, and seemingly God-forsaken. Hour after hour we lay there +side by side under one coat, waiting to be saved or die, for the wind +grew strong and we grew weak." + +Saul drew a long breath, and held his hands to the fire as if he felt +again the sharp suffering of that night. + +"And the man?" asked Emily, softly, as if reluctant to break the +silence. + +"He _was_ a man! In times like that men talk like brothers and show +what they are. Lying there, slowly freezing, Joe Cummings told +me about his wife and babies, his old folks waiting for him, all +depending on him, yet all ready to give him up when he was needed. A +plain man, but honest and true, and loving as a woman; I soon saw that +as he went on talking, half to me and half to himself, for sometimes +he wandered a little toward the end. I've read books, heard sermons, +and seen good folks, but nothing ever came so close or did me so much +good as seeing this man die. He had one chance and gave it cheerfully. +He longed for those he loved, and let 'em go with a good-by they +couldn't hear. He suffered all the pains we most shrink from without a +murmur, and kept my heart warm while his own was growing cold. It's +no use trying to tell that part of it; but I heard prayers that night +that meant something, and I saw how faith could hold a soul up when +everything was gone but God." + +Saul stopped there with a sudden huskiness in his deep voice, and when +he went on it was in the tone of one who speaks of a dear friend. + +"Joe grew still by and by, and I thought he was asleep, for I felt his +breath when I tucked him up, and his hand held on to mine. The cold +sort of numbed me, and I dropped off, too weak and stupid to think or +feel. I never should have waked up if it hadn't been for Joe. When I +came to, it was morning, and I thought I was dead, for all I could see +was that great field of white mounds, like graves, and a splendid sky +above. Then I looked for Joe, remembering; but he had put my coat back +over me, and lay stiff and still under the snow that covered him like +a shroud, all except his face. A bit of my cape had blown over it, and +when I took it off and the sun shone on his dead face, I declare to +you it was so full of heavenly peace I felt as if that common man had +been glorified by God's light, and rewarded by God's 'Well done.' +That's all." + +No one spoke for a moment, while the women wiped their eyes, and Saul +dropped his as if to hide something softer than tears. + +"It was very noble, very touching. And you? how did you get off at +last?" asked Randal, with real admiration and respect in his usually +languid face. + +"Crawled off," answered Saul, relapsing into his former brevity of +speech. + +"Why not before, and save yourself all that misery?" + +"Couldn't leave Joe." + +"Ah, I see; there were two heroes that night." + +"Dozens, I've no doubt. Those were times that made heroes of men, and +women, too." + +"Tell us more;" begged Emily, looking up with an expression none of +her admirers ever brought to her face by their softest compliments or +wiliest gossip. + +"I've done my part. It's Mr. Randal's turn now;" and Saul drew himself +out of the ruddy circle of firelight, as if ashamed of the prominent +part he was playing. + +Sophie and her friend had often heard Randal talk, for he was an +accomplished _raconteur_, but that night he exerted himself, and was +unusually brilliant and entertaining, as if upon his mettle. The +Bassets were charmed. They sat late and were very merry, for +Aunt Plumy got up a little supper for them, and her cider was as +exhilarating as champagne. When they parted for the night and Sophie +kissed her aunt, Emily did the same, saying heartily,-- + +"It seems as if I'd known you all my life, and this is certainly the +most enchanting old place that ever was." + +"Glad you like it, dear. But it ain't all fun, as you'll find out +to-morrow when you go to work, for Sophie says you must," answered +Mrs. Basset, as her guests trooped away, rashly promising to like +everything. + +They found it difficult to keep their word when they were called at +half past six next morning. Their rooms were warm, however, and +they managed to scramble down in time for breakfast, guided by the +fragrance of coffee and Aunt Plumy's shrill voice singing the good old +hymn-- + + "Lord, in the morning Thou shalt hear + My voice ascending high." + +An open fire blazed on the hearth, for the cooking was done in +the lean-to, and the spacious, sunny kitchen was kept in all its +old-fashioned perfection, with the wooden settle in a warm nook, the +tall clock behind the door, copper and pewter utensils shining on the +dresser, old china in the corner closet and a little spinning wheel +rescued from the garret by Sophie to adorn the deep window, full of +scarlet geraniums, Christmas roses, and white chrysanthemums. + +The young lady, in a checked apron and mob-cap, greeted her friends +with a dish of buckwheats in one hand, and a pair of cheeks that +proved she had been learning to fry these delectable cakes. + +"You do 'keep it up' in earnest, upon my word; and very becoming it +is, dear. But won't you ruin your complexion and roughen your hands if +you do so much of this new fancy-work?" asked Emily, much amazed at +this novel freak. + +"I like it, and really believe I've found my proper sphere at last. +Domestic life seems so pleasant to me that I feel as if I'd better +keep it up for the rest of my life," answered Sophie, making a pretty +picture of herself as she cut great slices of brown bread, with the +early sunshine touching her happy face. + +"The charming Miss Vaughan in the role of a farmer's wife. I find it +difficult to imagine, and shrink from the thought of the wide-spread +dismay such a fate will produce among her adorers," added Randal, as +he basked in the glow of the hospitable fire. + +"She might do worse; but come to breakfast and do honor to my +handiwork," said Sophie, thinking of her worn-out millionnaire, and +rather nettled by the satiric smile on Randal's lips. + +"What an appetite early rising gives one. I feel equal to almost +anything, so let me help wash cups," said Emily, with unusual energy, +when the hearty meal was over and Sophie began to pick up the dishes +as if it was her usual work. + +Ruth went to the window to water the flowers, and Randal followed to +make himself agreeable, remembering her defence of him last night. +He was used to admiration from feminine eyes, and flattery from soft +lips, but found something new and charming in the innocent delight +which showed itself at his approach in blushes more eloquent than +words, and shy glances from eyes full of hero-worship. + +"I hope you are going to spare me a posy for to-morrow night, since +I can be fine in no other way to do honor to the dance Miss Sophie +proposes for us," he said, leaning in the bay window to look down +on the little girl, with the devoted air he usually wore for pretty +women. + +"Anything you like! I should be so glad to have you wear my flowers. +There will be enough for all, and I've nothing else to give to people +who have made me as happy as cousin Sophie and you," answered Ruth, +half drowning her great calla as she spoke with grateful warmth. + +"You must make her happy by accepting the invitation to go home with +her which I heard given last night. A peep at the world would do you +good, and be a pleasant change, I think." + +"Oh, very pleasant! but would it do me good?" and Ruth looked up with +sudden seriousness in her blue eyes, as a child questions an elder, +eager, yet wistful. + +"Why not?" asked Randal, wondering at the hesitation. + +"I might grow discontented with things here if I saw splendid houses +and fine people. I am very happy now, and it would break my heart to +lose that happiness, or ever learn to be ashamed of home." + +"But don't you long for more pleasure, new scenes and other friends +than these?" asked the man, touched by the little creature's loyalty +to the things she knew and loved. + +"Very often, but mother says when I'm ready they will come, so I wait +and try not to be impatient." But Ruth's eyes looked out over the +green leaves as if the longing was very strong within her to see more +of the unknown world lying beyond the mountains that hemmed her in. + +"It is natural for birds to hop out of the nest, so I shall expect to +see you over there before long, and ask you how you enjoy your first +flight," said Randal, in a paternal tone that had a curious effect on +Ruth. + +To his surprise, she laughed, then blushed like one of her own roses, +and answered with a demure dignity that was very pretty to see. + +"I intend to hop soon, but it won't be a very long flight or very far +from mother. She can't spare me, and nobody in the world can fill her +place to me." + +"Bless the child, does she think I'm going to make love to her," +thought Randal, much amused, but quite mistaken. Wiser women had +thought so when he assumed the caressing air with which he beguiled +them into the little revelations of character he liked to use, as the +south wind makes flowers open their hearts to give up their odor, then +leaves them to carry it elsewhere, the more welcome for the stolen +sweetness. + +"Perhaps you are right. The maternal wing is a safe shelter for +confiding little souls like you, Miss Ruth. You will be as comfortable +here as your flowers in this sunny window," he said, carelessly +pinching geranium leaves, and ruffling the roses till the pink petals +of the largest fluttered to the floor. + +As if she instinctively felt and resented something in the man which +his act symbolized, the girl answered quietly, as she went on with her +work, "Yes, if the frost does not touch me, or careless people spoil +me too soon." + +Before Randal could reply Aunt Plumy approached like a maternal hen +who sees her chicken in danger. + +"Saul is goin' to haul wood after he's done his chores, mebbe you'd +like to go along? The view is good, the roads well broke, and the day +uncommon fine." + +"Thanks; it will be delightful, I dare say," politely responded the +lion, with a secret shudder at the idea of a rural promenade at 8 A.M. +in the winter. + +"Come on, then; we'll feed the stock, and then I'll show you how to +yoke oxen," said Saul, with a twinkle in his eye as he led the way, +when his new aide had muffled himself up as if for a polar voyage. + +"Now, that's too bad of Saul! He did it on purpose, just to please +you, Sophie," cried Ruth presently, and the girls ran to the window to +behold Randal bravely following his host with a pail of pigs' food in +each hand, and an expression of resigned disgust upon his aristocratic +face. + +"To what base uses may we come," quoted Emily, as they all nodded and +smiled upon the victim as he looked back from the barn-yard, where he +was clamorously welcomed by his new charges. + +"It is rather a shock at first, but it will do him good, and Saul +won't be too hard upon him, I'm sure," said Sophie, going back to her +work, while Ruth turned her best buds to the sun that they might be +ready for a peace-offering to-morrow. + +There was a merry clatter in the big kitchen for an hour; then Aunt +Plumy and her daughter shut themselves up in the pantry to perform +some culinary rites, and the young ladies went to inspect certain +antique costumes laid forth in Sophie's room. + +"You see, Em, I thought it would be appropriate to the house and +season to have an old-fashioned dance. Aunt has quantities of ancient +finery stowed away, for great-grandfather Basset was a fine old +gentleman and his family lived in state. Take your choice of the +crimson, blue or silver-gray damask. Ruth is to wear the worked muslin +and quilted white satin skirt, with that coquettish hat." + +"Being dark, I'll take the red and trim it up with this fine lace. +You must wear the blue and primrose, with the distracting high-heeled +shoes. Have you any suits for the men?" asked Emily, throwing herself +at once into the all-absorbing matter of costume. + +"A claret velvet coat and vest, silk stockings, cocked hat and +snuff-box for Randal. Nothing large enough for Saul, so he must wear +his uniform. Won't Aunt Plumy be superb in this plum-colored satin and +immense cap?" + +A delightful morning was spent in adapting the faded finery of the +past to the blooming beauty of the present, and time and tongues flew +till the toot of a horn called them down to dinner. + +The girls were amazed to see Randal come whistling up the road with +his trousers tucked into his boots, blue mittens on his hands, and an +unusual amount of energy in his whole figure, as he drove the oxen, +while Saul laughed at his vain attempts to guide the bewildered +beasts. + +"It's immense! The view from the hill is well worth seeing, for the +snow glorifies the landscape and reminds one of Switzerland. I'm going +to make a sketch of it this afternoon; better come and enjoy the +delicious freshness, young ladies." + +Randal was eating with such an appetite that he did not see the +glances the girls exchanged as they promised to go. + +"Bring home some more winter-green, I want things to be real nice, and +we haven't enough for the kitchen," said Ruth, dimpling with girlish +delight as she imagined herself dancing under the green garlands in +her grandmother's wedding gown. + +It was very lovely on the hill, for far as the eye could reach lay the +wintry landscape sparkling with the brief beauty of sunshine on virgin +snow. Pines sighed overhead, hardy birds flitted to and fro, and in +all the trodden spots rose the little spires of evergreen ready for +its Christmas duty. Deeper in the wood sounded the measured ring of +axes, the crash of falling trees, while the red shirts of the men +added color to the scene, and a fresh wind brought the aromatic breath +of newly cloven hemlock and pine. + +"How beautiful it is! I never knew before what winter woods were like. +Did you, Sophie?" asked Emily, sitting on a stump to enjoy the novel +pleasure at her ease. + +"I've found out lately; Saul lets me come as often as I like, and this +fine air seems to make a new creature of me," answered Sophie, looking +about her with sparkling eyes, as if this was a kingdom where she +reigned supreme. + +"Something is making a new creature of you, that is very evident. I +haven't yet discovered whether it is the air or some magic herb among +that green stuff you are gathering so diligently;" and Emily laughed +to see the color deepen beautifully in her friend's half-averted face. + +"Scarlet is the only wear just now, I find. If we are lost like babes +in the woods there are plenty of redbreasts to cover us with leaves," +and Randal joined Emily's laugh, with a glance at Saul, who had just +pulled his coat off. + +"You wanted to see this tree go down, so stand from under and I'll +show you how it's done," said the farmer, taking up his axe, not +unwilling to gratify his guests and display his manly accomplishments +at the same time. + +It was a fine sight, the stalwart man swinging his axe with +magnificent strength and skill, each blow sending a thrill through the +stately tree, till its heart was reached and it tottered to its fall. +Never pausing for breath Saul shook his yellow mane out of his eyes, +and hewed away, while the drops stood on his forehead and his arm +ached, as bent on distinguishing himself as if he had been a knight +tilting against his rival for his lady's favor. + +"I don't know which to admire most, the man or his muscle. One doesn't +often see such vigor, size and comeliness in these degenerate days," +said Randal, mentally booking the fine figure in the red shirt. + +"I think we have discovered a rough diamond. I only wonder if Sophie +is going to try and polish it," answered Emily, glancing at her +friend, who stood a little apart, watching the rise and fall of the +axe as intently as if her fate depended on it. + +Down rushed the tree at last, and, leaving them to examine a crow's +nest in its branches, Saul went off to his men, as if he found the +praises of his prowess rather too much for him. + +Randal fell to sketching, the girls to their garland-making, and for +a little while the sunny woodland nook was full of lively chat and +pleasant laughter, for the air exhilarated them all like wine. +Suddenly a man came running from the wood, pale and anxious, saying, +as he hastened by for help, "Blasted tree fell on him! Bleed to death +before the doctor comes!" + +"Who? who?" cried the startled trio. + +But the man ran on, with some breathless reply, in which only a name +was audible--"Basset." + +"The deuce it is!" and Randal dropped his pencil, while the girls +sprang up in dismay. Then, with one impulse, they hastened to the +distant group, half visible behind the fallen trees and corded wood. + +Sophie was there first, and forcing her way through the little crowd +of men, saw a red-shirted figure on the ground, crushed and bleeding, +and threw herself down beside it with a cry that pierced the hearts of +those who heard it. + +In the act she saw it was not Saul, and covered her bewildered face as +if to hide its joy. A strong arm lifted her, and the familiar voice +said cheeringly,-- + +"I'm all right, dear. Poor Bruce is hurt, but we've sent for help. +Better go right home and forget all about it." + +"Yes, I will, if I can do nothing;" and Sophie meekly returned to her +friends who stood outside the circle over which Saul's head towered, +assuring them of his safety. + +Hoping they had not seen her agitation, she led Emily away, leaving +Randal to give what aid he could and bring them news of the poor +wood-chopper's state. + +Aunt Plumy produced the "camphire" the moment she saw Sophie's pale +face, and made her lie down, while the brave old lady trudged briskly +off with bandages and brandy to the scene of action. On her return she +brought comfortable news of the man, so the little flurry blew over +and was forgotten by all but Sophie, who remained pale and quiet all +the evening, tying evergreen as if her life depended on it. + +"A good night's sleep will set her up. She ain't used to such things, +dear child, and needs cossetin'," said Aunt Plumy, purring over her +until she was in her bed, with a hot stone at her feet and a bowl of +herb tea to quiet her nerves. + +An hour later when Emily went up, she peeped in to see if Sophie was +sleeping nicely, and was surprised to find the invalid wrapped in a +dressing-gown writing busily. + +"Last will and testament, or sudden inspiration, dear? How are you? +faint or feverish, delirious or in the dumps! Saul looks so anxious, +and Mrs. Basset hushes us all up so, I came to bed, leaving Randal to +entertain Ruth." + +As she spoke Emily saw the papers disappear in a portfolio, and Sophie +rose with a yawn. + +"I was writing letters, but I'm sleepy now. Quite over my foolish +fright, thank you. Go and get your beauty sleep that you may dazzle +the natives to-morrow." + +"So glad, good night;" and Emily went away, saying to herself, +"Something is going on, and I must find out what it is before I leave. +Sophie can't blind _me_." + +But Sophie did all the next day, being delightfully gay at the dinner, +and devoting herself to the young minister who was invited to meet +the distinguished novelist, and evidently being afraid of him, gladly +basked in the smiles of his charming neighbor. A dashing sleigh-ride +occupied the afternoon, and then great was the fun and excitement over +the costumes. + +Aunt Plumy laughed till the tears rolled down her cheeks as the girls +compressed her into the plum-colored gown with its short waist, +leg-of-mutton sleeves, and narrow skirt. But a worked scarf hid all +deficiencies, and the towering cap struck awe into the soul of the +most frivolous observer. + +"Keep an eye on me, girls, for I shall certainly split somewheres or +lose my head-piece off when I'm trottin' round. What would my blessed +mother say if she could see me rigged out in her best things?" and +with a smile and a sigh the old lady departed to look after "the +boys," and see that the supper was all right. + +Three prettier damsels never tripped down the wide staircase than the +brilliant brunette in crimson brocade, the pensive blonde in blue, or +the rosy little bride in old muslin and white satin. + +A gallant court gentleman met them in the hall with a superb bow, +and escorted them to the parlor, where Grandma Basset's ghost was +discovered dancing with a modern major in full uniform. + +Mutual admiration and many compliments followed, till other ancient +ladies and gentlemen arrived in all manner of queer costumes, and the +old house seemed to wake from its humdrum quietude to sudden music and +merriment, as if a past generation had returned to keep its Christmas +there. + +The village fiddler soon struck up the good old tunes, and then the +strangers saw dancing that filled them with mingled mirth and envy; it +was so droll, yet so hearty. The young men, unusually awkward in their +grandfathers' knee-breeches, flapping vests, and swallow-tail coats, +footed it bravely with the buxom girls who were the prettier for their +quaintness, and danced with such vigor that their high combs stood +awry, their furbelows waved wildly, and their cheeks were as red as +their breast-knots, or hose. + +It was impossible to stand still, and one after the other the city +folk yielded to the spell, Randal leading off with Ruth, Sophie swept +away by Saul, and Emily being taken possession of by a young giant of +eighteen, who spun her around with a boyish impetuosity that took her +breath away. Even Aunt Plumy was discovered jigging it alone in the +pantry, as if the music was too much for her, and the plates and +glasses jingled gaily on the shelves in time to Money Musk and +Fishers' Hornpipe. + +A pause came at last, however, and fans fluttered, heated brows were +wiped, jokes were made, lovers exchanged confidences, and every nook +and corner held a man and maid carrying on the sweet game which is +never out of fashion. There was a glitter of gold lace in the back +entry, and a train of blue and primrose shone in the dim light. There +was a richer crimson than that of the geraniums in the deep window, +and a dainty shoe tapped the bare floor impatiently as the brilliant +black eyes looked everywhere for the court gentleman, while their +owner listened to the gruff prattle of an enamored boy. But in the +upper hall walked a little white ghost as if waiting for some shadowy +companion, and when a dark form appeared ran to take its arm, saying, +in a tone of soft satisfaction,-- + +"I was so afraid you wouldn't come!" + +"Why did you leave me, Ruth?" answered a manly voice in a tone of +surprise, though the small hand slipping from the velvet coat-sleeve +was replaced as if it was pleasant to feel it there. + +A pause, and then the other voice answered demurely,-- + +"Because I was afraid my head would be turned by the fine things you +were saying." + +"It is impossible to help saying what one feels to such an artless +little creature as you are. It does me good to admire anything so +fresh and sweet, and won't harm you." + +"It might if--" + +"If what, my daisy?" + +"I believed it," and a laugh seemed to finish the broken sentence +better than the words. + +"You may, Ruth, for I do sincerely admire the most genuine girl I have +seen for a long time. And walking here with you in your bridal white I +was just asking myself if I should not be a happier man with a home +of my own and a little wife hanging on my arm than drifting about the +world as I do now with only myself to care for." + +"I know you would!" and Ruth spoke so earnestly that Randal was both +touched and startled, fearing he had ventured too far in a mood of +unwonted sentiment, born of the romance of the hour and the sweet +frankness of his companion. + +"Then you don't think it would be rash for some sweet woman to take me +in hand and make me happy, since fame is a failure?" + +"Oh, no; it would be easy work if she loved you. I know some one--if I +only dared to tell her name." + +"Upon my soul, this is cool," and Randal looked down, wondering if the +audacious lady on his arm could be shy Ruth. + +If he had seen the malicious merriment in her eyes he would have been +more humiliated still, but they were modestly averted, and the face +under the little hat was full of a soft agitation rather dangerous +even to a man of the world. + +"She is a captivating little creature, but it is too soon for anything +but a mild flirtation. I must delay further innocent revelations or I +shall do something rash." + +While making this excellent resolution Randal had been pressing the +hand upon his arm and gently pacing down the dimly lighted hall +with the sound of music in his ears, Ruth's sweetest roses in his +button-hole, and a loving little girl beside him, as he thought. + +"You shall tell me by and by when we are in town. I am sure you will +come, and meanwhile don't forget me." + +"I am going in the spring, but I shall not be with Sophie," answered +Ruth, in a whisper. + +"With whom then? I shall long to see you." + +"With my husband. I am to be married in May." + +"The deuce you are!" escaped Randal, as he stopped short to stare at +his companion, sure she was not in earnest. + +But she was, for as he looked the sound of steps coming up the back +stairs made her whole face flush and brighten with the unmistakable +glow of happy love, and she completed Randal's astonishment by running +into the arms of the young minister, saying with an irrepressible +laugh, "Oh, John, why didn't you come before?" + +The court gentleman was all right in a moment, and the coolest of +the three as he offered his congratulations and gracefully retired, +leaving the lovers to enjoy the tryst he had delayed. But as he went +down stairs his brows were knit, and he slapped the broad railing +smartly with his cocked hat as if some irritation must find vent in a +more energetic way than merely saying, "Confound the little baggage!" +under his breath. + +Such an amazing supper came from Aunt Plumy's big pantry that the city +guests could not eat for laughing at the queer dishes circulating +through the rooms, and copiously partaken of by the hearty young +folks. + +Doughnuts and cheese, pie and pickles, cider and tea, baked beans and +custards, cake and cold turkey, bread and butter, plum pudding and +French bonbons, Sophie's contribution. + +"May I offer you the native delicacies, and share your plate? Both +are very good, but the china has run short, and after such vigorous +exercise as you have had you must need refreshment. I'm sure I do!" +said Randal, bowing before Emily with a great blue platter laden with +two doughnuts, two wedges of pumpkin pie and two spoons. + +The smile with which she welcomed him, the alacrity with which she +made room beside her and seemed to enjoy the supper he brought, was so +soothing to his ruffled spirit that he soon began to feel that there +is no friend like an old friend, that it would not be difficult to +name a sweet woman who would take him in hand and would make him happy +if he cared to ask her, and he began to think he would by and by, it +was so pleasant to sit in that green corner with waves of crimson +brocade flowing over his feet, and a fine face softening beautifully +under his eyes. + +The supper was not romantic, but the situation was, and Emily found +that pie ambrosial food eaten with the man she loved, whose eyes +talked more eloquently than the tongue just then busy with a doughnut. +Ruth kept away, but glanced at them as she served her company, and her +own happy experience helped her to see that all was going well in that +quarter. Saul and Sophie emerged from the back entry with shining +countenances, but carefully avoided each other for the rest of the +evening. No one observed this but Aunt Plumy from the recesses of her +pantry, and she folded her hands as if well content, as she murmured +fervently over a pan full of crullers, "Bless the dears! Now I can die +happy." + +Every one thought Sophie's old-fashioned dress immensely becoming, and +several of his former men said to Saul with blunt admiration, "Major, +you look to-night as you used to after we'd gained a big battle." + +"I feel as if I had," answered the splendid Major, with eyes much +brighter than his buttons, and a heart under them infinitely prouder +than when he was promoted on the field of honor, for his Waterloo was +won. + +There was more dancing, followed by games, in which Aunt Plumy shone +pre-eminent, for the supper was off her mind and she could enjoy +herself. There were shouts of merriment as the blithe old lady twirled +the platter, hunted the squirrel, and went to Jerusalem like a girl of +sixteen; her cap in a ruinous condition, and every seam of the purple +dress straining like sails in a gale. It was great fun, but at +midnight it came to an end, and the young folks, still bubbling over +with innocent jollity, went jingling away along the snowy hills, +unanimously pronouncing Mrs. Basset's party the best of the season. + +"Never had such a good time in my life!" exclaimed Sophie, as the +family stood together in the kitchen where the candles among the +wreaths were going out, and the floor was strewn with wrecks of past +joy. + +"I'm proper glad, dear. Now you all go to bed and lay as late as you +like to-morrow. I'm so kinder worked up I couldn't sleep, so Saul and +me will put things to rights without a mite of noise to disturb you;" +and Aunt Plumy sent them off with a smile that was a benediction, +Sophie thought. + +"The dear old soul speaks as if midnight was an unheard-of hour for +Christians to be up. What would she say if she knew how we seldom go +to bed till dawn in the ball season? I'm so wide awake I've half a +mind to pack a little. Randal must go at two, he says, and we shall +want his escort," said Emily, as the girls laid away their brocades in +the press in Sophie's room. + +"I'm not going. Aunt can't spare me, and there is nothing to go for +yet," answered Sophie, beginning to take the white chrysanthemums out +of her pretty hair. + +"My dear child, you will die of ennui up here. Very nice for a week +or so, but frightful for a winter. We are going to be very gay, and +cannot get on without you," cried Emily dismayed at the suggestion. + +"You will have to, for I'm not coming. I am very happy here, and so +tired of the frivolous life I lead in town, that I have decided to +try a better one," and Sophie's mirror reflected a face full of the +sweetest content. + +"Have you lost your mind? experienced religion? or any other dreadful +thing? You always were odd, but this last freak is the strangest of +all. What will your guardian say, and the world?" added Emily in the +awe-stricken tone of one who stood in fear of the omnipotent Mrs. +Grundy. + +"Guardy will be glad to be rid of me, and I don't care that for the +world," cried Sophie, snapping her fingers with a joyful sort of +recklessness which completed Emily's bewilderment. + +"But Mr. Hammond? Are you going to throw away millions, lose your +chance of making the best match in the city, and driving the girls of +our set out of their wits with envy?" + +Sophie laughed at her friend's despairing cry, and turning round said +quietly,-- + +"I wrote to Mr. Hammond last night, and this evening received my +reward for being an honest girl. Saul and I are to be married in the +spring when Ruth is." + +Emily fell prone upon the bed as if the announcement was too much +for her, but was up again in an instant to declare with prophetic +solemnity,-- + +"I knew something was going on, but hoped to get you away before you +were lost. Sophie, you will repent. Be warned, and forget this sad +delusion." + +"Too late for that. The pang I suffered yesterday when I thought Saul +was dead showed me how well I loved him. To-night he asked me to stay, +and no power in the world can part us. Oh! Emily, it is all so sweet, +so beautiful, that _everything_ is possible, and I know I shall be +happy in this dear old home, full of love and peace and honest hearts. +I only hope you may find as true and tender a man to live for as my +Saul." + +Sophie's face was more eloquent than her fervent words, and Emily +beautifully illustrated the inconsistency of her sex by suddenly +embracing her friend, with the incoherent exclamation, "I think I +have, dear! Your brave Saul is worth a dozen old Hammonds, and I do +believe you are right." + +It is unnecessary to tell how, as if drawn by the irresistible magic +of sympathy, Ruth and her mother crept in one by one to join the +midnight conference and add their smiles and tears, tender hopes and +proud delight to the joys of that memorable hour. Nor how Saul, unable +to sleep, mounted guard below, and meeting Randal prowling down to +soothe his nerves with a surreptitious cigar found it impossible to +help confiding to his attentive ear the happiness that would break +bounds and overflow in unusual eloquence. + +Peace fell upon the old house at last, and all slept as if some magic +herb had touched their eyelids, bringing blissful dreams and a glad +awakening. + +"Can't we persuade you to come with us, Miss Sophie?" asked Randal +next day, as they made their adieux. + +"I'm under orders now, and dare not disobey my superior officer," +answered Sophie, handing her Major his driving gloves, with a look +which plainly showed that she had joined the great army of devoted +women who enlist for life and ask no pay but love. + +"I shall depend on being invited to your wedding, then, and yours, +too, Miss Ruth," added Randal, shaking hands with "the little +baggage," as if he had quite forgiven her mockery and forgotten his +own brief lapse into sentiment. + +Before she could reply Aunt Plumy said, in a tone of calm conviction, +that made them all laugh, and some of them look conscious,-- + +"Spring is a good time for weddin's, and I shouldn't wonder ef there +was quite a number." + +"Nor I;" and Saul and Sophie smiled at one another as they saw how +carefully Randal arranged Emily's wraps. + +Then with kisses, thanks and all the good wishes that happy hearts +could imagine, the guests drove away, to remember long and gratefully +that pleasant country Christmas. + + + + +ON PICKET DUTY + +"Better late than never." + + +"What air you thinkin' of, Phil?" + +"My wife, Dick." + +"So was I! Ain't it odd how fellers fall to thinkin' of thar little +women, when they get a quiet spell like this?" + +"Fortunate for us that we do get it, and have such memories to keep +us brave and honest through the trials and temptations of a life like +ours." + +October moonlight shone clearly on the solitary tree, draped with +gray moss, scarred by lightning and warped by wind, looking like a +venerable warrior, whose long campaign was nearly done; and underneath +was posted the guard of four. Behind them twinkled many camp-fires on +a distant plain, before them wound a road ploughed by the passage of +an army, strewn with the relics of a rout. On the right, a sluggish +river glided, like a serpent, stealthy, sinuous, and dark, into a +seemingly impervious jungle; on the left, a Southern swamp filled the +air with malarial damps, swarms of noisome life, and discordant sounds +that robbed the hour of its repose. The men were friends as well as +comrades, for though gathered from the four quarters of the Union, +and dissimilar in education, character, and tastes, the same spirit +animated all; the routine of camp-life threw them much together, and +mutual esteem soon grew into a bond of mutual good fellowship. + +Thorn was a Massachusetts volunteer; a man who seemed too early old, +too early embittered by some cross, for, though grim of countenance, +rough of speech, cold of manner, a keen observer would have soon +discovered traces of a deeper, warmer nature hidden behind the +repellent front he turned upon the world. A true New Englander, +thoughtful, acute, reticent, and opinionated; yet earnest withal, +intensely patriotic, and often humorous, despite a touch of Puritan +austerity. + +Phil, the "romantic chap," as he was called, looked his character to +the life. Slender, swarthy, melancholy-eyed, and darkly-bearded; with +feminine features, mellow voice, and alternately languid or vivacious +manners. A child of the South in nature as in aspect, ardent and +proud; fitfully aspiring and despairing; without the native energy +which moulds character and ennobles life. Months of discipline and +devotion had done much for him, and some deep experience was fast +ripening the youth into a man. + +Flint, the long-limbed lumberman, from the wilds of Maine, was a +conscript who, when government demanded his money or his life, +calculated the cost, and decided that the cash would be a dead loss +and the claim might be repeated, whereas the conscript would get both +pay and plunder out of government, while taking excellent care +that government got very little out of him. A shrewd, slow-spoken, +self-reliant specimen, was Flint; yet something of the fresh flavor of +the backwoods lingered in him still, as if Nature were loath to give +him up, and left the mark of her motherly hand upon him, as she leaves +it in a dry, pale lichen, on the bosom of the roughest stone. + +Dick "hailed" from Illinois, and was a comely young fellow, full of +dash and daring; rough and rowdy, generous and jolly, overflowing with +spirits and ready for a free fight with all the world. + +Silence followed the last words, while the friendly moon climbed up +the sky. Each man's eye followed it, and each man's heart was busy +with remembrances of other eyes and hearts that might be watching and +wishing as theirs watched and wished. In the silence, each shaped for +himself that vision of home that brightens so many camp-fires, haunts +so many dreamers under canvas roofs, and keeps so many turbulent +natures tender by memories which often are both solace and salvation. + +Thorn paced to and fro, his rifle on his shoulder, vigilant and +soldierly, however soft his heart might be. Phil leaned against the +tree, one hand in the breast of his blue jacket, on the painted +presentment of the face his fancy was picturing in the golden circle +of the moon. Flint lounged on the sward, whistling softly as he +whittled at a fallen bough. Dick was flat on his back, heels in air, +cigar in mouth, and some hilarious notion in his mind, for suddenly he +broke into a laugh. + +"What is it, lad?" asked Thorn, pausing in his tramp, as if willing to +be drawn from the disturbing thought that made his black brows lower +and his mouth look grim. + +"Thinkin' of my wife, and wishin' she was here, bless her heart! set +me rememberin' how I see her fust, and so I roared, as I always do +when it comes into my head." + +"How was it? Come, reel off a yarn, and let's hear houw yeou hitched +teams," said Flint, always glad to get information concerning his +neighbors, if it could be cheaply done. + +"Tellin' how we found our wives wouldn't be a bad game, would it, +Phil?" + +"I'm agreeable; but let's have your romance first." + +"Devilish little of that about me or any of my doin's. I hate +sentimental bosh as much as you hate slang, and should have been a +bachelor to this day if I hadn't seen Kitty jest as I did. You see, +I'd been too busy larkin' round to get time for marryin', till a +couple of years ago, when I did up the job double-quick, as I'd like +to do this thunderin' slow one, hang it all!" + +"Halt a minute till I give a look, for this picket isn't going to be +driven in or taken while I'm on guard." + +Down his beat went Thorn, reconnoitring river, road, and swamp, +as thoroughly as one pair of keen eyes could do it, and came back +satisfied, but still growling like a faithful mastiff on the watch; +performances which he repeated at intervals till his own turn came. + +"I didn't have to go out of my own State for a wife, you'd better +believe," began Dick, with a boast, as usual; "for we raise as fine a +crop of girls thar as any State in or out of the Union, and don't mind +raisin' Cain with any man who denies it. I was out on a gunnin' tramp +with Joe Partridge, a cousin of mine,--poor old chap! he fired his +last shot at Gettysburg, and died game in a way he didn't dream of the +day we popped off the birds together. It ain't right to joke that way; +I won't if I can help it; but a feller gets awfully kind of heathenish +these times, don't he?" + +"Settle up them scores byme-by; fightin' Christians is scurse raound +here. Fire away, Dick." + +"Well, we got as hungry as hounds half a dozen mile from home, and +when a farmhouse hove in sight, Joe said he 'd ask for a bite, and +leave some of the plunder for pay. I was visitin' Joe, didn't know +folks round, and backed out of the beggin' part of the job; so he went +ahead alone. We'd come out of the woods behind the house, and while +Joe was foragin', I took a reconnoissance. The view was fust-rate, for +the main part of it was a girl airin' beds on the roof of a stoop. +Now, jest about that time, havin' a leisure spell, I'd begun to think +of marryin', and took a look at all the girls I met, with an eye to +business. I s'pose every man has some sort of an idee or pattern of +the wife he wants; pretty and plucky, good and gay was mine, but I'd +never found it till I see Kitty; and as she didn't see me, I had the +advantage and took an extra long stare." + +"What was her good p'ints, hey?" + +"Oh, well, she had a wide-awake pair of eyes, a bright, jolly sort +of a face, lots of curly hair tumblin' out of her net, a trig little +figger, and a pair of the neatest feet and ankles that ever stepped. +'Pretty,' thinks I; 'so far so good.' The way she whacked the pillers, +shook the blankets, and pitched into the beds was a caution; specially +one blunderin' old feather-bed that wouldn't do nothin' but sag round +in a pigheaded sort of way, that would have made most girls get mad +and give up. Kitty didn't, but just wrastled with it like a good one, +till she got it turned, banged, and spread to suit her; then she +plumped down in the middle of it, with a sarcy little nod and chuckle +to herself, that tickled me mightily. 'Plucky,' thinks I, 'better +'n' better.' Jest then an old woman came flyin' out the back-door, +callin', 'Kitty! Kitty! Squire Partridge's son's here, 'long with a +friend; been gunnin', want luncheon, and I'm all in the suds; do come +down and see to 'em.' + +"'Where are they?' says Kitty, scrambling up her hair and settlin' her +gown in a jiffy, as women have a knack of doin', you know. + +"'Mr. Joe's in the front entry; the other man's somewheres round, +Billy says, waitin' till I send word whether they can stop. I darsn't +till I'd seen you, for I can't do nothin', I'm in such a mess,' says +the old lady. + +"'So am I, for I can't get in except by the entry window, and he'll +see me,' says Kitty, gigglin' at the thoughts of Joe. + +"'Come down the ladder, there's a dear. I'll pull it round and keep it +stiddy,' says the mother. + +"'Oh, ma, don't ask me!' says Kitty, with a shiver. 'I'm dreadfully +scared of ladders since I broke my arm off this very one. It's so +high, it makes me dizzy jest to think of.' + +"'Well, then, I'll do the best I can; but I wish them boys was to +Jericho!' says the old lady, with a groan, for she was fat and hot, +had her gown pinned up, and was in a fluster generally. She was goin' +off rather huffy, when Kitty called out,-- + +"'Stop, ma! I'll come down and help you, only ketch me if I tumble.' + +"She looked scared but stiddy, and I'll bet it took as much grit for +her to do it as for one of us to face a battery. It don't seem much to +tell of, but I wish I may be hit if it wasn't a right down dutiful +and clever thing to see done. When the old lady took her off at the +bottom, with a good motherly hug, 'Good,' thinks I; 'what more do you +want?'" + +"A snug little property wouldn't a ben bad, I reckon," said Flint. + +"Well, she had it, old skin-flint, though I didn't know or care about +it then. What a jolly row she'd make if she knew I was tellin' the +ladder part of the story! She always does when I get to it, and makes +believe cry, with her head in my breast-pocket, or any such handy +place, till I take it out and swear I'll never do so ag'in. Poor +little Kit, I wonder what she's doin' now. Thinkin' of me, I'll bet." + +Dick paused, pulled his cap lower over his eyes, and smoked a minute +with more energy than enjoyment, for his cigar was out and he did not +perceive it. + +"That's not all, is it?" asked Thorn, taking a fatherly interest in +the younger man's love passages. + +"Not quite. 'Fore long, Joe whistled, and as I always take short cuts +everywhar, I put in at the back-door, jest as Kitty come trottin' out +of the pantry with a big berry-pie in her hand. I startled her, she +tripped over the sill and down she come; the dish flew one way, the +pie flopped into her lap, the juice spatterin' my boots and her clean +gown. I thought she'd cry, scold, have hysterics, or some confounded +thing or other; but she jest sat still a minute, then looked up at +me with a great blue splash on her face, and went off into the +good-naturedest gale of laughin' you ever heard in your life. That +finished me. 'Gay,' thinks I; 'go in and win.' So I did; made love +hand over hand, while I stayed with Joe; pupposed a fortnight after, +married her in three months, and there she is, a tiptop little woman, +with a pair of stunnin' boys in her arms!" + +Out came a well-worn case, and Dick proudly displayed the likeness of +a stout, much bejewelled young woman with two staring infants on her +knee. In his sight, the poor picture was a more perfect work of art +than any of Sir Joshua's baby-beauties, or Raphael's Madonnas, and the +little story needed no better sequel than the young father's praises +of his twins, the covert kiss he gave their mother when he turned +as if to get a clearer light upon the face. Ashamed to show the +tenderness that filled his honest heart, he hummed "Kingdom Coming," +relit his cigar, and presently began to talk again. + +"Now, then, Flint, it's your turn to keep guard, and Thorn's to tell +his romance. Come, don't try to shirk; it does a man good to talk of +such things, and we're all mates here." + +"In some cases it don't do any good to talk of such things; better let +'em alone," muttered Thorn, as he reluctantly sat down, while Flint as +reluctantly departed. + +With a glance and gesture of real affection, Phil laid his hand upon +his comrade's knee, saying in his persuasive voice, "Old fellow, +it _will_ do you good, because I know you often long to speak of +something that weighs upon you. You've kept us steady many a time, +and done us no end of kindnesses; why be too proud to let us give our +sympathy in return, if nothing more?" + +Thorn's big hand closed over the slender one upon his knee, and the +mild expression, so rarely seen upon his face, passed over it as he +replied,-- + +"I think I could tell you almost anything if you asked me that way, +my boy. It isn't that I am too proud,--and you're right about my +sometimes wanting to free my mind,--but it's because a man of forty +don't just like to open out to young fellows, if there is any danger +of their laughing at him, though he may deserve it. I guess there +isn't now, and I'll tell you how I found my wife." + +Dick sat up, and Phil drew nearer, for the earnestness that was in +the man dignified his plain speech, and inspired an interest in his +history, even before it was begun. Looking gravely at the river and +never at his hearers, as if still a little shy of confidants, yet +grateful for the relief of words, Thorn began abruptly:-- + +"I never hear the number eighty-four without clapping my hand to my +left breast and missing my badge. You know I was on the police in New +York, before the war, and that's about all you do know yet. One bitter +cold night I was going my rounds for the last time, when, as I turned +a corner, I saw there was a trifle of work to be done. It was a bad +part of the city, full of dirt and deviltry; one of the streets led to +a ferry, and at the corner an old woman had an apple-stall. The poor +soul had dropped asleep, worn out with the cold, and there were her +goods left with no one to watch 'em. Somebody was watching 'em. +however; a girl, with a ragged shawl over her head, stood at the mouth +of an alley close by, waiting for a chance to grab something. I'd seen +her there when I went by before, and mistrusted she was up to some +mischief; as I turned the corner, she put out her hand and cribbed an +apple. She saw me the minute she did it, but neither dropped it nor +ran, only stood stock still with the apple in her hand till I came up. + +"'This won't do, my girl,' said I. I never could be harsh with 'em, +poor things! She laid it back and looked up at me with a miserable +sort of a smile, that made me put my hand in my pocket to fish for a +ninepence before she spoke. + +"'I know it won't,' she says. 'I didn't want to do it, it's so mean, +but I'm awful hungry, sir.' + +"'Better run home and get your supper, then.' + +"'I've got no home.' + +"'Where do you live?' + +"'In the street.' + +"'Where do you sleep?' + +"'Anywhere; last night in the lock-up, and I thought I'd get in there +again, if I did that when you saw me. I like to go there, it's warm +and safe.' + +"'If I don't take you there, what will you do?' + +"'Don't know. I could go over there and dance again as I used to, but +being sick has made me ugly, so they won't have me, and no one else +will take me because I have been there once.' + +"I looked where she pointed, and thanked the Lord that they wouldn't +take her. It was one of those low theatres that do so much damage to +the like of her; there was a gambling place one side of it, an eating +saloon the other. I was new to the work then, but though I'd heard +about hunger and homelessness often enough, I'd never had this sort of +thing, nor seen that look on a girl's face. A white, pinched face hers +was, with frightened, tired-looking eyes, but so innocent! She wasn't +more than sixteen, had been pretty once, I saw, looked sick and +starved now, and seemed just the most helpless, hopeless little thing +that ever was. + +"'You 'd better come to the Station for to-night, and we'll see to you +to-morrow,' says I. + +"'Thank you, sir,' says she, looking as grateful as if I'd asked her +home. I suppose I did speak kind of fatherly. I ain't ashamed to say I +felt so, seeing what a child she was; nor to own that when she put her +little hand in mine, it hurt me to feel how thin and cold it was. We +passed the eating-house where the red lights made her face as rosy as +it ought to have been; there was meat and pies in the window, and the +poor thing stopped to look. It was too much for her; off came her +shawl, and she said in that coaxing way of hers,-- + +"'I wish you'd let me stop at the place close by and sell this; +they'll give a little for it, and I'll get some supper. I've had +nothing since yesterday morning, and maybe cold is easier to bear than +hunger.' + +"'Have you nothing better than that to sell?' I says, not quite sure +that she wasn't all a humbug, like so many of 'em. She seemed to see +that, and looked up at me again with such innocent eyes, I couldn't +doubt her when she said, shivering with something beside the cold,-- + +"'Nothing but myself.' Then the tears came, and she laid her head +clown on my arm, sobbing,--'Keep me! oh, do keep me safe somewhere!'" + +Thorn choked here, steadied his voice with a resolute hem! but could +only add one sentence more,-- + +"That's how I found my wife." + +"Come, don't stop thar. I told the whole o' mine, you do the same. +Whar did you take her? how'd it all come round?" + +"Please tell us, Thorn." + +The gentler request was answered presently, very steadily, very +quietly. + +"I was always a soft-hearted fellow, though you wouldn't think it now, +and when that little girl asked me to keep her safe, I just did it. +I took her to a good woman whom I knew, for I hadn't any women folks +belonging to me, nor any place but that to put her in. She stayed +there till spring working for her keep, growing brighter, prettier, +every day, and fonder of me, I thought. If I believed in witchcraft, I +shouldn't think myself such a fool as I do now, but I don't believe in +it, and to this day I can't understand how I came to do it. To be sure +I was a lonely man, without kith or kin, had never had a sweetheart in +my life, or been much with women since my mother died. Maybe that's +why I was so bewitched with Mary, for she had little ways with her +that took your fancy and made you love her whether you would or no. +I found her father was an honest fellow enough, a fiddler in some +theatre; that he'd taken good care of Mary till he died, leaving +precious little but advice for her to live on. She'd tried to get +work, failed, spent all she had, got sick, and was going to the bad, +as the poor souls can hardly help doing with so many ready to give +them a shove. It's no use trying to make a bad job better; so the long +and short of it was, I thought she loved me; God knows I loved her! +and I married her before the year was out." + +"Show us her picture; I know you've got one; all the fellows have, +though half of 'em won't own up." + +"I've only got part of one. I once saved my little girl, and her +picture once saved me." + +From an inner pocket Thorn produced a woman's housewife, carefully +untied it, though all its implements were missing but a little +thimble, and from one of its compartments took a flattened bullet and +the remnants of a picture. + +"I gave her that the first Christmas after I found her. She wasn't as +tidy about her clothes as I liked to see, and I thought if I gave her +a handy thing like this, she'd be willing to sew. But she only made +one shirt for me, and then got tired, so I keep it like an old fool, +as I am. Yes, that's the bit of lead that would have done for me, if +Mary's likeness hadn't been just where it was." + +"You'll like to show her this when you go home, won't you?" said Dick, +as he took up the bullet, while Phil examined the marred picture, and +Thorn poised the little thimble on his big finger, with a sigh. + +"How can I, when I don't know where she is, and camp is all the home +I've got!" + +The words broke from him like a sudden groan, when some old wound is +rudely touched. Both of the young men started, both laid back the +relics they had taken up, and turned their eyes from Thorn's face, +across which swept a look of shame and sorrow, too significant to be +misunderstood. Their silence assured him of their sympathy, and, as if +that touch of friendliness unlocked his heavy heart, he eased it by +a full confession. When he spoke again, it was with the calmness of +repressed emotion, a calmness more touching to his mates than the most +passionate outbreak, the most pathetic lamentation; for the coarse +camp-phrases seemed to drop from his vocabulary; more than once his +softened voice grew tremulous, and to the words "my little girl," +there went a tenderness that proved how dear a place she still +retained in that deep heart of his. + +"Boys, I've gone so far; I may as well finish; and you'll see I'm not +without some cause for my stern looks and ways; you'll pity me, and +from you I'll take the comfort of it. It's only the old story,--I +married her, worked for her, lived for her, and kept my little girl +like a lady. I should have known that I was too old and sober for a +young thing like that, for the life she led before the pinch came +just suited her. She liked to be admired, to dress and dance and make +herself pretty for all the world to see; not to keep house for a quiet +man like me. Idleness wasn't good for her, it bred discontent; then +some of her old friends, who'd left her in her trouble, found her out +when better times came round, and tried to get her back again. I was +away all day, I didn't know how things were going, and she wasn't open +with me, afraid she said; I was so grave, and hated theatres so. She +got courage finally to tell me that she wasn't happy; that she wanted +to dance again, and asked me if she mightn't. I'd rather have had her +ask me to put her in a fire, for I _did_ hate theatres, and was bred +to; others think they're no harm. I do; and knew it was a bad life for +a girl like mine. It pampers vanity, and vanity is the Devil's help +with such; so I said No, kindly at first, sharp and stern when she +kept on teasing. That roused her spirit. 'I will go!' she said, one +day. 'Not while you are my wife,' I answered back; and neither said +any more, but she gave me a look I didn't think she could, and I +resolved to take her away from temptation before worse came of it. + +"I didn't tell her my plan; but I resigned my place, spent a week or +more finding and fixing a little home for her out in the wholesome +country, where she'd be safe from theatres and disreputable friends, +and maybe learn to love me better when she saw how much she was to +me. It was coming summer, and I made things look as home-like and as +pretty as I could. She liked flowers, and I fixed a garden for her; +she was fond of pets, and I got her a bird, a kitten, and a dog to +play with her; she fancied gay colors and tasty little matters, so I +filled her rooms with all the handsome things I could afford, and when +it was done, I was as pleased as any boy, thinking what happy times +we'd have together and how pleased she'd be. Boys, when I went to tell +her and to take her to her little home, she was gone." + +"Who with?" + +"With those cursed friends of her; a party of them left the city just +then; she was wild to go; she had money now, and all her good looks +back again. They teased and tempted her; I wasn't there to keep her, +and she went, leaving a line behind to tell me that she loved the old +life more than the new; that my house was a prison, and she hoped I'd +let her go in peace. That almost killed me; but I managed to bear it, +for I knew most of the fault was mine; but it was awful bitter to +think I hadn't saved her, after all." + +"Oh, Thorn! what did you do?" + +"Went straight after her; found her dancing in Philadelphia, with +paint on her cheeks, trinkets on her neck and arms, looking prettier +than ever; but the innocent eyes were gone, and I couldn't see my +little girl in the bold, handsome woman twirling there before the +footlights. She saw me, looked scared at first, then smiled, and +danced on with her eyes upon me, as if she said,-- + +"'See! I'm happy now; go away and let me be.' + +"I couldn't stand that, and got out somehow. People thought me mad, or +drunk; I didn't care, I only wanted to see her once in quiet and try +to get her home. I couldn't do it then nor afterwards by fair means, +and I wouldn't try force. I wrote to her, promised to forgive her, +begged her to come back, or let me keep her honestly somewhere away +from me. But she never answered, never came, and I have never tried +again." + +"She wasn't worthy of you, Thorn; you jest forgit her." + +"I wish I could! I wish I could!" In his voice quivered an almost +passionate regret, and a great sob heaved his chest, as he turned his +face away to hide the love and longing, still so tender and so strong. + +"Don't say that, Dick; such fidelity should make us charitable for +its own sake. There is always time for penitence, always certainty of +pardon. Take heart, Thorn, you may not wait in vain, and she may yet +return to you." + +"I know she will! I've dreamed of it, I've prayed for it; every battle +I come out of safe makes me surer that I was kept for that, and when +I've borne enough to atone for my part of the fault, I'll be repaid +for all my patience, all my pain, by finding her again. She knows how +well I love her still, and if there comes a time when she is sick and +poor and all alone again, then she'll remember her old John, then +she'll come home and let me take her in." + +Hope shone in Thorn's melancholy eyes, and long-suffering, +all-forgiving love beautified the rough, brown face, as he folded his +arms and bent his gray head on his breast, as if the wanderer were +already come. + +The emotion which Dick scorned to show on his own account was freely +manifested for another, as he sniffed audibly, and, boy-like, drew his +sleeve across his eyes. But Phil, with the delicate perception of a +finer nature, felt that the truest kindness he could show his friend +was to distract his thoughts from himself, to spare him any comments, +and lessen the embarrassment which would surely follow such unwonted +confidence. + +"Now I'll relieve Flint, and he will give you a laugh. Come on, Hiram, +and tell us about your Beulah." + +The gentleman addressed had performed his duty by sitting on a fence +and "righting up" his pockets, to beguile the tedium of his exile. +Before his multitudinous possessions could be restored to their native +sphere, Thorn was himself again, and on his feet. + +"Stay where you are, Phil; I like to tramp, it seems like old times, +and I know you're tired. Just forget all this I've been saying, and go +on as before. Thank you, boys! thank you," and with a grasp of the two +hands extended to him, he strode away along the path already worn by +his own restless feet. + +"It's done him good, and I'm glad of that; but I'd like to see the +little baggage that bewitched the poor old boy, wouldn't you, Phil?" + +"Hush! here's Flint." + +"What's up naow? want me tew address the meetin', hey? I'm willin', +only the laugh's ruther ag'inst me, ef I tell that story; expect +you'll like it all the better fer that." Flint coiled up his long +limbs, put his hands in his pockets, chewed meditatively for a moment, +and then began, with his slowest drawl:-- + +"Waal, sir, it's pretty nigh ten year ago, I was damster daown tew +Oldtaown, clos't to Banggore. My folks lived tew Bethel; there was +only the old man, and Aunt Siloam, keepin' house fer him, seein' as I +was the only chick he hed. I hedn't heared from 'em fer a long spell, +when there come a letter sayin' the old man was breakin' up. He'd said +it every spring fer a number er years, and I didn't mind it no more'n +the breakin' up er the river; not so much, jest then; fer the gret +spring drive was comin' on, and my hands was tew full to quit work all +tew oncet. I sent word I'd be 'long 'fore a gret while, and byme-by I +went. I ought tew hev gone at fust; but they'd sung aout 'Wolf!' so +often I warn't scared; an' sure 'nuff the wolf did come at last. +Father hed been dead and berried a week when I got there, and aunt +was so mad she wouldn't write, nor scurcely speak tew me for a +consider'ble spell. I didn't blame her a mite, and felt jest the wust +kind; so I give in every way, and fetched her raound. Yeou see I bed +a cousin who'd kind er took my place tew hum while I was off, an' +the old man hed left him a good slice er his money, an' me the farm, +hopin' to keep me there. He'd never liked the lumberin' bizness, an' +hankered arfter me a sight, I faound. Waal, seem' haow 'twas, I tried +tew please him, late as it was; but ef there was ennything I did +spleen ag'inst it was farmin', 'specially arfter the smart times I'd +ben hevin', up Oldtaown way. Yeou don't know nothin' abaout it; but ef +yeou want tew see high dewin's, jest hitch onto a timber-drive an' go +it daown along them lakes and rivers, say from Kaumchenungamooth tew +Punnobscot Bay. Guess yeou'd see a thing or tew, an' find livin' on a +log come as handy as ef you was born a turtle. + +"Waal, I stood it one summer; but it was the longest kind of a job. +Come fall I turned contry, darned the farm, and vaowed I'd go back tew +loggin'. Aunt hed got fond er me by that time, and felt dreadful bad +abaout my leavin' on her. Cousin Siah, as we called Josiah, didn't +cotton tew the old woman, though he did tew her cash; but we hitched +along fust-rate. She was 'tached tew the place, hated tew hev it let +or sold, thought I'd go to everlastin' rewin ef I took tew lumberin' +ag'in, an' hevin' a tidy little sum er money all her own, she took +a notion tew buy me off. 'Hiram,' sez she, 'ef yeou'll stay to hum, +merry some smart girl, an' kerry on the farm, I'll leave yeou the hull +er my fortin. Ef yeou don't, I'll leave every cent on't tew Siah, +though he ain't done as waal by me as yeou hev. Come,' sez she, 'I'm +breakin' up like brother; I shan't wurry any one a gret while, and +'fore spring I dessay you'll hev cause tew rejice that yeou done as +Aunt Si counselled yeou.' + +"Now, that idee kinder took me, seem' I hedn't no overpaourin' love +fer cousin; but I brewdid over it a spell 'fore I 'greed. Fin'lly, I +said I'd dew it, as it warn't a hard nor a bad trade; and begun to +look raound fer Mis Flint, Jr. Aunt was dreadf'l pleased; but 'mazin' +pertickler as tew who was goin' tew stan' in her shoes, when she was +fetched up ag'inst the etarnal boom. There was a sight er likely +womenfolks raound taown; but aunt she set her foot daown that Mis +Flint must be smart, pious, an' good-natered; harnsome she didn't say +nothin' abaout, bein' the humliest woman in the State er Maine. I hed +my own calk'lations on that p'int, an' went sparkin' two or three er +the pootiest gals, all that winter. I warn't in no hurry, fer merryin' +is an awful resky bizness; an' I wan't goan to be took in by nobuddy. +Some haouw I couldn't make up my mind which I'd hev, and kept dodgin', +all ready to slew raound, an' hitch on tew ary one that seemed +likeliest. 'Long in March, aunt, she ketched cold, took tew her bed, +got wuss, an' told me tew hurry up, fer nary cent should I hev, ef I +warn't safely merried 'fore she stepped out. I thought that was ruther +craoudin' a feller; but I see she was goan sure, an' I'd got inter a +way er considerin' the cash mine, so that it come hard to hear abaout +givin' on 't up. Off I went that evenin' an' asked Almiry Nash ef +she'd hev me. No, she wouldn't; I'd shilly-shallyed so long, she'd got +tired er waitin' and took tew keepin' company with a doctor daown ter +Banggore, where she'd ben visitin' a spell. I didn't find that as hard +a nub to swaller, as I'd a thought I would, though Almiry was the +richest, pootiest, and good-naterest of the lot. Aunt larfed waal, an' +told me tew try ag'in; so a couple er nights arfter, I spruced up, an' +went over to Car'line Miles's; she was as smart as old cheese, an' +waal off in tew the barg'in. I was just as sure she'd hev me, as I be +that I'm gittin' the rewmatiz a settin' in this ma'sh. But that minx, +Almiry, hed ben and let on abaout her own sarsy way er servin' on +me, an' Car'line jest up an' said she warn't goan to hev annybuddy's +leavin's; so daown I come ag'in. + +"Things was gettin' desper't by that time; fer aunt was failin' rapid, +an' the story hed leaked aout some way, so the hull taown was gigglin' +over it. I thought I'd better quit them parts; but aunt she showed me +her will all done complete, 'sceptin the fust name er the legatee. +'There,' sez she, 'it all depends on yeou, whether that place is took +by Hiram or Josiah. It's easy done, an' so it's goan tew stan till the +last minit.' That riled me consid'able, an' I streaked off tew May +Jane Simlin's. She wan't very waal off, nor extra harnsome, but she +was pious the worst kind, an' dreadf'l clever to them she fancied. +But I was daown on my luck ag'in; fer at the fust word I spoke of +merryin', she showed me the door, an' give me to understan' that she +couldn't think er hevin' a man that warn't a church-member, that +hadn't experienced religion, or even ben struck with conviction, an' +all the rest on't. Ef anny one hed a wanted tew hev seen a walkin' +hornet's nest, they could hev done it cheap that night, as I went hum. +I jest bounced intew the kitchen, chucked my hat intew one corner, +my coat intew 'nother, kicked the cat, cussed the fire, drawed up a +chair, and set scaoulin' like sixty, bein' tew mad fer talkin'. The +young woman that was nussin' aunt,--Bewlah Blish, by name,--was a +cooking grewel on the coals, and 'peared tew understan' the mess I was +in; but she didn't say nothin', only blowed up the fire, fetched me a +mug er cider, an' went raound so kinder quiet, and sympathizing that I +found the wrinkles in my temper gettin' smoothed aout 'mazin' quick; +an' fore long I made a clean breast er the hull thing. Bewlah larfed, +but I didn't mind her doin' on't, for she sez, sez she, real sort o' +cunnin',-- + +"'Poor Hiram! they didn't use yeou waal. Yeou ought to hev tried some +er the poor an' humly girls; they'd a been glad an' grateful fer such +a sweetheart as yeou be.' + +"I was good-natered ag'in by that time, an' I sez, larfin' along with +her, 'Waal, I've got three mittens, but I guess I might's waal hev +'nother, and that will make two pair complete. Say, Bewlah, will yeou +hev me?' + +"'Yes, I will.' sez she. + +"'Reelly?' sez I. + +"'Solemn trew,' sez she. + +"Ef she'd up an' slapped me in the face, I shouldn't hev ben more +throwed aback, fer I never mistrusted she cared two chips for me. I +jest set an' gawped; fer she was 'solemn trew,' I see that with half +an eye, an' it kinder took my breath away. Bewlah drawed the grewel +off the fire, wiped her hands, an' stood lookin' at me a minnet, then +she sez, slow an' quiet, but tremblin' a little, as women hev a way er +doin', when they've consid'able steam aboard,-- + +"'Hiram, other folks think lumberin' has spilt yeou; _I_ don't; they +call you rough an' rewd; _I_ know you've got a real kind heart fer +them as knows haow tew find it. Them girls give yeou up so easy, +'cause they never loved yeou, an' yeou give them up 'cause you only +thought abaout their looks an' money. I'm humly, an' I'm poor; but +I've loved yeou ever sence we went a-nuttin' years ago, an' yeou shook +daown fer me, kerried my bag, and kissed me tew the gate, when all the +others shunned me, 'cause my father drank an' I was shabby dressed, +ugly, an' shy. Yeou asked me in sport, I answered in airnest; but I +don't expect nothin' unless yeou mean as I mean. Like me, Hiram, or +leave me, it won't make no odds in my lovin' of yeou, nor helpin' of +yeou, ef I kin.' + +"'Tain't easy tew say haouw I felt, while she was goin' on that way, +but my idees was tumblin' raound inside er me, as ef half a dozen dams +was broke loose all tew oncet. One think was ruther stiddier 'n the +rest, an' that was that I liked Bewlah more 'n I knew. I begun tew see +what kep' me loafin' tew hum so much, sence aunt was took daown; why I +wan't in no hurry tew git them other gals, an' haow I come tew pocket +my mittens so easy arfter the fust rile was over. Bewlah _was_ humly, +poor in flesh, dreadful freckled, hed red hair, black eyes, an' a gret +mold side of her nose. But I'd got wonted tew her; she knowed my ways, +was a fust rate housekeeper, real good-tempered, and pious without +flingin' on't in yer face. She was a lonely creeter,--her folks bein' +all dead but one sister, who didn't use her waal, an' somehow I kinder +yearned over her, as they say in Scripter. For all I set an' gawped, I +was coming raound fast, though I felt as I used tew, when I was goin' +to shoot the rapids, kinder breathless an' oncertin, whether I'd come +aout right side up or not. Queer, warn't it?" + +"Love, Flint; that was a sure symptom of it." + +"Waal, guess 'twas; anyway I jumped up all of a sudden, ketched Bewlah +raound the neck, give her a hearty kiss, and sung aout, 'I'll dew it +sure's my name's Hi Flint!' The words was scarcely out of my maouth, +'fore daown come Dr. Parr. He' d ben up tew see aunt, an' said she +wouldn't last the night threw, prob'ly. That give me a scare er the +wust kind; an' when I told doctor haow things was, he sez, kinder +jokin',-- + +"'Better git merried right away, then. Parson Dill is tew come an' see +the old lady, an' he'll dew both jobs tew oncet.' + +"'Will yeou, Bewlah?' sez I. + +"'Yes, Hiram, to 'blige yeou,' sez she. + +"With that, I put it fer the license; got it, an' was back in less 'n +half an haour, most tuckered aout with the flurry of the hull concern. +Quick as I'd been, Bewlah hed faound time tew whip on her best gaoun, +fix up her hair, and put a couple er white chrissanthymums intew +her hand'chif pin. Fer the fust time in her life, she looked +harnsome,--leastways _I_ thought so,--with a pretty color in her +cheeks, somethin' brighter'n a larf shinin' in her eyes, and her lips +smilin' an' tremblin', as she come to me an' whispered so's't none er +the rest could hear,-- + +"'Hiram, don't yeou dew it, ef yeou'd ruther not. I've stood it a gret +while alone, an' I guess I can ag'in.' + +"Never yeou mind what I said or done abaout that; but we was merried +ten minutes arfter, 'fore the kitchen fire, with Dr. Parr an' aour +hired man, fer witnesses; an' then we all went up tew aunt. She was +goan fast, but she understood what I told her, hed strength tew fill +up the hole in the will, an' to say, a-kissin' Bewlah, 'Yeou'll be a +good wife, an' naow yeou ain't a poor one.' + +"I couldn't help givin' a peek tew the will, and there I see not Hiram +Flint nor Josiah Flint, but Bewlah Flint, wrote every which way, but +as plain as the nose on yer face. 'It won't make no odds, dear,' +whispered my wife, peekin' over my shoulder. 'Guess it won't!' sez I, +aout laoud; 'I'm glad on't, and it ain't a cent more'n yeou derserve.' + +"That pleased aunt. 'Riz me, Hiram,' sez she; an' when I'd got her +easy, she put her old arms raound my neck, an' tried to say, 'God +bless you, dear--,' but died a doin' of it; an' I ain't ashamed +tew say I boohooed real hearty, when I laid her daown, fer she was +dreadf'l good tew me, an' I don't forgit her in a hurry." + +"How's Bewlah?" asked Dick, after the little tribute of respect all +paid to Aunt Siloam's memory, by a momentary silence. + +"Fust-rate! that harum-scarum venter er mine was the best I ever made. +She's done waal by me, hes Bewlah; ben a grand good housekeeper, kin +kerry on the farm better 'n me, any time, an' is as dutif'l an' lovin' +a wife as,--waal, as annything that _is_ extra dutif'l and lovin'." + +"Got any boys to brag of?" + +"We don't think much o' boys daown aour way; they're 'mazin' resky +stock to fetch up,--alluz breakin' baounds, gittin' intew the paound, +and wurryin' your life aout somehaow 'nother. Gals naow doos waal; +I've got six o' the likeliest the is goin', every one on 'em is the +very moral of Bewlah,--red hair, black eyes, quiet ways, an' a mold +'side the nose. Baby's ain't growed yet; but I expect tew see it in a +consid'able state o' forrardness, when I git hum, an' wouldn't miss it +fer the world." + +The droll expression of Flint's face, and the satisfied twang of his +last words, were irresistible. Dick and Phil went off into a shout of +laughter; and even Thorn's grave lips relapsed into a smile at the +vision of six little Flints with their six little moles. As if the +act were an established ceremony, the "paternal head" produced his +pocket-book, selected a worn black-and-white paper, which he spread in +his broad palm, and displayed with the air of a connoisseur. + +"There, thet's Bewlah! we call it a cuttin'; but the proper name's a +silly-hoot, I b'leeve. I've got a harnsome big degarrytype tew hum, +but the heft on't makes it bad tew kerry raound, so I took this. I +don't tote it abaout inside my shirt, as some dew,--it ain't my way; +but I keep it in my wallet long with my other valleu'bles, and guess I +set as much store by it as ef it was all painted up, and done off to +kill." + +The "silly-hoot" was examined with interest, and carefully stowed away +again in the old brown wallet, which was settled in its place with a +satisfied slap; then Flint said briskly,-- + +"Naouw, Phil, yeou close this interestin' and instructive meeting; and +be spry, fer time's most up." + +"I haven't much to tell, but must begin with a confession which I have +often longed but never dared to make before, because I am a coward." + +"Sho! who's goan to b'leeve that o' a man who fit like a wild-cat, wuz +offered permotion on the field, and reported tew headquarters arfter +his fust scrimmage. Try ag'in, Phil." + +"Physical courage is as plentiful as brass buttons, nowadays, but +moral courage is a rarer virtue; and I'm lacking in it, as I'll prove. +You think me a Virginian; I'm an Alabamian by birth, and was a Rebel +three months ago." + +This confession startled his hearers, as he knew it would, for he +had kept his secret well. Thorn laid his hand involuntarily upon his +rifle, Dick drew off a little, and Flint illustrated one of his own +expressions, for he "gawped." Phil laughed that musical laugh of his, +and looked up at them with his dark face waking into sudden life, as +he went on:-- + +"There's no treason in the camp, for I'm as fierce a Federalist as any +of you now, and you may thank a woman for it. When Lee made his raid +into Pennsylvania, I was a lieutenant in the--well, never mind what +regiment, it hasn't signalized itself since, and I'd rather not hit my +old neighbors when they are down. In one of the skirmishes during our +retreat, I got a wound and was left for dead. A kind old Quaker found +and took me home; but though I was too weak to talk, I had my senses +by that time, and knew what went on about me. Everything was in +confusion, even in that well-ordered place: no surgeon could be got at +first, and a flock of frightened women thee'd and thou'd one another +over me, but hadn't wit enough to see that I was bleeding to death. +Among the faces that danced before my dizzy eyes was one that seemed +familiar, probably because no cap surrounded it. I was glad to have +it bending over me, to hear a steady voice say, 'Give me a bandage, +quick!' and when none was instantly forthcoming to me, the young lady +stripped up a little white apron she wore, and stanched the wound in +my shoulder. I was not as badly hurt as I supposed, but so worn-out, +and faint from loss of blood, they believed me to be dying, and so did +I, when the old man took off his hat and said,-- + +"Friend, if thee has anything to say, thee had better say it, for thee +probably has not long to live.' + +"I thought of my little sister, far away in Alabama, fancied she came +to me, and muttered, 'Amy, kiss me good-by.' The women sobbed at that; +but the girl bent her sweet compassionate face to mine, and kissed me +on the forehead. That was my wife." + +"So you seceded from Secession right away, to pay for that +lip-service, hey?" + +"No, Thorn, not right away,--to my shame be it spoken. I'll tell +you how it came about. Margaret was not old Bent's daughter, but a +Massachusetts girl on a visit, and a long one it proved, for she +couldn't go till things were quieter. While she waited, she helped +take care of me; for the good souls petted me like a baby when they +found that a Rebel could be a gentleman. I held my tongue, and behaved +my best to prove my gratitude, you know. Of course, I loved Margaret +very soon. How could I help it? She was the sweetest woman I had ever +seen, tender, frank, and spirited; all I had ever dreamed of and +longed for. I did not speak of this, nor hope for a return, because I +knew she was a hearty Unionist, and thought she only tended me from +pity. But suddenly she decided to go home, and when I ventured to wish +she would stay longer, she would not listen, and said, 'I must not +stay; I should have gone before.' + +"The words were nothing, but as she uttered them the color came up +beautifully over all her face, and her eyes filled as they looked away +from mine. Then I knew that she loved me, and my secret broke out +against my will. Margaret was forced to listen, for I would not let +her go, but she seemed to harden herself against me, growing colder, +stiller, statelier, as I went on, and when I said in my desperate +way,-- + +"'You should love me, for we are bid to love our enemies,' she flashed +an indignant look at me and said,-- + +"'I will not love what I cannot respect! Come to me a loyal man, and +see what answer I shall give you.' + +"Then she went away. It was the wisest thing she could have done, +for absence did more to change me than an ocean of tears, a year +of exhortations. Lying there, I missed her every hour of the day, +recalled every gentle act, kind word, and fair example she had given +me. I contrasted my own belief with hers, and found a new significance +in the words honesty and honor, and, remembering her fidelity to +principle, was ashamed of my own treason to God and to herself. +Education, prejudice, and interest, are difficult things to overcome, +and that was the hottest fight I ever passed through, for as I tell +you, I was a coward. But love and loyalty won the day, and, asking no +quarter, the Rebel surrendered." + +"Phil Beaufort, you're a brick!" cried Dick, with a sounding slap on +his comrade's shoulder. + +"A brand snatched from the burnin'. Hallelujah!" chanted Flint, +seesawing with excitement. + +"Then you went to find your wife? How? Where?" asked Thorn, forgetting +vigilance in interest. + +"Friend Bent hated war so heartily that he would have nothing to do +with paroles, exchanges, or any martial process whatever, but bade me +go when and where I liked, remembering to do by others as I had been +done by. Before I was well enough to go, however, I managed, by means +of Copperhead influence and returned prisoners, to send a letter to my +father and receive an answer. You can imagine what both contained; and +so I found myself penniless, but not poor, an outcast, but not alone. +Old Bent treated me like a prodigal son, and put money in my purse; +his pretty daughters loved me for Margaret's sake, and gave me a +patriotic salute all round when I left them, the humblest, happiest +man in Pennsylvania. Margaret once said to me that this was the time +for deeds, not words; that no man should stand idle, but serve the +good cause with head, heart, and hand, no matter in what rank; for +in her eyes a private fighting for liberty was nobler than a dozen +generals defending slavery. I remembered that, and, not having +influential friends to get me a commission, enlisted in one of her own +Massachusetts regiments, knowing that no act of mine would prove my +sincerity like that. You should have seen her face when I walked in +upon her, as she sat alone, busied with the army work, as I'd so often +seen her sitting by my bed; it showed me all she had been suffering +in silence, all I should have lost had I chosen darkness instead of +light. She hoped and feared so much she could not speak, neither could +I, but dropped my cloak, and showed her that, through love of her, I +had become a soldier of the Union. How I love the coarse blue uniform! +for when she saw it, she came to me without a word and kept her +promise in a month." + +"Thunder! what a harnsome woman!" exclaimed Flint, as Phil, opening +the golden case that held his talisman, showed them the beautiful, +beloved face of which he spoke. + +"Yes! and a right noble woman too. I don't deserve her, but I will. We +parted on our wedding-day, for orders to be _off_ came suddenly, and +she would not let me go until I had given her my name to keep. We were +married in the morning, and at noon I had to go. Other women wept as +we marched through the city, but my brave Margaret kept her tears till +we were gone, smiling and waving her hand to me,--the hand that wore +the wedding-ring,--till I was out of sight. That image of her is +before me day and night, and day and night her last words are ringing +in my ears,-- + +"'I give you freely, do your best. Better a true man's widow than a +traitor's wife.' + +"Boys, I've only stood on the right side for a month; I've only fought +one battle, earned one honor; but I believe these poor achievements +are an earnest of the long atonement I desire to make for +five-and-twenty years of blind transgression. You say I fight well. +Have I not cause to dare much?--for in owning many slaves, I too +became a slave; in helping to make many freemen, I liberate myself. +You wonder why I refused promotion. Have I any right to it yet? Are +there not men who never sinned as I have done, and beside whose +sacrifices mine look pitifully small? You tell me I have no ambition. +I have the highest, for I desire to become God's noblest work,--an +honest man,--living, to make Margaret happy in a love that every hour +grows worthier of her own,--dying to make death proud to take me." + +Phil had risen while he spoke, as if the enthusiasm of his mood lifted +him into the truer manhood he aspired to attain. Straight and strong +he stood up in the moonlight, his voice deepened by unwonted +energy, his eye clear and steadfast, his whole face ennobled by the +regenerating power of this late loyalty to country, wife, and self, +and bright against the dark blue of his jacket shone the pictured +face, the only medal he was proud to wear. + +Ah, brave, brief moment, cancelling years of wrong! Ah, fair and fatal +decoration, serving as a mark for a hidden foe! The sharp crack of a +rifle broke the stillness of the night, and with those hopeful words +upon his lips, the young man sealed his purpose with his life. + + + + +THE BARON'S GLOVES; + +OR, + +AMY'S ROMANCE + +"All is fair in love and war." + + +I + +HOW THEY WERE FOUND + + +"What a long sigh! Are you tired, Amy?" + +"Yes, and disappointed as well. I never would have undertaken this +journey if I had not thought it would be full of novelty, romance, and +charming adventures." + +"Well, we have had several adventures." + +"Bah! losing one's hat in the Rhine, getting left at a dirty little +inn, and having our pockets picked, are not what I call adventures. I +wish there were brigands in Germany--it needs something of that sort +to enliven its stupidity." + +"How can you call Germany stupid when you have a scene like this +before you?" said Helen, with a sigh of pleasure, as she looked from +the balcony which overhangs the Rhine at the hotel of the "Three +Kings" at Coblentz. Ehrenbreitstein towered opposite, the broad river +glittered below, and a midsummer moon lent its enchantment to the +landscape. + +As she spoke, her companion half rose from the low chair where she +lounged, and showed the pretty, piquant face of a young girl. She +seemed in a half melancholy, half petulant mood; and traces of recent +illness were visible in the languor of her movements and the pallor of +her cheeks. + +"Yes, it is lovely; but I want adventures and romance of some sort +to make it quite perfect. I don't care what, if something would only +happen." + +"My dear, you are out of spirits and weary now, to-morrow you'll be +yourself again. Do not be ungrateful to uncle or unjust to yourself. +Something pleasant will happen, I've no doubt. In fact, something +_has_ happened that you may make a little romance out of, perhaps, for +lack of a more thrilling adventure." + +"What do you mean?" and Amy's listless face brightened. + +"Speak low; there are balconies all about us, and we may be +overheard," said Helen, drawing nearer after an upward glance. + +"What is the beginning of a romance?" whispered Amy, eagerly. + +"A pair of gloves. Just now, as I stood here, and you lay with your +eyes shut, these dropped from the balcony overhead. Now amuse yourself +by weaving a romance out of them and their owner." + +Amy seized them, and stepping inside the window, examined them by the +candle. + +"A gentleman's gloves, scented with violets! Here's a little hole +fretted by a ring on the third finger. Bless me! here are the +initials, 'S.P.,' stamped on the inside, with a coat of arms below. +What a fop to get up his gloves in this style! They are exquisite, +though. Such a delicate color, so little soiled, and so prettily +ornamented! Handsome hands wore these. I'd like to see the man." + +Helen laughed at the girl's interest, and was satisfied if any trifle +amused her _ennui_. + +"I will send them back by the _kellner_, and in that way we may +discover their owner," she said. + +But Amy arrested her on the way to the door. + +"I've a better plan; these waiters are so stupid you'll get nothing +out of them. Here's the hotel book sent up for our names; let us look +among the day's arrivals and see who 'S.P.' is. He came to-day, I'm +sure, for the man said the rooms above were just taken, so we could +not have them." + +Opening the big book, Amy was soon intently poring over the long list +of names, written in many hands and many languages. + +"I've got it! Here he is--oh, Nell, he's a baron! Isn't that charming? +'Sigismund von Palsdorf, Dresden.' We _must_ see him, for I know he's +handsome, if he wears such distracting gloves." + +"You'd better take them up yourself, then." + +"You know I can't do that; but I shall ask the man a few questions, +just to get an idea what sort of person the baron is. Then I shall +change my mind and go down to dinner; shall look well about me, and if +the baron is agreeable I shall make uncle return the gloves. He will +thank us, and I can say I've known a real baron. That will be so nice +when we go home. Now, don't be duennaish and say I'm silly, but let me +do as I like, and come and dress." + +Helen submitted, and when the gong pealed through the house, Major +Erskine marched into the great _salle a manger_, with a comely niece +on each arm. The long tables were crowded, and they had to run the +gauntlet of many eyes as they made their way to the head of the upper +table. Before she touched her soup, Amy glanced down the line of +faces opposite, and finding none that answered the slight description +elicited from the waiter, she leaned a little forward to examine those +on her own side of the table. Some way down sat several gentlemen, and +as she bent to observe them, one did the same, and she received an +admiring glance from a pair of fine black eyes. Somewhat abashed, she +busied herself with her soup: but the fancy had taken possession of +her, and presently she whispered to Helen,-- + +"Do you see any signs of the baron?" + +"On my left; look at the hands." + +Amy looked and saw a white, shapely hand with an antique ring on the +third finger. Its owner's face was averted, but as he conversed with +animation, the hand was in full play, now emphasizing an opinion, now +lifting a glass, or more frequently pulling at a blond beard which +adorned the face of the unknown. Amy shook her head decidedly. + +"I hate light men, and don't think that is the baron, for the gloves +are a size too small for those hands. Lean back and look some four or +five seats lower down on the right. See what sort of person the dark +man with the fine eyes is." + +Helen obeyed, but almost instantly bent to her plate again, smiling in +spite of herself. + +"That is an Englishman; he stares rudely, says 'By Jove!' and wears no +jewelry or beard." + +"Now, I'm disappointed. Well, keep on the watch, and tell me if you +make any discoveries, for I _will_ find the baron." + +Being hungry, Amy devoted herself to her dinner, till dessert was on +the table. She was languidly eating grapes, while Helen talked with +the major, when the word "baron" caught her ear. The speakers sat at a +table behind her, so that she could not see them without turning quite +round, which was impossible; but she listened eagerly to the following +scrap of chat:-- + +"Is the baron going on to-morrow?" asked a gay voice in French. + +"Yes, he is bound for Baden-Baden. The season is at its height, and he +must make his game while the ball is rolling, or it is all up with the +open-handed Sigismund," answered a rough voice. + +"Won't his father pardon the last escapade?" asked a third, with a +laugh. + +"No, and he is right. The duel was a bad affair, for the man almost +died, and the baron barely managed to get out of the scrape through +court influence. When is the wedding to be?" + +"Never, Palsdorf says. There is everything but love in the bargain, +and he swears he'll not agree to it. I like that." + +"There is much nobleness in him, spite of his vagaries. He will sow +his wild oats and make a grand man in time. By the by, if we are going +to the fortress, we must be off. Give Sigismund the word; he is dining +at the other table with Power," said the gay voice. + +"Take a look at the pretty English girl as you go by; it will do your +eyes good, after the fat Frauleins we have seen of late," added the +rough one. + +Three gentlemen rose, and as they passed Amy stole a glance at them; +but seeing several pairs of eyes fixed on herself, she turned away +blushing, with the not unpleasant consciousness that "the pretty +English girl" was herself. Longing to see which Sigismund was, she +ventured to look after the young men, who paused behind the man with +the blond beard, and also touched the dark-eyed gentleman on the +shoulder. All five went down the hall and stood talking near the door. + +"Uncle, I wish to go," said Amy, whose will was law to the amiable +major. Up he rose, and Amy added, as she took his arm, "I'm seized +with a longing to go to Baden-Baden and see a little gambling. You are +not a wild young man, so you can be trusted there." + +"I hope so. Now you are a sensible little woman, and we'll do our best +to have a gay time. Wait an instant till I get my hat." + +While the major searched for the missing article the girls went on, +and coming to the door, Amy tried to open it. The unwieldy foreign +lock resisted her efforts, and she was just giving it an impatient +little shake, when a voice said behind her,-- + +"Permit me, mademoiselle;" at the same moment a handsome hand turned +the latch, the flash of a diamond shone before her, and the door +opened. + +"_Merci, monsieur_," she murmured, turning as she went out; but Helen +was close behind her, and no one else to be seen except the massive +major in the rear. + +"Did you see the baron?" she whispered eagerly, as they went +up-stairs. + +"No; where was he?" + +"He opened the door for me. I knew him by his hand and ring. He was +close to you." + +"I did not observe him, being busy gathering up my dress. I thought +the person was a waiter, and never looked at him," said Helen, with +provoking indifference. + +"How unfortunate! Uncle, you are going to see the fortress; we don't +care for it; but I want you to take these gloves and inquire for Baron +Sigismund Palsdorf. He will be there with a party of gentlemen. You +can easily manage it, men are so free and easy. Mind what he is like, +and come home in time to tell me all about it." + +Away went the major, and the cousins sat on the balcony enjoying the +lovely night, admiring the picturesque scene, and indulging in +the flights of fancy all girls love, for Helen, in spite of her +three-and-twenty years, was as romantic as Amy at eighteen. It was +past eleven when the major came, and the only greeting he received was +the breathless question,-- + +"Did you find him?" + +"I found something much better than any baron, a courier. I've wanted +one ever since we started; for two young ladies and their baggage are +more than one man can do his duty by, Karl Hoffman had such excellent +testimonials from persons I know, that I did not hesitate to engage +him, and he comes to-morrow; so henceforth I've nothing to do but +devote myself to you." + +"How very provoking! Did you bring the gloves back?" asked Amy, still +absorbed in the baron. + +The major tossed them to her, and indulged in a hearty laugh at her +girlish regrets; then bade them good-night, and went away to give +orders for an early start next morning. + +Tired of talking, the girls lay down in the two little white beds +always found in German hotels, and Amy was soon continuing in sleep +the romance she had begun awake. She dreamed that the baron proved to +be the owner of the fine eyes; that he wooed and won her, and they +were floating down the river to the chime of wedding-bells. + +At this rapturous climax she woke to find the air full of music, and +to see Helen standing tall and white in the moonlight that streamed in +at the open window. + +"Hush, hide behind the curtains and listen; it's a serenade," +whispered Helen, as Amy stole to her side. + +Shrouded in the drapery, they leaned and listened till the song ended, +then Amy peeped; a dark group stood below; all were bareheaded, and +now seemed whispering together. Presently a single voice rose, singing +an exquisite little French canzonet, the refrain of which was a +passionate repetition of the word "_Amie_." She thought she recognized +the voice, and the sound of her own name uttered in such ardent tones +made her heart beat and her color rise, for it seemed to signify that +the serenade was for them. As the last melodious murmur ceased, there +came a stifled laugh from below, and something fell into the balcony. +Neither dared stir till the sound of departing feet reassured them; +then creeping forward Amy drew in a lovely bouquet of myrtle, roses, +and great German forget-me-nots, tied with a white ribbon and +addressed in a dashing hand to _La belle Helene_. + +"Upon my life, the romance has begun in earnest," laughed Helen, +as she examined the flowers. "You are serenaded by some unknown +nightingale, and I have flowers tossed up to me in the charming old +style. Of course it is the baron, Amy." + +"I hope so; but whoever it is, they are regular troubadours, and I'm +delighted. I know the gloves will bring us fun of some kind. Do you +take one and I'll take the other, and see who will find the baron +first. Isn't it odd that they knew our names?" + +"Amy, the writing on this card is very like that in the big book. I +may be bewitched by this mid-summer moonlight, but it really is very +like it. Come and see." + +The two charming heads bent over the card, looking all the more +charming for the dishevelled curls and braids that hung about them as +the girls laughed and whispered together in the softly brilliant light +that filled the room. + +"You are right; it is the same. The men who stared so at dinner are +gay students perhaps, and ready for any prank. Don't tell uncle, but +let us see what will come of it. I begin to enjoy myself heartily +now--don't you?" said Amy, laying her glove carefully away. + +"I enjoyed myself before, but I think '_La belle Helene_' gives an +added relish to life, _Amie_," laughed Nell, putting her flowers in +water; and then both went back to their pillows, to dream delightfully +till morning. + + +II + +KARL, THE COURIER + + +"Three days, at least, before we reach Baden. How tiresome it is that +uncle won't go faster!" said Amy, as she tied on her hat next morning, +wondering as she did so if the baron would take the same boat. + +"As adventures have begun, I feel assured that they will continue to +cheer the way; so resign yourself and be ready for anything," replied +Helen, carefully arranging her bouquet in her travelling-basket. + +A tap at the door, which stood half open, made both look up. A tall, +brown, gentlemanly man, in a gray suit, with a leathern bag slung over +his shoulder, stood there, hat in hand, and meeting Helen's eyes, +bowed respectfully, saying in good English, but with a strong German +accent,-- + +"Ladies, the major desired me to tell you the carriage waits." + +"Why, who--" began Amy, staring with her blue eyes full of wonder at +the stranger. + +He bowed again, and said, simply,-- + +"Karl Hoffman, at your service, mademoiselle." + +"The courier--oh, yes! I forgot all about it. Please take these +things." + +Amy began to hand him her miscellaneous collection of bags, books, +shawls and cushions. + +"I'd no idea couriers were such decent creatures," whispered Amy, as +they followed him along the hall. + +"Don't you remember the raptures Mrs. Mortimer used to have over their +Italian courier, and her funny description of him? 'Beautiful to +behold, with a night of hair, eyes full of an infinite tenderness, and +a sumptuous cheek.'" + +Both girls laughed, and Amy averred that Karl's eyes danced with +merriment as he glanced over his shoulder, as the silvery peal sounded +behind him. + +"Hush! he understands English; we must be careful," said Helen, and +neither spoke again till they reached the carriage. + +Everything was ready, and as they drove away, the major, leaning +luxuriously back, exclaimed,-- + +"Now I begin to enjoy travelling, for I'm no longer worried by +the thought of luggage, time-tables, trains, and the everlasting +perplexity of thalers, kreutzers, and pfenniges. This man is a +treasure; everything is done in the best manner, and his knowledge of +matters is really amazing." + +"He's a very gentlemanly-looking person," said Amy, eying a decidedly +aristocratic foot through the front window of the carriage, for Karl +sat up beside the driver. + +"He _is_ a gentleman, my dear. Many of these couriers are well born +and educated, but, being poor, prefer this business to any other, as +it gives them variety, and often pleasant society. I've had a long +talk with Hoffman, and find him an excellent and accomplished fellow. +He has lost his fortune, it seems, through no fault of his own, so +being fond of a roving life, turned courier for a time, and we are +fortunate to have secured him." + +"But one doesn't know how to treat him," said Helen. "I don't like +to address him as a servant, and yet it's not pleasant to order a +gentleman about." + +"Oh, it will be easy enough as we go on together. Just call him +Hoffman, and behave as if you knew nothing about his past. He begged +me not to mention it, but I thought you'd like the romance of the +thing. Only don't either of you run away with him, as Ponsonby's +daughter did with her courier, who wasn't a gentleman, by the way." + +"Not handsome enough," said Amy. "I don't like blue eyes and black +hair. His manners are nice, but he looks like a gipsy, with his brown +face and black beard: doesn't he, Nell?" + +"Not at all. Gipsies haven't that style of face; they are thin, sharp, +and cunning in feature as in nature. Hoffman has large, well-moulded +features, and a mild, manly expression, which gives one confidence in +him." + +"He has a keen, wicked look in his blue eyes, as you will see, Nell. +I mean mischievously, not malignantly wicked. He likes fun, I'm sure, +for he laughed about the 'sumptuous cheek' till his own were red, +though he dared not show it, and was as grave as an owl when we met +uncle," said Amy, smiling at the recollection. + +"We shall go by boat to Biebrich, and then by rail to Heidelberg. We +shall get in late to-morrow night, but can rest a day, and then on to +Baden. Here we are; now make yourselves easy, as I do, and let Karl +take care of everything." + +And putting his hands in his pockets, the major strolled about the +boat, while the courier made matters comfortable for the day. So +easily and well did he do his duty, that both girls enjoyed watching +him after he had established them on the shady side of the boat, with +camp-stools for their feet, cushions to lean on, books and bags laid +commodiously at hand. + +As they sailed up the lovely Rhine they grew more and more +enthusiastic in their admiration and curiosity, and finding the meagre +description of the guide-books very unsatisfactory, Amy begged her +uncle to tell her all the legends of picturesque ruin, rock and river, +as they passed. + +"Bless me, child, I know nothing; but here's Hoffman, a German born, +who will tell you everything, I dare say. Karl, what's that old castle +up there? The young ladies want to know about it." + +Leaning on the railing, Hoffman told the story so well that he was +kept explaining and describing for an hour, and when he went away to +order lunch, Amy declared it was as pleasant as reading fairy tales to +listen to his dramatic histories and legends. + +At lunch the major was charmed to find his favorite wines and dishes +without any need of consulting dictionary or phrase-book beforehand, +or losing his temper in vain attempts to make himself understood. + +On reaching Biebrich, tired and hungry, at nightfall, everything was +ready for them, and all went to bed praising Karl, the courier, though +Amy, with unusual prudence, added,-- + +"He is a new broom now; let us wait a little before we judge." + +All went well next day till nightfall, when a most untoward accident +occurred, and Helen's adventures began in earnest. The three occupied +a _coupe_, and being weary with long sitting, Helen got out at one of +the stations where the train paused for ten minutes. A rosy sunset +tempted her to the end of the platform, and there she found, what +nearly all foreign railway stations possess, a charming little garden. + +Amy was very tired, rather cross, and passionately fond of flowers, so +when an old woman offered to pull a nosegay for "the gracious lady," +Helen gladly waited for it, hoping to please the invalid. Twice the +whistle warned her, and at last she ran back, but only in time to see +the train move away, with her uncle gesticulating wildly to the guard, +who shook his stupid German head, and refused to see the dismayed +young lady imploring him to wait for her. + +Just as the train was vanishing from the station, a man leaped from +a second-class carriage at the risk of his neck, and hurried back to +find Helen looking pale and bewildered, as well she might, left alone +and moneyless at night in a strange town. + +"Mademoiselle, it is I; rest easy; we can soon go on; a train passes +in two hours, and we can telegraph to Heidelberg that they may not +fear for you." + +"Oh, Hoffman, how kind of you to stop for me! What should I have done +without you, for uncle takes care of all the money, and I have only my +watch." + +Helen's usual self-possession rather failed her in the flurry of the +moment, and she caught Karl's arm with a feminine little gesture of +confidence very pleasant to see. Leading her to the waiting-room, he +ordered supper, and put her into the care of the woman of the place, +while he went to make inquiries and dispatch the telegram. In half an +hour he returned, finding Helen refreshed and cheerful, though a trace +of anxiety was still visible in her watchful eyes. + +"All goes excellently, mademoiselle. I have sent word to several posts +along the road that we are coming by the night train, so that Monsieur +le Major will rest tranquil till we meet. It is best that I give you +some money, lest such a mishap should again occur; it is not likely so +soon; nevertheless, here is both gold and silver. With this, one can +make one's way everywhere. Now, if mademoiselle will permit me to +advise, she will rest for an hour, as we must travel till dawn. I will +keep guard without and watch for the train." + +He left her, and having made herself comfortable on one of the sofas, +she lay watching the tall shadow pass and repass door and window, as +Karl marched up and down the platform, with the tireless tramp of a +sentinel on duty. A pleasant sense of security stole over her, and +with a smile at Amy's enjoyment of the adventure when it was over, +Helen fell asleep. + +A far-off shriek half woke her, and starting up, she turned to meet +the courier coming in to wake her. Up thundered the train, every +carriage apparently full of sleepy passengers, and the guard in a +state of sullen wrath at some delay, the consequences of which would +fall heaviest on him. + +From carriage to carriage hurried Karl and his charge, to be met with +everywhere by the cry, "All full," in many languages, and with every +aspect of inhospitality. One carriage only showed two places; the +other seats were occupied by six students, who gallantly invited the +lady to enter. But Helen shrunk back, saying,-- + +"Is there no other place?" + +"None, mademoiselle; this, or remain till morning," said Karl. + +"Where will you go if I take this place?" + +"Among the luggage,--anywhere; it is nothing. But we must decide at +once." + +"Come with me; I'm afraid to be locked in here alone," said Helen, +desperately. + +"Mademoiselle forgets I am her courier." + +"I do not forget that you are a gentleman. Pray come in; my uncle will +thank you." + +"I will," and with a sudden brightening of the eyes, a grateful +glance, and an air of redoubled respect, Hoffman followed her into the +carriage. + +They were off at once, and the thing was done before Helen had time +to feel anything but the relief which the protection of his presence +afforded her. + +The young gentlemen stared at the veiled lady and her grim escort, +joked under their breath, and looked wistfully at the suppressed +cigars, but behaved with exemplary politeness till sleep overpowered +them, and one after the other dropped off asleep to dream of their +respective Gretchens. + +Helen could not sleep, and for hours sat studying the unconscious +faces before her, the dim landscape flying past the windows, or forgot +herself in reveries. + +Hoffman remained motionless and silent, except when she addressed +him, wakeful also, and assiduous in making the long night as easy as +possible. + +It was past midnight, and Helen's heavy eyelids were beginning to +droop, when suddenly there came an awful crash, a pang of mortal fear, +then utter oblivion. + +As her senses returned she found herself lying in a painful position +under what had been the roof of the car; something heavy weighed +down her lower limbs, and her dizzy brain rung with a wild uproar of +shrieks and groans, eager voices, the crash of wood and iron, and the +shrill whistle of the engine, as it rushed away for help. + +Through the darkness she heard the pant as of some one struggling +desperately, then a cry close by her, followed by a strong voice +exclaiming, in an agony of suspense,-- + +"My God, will no one come!" + +"Hoffman, are you there?" cried Helen, groping in the gloom, with a +thrill of joy at the sound of a familiar voice. + +"Thank heaven, you are safe. Lie still. I will save you. Help is +coming. Have no fear!" panted the voice, with an undertone of fervent +gratitude in its breathless accents. + +"What has happened? Where are the rest?" + +"We have been thrown down an embankment. The lads are gone for help. +God only knows what harm is done." + +Karl's voice died in a stifled groan, and Helen cried out in alarm,-- + +"Where are you? You are hurt?" + +"Not much. I keep the ruins from falling in to crush us. Be quiet, +they are coming." + +A shout answered the faint halloo he gave as if to guide them to the +spot, and a moment after, five of the students were swarming about the +wreck, intent on saving the three whose lives were still in danger. + +A lamp torn from some demolished carriage was held through an opening, +and Helen saw a sight that made her blood chill in her veins. Across +her feet, crushed and bleeding, lay the youngest of the students, and +kneeling close beside him was Hoffman, supporting by main strength a +mass of timber, which otherwise would fall and crush them all. His +face was ghastly pale, his eyes haggard with pain and suspense, and +great drops stood upon his forehead. But as she looked, he smiled with +a cheery.-- + +"Bear up, dear lady, we shall soon be out of danger. Now, lads, work +with a will; my strength is going fast." + +They did work like heroes, and even in her pain and peril, Helen +admired the skill, energy, and courage of the young men, who, an hour +ago, had seemed to have no ideas above pipes and beer. Soon Hoffman +was free, the poor senseless youth lifted out, and then, as tenderly +as if she were a child, they raised and set her down, faint but +unhurt, in a wide meadow, already strewn with sad tokens of the wreck. + +Karl was taken possession of as well as herself, forced to rest a +moment, drink a cordial draught from some one's flask, and be praised, +embraced, and enthusiastically blessed by the impetuous youths. + +"Where is the boy who was hurt? Bring him to me. I am strong now. +I want to help. I have salts in my pocket, and I can bind up his +wounds," said Helen, soon herself again. + +Karl and Helen soon brought back life and sense to the boy, and never +had human face looked so lovely as did Helen's to the anxious comrades +when she looked up in the moonlight with a joyful smile, and softly +whispered,-- + +"He is alive." + +For an hour terrible confusion reigned, then the panic subsided a +little, and such of the carriages as were whole were made ready to +carry away as many as possible; the rest must wait till a return train +could be sent for them. + +A struggle of course ensued, for every one wished to go on, and fear +made many selfish. The wounded, the women and children, were taken, as +far as possible, and the laden train moved away, leaving many anxious +watchers behind. + +Helen had refused to go, and had given her place to poor Conrad, +thereby overwhelming his brother and comrades with gratitude. Two went +on with the wounded lad; the rest remained, and chivalrously devoted +themselves to Helen as a body-guard. + +The moon shone clearly, the wide field was miles from any hamlet, +and a desolate silence succeeded to the late uproar, as the band of +waiters roamed about, longing for help and dawn. + +"Mademoiselle, you shiver; the dew falls, and it is damp here; we must +have a fire;" and Karl was away to a neighboring hedge, intent on +warming his delicate charge if he felled a forest to do it. + +The students rushed after him, and soon returned in triumph to build +a glorious fire, which drew all forlorn wanderers to its hospitable +circle. A motley assemblage; but mutual danger and discomfort produced +mutual sympathy and good will, and a general atmosphere of friendship +pervaded the party. + +"Where is the brave Hoffman?" asked Wilhelm, the blond student, who, +being in the Werther period of youth, was already madly in love with +Helen, and sat at her feet catching cold in the most romantic manner. + +"Behold me! The little ones cry for hunger, so I ransack the ruins and +bring away my spoils. Eat, Kinder, eat and be patient." + +As he spoke Karl appeared with an odd collection of baskets, bags, and +bottles, and with a fatherly air that won all the mothers, he gave +the children whatever first appeared, making them laugh in spite of +weariness and hunger by the merry speeches which accompanied his +gifts. + +"You too need something. Here is your own basket with the lunch I +ordered you. In a sad state of confusion, but still eatable. See, +it is not bad," and he deftly spread on a napkin before Helen cold +chicken, sandwiches, and fruit. + +His care for the little ones as well as for herself touched her and +her eyes filled, as she remembered that she owed her life to him, and +recalled the sight of his face in the overturned car. + +Her voice trembled a little as she thanked him, and the moonlight +betrayed her wet eyes. He fancied she was worn out with excitement and +fatigue, and anxious to cheer her spirits, he whispered to Wilhelm and +his mates,-- + +"Sing, then, comrades, and while away this tedious night. It is hard +for all to wait so long, and the babies need a lullaby." + +The young men laughed and sang as only German students can sing, +making the night musical with blithe drinking songs, tender love-lays, +battle-hymns, and Volkslieder sweeter than any songs across the water. + +Every heart was cheered and warmed by the magic of the music, the +babies fell asleep, strangers grew friendly, fear changed to courage, +and the most forlorn felt the romance of that bivouac under the summer +sky. + +Dawn was reddening the east when a welcome whistle broke up the camp. +Every one hurried to the railway, but Helen paused to gather a handful +of blue forget-me-nots, saying to Hoffman, who waited with her wraps +on his arm,-- + +"It has been a happy night, in spite of the danger and discomfort. I +shall not soon forget it; and take these as a souvenir." + +He smiled, standing bare-headed in the chilly wind, for his hat was +lost, his coat torn, hair dishevelled, and one hand carelessly bound +up in his handkerchief. Helen saw these marks of the night's labors +and perils for the first time, and as soon as they were seated desired +to see his hand. + +"It is nothing,--a scratch, a mere scratch, I give you my word, +mademoiselle," he began, but Wilhelm unceremoniously removed the +handkerchief, showing a torn and bleeding hand which must have been +exquisitely painful. + +Helen turned pale, and with a reproachful glance skilfully bound it up +again, saying, as she handed a silken scarf to Wilhelm,-- + +"Make of that a sling, please, and put the poor hand in it. Care must +be taken, or harm will come of it." + +Hoffman submitted in bashful silence, as if surprised and touched by +the young lady's interest. She saw that, and added gratefully,-- + +"I do not forget that you saved my life, though you seem to have done +so. My uncle will thank you better than I can." + +"I already have my reward, mademoiselle," he returned, with a +respectful inclination and a look she could neither understand nor +forget. + + +III + +AMY'S ADVENTURE + + +The excitement and suspense of the major and Amy can be imagined when +news of the accident reached them. Their gratitude and relief were +intense when Helen appeared next morning, with the faithful Hoffman +still at his post, though no longer able to disguise the fact that he +was suffering from his wound. + +When the story had been told, Karl was put under the surgeon's care, +and all remained at Heidelberg for several days to rest and recover. + +On the afternoon of the last day the major and young ladies drove off +to the castle for a farewell view. Helen began to sketch the great +stone lion's head above the grand terrace, the major smoked and +chatted with a party of English artists whom he had met, and Amy, +with a little lad for a guide, explored the old castle to her heart's +content. + +The sun set, and twilight began to fall when Helen put up her pencils, +and the major set off to find Amy, who had been appearing and +disappearing in every nook and cranny of the half-ruined castle. + +Nowhere could he find her, and no voice answered when he called. The +other visitors were gone, and the place seemed deserted, except by +themselves and the old man who showed the ruins. + +Becoming alarmed lest the girl had fallen somewhere, or lost her way +among the vaults where the famous Tun lies, the major called out old +Hans with his lantern, and searched high and low. + +Amy's hat, full of flowers and ferns, was found in the Lady's Walk, as +the little terrace is called, but no other trace appeared, and Helen +hurried to and fro in great distress, fearing all manner of dangers. + +Meanwhile Amy, having explored every other part of the castle, went to +take another look at the Tun, the dwarf, and the vaults. + +Now little Anderl, her guide, had a great fear of ghosts, and legions +were said to haunt the ruins after nightfall, so when Amy rambled on +deeper and deeper into the gloom the boy's courage ebbed away with +every step; yet he was ashamed to own his fear, seeing that she had +none. + +Amy wanted to see a certain cell, where a nun was said to have pined +to death because she would not listen to the Margraf's love. The +legend pleased the romantic girl, and forgetful of waning daylight, +gathering damps, and Anderl's reluctant service, she ran on, up steps +and down, delighted with little arched doors, rusty chains on the +walls, glimpses of sky through shattered roofs, and all manner of +mysterious nooks and corners. Coming at last to a narrow cell, with a +stone table, and heavy bolts on the old door, she felt sure this was +poor Elfrida's prison, and called Anderl to come on with his candle, +for the boy had lighted one, for his own comfort rather than hers. Her +call was unanswered, and glancing back, she saw the candle placed on +the ground, but no Anderl. + +"Little coward, he has run away," she said, laughing; and having +satisfied her curiosity, turned to retrace her steps,--no easy task to +one ignorant of the way, for vault after vault opened on both sides, +and no path was discernible. In vain she tried to recall some +landmark, the gloom had deepened and nothing was clear. On she +hurried, but found no opening, and really frightened, stopped at last, +calling the boy in a voice that woke a hundred echoes. But Anderl had +fled home, thinking the lady would find her way back, and preferring +to lose his kreutzers to seeing a ghost. + +Poor Amy's bewilderment and alarm increased with every moment's delay, +and hoping to come out somewhere, she ran on till a misstep jostled +the candle from her hand and extinguished it. + +Left in the dark, her courage deserted her, and she screamed +desperately, like a lost child, and was fast getting into a state of +frantic terror, when the sound of an approaching step reassured her. + +Holding her breath, she heard a quick tread drawing nearer, as if +guided by her cries, and, straining her eyes, she caught the outline +of a man's figure in the gloom. + +A sensation of intense joy rushed over her, and she was about to +spring forward, when she remembered that as she could speak no German +how could she explain her plight to the stranger, if he understood +neither French nor English? + +Fear took possession of her at the thought of meeting some rough +peasant, or some rollicking student, to whom she could make no +intelligible appeal or explanation. + +Crouching close against the wall, she stood mute till the figure was +very near. She was in the shadow of an angle, and the man paused, as +if looking for the person who called for help. + +"Who is lost here?" said a clear voice, in German. + +Amy shrunk closer to the wall, fearing to speak, for the voice was +that of a young man, and a low laugh followed the words, as if the +speaker found the situation amusing. + +"Mortal, ghost or devil, I'll find it," exclaimed the voice, and +stepping forward, a hand groped for and found her. + +"Lottchen, is it thou? Little rogue, thou shalt pay dearly for leading +me such a chase." + +As he spoke he drew the girl toward him, but with a faint cry, a vain +effort to escape, Amy's terror reached its climax, and spent with +fatigue and excitement, she lost consciousness. + +"Who the deuce is it, then? Lottchen never faints on a frolic. Some +poor little girl lost in earnest. I must get her out of this gloomy +place at once, and find her party afterward." + +Lifting the slight figure in his arms, the young man hurried on, and +soon came out through a shattered gateway into the shrubbery which +surrounds the base of the castle. + +Laying her on the grass, he gently chafed her hands, eying the pale, +pretty face meantime with the utmost solicitude. + +At his first glimpse of it he had started, smiled and made a gesture +of pleasure and surprise, then gave himself entirely to the task of +recovering the poor girl whom he had frightened out of her senses. + +Very soon she looked up with dizzy eyes, and clasping her hands +imploringly, cried, in English, like a bewildered child,-- + +"I am lost! Oh, take me to my uncle." + +"I will, the moment you can walk. Upon my soul, I meant to help you +when I followed; but as you did not answer, I fancied it was Lottchen, +the keeper's little girl. Pardon the fright I've caused you, and let +me take you to your friends." + +The true English accent of the words, and the hearty tone of sincerity +in the apology, reassured Amy at once, and, rising, she said, with a +faint smile and a petulant tone,-- + +"I was very silly, but my guide ran away, my candle went out, I lost +the path, and can speak no German; so I was afraid to answer you at +first; and then I lost my wits altogether, for it's rather startling +to be clutched in the dark, sir." + +"Indeed it is. I was very thoughtless, but now let me atone for +it. Where is your uncle, Miss Erskine?" asked the stranger, with +respectful earnestness. + +"You know my name?" cried Amy in her impulsive way. + +"I have that happiness," was the answer, with a smile. + +"But I don't know _you_, sir;" and she peered at him, trying to see +his face in the darkness, for the copse was thick, and twilight had +come on rapidly. + +"Not yet; I live in hope. Shall we go? Your uncle will be uneasy." + +"Where are we?" asked Amy, glad to move on, for the interview was +becoming too personal even for her, and the stranger's manner +fluttered her, though she enjoyed the romance of the adventure +immensely. + +"We are in the park which surrounds the castle. You were near the +entrance to it from the vaults when you fainted." + +"I wish I had kept on a little longer, and not disgraced myself by +such a panic." + +"Nay, that is a cruel wish, for then I should have lost the happiness +of helping you." + +They had been walking side by side, but were forced to pause on +reaching a broken flight of steps, for Amy could not see the way +before her. + +"Let me lead you; it is steep and dark, but better than going a long +way round through the dew," he said, offering his hand. + +"Must we return by these dreadful vaults?" faltered Amy, shrinking +back. + +"It is the shortest and safest route, I assure you." + +"Are you sure you know the way?" + +"Quite sure. I have lived here by the week together. Do you fear to +trust me?" + +"No; but it is so dark, and everything is so strange to me. Can we get +down safely? I see nothing but a black pit." + +And Amy still hesitated, with an odd mixture of fear and coquetry. + +"I brought you up in safety; shall I take you down again?" asked the +stranger, with a smile flickering over his face. + +Amy felt rather than saw it, and assuming an air of dignified +displeasure, motioned him to proceed, which he did for three steps; +then Amy slipped, and gladly caught at the arm extended to save her. + +Without a word he took her hand and led her back through the labyrinth +she had threaded in her bewilderment. A dim light filled the place, +but with unerring steps her guide went on till they emerged into the +courtyard. + +Major Erskine's voice was audible, giving directions to the keeper, +and Helen's figure visible as she groped among the shadows of the +ruined chapel for her cousin. + +"There are my friends. Now I am safe. Come and let them thank you," +cried Amy, in her frank, childlike warmth of manner. + +"I want no thanks--forgive me--adieu," and hastily kissing the little +hand that had lain so confidingly in his, the stranger was gone. + +Amy rushed at once to Helen, and when the lost lamb had been welcomed, +chidden, and exulted over, they drove home, listening to the very +brief account which Amy gave of her adventure. + +"Naughty little gad-about, how could you go and terrify me so, +wandering in vaults with mysterious strangers, like the Countess of +Rudolstadt. You are as wet and dirty as if you had been digging a +well, yet you look as if you liked it," said Helen, as she led Amy +into their room at the hotel. + +"I do," was the decided answer, as the girl pulled a handkerchief off +her head, and began to examine the corners of it. Suddenly she uttered +a cry and flew to the light, exclaiming,-- + +"Nell, Nell, look here! The same letters, 'S.P.,' the same coat of +arms, the same perfume--it was the baron!" + +"What? who? are you out of your mind?" said Helen, examining the +large, fine cambric handkerchief, with its delicately stamped initials +under the stag's head, and three stars on a heart-shaped shield. +"Where did you get it?" she added, as she inhaled the soft odor of +violets shaken from its folds. + +Amy blushed and answered shyly, "I didn't tell you all that happened +before uncle, but now I will. My hat was left behind, and when I +recovered my wits after my fright, I found this tied over my head. Oh, +Nell, it was very charming there in that romantic old park, and going +through the vaults with him, and having my hand kissed at parting. No +one ever did that before, and I like it." + +Amy glanced at her hand as she spoke, and stood staring as if struck +dumb, for there on her forefinger shone a ring she had never seen +before. + +"Look! look! mine is gone, and this in its place! Oh, Nell, what shall +I do?" she said, looking half frightened, half pleased. + +Helen examined the ring and shook her head, for it was far more +valuable than the little pearl one which it replaced. Two tiny +hands of finest gold were linked together about a diamond of great +brilliancy; and on the inside appeared again the initials, "S.P." + +"How did it happen?" she asked, rather sternly. + +"Upon my word, I don't know, unless he put it on while I was stupidly +fainting. Rude man, to take advantage of me so. But, Nell, it is +splendid, and what _shall_ I do about it?" + +"Tell uncle, find out the man and send back his things. It really is +absurd, the manner in which German boys behave;" and Helen frowned, +though she was strongly tempted to laugh at the whole thing. + +"He was neither a German nor a boy, but an English gentleman, I'm +sure," began Amy, rather offended. + +"But 'S.P.' is a baron, you know, unless there are two Richmonds in +the field," broke in Helen. + +"I forgot that; never mind, it deepens the mystery; and after this +performance, I'm prepared for any enormity. It's my fate; I submit." +said Amy, tragically, as she waved her hand to and fro, pleased with +the flash of the ring. + +"Amy, I think on the whole I won't speak to uncle. He is quick to take +offence, especially where we are concerned. He doesn't understand +foreign ways, and may get into trouble. We will manage it quietly +ourselves." + +"How, Nell?" + +"Karl is discreet; we will merely say we found these things and wish +to discover the owner. He may know this 'S.P.' and, having learned his +address, we can send them back. The man will understand; and as we +leave to-morrow, we shall be out of the way before he can play any new +prank." + +"Have in Karl at once, for if I wear this lovely thing long I shall +not be able to let it go at all. How dared the creature take such a +liberty!" and Amy pulled off the ring with an expression of great +scorn. + +"Come into the _salon_ and see what Karl says to the matter. Let me +speak, or you will say too much. One must be prudent before--" + +She was going to say "servants," but checked herself, and substituted +"strangers," remembering gratefully how much she owed this man. + +Hoffman came, looking pale, and with his hand in a sling, but was as +gravely devoted as ever, and listened to Helen's brief story with +serious attention. + +"I will inquire, mademoiselle, and let you know at once. It is easy to +find persons if one has a clue. May I see the handkerchief?" + +Helen showed it. He glanced at the initials, and laid it down with a +slight smile. + +"The coat-of-arms is English, mademoiselle." + +"Are you sure?" + +"Quite so; I understand heraldry." + +"But the initials stand for Sigismund Palsdorf, and we know he is a +German baron," broke in Amy, forgetting prudence in eagerness. + +"If mademoiselle knows the name and title of this gentleman it will +not be hard to find him." + +"We only fancy it is the same because of the initials. I dare say it +is a mistake, and the man is English. Inquire quietly, Hoffman, if +you please, as this ring is of value, and I wish to restore it to its +owner," said Helen, rather sharply. + +"I shall do so, mademoiselle," and with his gentlemanly bow, the +courier left the room. + +"Bless me, what's that?" cried Amy, a moment afterward, as a ringing +laugh echoed through the corridor,--a laugh so full of hearty and +infectious merriment that both girls smiled involuntarily, and Amy +peeped out to see who the blithe personage might be. + +An old gentleman was entering his room near by, and Karl was just +about to descend the stairs. Both looked back at the girlish face +peeping at them, but both were quite grave, and the peal of laughter +remained a mystery, like all the rest of it. + +Late in the evening Hoffman returned to report that a party of young +Englishmen had visited the castle that afternoon, and had left by +the evening train. One of them had been named Samuel Peters, and he, +doubtless, was the owner of the ring. + +A humorous expression lurked in the couriers eye as he made his +report, and heard Amy exclaim, in a tone of disgust and comical +despair,-- + +"Samuel Peters! That spoils all the romance and dims the beauty of the +diamond. To think that a Peters should be the hero to whom I owe my +safety, and a Samuel should leave me this token of regard!" + +"Hush, Amy," whispered Helen. "Thanks, Hoffman; we must wait now for +chance to help us." + + +IV + +A POLISH EXILE + + +"Room for one here, sir," said the guard, as the train stopped at +Carlsruhe next day, on its way from Heidelberg to Baden. + +The major put down his guide-book, Amy opened her eyes, and Helen +removed her shawl from the opposite seat, as a young man, wrapped in +a cloak, with a green shade over his eyes, and a general air of +feebleness, got in and sank back with a sigh of weariness or pain. +Evidently an invalid, for his face was thin and pale, his dark hair +cropped short, and the ungloved hand attenuated and delicate as a +woman's. A sidelong glance from under the deep shade seemed to satisfy +him regarding his neighbors, and drawing his cloak about him with a +slight shiver, he leaned into the corner and seemed to forget that he +was not alone. + +Helen and Amy exchanged glances of compassionate interest, for women +always pity invalids, especially if young, comely and of the opposite +sex. The major took one look, shrugged his shoulders, and returned +to his book. Presently a hollow cough gave Helen a pretext for +discovering the nationality of the newcomer. + +"Do the open windows inconvenience you, sir?" she asked, in English. + +No answer; the question evidently unintelligible. + +She repeated it in French, lightly touching his cloak to arrest his +attention. + +Instantly a smile broke over the handsome mouth, and in the purest +French he assured her that the fresh air was most agreeable, and +begged pardon for annoying them with his troublesome cough. + +"Not an invalid, I hope, sir?" said the major, in his bluff yet kindly +voice. + +"They tell me I can have no other fate; that my malady is fatal; but I +still hope and fight for my life; it is all I have to give my country +now." + +A stifled sigh and a sad emphasis on the last word roused the sympathy +of the girls, the interest of the major. + +He took another survey, and said, with a tone of satisfaction, as +he marked the martial carriage of the young man, and caught a fiery +glance of the half-hidden eyes,-- + +"You are a soldier, sir?" + +"I was; I am nothing now but an exile, for Poland is in chains." + +The words "Poland" and "exile" brought up all the pathetic stories of +that unhappy country which the three listeners had ever heard, and won +their interest at once. + +"You were in the late revolution, perhaps?" asked the major, giving +the unhappy outbreak the most respectful name he could use. + +"From beginning to end." + +"Oh, tell us about it; we felt much sympathy for you, and longed to +have you win," cried Amy, with such genuine interest and pity in her +tone, it was impossible to resist. + +Pressing both hands upon his breast, the young man bent low, with a +flush of feeling on his pale cheek, and answered eagerly,-- + +"Ah, you are kind; it is balm to my sore heart to hear words like +these. I thank you, and tell you what you will. It is but little that +I do, yet I give my life, and die a long death, instead of a quick, +brave one with my comrades." + +"You are young to have borne a part in a revolution, sir," said the +major, who pricked up his ears like an old war-horse at the sound of +battle. + +"My friends and myself left the University at Varsovie, as volunteers; +we did our part, and now all lie in their graves but three." + +"You were wounded, it seems?" + +"Many times. Exposure, privation, and sorrow will finish what the +Russian bullets began. But it is well. I have no wish to see my +country enslaved, and I can no longer help her." + +"Let us hope that a happier future waits for you both. Poland loves +liberty too well, and has suffered too much for it, to be kept long in +captivity." + +Helen spoke warmly, and the young man listened with a brightening +face. + +"It is a kind prophecy; I accept it, and take courage. God knows I +need it," he added, low to himself. + +"Are you bound for Italy?" said the major, in a most un-English fit of +curiosity. + +"For Geneva first, Italy later, unless Montreaux is mild enough for me +to winter in. I go to satisfy my friends, but doubt if it avails." + +"Where is Montreaux?" asked Amy. + +"Near Clarens, where Rousseau wrote his Heloise, and Vevay, where +so many English go to enjoy Chillon. The climate is divine for +unfortunates like myself, and life more cheap there than in Italy." + +Here the train stopped again, and Hoffman came to ask if the ladies +desired anything. + +At the sound of his voice the young Pole started, looked up, and +exclaimed, with the vivacity of a foreigner, in German,-- + +"By my life, it is Karl! Behold me, old friend, and satisfy me that it +is thyself by a handshake." + +"Casimer! What wind blows thee hither, my boy, in such sad plight?" +replied Hoffman, grasping the slender hand outstretched to him. + +"I fly from an enemy for the first time in my life, and, like all +cowards, shall be conquered in the end. I wrote thee I was better, but +the wound in the breast reopened, and nothing but a miracle will save +me. I go to Switzerland; and thou?" + +"Where my master commands. I serve this gentleman, now." + +"Hard changes for both, but with health thou art king of +circumstances, while I?--Ah well, the good God knows best. Karl, go +thou and buy me two of those pretty baskets of grapes; I will please +myself by giving them to these pitying angels. Speak they German?" + +"One, the elder; but they understand not this rattle of ours." + +Karl disappeared, and Helen, who _had_ understood the rapid dialogue, +tried to seem as unconscious as Amy. + +"Say a friendly word to me at times; I am so homesick and +faint-hearted, my Hoffman. Thanks; they are almost worthy the lips +that shall taste them." + +Taking the two little osier baskets, laden with yellow and purple +clusters, Casimer offered them, with a charming mixture of timidity +and grace, to the girls, saying, like a grateful boy,-- + +"You give me kind words and good hopes; permit that I thank you in +this poor way." + +"I drink success to Poland." cried Helen, lifting a great, juicy grape +to her lips, like a little purple goblet, hoping to hide her confusion +under a playful air. + +The grapes went round, and healths were drunk with much merriment, +for in travelling on the Continent it is impossible for the gruffest, +primmest person to long resist the frank courtesy and vivacious chat +of foreigners. + +The major was unusually social and inquisitive, and while the soldiers +fought their battles over again the girls listened and took notes, +with feminine wits on the alert to catch any personal revelations +which might fall from the interesting stranger. The wrongs and +sufferings of Poland were discussed so eloquently that both young +ladies were moved to declare the most undying hatred of Russia, +Prussia, and Austria, the most intense sympathy for "poor Pologne." +All day they travelled together, and as Baden-Baden approached, they +naturally fell to talking of the gay place. + +"Uncle, I must try my fortune once. I've set my heart upon it, and +so has Nell. We want to know how gamblers feel, and to taste the +fascination of the game which draws people here from all parts of +Europe," said Amy, in her half-pleading, half-imperious way. + +"You may risk one napoleon each, as I foolishly promised you should, +when I little thought you would ever have an opportunity to remind me +of my promise. It's not an amusement for respectable Englishwomen, or +men either. You will agree with me there, monsieur?" and the major +glanced at the Pole, who replied, with his peculiar smile:-- + +"Surely, yes. It is great folly and waste of time and money; yet I +have known one man who found some good in it, or, rather, brought good +out of it. I have a friend who has a mania for giving. His own fortune +was spent in helping needy students at the University, and poor +professors. This displeased his father, and he refused supplies, +except enough for his simple personal wants. Sigismund chafed at this, +and being skilful at all games, as a gentleman may be in the way of +amusement, he resolved to play with those whose money was wasted on +frivolities, and give his winnings to his band of paupers." + +"How did it succeed, this odd fancy?" asked Helen, with an interested +face, while Amy pinched her arm at the word "Sigismund." + +"Excellently. My friend won often, and as his purpose became known it +caused no unkind feeling, this unusual success, for fortune seemed to +favor his kind object." + +"Wrong, nevertheless, to do evil that good may come of it," said the +major, morally. + +"It may be so: but it is not for me to censure my benefactor. He has +done much for my countrymen and myself, and is so truly noble I can +see no fault in him." + +"What an odd name! Sigismund is German, is it not?" asked Amy, in the +most artless tone of interest. + +"Yes, mademoiselle, and Palsdorf is a true German; much courage, +strength and intellect, with the gayety and simplicity of a boy. He +hates slavery of all kinds, and will be free at all costs. He is a +good son, but his father is tyrannical, and asks too much. Sigismund +will not submit to sell himself, and so is in disgrace for a time." + +"Palsdorf!--was not that the name of the count or baron we heard them +talking of at Coblentz?" said Helen to Amy, with a well-feigned air of +uncertainty. + +"Yes; I heard something of a duel and a broken betrothal, I think. The +people seemed to consider the baron a wild young man, so it could not +have been your friend, sir," was Amy's demure reply, glancing at Helen +with mirthful eyes, as if to say, "How our baron haunts us!" + +"It is the same, doubtless. Many consider him wild, because he is +original, and dares act for himself. As it is well known, I may tell +you the truth of the duel and the betrothal, if you care to hear a +little romance." + +Casimer looked eager to defend his friend, and as the girls were +longing to hear the romance, permission was given. + +"In Germany, you know, the young people are often betrothed in +childhood by the parents, and sometimes never meet till they are +grown. Usually all goes well; but not always, for love cannot come at +command. Sigismund was plighted, when a boy of fifteen, to his +young cousin, and then sent away to the University till of age. On +returning, he was to travel a year or two, and then marry. He gladly +went away, and with increasing disquiet saw the time draw near when he +must keep his troth-plight." + +"Hum! loved some one else. Very unfortunate to be sure," said the +major with a sigh. + +"Not so; he only loved his liberty, and pretty Minna was less dear +than a life of perfect freedom. He went back at the appointed +time, saw his cousin, tried to do his duty and love her; found it +impossible, and, discovering that Minna loved another, vowed he would +never make her unhappiness as well as his own. The old baron stormed, +but the young one was firm, and would not listen to a marriage without +love; but pleaded for Minna, wished his rival success, and set out +again on his travels." + +"And the duel?" asked the major, who took less interest in love than +war. + +"That was as characteristic as the other act. A son of one high in +office at Berlin circulated false reports of the cause of Palsdorf's +refusal of the alliance--reports injurious to Minna. Sigismund settled +the matter in the most effectual manner, by challenging and wounding +the man. But for court influence it would have gone hardly with my +friend. The storm, however, has blown over; Minna will be happy with +her lover, and Sigismund with his liberty, till he tires of it." + +"Is he handsome, this hero of yours?" said Amy, feeling the ring under +her glove, for in spite of Helen's advice, she insisted on wearing it, +that it might be at hand to return at any moment, should chance again +bring the baron in their way. + +"A true German of the old type; blond and blue-eyed, tall and strong. +My hero in good truth--brave and loyal, tender and true," was the +enthusiastic answer. + +"I hate fair men," pouted Amy, under her breath, as the major asked +some question about hotels. + +"Take a new hero, then; nothing can be more romantic than that," +whispered Helen, glancing at the pale, dark-haired figure wrapped in +the military cloak opposite. + +"I will, and leave the baron to you;" said Amy, with a stifled laugh. + +"Hush! Here are Baden and Karl," replied Helen, thankful for the +interruption. + +All was bustle in a moment, and taking leave of them with an air +of reluctance, the Pole walked away, leaving Amy looking after him +wistfully, quite unconscious that she stood in everybody's way, and +that her uncle was beckoning impatiently from the carriage door. + +"Poor boy! I wish he had some one to take care of him." she sighed, +half aloud. + +"Mademoiselle, the major waits;" and Karl came up, hat in hand, just +in time to hear her and glance after Casimer, with an odd expression. + + +V + +LUDMILLA + + +"I wonder what that young man's name was. Did he mention it, Helen?" +said the major, pausing in his march up and down the room, as if the +question was suggested by the sight of the little baskets, which the +girls had kept. + +"No, uncle; but you can easily ask Hoffman," replied Helen. + +"By the way, Karl, who was the Polish gentleman who came on with +us?" asked the major a moment afterward, as the courier came in with +newspapers. + +"Casimer Teblinski, sir." + +"A baron?" asked Amy, who was decidedly a young lady of one idea just +then. + +"No, mademoiselle, but of a noble family, as the 'ski' denotes, for +that is to Polish and Russian names what 'von' is to German and 'de' +to French." + +"I was rather interested in him. Where did you pick him up, Hoffman?" +said the major. + +"In Paris, where he was with fellow-exiles." + +"He is what he seems, is he?--no impostor, or anything of that sort? +One is often deceived, you know." + +"On my honor, sir, he is a gentleman, and as brave as he is +accomplished and excellent." + +"Will he die?" asked Amy, pathetically. + +"With care he would recover, I think; but there is no one to nurse +him, so the poor lad must take his chance and trust in heaven for +help." + +"How sad! I wish we were going his way, so that we might do something +for him--at least give him the society of his friend." + +Helen glanced at Hoffman, feeling that if he were not already engaged +by them, he would devote himself to the invalid without any thought of +payment. + +"Perhaps we are. You want to see the Lake of Geneva, Chillon, and that +neighborhood. Why not go now, instead of later?" + +"Will you, uncle? That's capital! We need say nothing, but go on and +help the poor boy, if we can." + +Helen spoke like a matron of forty, and looked as full of maternal +kindness as if the Pole were not out of his teens. + +The courier bowed, the major laughed behind his paper, and Amy gave a +sentimental sigh to the memory of the baron, in whom her interest was +failing. + +They only caught a glimpse of the Pole that evening at the Kursaal, +but next morning they met, and he was invited to join their party for +a little expedition. + +The major was in fine spirits, and Helen assumed her maternal air +toward both invalids, for the sound of that hollow cough always +brought a shadow over her face, recalling the brother she had lost. + +Amy was particularly merry and charming, and kept the whole party +laughing at her comical efforts to learn Polish and teach English as +they drove up the mountainside to the old Schloss. + +"I'm not equal to mounting all those steps for a view I've seen a +dozen times; but pray take care of the child, Nell, or she'll get lost +again, as at Heidelberg," said the major, when they had roamed about +the lower part of the place; for a cool seat in the courtyard and a +glass of beer were more tempting than turrets and prospects to the +stout gentleman. + +"She shall not be lost; I am her body-guard. It is steep--permit that +I lead you, mademoiselle;" Casimer offered his hand to Amy, and they +began their winding way. As she took the hand, the girl blushed and +half smiled, remembering the vaults and the baron. + +"I like this better," she said to herself, as they climbed step by +step, often pausing to rest in the embrasures of the loopholes, +where the sun glanced in, the balmy wind blew, and vines peeped from +without, making a pretty picture of the girl, as she sat with rosy +color on her usually pale cheeks, brown curls fluttering about her +forehead, laughing lips, and bright eyes full of pleasant changes. +Leaning opposite in the narrow stairway, Casimer had time to study the +little tableau in many lights, and in spite of the dark glasses, +to convey warm glances of admiration, of which, however, the young +coquette seemed utterly unconscious. + +Helen came leisurely after, and Hoffman followed with a telescope, +wishing, as he went, that his countrywomen possessed such dainty feet +as those going on before him, for which masculine iniquity he will be +pardoned by all who have seen the foot of a German Fraulein. + +It was worth the long ascent, that wide-spread landscape basking in +the August glow. + +Sitting on a fallen block of stone, while Casimer held a sun-umbrella +over her, Amy had raptures at her ease; while Helen sketched and asked +questions of Hoffman, who stood beside her, watching her progress with +interest. Once when, after repeated efforts to catch a curious effect +of light and shade, she uttered an impatient little exclamation, Karl +made a gesture as if to take the pencil and show her, but seemed to +recollect himself and drew back with a hasty "Pardon, mademoiselle." +Helen glanced up and saw the expression of his face, which plainly +betrayed that for a moment the gentleman had forgotten he was a +courier. She was glad of it, for it was a daily trial to her to order +this man about; and following the womanly impulse, she smiled and +offered the pencil, saying simply,-- + +"I felt sure you understood it; please show me." + +He did so, and a few masterly strokes gave the sketch what it needed. +As he bent near her to do this Helen stole a glance at the grave, dark +face, and suddenly a disturbed look dawned in the eyes fixed on the +glossy black locks pushed off the courier's forehead, for he had +removed his hat when she spoke to him. He seemed to feel that +something was amiss, shot a quick glance at her, returned the pencil +and rose erect, with an almost defiant air, yet something of shame in +his eye, as his lips moved as if to speak impetuously. But not a word +did he utter, for Helen touched her forehead significantly, and said +in a low tone,-- + +"I am an artist; let me recommend Vandyke brown, which is _not_ +affected by heat." + +Hoffman looked over his shoulder at the other pair, but Amy was +making an ivy wreath for her hat, and the Pole pulling sprays for the +absorbing work. Speaking rapidly, Karl said, with a peculiar blending +of merriment, humility, and anxiety in his tone,-- + +"Mademoiselle, you are quick to discover my disguise; will you also be +kind in concealing? I have enemies as well as friends, whom I desire +to escape: I would earn my bread unknown; Monsieur le Major keeps my +foolish secret; may I hope for equal goodness from yourself?" + +"You may, I do not forget that I owe my life to you, nor that you are +a gentleman. Trust me, I never will betray you." + +"Thanks, thanks! there will come a time when I may confess the truth +and be myself, but not yet," and his regretful tone was emphasized by +an impatient gesture, as if concealment was irksome. + +"Nell, come down to lunch; uncle is signalling as if he'd gone mad. +No, monsieur, it is quite impossible; you cannot reach the harebells +without risking too much; come away and forget that I wanted them." + +Amy led the way, and all went down more quietly than they came up, +especially Helen and Hoffman. An excellent lunch waited on one of the +tables in front of the old gateway, and having done justice to it, the +major made himself comfortable with a cigar, bidding the girls keep +near, for they must be off in half an hour. Hoffman went to see to the +horses, Casimer strolled away with him, and the young ladies went to +gather wild flowers at the foot of the tower. + +"Not a harebell here; isn't it provoking, when they grow in tufts up +there, where one can't reach them. Mercy, what's that? Run, Nell, the +old wall is coming down!" + +Both had been grubbing in a damp nook, where ferns and mosses grew +luxuriantly; the fall of a bit of stone and a rending sound above made +them fly back to the path and look up. + +Amy covered her eyes, and Helen grew pale, for part way down the +crumbling tower, clinging like a bird to the thick ivy stems, hung +Casimer, coolly gathering harebells from the clefts of the wall. + +"Hush; don't cry out or speak; it may startle him. Crazy boy! Let us +see what he will do," whispered Helen. + +"He can't go back, the vines are so torn and weak; and how will he get +down the lower wall? for you see the ivy grows up from that ledge, and +there is nothing below. How could he do it? I was only joking when I +lamented that there were no knights now, ready to leap into a lion's +den for a lady's glove," returned Amy, half angry. + +In breathless silence they watched the climber till his cap was full +of flowers, and taking it between his teeth, he rapidly swung down to +the wide ledge, from which there appeared to be no way of escape but a +reckless leap of many feet on to the turf below. + +The girls stood in the shadow of an old gateway, unperceived, and +waited anxiously what should follow. + +Lightly folding and fastening the cap together, he dropped it down, +and, leaning forward, tried to catch the top of a young birch rustling +close by the wall. Twice he missed it; the first time he frowned, but +the second he uttered an emphatic, "Deuce take it!" + +Helen and Amy looked at each other with a mutual smile and +exclamation,-- + +"He knows some English, then!" + +There was time for no more--a violent rustle, a boyish laugh, and down +swung the slender tree, with the young man clinging to the top. + +As he landed safely, Helen cried, "Bravo!" and Amy rushed out, +exclaiming reproachfully, yet admiringly,-- + +"How could you do it and frighten us so? I shall never express a wish +before you again, for if I wanted the moon you'd rashly try to get it, +I know." + +"_Certainement_, mademoiselle," was the smiling reply. Casimer +presented the flowers, as if the exploit was a mere trifle. + +"Now I shall go and press them at once in uncle's guide-book. Come and +help me, else you will be in mischief again." And Amy led the way to +the major with her flowers and their giver. + +Helen roamed into one of the ruined courts for a last look at a +fountain which pleased her eye. A sort of cloister ran round the +court, open on both sides, and standing in one of these arched nooks, +she saw Hoffman and a young girl talking animatedly. The girl was +pretty, well dressed, and seemed refusing something for which +the other pleaded eagerly. His arm was about her, and she leaned +affectionately upon him, with a white hand now and then caressing his +face, which was full of sparkle and vivacity now. They seemed about to +part as Helen looked, for the maiden standing on tiptoe, laughingly +offered her blooming cheek, and as Karl kissed it warmly, he said in +German, so audibly Helen heard every word,-- + +"Farewell, my Ludmilla. Keep silent and I shall soon be with you. +Embrace the little one, and do not let him forget me." + +Both left the place as they spoke, each going a different way, and +Helen slowly returned to her party, saying to herself in a troubled +tone,-- + +"'Ludmilla' and 'the little one' are his wife and child, doubtless. I +wonder if uncle knows that." + +When Hoffman next appeared she could not resist looking at him; but +the accustomed gravity was resumed, and nothing remained of the glow +and brightness he had worn when with Ludmilla in the cloister. + + +VI + +CHATEAU DE LA TOUR + + +Helen looked serious and Amy indignant when their uncle joined them, +ready to set out by the afternoon train, all having dined and rested +after the morning's excursion. + +"Well, little girls, what's the matter now?" he asked, paternally, for +the excellent man adored his nieces. + +"Helen says it's not best to go on with the Pole, and is perfectly +nonsensical, uncle," began Amy, petulantly, and not very coherently. + +"Better be silly now than sorry by and by. I only suggested that, +being interesting, and Amy romantic, she might find this young man too +charming, if we see too much of him," said Helen. + +"Bless my soul, what an idea!" cried the major. "Why, Nell, he's an +invalid, a Catholic, and a foreigner, any one of which objections are +enough to settle that matter. Little Amy isn't so foolish as to be in +danger of losing her heart to a person so entirely out of the question +as this poor lad, is she?" + +"Of course not. _You_ do me justice, uncle. Nell thinks she may pity +and pet any one she likes because she is five years older than I, +and entirely forgets that she is a great deal more attractive than a +feeble thing like me. I should as soon think of losing my heart to +Hoffman as to the Pole, even if he wasn't what he is. One may surely +be kind to a dying man, without being accused of coquetry;" and Amy +sobbed in the most heart-rending manner. + +Helen comforted her by withdrawing all objections, and promising +to leave the matter in the major's hands. But she shook her head +privately when she saw the ill-disguised eagerness with which her +cousin glanced up and down the platform after they were in the train, +and she whispered to her uncle, unobserved,-- + +"Leave future meetings to chance, and don't ask the Pole in, if you +can help it." + +"Nonsense, my dear. You are as particular as your aunt. The lad amuses +me, and you can't deny you like to nurse sick heroes," was all the +answer she got, as the major, with true masculine perversity, put his +head out of the window and hailed Casimer as he was passing with a +bow. + +"Here, Teblinski, my good fellow, don't desert us. We've always a +spare seat for you, if you haven't pleasanter quarters." + +With a flush of pleasure the young man came up, but hesitated to +accept the invitation till Helen seconded it with a smile of welcome. + +Amy was in an injured mood, and, shrouded in a great blue veil, +pensively reclined in her corner as if indifferent to everything about +her. But soon the cloud passed, and she emerged in a radiant state of +good humor, which lasted unbroken until the journey ended. + +For two days they went on together, a very happy party, for the major +called in Hoffman to see his friend and describe the places through +which they passed. An arrangement very agreeable to all, as Karl was a +favorite, and every one missed him when away. + +At Lausanne they waited while he crossed the lake to secure rooms at +Vevay. On his return he reported that all the hotels and _pensions_ +were full, but that at La Tour he had secured rooms for a few weeks in +a quaint old chateau on the banks of the lake. + +"Count Severin is absent in Egypt, and the housekeeper has permission +to let the apartments to transient visitors. The suite of rooms I +speak of were engaged to a party who are detained by sickness--they +are cheap, pleasant, and comfortable. A _salon_ and four bed-rooms. I +engaged them all, thinking that Teblinski might like a room there till +he finds lodgings at Montreaux. We can enter at once, and I am sure +the ladies will approve of the picturesque place." + +"Well done, Hoffman; off we go without delay, for I really long to +rest my old bones in something like a home, after this long trip," +said the major, who always kept his little troop in light marching +order. + +The sail across that loveliest of lakes prepared the new-comers to be +charmed with all they saw; and when, entering by the old stone gate, +they were led into a large saloon, quaintly furnished and opening into +a terrace-garden overhanging the water, with Chillon and the Alps in +sight, Amy declared nothing could be more perfect, and Helen's face +proved her satisfaction. + +An English widow and two quiet old German professors on a vacation +were the only inmates besides themselves and the buxom Swiss +housekeeper and her maids. + +It was late when our party arrived, and there was only time for a +hasty survey of their rooms and a stroll in the garden before dinner. + +The great chamber, with its shadowy bed, dark mirrors, ghostly +wainscot-doors and narrow windows, had not been brightened for a long +time by such a charming little apparition as Amy when she shook out +her airy muslins, smoothed her curls, and assumed all manner of +distracting devices for the captivation of mankind. Even Helen, though +not much given to personal vanity, found herself putting flowers in +her hair, and studying the effect of bracelets on her handsome arms, +as if there was some especial need of looking her best on this +occasion. + +Both were certainly great ornaments to the drawing-room that evening, +as the old professors agreed while they sat blinking at them, like a +pair of benign owls. Casimer surprised them by his skill in music, +for, though forbidden to sing on account of his weak lungs, he +played as if inspired. Amy hovered about him like a moth; the major +cultivated the acquaintance of the plump widow; and Helen stood at the +window, enjoying the lovely night and music, till something happened +which destroyed her pleasure in both. + +The window was open, and, leaning from it, she was watching the lake, +when the sound of a heavy sigh caught her ear. There was no moon, but +through the starlight she saw a man's figure among the shrubs below, +sitting with bent head and hidden face in the forlorn attitude of one +shut out from the music, light, and gayety that reigned within. + +"It is Karl," she thought, and was about to speak, when, as if +startled by some sound she did not hear, he rose and vanished in the +gloom of the garden. + +"Poor man! he thought of his wife and child, perhaps, sitting here +alone while all the rest make merry, with no care for him. Uncle must +see to this;" and Helen fell into a reverie till Amy came to propose +retiring. + +"I meant to have seen where all these doors led, but was so busy +dressing I had no time, so must leave it for my amusement to-morrow. +Uncle says it's a very Radcliffian place. How like an angel that man +did play!" chattered Amy, and lulled herself to sleep by humming the +last air Casimer had given them. + +Helen could not sleep, for the lonely figure in the garden haunted +her, and she wearied herself with conjectures about Hoffman and his +mystery. Hour after hour rung from the cuckoo-clock in the hall, but +still she lay awake, watching the curious shadows in the room, and +exciting herself with recalling the tales of German goblins with which +the courier had amused them the day before. + +"It is close and musty here, with all this old tapestry and stuff +about; I'll open the other window," she thought; and, noiselessly +slipping from Amy's side, she threw on wrapper and slippers, lighted +her candle and tried to unbolt the tall, diamond-paned lattice. It was +rusty and would not yield, and, giving it up, she glanced about to see +whence air could be admitted. There were four doors in the room, all +low and arched, with clumsy locks and heavy handles. One opened into +a closet, one into the passage; the third was locked, but the fourth +opened easily, and, lifting her light, she peeped into a small octagon +room, full of all manner of curiosities. What they were she had no +time to see, for her startled eyes were riveted on an object that +turned her faint and cold with terror. + +A heavy table stood in the middle of the room, and seated at it, +with some kind of weapon before him, was a man who looked over his +shoulder, with a ghastly face half hidden by hair and beard, and +fierce black eyes as full of malignant menace as was the clinched hand +holding the pistol. One instant Helen looked, the next flung to the +door, bolted it and dropped into a chair, trembling in every limb. The +noise did not wake Amy, and a moment's thought showed Helen the wisdom +of keeping her in ignorance of this affair. She knew the major was +close by, and possessing much courage, she resolved to wait a little +before rousing the house. + +Hardly had she collected herself, when steps were heard moving softly +in the octagon room. Her light had gone out as she closed the door, +and sitting close by in the dark, she heard the sound of some one +breathing as he listened at the key-hole. Then a careful hand tried +the door, so noiselessly that no sleeper would have been awakened; and +as if to guard against a second surprise, the unknown person drew two +bolts across the door and stole away. + +"Safe for a time; but I'll not pass another night under this roof, +unless this is satisfactorily cleared up," thought Helen, now feeling +more angry than frightened. + +The last hour that struck was three, and soon the summer dawn reddened +the sky. Dressing herself, Helen sat by Amy, a sleepless guard, till +she woke, smiling and rosy as a child. Saying nothing of her last +night's alarm, Helen went down to breakfast a little paler than usual, +but otherwise unchanged. The major never liked to be disturbed till +he had broken his fast, and the moment they rose from the table he +exclaimed,-- + +"Now, girls, come and see the mysteries of Udolpho." + +"I'll say nothing, yet," thought Helen, feeling braver by daylight, +yet troubled by her secret, for Hoffman might be a traitor, and this +charming chateau a den of thieves. Such things had been, and she was +in a mood to believe anything. + +The upper story was a perfect museum of antique relics, very +entertaining to examine. Having finished these, Hoffman, who acted as +guide, led them into a little gloomy room containing a straw pallet, +a stone table with a loaf and pitcher on it, and, kneeling before a +crucifix, where the light from a single slit in the wall fell on him, +was the figure of a monk. The waxen mask was life-like, the attitude +effective, and the cell excellently arranged. Amy cried out when she +first saw it, but a second glance reassured her, and she patted the +bald head approvingly, as Karl explained.-- + +"Count Severin is an antiquarian, and amuses himself with things of +this sort. In old times there really was a hermit here, and this is +his effigy. Come down these narrow stairs, if you please, and see the +rest of the mummery." + +Down they went, and the instant Helen looked about her, she burst into +a hysterical laugh, for there sat her ruffian, exactly as she saw him, +glaring over his shoulder with threatening eyes, and one hand on the +pistol. They all looked at her, for she was pale, and her merriment +unnatural; so, feeling she had excited curiosity, she gratified it by +narrating her night's adventure. Hoffman looked much concerned. + +"Pardon, mademoiselle, the door should have been bolted on this +side. It usually is, but that room being unused, it was forgotten. I +remembered it, and having risen early, crept up to make sure that you +did not come upon this ugly thing unexpectedly. But I was too late, it +seems; you have suffered, to my sorrow." + +"Dear Nell, and that was why I found you so pale and cold and quiet, +sitting by me when I woke, guarding me faithfully as you promised you +would. How brave and kind you were!" + +"Villain! I should much like to fire your own pistols at you for this +prank of yours." + +And Casimer laughingly filliped the image on its absurdly aquiline +nose. + +"What in the name of common sense is this goblin here for?" demanded +the major, testily. + +"There is a legend that once the owner of the chateau amused himself +by decoying travellers here, putting them to sleep in that room, and +by various devices alluring them thither. Here, one step beyond the +threshold of the door, was a trap, down which the unfortunates were +precipitated to the dungeon at the bottom of the tower, there to die +and be cast into the lake through a water-gate, still to be seen. +Severin keeps this flattering likeness of the rascal, as he does +the monk above, to amuse visitors by daylight, not at night, +mademoiselle." + +And Hoffman looked wrathfully at the image, as if he would much enjoy +sending it down the trap. + +"How ridiculous! I shall not go about this place alone, for fear of +lighting upon some horror of this sort. I've had enough; come away +into the garden; it's full of roses, and we may have as many as we +like." + +As she spoke Amy involuntarily put out her hand for Casimer to lead +her down the steep stone steps, and he pressed the little hand with a +tender look which caused it to be hastily withdrawn. + +"Here are your roses. Pretty flower; I know its meaning in English, +for it is the same with us. To give a bud to a lady is to confess +the beginning of love, a half open one tells of its growth, and a +full-blown one is to declare one's passion. Do you have that custom in +your land, mademoiselle?" + +He had gathered the three as he spoke, and held the bud separately +while looking at his companion wistfully. + +"No, we are not poetical, like your people, but it is a pretty fancy," +and Amy settled her bouquet with an absorbed expression, though +inwardly wondering what he would do with his flowers. + +He stood silent a moment, with a sudden flush sweeping across his +face, then flung all three into the lake with a gesture that made the +girl start, and muttered between his teeth: + +"No, no; for me it is too late." + +She affected not to hear, but making up a second bouquet, she gave +it to him, with no touch of coquetry in compassionate eyes or gentle +voice. + +"Make your room bright with these. When one is ill nothing is so +cheering as the sight of flowers." + +Meantime the others had descended and gone their separate ways. + +As Karl crossed the courtyard a little child ran to meet him with +outstretched arms and a shout of satisfaction. He caught it up and +carried it away on his shoulder, like one used to caress and be +caressed by children. + +Helen, waiting at the door of the tower while the major dusted his +coat, saw this, and said, suddenly, directing his attention to man and +child,-- + +"He seems fond of little people. I wonder if he has any of his own." + +"Hoffman? No, my dear; he's not married; I asked him that when I +engaged him." + +"And he said he was not?" + +"Yes; he's not more than five or six-and-twenty, and fond of a +wandering life, so what should he want of a wife and a flock of +bantlings?" + +"He seems sad and sober sometimes, and I fancied he might have some +domestic trouble to harass him. Don't you think there is something +peculiar about him?" asked Helen, remembering Hoffman's hint that her +uncle knew his wish to travel incognito, and wondering if he would +throw any light upon the matter. But the major's face was impenetrable +and his answer unsatisfactory. + +"Well, I don't know. Every one has some worry or other, and as for +being peculiar, all foreigners seem more or less so to us, they are so +unreserved and demonstrative. I like Hoffman more and more every day, +and shall be sorry when I part with him." + +"Ludmilla is his sister, then, or he didn't tell uncle the truth. It +is no concern of mine; but I wish I knew," thought Helen anxiously, +and then wondered why she should care. + +A feeling of distrust had taken possession of her and she determined +to be on the watch, for the unsuspicious major would be easily duped, +and Helen trusted more to her own quick and keen eye than to his +experience. She tried to show nothing of the change in her manner: but +Hoffman perceived it, and bore it with a proud patience which often +touched her heart, but never altered her purpose. + + +VII + +AT FAULT + + +Four weeks went by so rapidly that every one refused to believe it +when the major stated the fact at the breakfast-table, for all had +enjoyed themselves so heartily that they had been unconscious of the +lapse of time. + +"You are not going away, uncle?" cried Amy, with a panic-stricken +look. + +"Next week, my dear; we must be off, for we've much to do yet, and I +promised mamma to bring you back by the end of October." + +"Never mind Paris and the rest of it; this is pleasanter. I'd rather +stay here--" + +There Amy checked herself and tried to hide her face behind her +coffee-cup, for Casimer looked up in a way that made her heart flutter +and her cheeks burn. + +"Sorry for it, Amy; but go we must, so enjoy your last week with all +your might, and come again next year." + +"It will never be again what it is now," sighed Amy; and Casimer +echoed the words "next year," as if sadly wondering if the present +year would not be his last. + +Helen rose silently and went into the garden, for of late she had +fallen into the way of reading and working in the little pavilion +which stood in an angle of the wall, overlooking lake and mountains. + +A seat at the opposite end of the walk was Amy's haunt, for she liked +the sun, and within a week or two something like constraint had +existed between the cousins. Each seemed happier apart, and each was +intent on her own affairs. Helen watched over Amy's health, but no +longer offered advice or asked confidence. She often looked anxious, +and once or twice urged the major to go, as if conscious of some +danger. + +But the worthy man seemed to have been bewitched as well as the young +folks, and was quite happy sitting by the plump, placid widow, or +leisurely walking with her to the chapel on the hillside. + +All seemed waiting for something to break up the party, and no one had +the courage to do it. The major's decision took every one by surprise, +and Amy and Casimer looked as if they had fallen from the clouds. + +The persistency with which the English lessons had gone on was +amazing, for Amy usually tired of everything in a day or two. Now, +however, she was a devoted teacher, and her pupil did her great credit +by the rapidity with which he caught the language. It looked like +pleasant play, sitting among the roses day after day, Amy affecting to +embroider while she taught, Casimer marching to and fro on the wide, +low wall, below which lay the lake, while he learned his lesson; then +standing before her to recite, or lounging on the turf in frequent +fits of idleness, both talking and laughing a great deal, and +generally forgetting everything but the pleasure of being together. +They wrote little notes as exercises--Amy in French, Casimer in +English, and each corrected the other's. + +All very well for a time; but as the notes increased the corrections +decreased, and at last nothing was said of ungrammatical French or +comical English and the little notes were exchanged in silence. + +As Amy took her place that day she looked forlorn, and when her pupil +came her only welcome was a reproachful-- + +"You are very late, sir." + +"It is fifteen of minutes yet to ten clocks," was Casimer's reply, in +his best English. + +"Ten o'clock, and leave out 'of' before minutes. How many times must I +tell you that?" said Amy, severely, to cover her first mistake. + +"Ah, not many times; soon all goes to finish, and I have none person +to make this charming English go in my so stupide head." + +"What will you do then?" + +"I _jeter_ myself into the lake." + +"Don't be foolish; I'm dull to-day, and want to be cheered up; suicide +isn't a pleasant subject." + +"Good! See here, then--a little _plaisanterie_--what you call joke. +Can you will to see it?" and he laid a little pink cocked-hat note on +her lap, looking like a mischievous boy as he did so. + +"'Mon Casimer Teblinski;' I see no joke;" and Amy was about to tear it +up, when he caught it from destruction, and holding it out of reach, +said, laughing wickedly,-- + +"The 'mon' is one abbreviation of 'monsieur,' but you put no +little--how do you say?--period at the end of him; it goes now in +English--_My_ Casimer Teblinski,' and that is of the most charming +address." + +Amy colored, but had her return shot ready. + +"Don't exult; that was only an oversight, not a deliberate deception +like that you put upon me. It was very wrong and rude, and I shall not +forgive it." + +"_Mon Dieu_! where have I gone in sinning! I am a _polisson_, as I say +each day, but not a villain, I swear to you. Say to me that which I +have made of wrong, and I will do penance." + +"You told me '_Ma drogha_' was the Polish for 'My pupil,' and let me +call you so a long time; I am wiser now," replied Amy, with great +dignity. + +"Who has said stupidities to you, that you doubt me?" and Casimer +assumed an injured look, though his eyes danced with merriment. + +"I heard Hoffman singing a Polish song to little Roserl, the burden of +which was, '_Ma drogha, Ma drogha_,' and when I asked him to translate +it, those two words meant, 'My darling.' How dare you, ungrateful +creature that you are!" + +As Amy spoke, half-confusedly, half-angrily, Casimer went down upon +his knees, with folded hands and penitent face, exclaiming, in good +English,-- + +"Be merciful to me a sinner. I was tempted, and I could not resist." + +"Get up this instant, and stop laughing. Say your lesson, for this +will be your last," was the stern reply, though Amy's face dimpled all +over with suppressed merriment. + +He rose meekly, but made such sad work with the verb "To love," that +his teacher was glad to put an end to it, by proposing to read her +French to him. It was "Thaddeus of Warsaw," a musty little translation +which she had found in the house, and begun for her own amusement. +Casimer read a little, seemed interested, and suggested that they read +it together, so that he might correct her accent. Amy agreed, and +they were in the heart of the sentimental romance, finding it more +interesting than most modern readers, for the girl had an improved +Thaddeus before her, and the Pole a fairer, kinder Mary Beaufort. + +Dangerous times for both, but therein lay the charm; for, though Amy +said to herself each night, "Sick, Catholic, and a foreigner,--it can +never be," yet each morning she felt, with increasing force, how blank +her day would be without him. And Casimer, honorably restraining every +word of love, yet looked volumes, and in spite of the glasses, the +girl felt the eloquence of the fine eyes they could not entirely +conceal. + +To-day, as she read, he listened with his head leaning on his hand, +and though she never had read worse, he made no correction, but sat so +motionless, she fancied at last that he had actually fallen asleep. +Thinking to rouse him, she said, in French,-- + +"Poor Thaddeus! don't you pity him?--alone, poor, sick, and afraid to +own his love." + +"No, I hate him, the absurd imbecile, with his fine boots and plumes, +and tragedy airs. He was not to be pitied, for he recovered health, he +found a fortune, he won his Marie. His sufferings were nothing; there +was no fatal blight on him, and he had time and power to conquer his +misfortunes, while I--" + +Casimer spoke with sudden passion, and pausing abruptly, turned his +face away, as if to hide some emotion he was too proud to show. + +Amy's heart ached, and her eyes filled, but her voice was sweet and +steady, as she said, putting by the book, like one weary of it,-- + +"Are you suffering to-day? Can we do anything for you? Please let us, +if we may." + +"You give me all I can receive; no one can help my pain yet; but a +time will come when something may be done for me; then I will speak." +And, to her great surprise, he rose and left her, without another +word. + +She saw him no more till evening; then he looked excited, played +stormily, and would sing in defiance of danger. The trouble in Amy's +face seemed reflected in Helen's, though not a word had passed between +them. She kept her eye on Casimer, with an intentness that worried +Amy, and even when he was at the instrument Helen stood near him, as +if fascinated, watching the slender hands chase one another up and +down the keys with untiring strength and skill. + +Suddenly she left the room and did not return. Amy was so nervous by +that time, she could restrain herself no longer, and slipping out, +found her cousin in their chamber, poring over a glove. + +"Oh, Nell, what is it? You are so odd to-night I can't understand you. +The music excites me, and I'm miserable, and I want to know what has +happened," she said, tearfully. + +"I've found him!" whispered Helen, eagerly, holding up the glove with +a gesture of triumph. + +"Who?" asked Amy, blinded by her tears. + +"The baron." + +"Where?--when?" cried the girl, amazed. + +"Here, and now." + +"Don't take my breath away; tell me quick, or I shall get hysterical." + +"Casimer is Sigismund Palsdorf, and no more a Pole than I am," was +Helen's answer. + +Amy dropped in a heap on the floor, not fainting, but so amazed she +had neither strength nor breath left. Sitting by her, Helen rapidly +went on,-- + +"I had a feeling as if something was wrong, and began to watch. The +feeling grew, but I discovered nothing till to-day. It will make you +laugh, it was so unromantic. As I looked over uncle's things when the +laundress brought them this afternoon, I found a collar that was not +his. It was marked 'S.P.,' and I at once felt a great desire to know +who owned it. The woman was waiting for her money, and I asked her. +'Monsieur Pologne,' she said, for his name is too much for her. She +took it into his room, and that was the end of it." + +"But it may be another name; the initials only a coincidence," +faltered Amy, looking frightened. + +"No, dear, it isn't; there is more to come. Little Roserl came crying +through the hall an hour ago, and I asked what the trouble was. She +showed me a prettily-bound prayer-book which she had taken from the +Pole's room to play with, and had been ordered by her mother to carry +back. I looked into it; no name, but the same coat-of-arms as the +glove and the handkerchief. To-night as he played I examined his +hands; they are peculiar, and some of the peculiarities have left +traces on the glove. I am sure it is he, for on looking back many +things confirm the idea. He says he is a _polisson_, a rogue, fond +of jokes, and clever at playing them. The Germans are famous for +masquerading and practical jokes; this is one, I am sure, and uncle +will be terribly angry if he discovers it." + +"But why all this concealment?" cried Amy. "Why play jokes on us? You +look so worried I know you have not told me all you know or fear." + +"I confess I do fear that these men are political plotters as well as +exiles. There are many such, and they make tools of rich and ignorant +foreigners to further their ends. Uncle is rich, generous, and +unsuspicious; and I fear that while apparently serving and enjoying us +they are using him." + +"Heavens, it may be! and that would account for the change we see in +him. I thought he was in love with the widow, but that may be only a +cloak to hide darker designs. Karl brought us here, and I dare say it +is a den of conspirators!" cried Amy, feeling as if she were getting +more of an adventure than she had bargained for. + +"Don't be alarmed! I am on the watch, and mean to demand an +explanation from uncle, or take you away on my own responsibility, if +I can." + +Here a maid tapped to say that tea was served. + +"We must go down, or some one will suspect trouble. Plead headache to +excuse your paleness, and I'll keep people away. We will manage the +affair and be off as soon as possible," said Helen, as Amy followed +her, too bewildered to answer. + +Casimer was not in the room, the major and Mrs. Cumberland were +sipping tea side by side, and the professors roaming vaguely about. To +leave Amy in peace, Helen engaged them both in a lively chat, and her +cousin sat by the window trying to collect her thoughts. Some one was +pacing up and down the garden, hatless, in the dew. + +Amy forgot everything but the danger of such exposure to her reckless +friend. His cloak and hat lay on a chair; she caught them up and +glided unperceived from the long window. + +"You are so imprudent I fear for you, and bring your things," said a +timid voice, as the little white figure approached the tall black one, +striding down the path tempestuously. + +"You to think of me, forgetful of yourself! Little angel of kindness, +why do you take such care of me?" cried Casimer, eagerly taking not +only the cloak, but the hands that held it. + +"I pitied you because you were ill and lonely. You do not deserve +my pity, but I forgive that, and would not see you suffer," was the +reproachful answer, as Amy turned away. + +But he held her fast, saying earnestly,-- + +"What have I done? You are angry. Tell me my fault and I will amend." + +"You have deceived me." + +"How?" + +"Will you own the truth?" and in her eagerness to set her fears at +rest, Amy forgot Helen. + +"I will." + +She could not see his face, but his voice was steady and his manner +earnest. + +"Tell me, then, is not your true name Sigismund Palsdorf?" + +He started, but answered instantly,-- + +"It is not." + +"You are not the baron?" cried Amy. + +"No; I will swear it if you wish." + +"Who, then, are you?" + +"Shall I confess?" + +"Yes, I entreat you." + +"Remember, you command me to speak." + +"I do. Who are you?" + +"Your lover." + +The words were breathed into her ear as softly as ardently, but they +startled her so much she could find no reply, and, throwing himself +down before her, Casimer poured out his passion with an impetuosity +that held her breathless. + +"Yes, I love you, and I tell it, vain and dishonorable as it is in one +like me. I try to hide it. I say 'it cannot be.' I plan to go away. +But you keep me; you are angel-good to me; you take my heart, you care +for me, teach me, pity me, and I can only love and die. I know it is +folly; I ask nothing; I pray to God to bless you always, and I say, +Go, go, before it is too late for you, as now for me!" + +"Yes, I must go--it is all wrong. Forgive me. I have been very +selfish. Oh, forget me and be happy," faltered Amy, feeling that her +only safety was in flight. + +"Go! go!" he cried, in a heart-broken tone, yet still kissed and clung +to her hands till she tore them away and fled into the house. + +Helen missed her soon after she went, but could not follow for several +minutes; then went to their chamber and there found Amy drowned in +tears, and terribly agitated. + +Soon the story was told with sobs and moans, and despairing +lamentations fit to touch a heart of stone. + +"I do love him--oh, I do; but I didn't know it till he was so unhappy, +and now I've done this dreadful harm. He'll die, and I can't help him, +see him, or be anything to him. Oh, I've been a wicked, wicked girl, +and never can be happy any more." + +Angry, perplexed, and conscience-stricken, for what now seemed blind +and unwise submission to the major, Helen devoted herself to calming +Amy, and when at last the poor, broken-hearted little soul fell asleep +in her arms, she pondered half the night upon the still unsolved +enigma of the Baron Sigismund. + + +VIII + +MORE MYSTERY + + +"Uncle, can I speak to you a moment?" said Helen, very gravely, as +they left the breakfast-room next morning. + +"Not now, my dear, I'm busy," was the hasty reply, as the major +shawled Mrs. Cumberland for an early promenade. + +Helen knit her brows irefully, for this answer had been given her half +a dozen times lately when she asked for an interview. It was evident +he wished to avoid all lectures, remonstrances, and explanations; and +it was also evident that he was in love with the widow. + +"Lovers are worse than lunatics to manage, so it is vain to try to get +any help from him," sighed Helen, adding, as her uncle was gallantly +leading his stout divinity away into the garden: "Amy has a bad +headache, and I shall stay to take care of her, so we can't join +your party to Chillon, sir. We have been there once, so you needn't +postpone it for us." + +"Very well, my dear," and the major walked away, looking much +relieved. + +As Helen was about to leave the _salon_ Casimer appeared. A single +glance at her face assured him that she knew all, and instantly +assuming a confiding, persuasive air that was irresistible, he said, +meekly,-- + +"Mademoiselle, I do not deserve a word from you, but it desolates me +to know that I have grieved the little angel who is too dear to me. +For her sake, pardon that I spoke my heart in spite of prudence, and +permit me to send her this." + +Helen glanced from the flowers he held to his beseeching face, and her +own softened. He looked so penitent and anxious, she had not the heart +to reproach him. + +"I will forgive you and carry your gift to Amy on one condition," she +said, gravely. + +"Ah, you are kind! Name, then, the condition. I implore you, and I +will agree." + +"Tell me, then, on your honor as a gentleman, are you not Baron +Palsdorf?" + +"On my honor as a gentleman, I swear to you I am not." + +"Are you, in truth, what you profess to be?" + +"I am, in truth, Amy's lover, your devoted servant, and a most unhappy +man, with but a little while to live. Believe this and pity me, +dearest Mademoiselle Helene." + +She did pity him, her eyes betrayed that, and her voice was very kind, +as she said,-- + +"Pardon my doubts. I trust you now, and wish with all my heart that +it was possible to make you happy. You know it is not, therefore I am +sure you will be wise and generous, and spare Amy further grief by +avoiding her for the little time we stay. Promise me this, Casimer." + +"I may see her if I am dumb? Do not deny me this. I will not speak, +but I must look at my little and dear angel when she is near." + +He pleaded so ardently with lips and hands, and eager eyes, that Helen +could not deny him, and when he had poured out his thanks she left +him, feeling very tender toward the unhappy young lover, whose passion +was so hopeless, yet so warm. + +Amy was at breakfast in her room, sobbing and sipping, moaning and +munching, for, though her grief was great, her appetite was good, and +she was in no mood to see anything comical in cracking eggshells +while she bewailed her broken heart, or in eating honey in the act of +lamenting the bitterness of her fate. + +Casimer would have become desperate had he seen her in the little blue +wrapper, with her bright hair loose on her shoulders, and her +pretty face wet with tears, as she dropped her spoon to seize his +flowers,--three dewy roses, one a bud, one half and the other fully +blown, making a fragrant record and avowal of the love which she must +renounce. + +"Oh, my dear boy! how can I give him up, when he is so fond, and I am +all he has? Helen, uncle must let me write or go to mamma. She shall +decide; I can't; and no one else has a right to part us," sobbed Amy, +over her roses. + +"Casimer will not marry, dear; he is too generous to ask such a +sacrifice," began Helen, but Amy cried indignantly,-- + +"It is no sacrifice; I'm rich. What do I care for his poverty?" + +"His religion!" hinted Helen, anxiously. + +"It need not part us; we can believe what we will. He is good; why +mind whether he is Catholic or Protestant?" + +"But a Pole, Amy, so different in tastes, habits, character, and +beliefs. It is a great risk to marry a foreigner; races are so +unlike." + +"I don't care if he is a Tartar, a Calmuck, or any of the other wild +tribes; I love him, he loves me, and no one need object if I don't." + +"But, dear, the great and sad objection still remains--his health. He +just said he had but a little while to live." + +Amy's angry eyes grew dim, but she answered, with soft earnestness,-- + +"So much the more need of me to make that little while happy. Think +how much he has suffered and done for others; surely I may do +something for him. Oh, Nell, can I let him die alone and in exile, +when I have both heart and home to give him?" + +Helen could say no more; she kissed and comforted the faithful little +soul, feeling all the while such sympathy and tenderness that she +wondered at herself, for with this interest in the love of another +came a sad sense of loneliness, as if she was denied the sweet +experience that every woman longs to know. + +Amy never could remain long under a cloud, and seeing Helen's tears, +began to cheer both her cousin and herself. + +"Hoffman said he might live with care, don't you remember? and Hoffman +knows the case better than we. Let us ask him if Casimer is worse. You +do it; I can't without betraying myself." + +"I will," and Helen felt grateful for any pretext to address a +friendly word to Karl, who had looked sad of late, and had been less +with them since the major became absorbed in Mrs. Cumberland. + +Leaving Amy to compose herself, Helen went away to find Hoffman. It +was never difficult, for he seemed to divine her wishes and appear +uncalled the moment he was wanted. Hardly had she reached her favorite +nook in the garden when he approached with letters, and asked with +respectful anxiety, as she glanced at and threw them by with an +impatient sigh,-- + +"Has mademoiselle any orders? Will the ladies drive, sail, or make a +little expedition? It is fine, and mademoiselle looks as if the air +would refresh her. Pardon that I make the suggestion." + +"No, Hoffman, I don't like the air of this place, and intend to leave +as soon as possible." And Helen knit her delicate dark brows with +an expression of great determination. "Switzerland is the refuge of +political exiles, and I hate plots and disguises; I feel oppressed by +some mystery, and mean to solve or break away from it at once." + +She stopped abruptly, longing to ask his help, yet withheld by a +sudden sense of shyness in approaching the subject, though she had +decided to speak to Karl of the Pole. + +"Can I serve you, mademoiselle? If so, pray command me," he said, +eagerly, coming a step nearer. + +"You can, and I intend to ask your advice, for there can be nothing +amiss in doing so, since you are a friend of Casimer's." + +"I am both friend and confidant, mademoiselle," he answered, as +if anxious to let her understand that he knew all, without the +embarrassment of words. She looked up quickly, relieved, yet troubled. + +"He has told you, then?" + +"Everything, mademoiselle. Pardon me if this afflicts you; I am his +only friend here, and the poor lad sorely needed comfort." + +"He did. I am not annoyed; I am glad, for I know you will sustain him. +Now I may speak freely, and be equally frank. Please tell me if he is +indeed fatally ill?" + +"It was thought so some months ago; now I hope. Happiness cures many +ills, and since he has loved, he has improved. I always thought care +would save him; he is worth it." + +Hoffman paused, as if fearful of venturing too far; but Helen seemed +to confide freely in him, and said, softly,-- + +"Ah, if it were only wise to let him be happy. It is so bitter to deny +love." + +"God knows it is!" + +The exclamation broke from Hoffman as if an irrepressible impulse +wrung it from him. + +Helen started, and for a moment neither spoke. She collected herself +soonest, and without turning, said, quietly,-- + +"I have been troubled by a strong impression that Casimer is not what +he seems. Till he denied it on his honor I believed him to be Baron +Palsdorf. Did he speak the truth when he said he was not?" + +"Yes, mademoiselle." + +"Then, Casimer Teblinski is his real name?" + +No answer. + +She turned sharply, and added,-- + +"For my cousin's sake, I must know the truth. Several curious +coincidences make me strongly suspect that he is passing under an +assumed name." + +Not a word said Hoffman, but looked on the ground, as motionless and +expressionless as a statue. + +Helen lost patience, and in order to show how much she had discovered, +rapidly told the story of the gloves, ring, handkerchief, prayer-book +and collar, omitting all hint of the girlish romance they had woven +about these things. + +As she ended, Hoffman looked up with a curious expression, in which +confusion, amusement, admiration and annoyance seemed to contend. + +"Mademoiselle," he said, gravely, "I am about to prove to you that +I feel honored by the confidence you place in me. I cannot break my +word, but I will confess to you that Casimer does _not_ bear his own +name." + +"I knew it!" said Helen, with a flash of triumph in her eyes. "He _is_ +the baron, and no Pole. You Germans love masquerades and jokes. This +is one, but I must spoil it before it is played out." + +"Pardon; mademoiselle is keen, but in this she is mistaken. Casimer is +_not_ the baron; he did fight for Poland, and his name is known and +honored there. Of this I solemnly assure you." + +She stood up and looked him straight in the face. He met her eye to +eye, and never wavered till her own fell. + +She mused a few minutes, entirely forgetful of herself in her +eagerness to solve the mystery. + +Hoffman stood so near that her dress touched him, and the wind blew +her scarf against his hand; and as she thought he watched her while +his eyes kindled, his color rose, and once he opened his lips to +speak, but she moved at the instant, and exclaimed,-- + +"I have it!" + +"Now for it," he muttered, as if preparing for some new surprise or +attack. + +"When uncle used to talk about the Polish revolution, there was, I +remember a gallant young Pole who did something brave. The name +just flashed on me, and it clears up my doubts. Stanislas +Prakora--'S.P.'--and Casimer is the man." + +Helen spoke with an eager, bright face, as if sure of the truth now; +but, to her surprise, Hoffman laughed, a short, irrepressible laugh, +full of hearty but brief merriment. He sobered in a breath, and with +an entire change of countenance said, in an embarrassed tone,-- + +"Pardon my rudeness; mademoiselle's acuteness threw me off my guard. +I can say nothing till released from my promise; but mademoiselle may +rest assured that Casimer Teblinski is as good and brave a man as +Stanislas Prakora." + +Helen's eyes sparkled, for in this reluctant reply she read +confirmation of her suspicion, and thought that Amy would rejoice to +learn that her lover was a hero. + +"You _are_ exiles, but still hope and plot, and never relinquish your +hearts' desire?" + +"Never, mademoiselle!" + +"You are in danger?" + +"In daily peril of losing all we most love and long for," answered +Karl, with such passion that Helen found patriotism a lovely and +inspiring thing. + +"You have enemies?" she asked, unable to control her interest, and +feeling the charm of these confidences. + +"Alas! yes," was the mournful reply, as Karl dropped his eyes to hide +the curious expression of mirth which he could not banish from them. + +"Can you not conquer them, or escape the danger they place you in?" + +"We hope to conquer, we cannot escape." + +"This accounts for your disguise and Casimer's false name?" + +"Yes. We beg that mademoiselle will pardon us the anxiety and +perplexity we have caused her, and hope that a time will soon arrive +when we may be ourselves. I fear the romantic interest with which +the ladies have honored us will be much lessened, but we shall still +remain their most humble and devoted servants." + +Something in his tone nettled Helen, and she said sharply,-- + +"All this may be amusing to you, but it spoils my confidence in others +to know they wear masks. Is your name also false?" + +"I am Karl Hoffman, as surely as the sun shines, mademoiselle. Do not +wound me by a doubt," he said, eagerly. + +"And nothing more?" + +She smiled as she spoke, and glanced at his darkened skin with a shake +of the head. + +"I dare not answer that." + +"No matter; I hate titles, and value people for their own worth, not +for their rank." + +Helen spoke impulsively, and, as if carried away by her words and +manner, Hoffman caught her hand and pressed his lips to it ardently, +dropped it, and was gone, as if fearing to trust himself a moment +longer. + +Helen stood where he left her, thinking, with a shy glance from her +hand to the spot where he had stood,-- + +"It _is_ pleasant to have one's hand kissed, as Amy said. Poor Karl, +his fate is almost as hard as Casimer's." + +Some subtile power seemed to make the four young people shun one +another carefully, though all longed to be together. The major +appeared to share the secret disquiet that made the rest roam +listlessly about, till little Roserl came to invite them to a _fete_ +in honor of the vintage. All were glad to go, hoping in the novelty +and excitement to recover their composure. + +The vineyard sloped up from the chateau, and on the hillside was a +small plateau of level sward, shadowed by a venerable oak now hung +with garlands, while underneath danced the chateau servants with their +families, to the music of a pipe played by little Friedel. As the +gentlefolk approached, the revel stopped, but the major, who was in an +antic mood and disposed to be gracious, bade Friedel play on, and as +Mrs. Cumberland refused his hand with a glance at her weeds, the major +turned to the Count's buxom housekeeper, and besought her to waltz +with him. She assented, and away they went as nimbly as the best. Amy +laughed, but stopped to blush, as Casimer came up with an imploring +glance, and whispered,-- + +"Is it possible that I may enjoy one divine waltz with you before I +go?" + +Amy gave him her hand with a glad assent, and Helen was left alone. +Every one was dancing but herself and Hoffman, who stood near by, +apparently unconscious of the fact. He glanced covertly at her, and +saw that she was beating time with foot and hand, that her eyes shone, +her lips smiled. He seemed to take courage at this, for, walking +straight up to her, he said, as coolly as if a crown-prince,-- + +"Mademoiselle, may I have the honor?" + +A flash of surprise passed over her face, but there was no anger, +pride, or hesitation in her manner, as she leaned toward him with a +quiet "Thanks, monsieur." + +A look of triumph was in his eyes as he swept her away to dance, as +she had never danced before, for a German waltz is full of life and +spirit, wonderfully captivating to English girls, and German gentlemen +make it a memorable experience when they please. As they circled round +the rustic ball-room, Hoffman never took his eyes off Helen's, and, +as if fascinated, she looked up at him, half conscious that he was +reading her heart as she read his. He said not a word, but his +face grew very tender, very beautiful in her sight, as she forgot +everything except that he had saved her life and she loved him. When +they paused, she was breathless and pale; he also; and seating her he +went away to bring her a glass of wine. As her dizzy eyes grew clear, +she saw a little case at her feet, and taking it up, opened it. A worn +paper, containing some faded forget-me-nots and these words, fell +out,-- + +"Gathered where Helen sat on the night of August 10th." + +There was just time to restore its contents to the case, when Hoffman +returned, saw it, and looked intensely annoyed as he asked, quickly,-- + +"Did you read the name on it?" + +"I saw only the flowers;" and Helen colored beautifully as she spoke. + +"And read _them_?" he asked, with a look she could not meet. + +She was spared an answer, for just then a lad came up, saying, as he +offered a note,-- + +"Monsieur Hoffman, madame, at the hotel, sends you this, and begs you +to come at once." + +As he impatiently opened it, the wind blew the paper into Helen's lap. +She restored it, and in the act, her quick eye caught the signature, +"Thine ever, Ludmilla." + +A slight shadow passed over her face, leaving it very cold and quiet. +Hoffman saw the change, and smiled, as if well pleased, but assuming +suddenly his usual manner, said deferentially,-- + +"Will mademoiselle permit me to visit my friend for an hour?--she is +expecting me." + +"Go, then, we do not need you," was the brief reply, in a careless +tone, as if his absence was a thing of no interest to any one. + +"Thanks; I shall not be long away;" and giving her a glance that made +her turn scarlet with anger at its undisguised admiration, he walked +away, humming gayly to himself Goethe's lines,-- + + "Maiden's heart and city's wall + Were made to yield, were made to fall; + When we've held them each their day, + Soldier-like we march away." + + +IX + +"S.P." AND THE BARON + + +Dinner was over, and the _salon_ deserted by all but the two young +ladies, who sat apart, apparently absorbed in novels, while each +was privately longing for somebody to come, and with the charming +inconsistency of the fair sex, planning to fly if certain somebodies +_did_ appear. + +Steps approached; both buried themselves in their books; both held +their breath and felt their hearts flutter as they never had done +before at the step of mortal man. The door opened; neither looked up, +yet each was conscious of mingled disappointment and relief when the +major said, in a grave tone, "Girls, I've something to tell you." + +"We know what it is, sir," returned Helen, coolly. + +"I beg your pardon, but you don't, my dear, as I will prove in five +minutes, if you will give me your attention." + +The major looked as if braced up to some momentous undertaking; and +planting himself before the two young ladies, dashed bravely into the +subject. + +"Girls, I've played a bold game, but I've won it, and will take the +consequences." + +"They will fall heaviest on you, uncle," said Helen, thinking he was +about to declare his love for the widow. + +The major laughed, shrugged his shoulders, and answered, stoutly,-- + +"I'll bear them; but you are quite wrong, my dear, in your surmises, +as you will soon see. Helen is my ward, and accountable to me alone. +Amy's mother gave her into my charge, and won't reproach me for +anything that has passed when I explain matters. As to the lads they +must take care of themselves." + +Suddenly both girls colored, fluttered, and became intensely +interested. The major's eyes twinkled as he assumed a perfectly +impassive expression, and rapidly delivered himself of the following +thunderbolt,-- + +"Girls, you have been deceived, and the young men you love are +impostors." + +"I thought so," muttered Helen, grimly. + +"Oh, uncle, don't, don't say that!" cried Amy, despairingly. + +"It's true, my dears; and the worst of it is, I knew the truth all the +time. Now, don't have hysterics, but listen and enjoy the joke as I +do. At Coblentz, when you sat in the balcony, two young men overheard +Amy sigh for adventures, and Helen advise making a romance out of the +gloves one of the lads had dropped. They had seen you by day; both +admired you, and being idle, gay young fellows, they resolved +to devote their vacation to gratifying your wishes and enjoying +themselves. We met at the Fortress; I knew one of them, and liked the +other immensely; so when they confided their scheme to me I agreed +to help them carry it out, as I had perfect confidence in both, and +thought a little adventure or two would do you good." + +"Uncle, you were mad," said Helen; and Amy added, tragically,-- + +"You don't know what trouble has come of it." + +"Perhaps I was; that remains to be proved. I do know everything, and +fail to see any trouble, so don't cry, little girl," briskly replied +the inexplicable major. "Well, we had a merry time planning our prank. +One of the lads insisted on playing courier, though I objected. He'd +done it before, liked the part, and would have his way. The other +couldn't decide, being younger and more in love; so we left him to +come into the comedy when he was ready. Karl did capitally, as you +will allow; and I am much attached to him, for in all respects he has +been true to his word. He began at Coblentz; the other, after doing +the mysterious at Heidelberg, appeared as an exile, and made quick +work with the prejudices of my well-beloved nieces--hey, Amy?" + +"Go on; who are they?" cried both girls, breathlessly. + +"Wait a bit; I'm not bound to expose the poor fellows to your scorn +and anger. No; if you are going to be high and haughty, to forget +their love, refuse to forgive their frolic, and rend their hearts with +reproaches, better let them remain unknown." + +"No, no; we will forget and forgive, only speak!" was the command of +both. + +"You promise to be lenient and mild, to let them confess their +motives, and to award a gentle penance for their sins?" + +"Yes, we promise!" + +"Then, come in, my lads, and plead for your lives." + +As he spoke the major threw open the door, and two gentlemen entered +the room--one, slight and dark, with brilliant black eyes; the other +tall and large, with blond hair and beard. Angry, bewildered, and +shame-stricken as they were, feminine curiosity overpowered all other +feelings for the moment, and the girls sat looking at the culprits +with eager eyes, full of instant recognition; for though the disguise +was off, and neither had seen them in their true characters but once, +they felt no doubt, and involuntarily exclaimed,-- + +"Karl!" + +"Casimer." + +"No, young ladies; the courier and exile are defunct, and from their +ashes rise Baron Sigismund Palsdorf, my friend, and Sidney Power, my +nephew. I give you one hour to settle the matter; then I shall return +to bestow my blessing or to banish these scapegraces forever." + +And, having fired his last shot, the major prudently retreated, +without waiting to see its effect. + +It was tremendous, for it carried confusion into the fair enemy's +camp; and gave the besiegers a momentary advantage of which they were +not slow to avail themselves. + +For a moment the four remained mute and motionless: then Amy, like all +timid things, took refuge in flight, and Sidney followed her into the +garden, glad to see the allies separated. Helen, with the courage of +her nature, tried to face and repulse the foe; but love was stronger +than pride, maiden shame overcame anger, and, finding it vain to meet +and bear down the steady, tender glance of the blue eyes fixed upon +her, she dropped her head into her hands and sat before him, like one +conquered but too proud to cry "Quarter." Her lover watched her till +she hid her face, then drew near, knelt down before her, and said, +with an undertone of deep feeling below the mirthful malice of his +words,-- + +"Mademoiselle, pardon me that I am a foolish baron, and dare to offer +you the title that you hate. I have served you faithfully for a month, +and, presumptuous as it is, I ask to be allowed to serve you all my +life. Helen, say you forgive the deceit for love's sake." + +"No; you are false and forsworn. How can I believe that anything is +true?" + +And Helen drew away the hand of which he had taken possession. + +"Heart's dearest, you trusted me in spite of my disguise; trust +me still, and I will prove that I am neither false nor forsworn. +Catechise me, and see if I was not true in spite of all my seeming +deception." + +"You said your name was Karl Hoffman," began Helen, glad to gain a +little time to calm herself before the momentous question came. + +"It is; I have many, and my family choose to call me Sigismund," was +the laughing answer. + +"I'll never call you so; you shall be Karl, the courier, all your life +to me," cried Helen, still unable to meet the ardent eyes before her. + +"Good; I like that well; for it assures me that all my life I shall be +something to you, my heart. What next?" + +"When I asked if you were the baron, you denied it." + +"Pardon! I simply said my name was Hoffman. You did not ask me point +blank if I was the baron; had you done so, I think I should have +confessed all, for it was very hard to restrain myself this morning." + +"No, not yet; I have more questions;" and Helen warned him away, as it +became evident that he no longer considered restraint necessary. + +"Who is Ludmilla?" she said, sharply. + +"My faith, that is superb!" exclaimed the baron, with a triumphant +smile at her betrayal of jealousy. "How if she is a former love?" he +asked, with a sly look at her changing face. + +"It would cause me no surprise; I am prepared for anything." + +"How if she is my dearest sister, for whom I sent, that she might +welcome you and bring the greetings of my parents to their new +daughter?" + +"Is it, indeed, so?" + +And Helen's eyes dimmed as the thought of parents, home and love +filled her heart with tenderest gratitude, for she had long been an +orphan. + +"_Leibchen_, it is true; to-morrow you shall see how dear you already +are to them, for I write often and they wait eagerly to receive you." + +Helen felt herself going very fast, and made an effort to harden her +heart, lest too easy victory should reward this audacious lover. + +"I may not go; I also have friends, and in England we are not won in +this wild way. I will yet prove you false; it will console me for +being so duped if I can call you traitor. You said Casimer had fought +in Poland." + +"Crudest of women, he did, but under his own name, Sidney Power." + +"Then, he was not the brave Stanislas?--and there is no charming +Casimer?" + +"Yes, there are both,--his and my friends, in Paris; true Poles, and +when we go there you shall see them." + +"But his illness was a ruse?" + +"No; he was wounded in the war and has been ill since. Not of a fatal +malady, I own; his cough misled you, and _he_ has no scruples in +fabling to any extent. I am not to bear the burden of his sins." + +"Then, the romances he told us about your charity, your virtues, +and--your love of liberty were false?" said Helen, with a keen glance, +for these tales had done much to interest her in the unknown baron. + +Sudden color rose to his forehead, and for the first time his eyes +fell before hers,--not in shame, but with a modest man's annoyance at +hearing himself praised. + +"Sidney is enthusiastic in his friendship, and speaks too well for me. +The facts are true, but he doubtless glorified the simplest by his +way of telling it. Will you forgive my follies, and believe me when I +promise to play and duel no more?" + +"Yes." + +She yielded her hand now, and her eyes were full of happiness, yet she +added, wistfully,-- + +"And the betrothed, your cousin, Minna,--is she, in truth, not dear to +you?" + +"Very dear, but less so than another; for I could not learn of her in +years what I learned in a day when I met you. Helen, this was begun in +jest,--it ends in solemn earnest, for I love my liberty, and I have +lost it, utterly and forever. Yet I am glad; look in my face and tell +me you believe it." + +He spoke now as seriously as fervently, and with no shadow on her own, +Helen brushed back the blond hair and looked into her lover's face. +Truth, tenderness, power, and candor were written there in characters +that could not lie; and with her heart upon her lips, she answered, as +he drew her close,-- + +"I do believe, do love you, Sigismund!" Meanwhile another scene was +passing in the garden. Sidney, presuming upon his cousinship, took +possession of Amy, bidding her "strike but hear him." Of course she +listened with the usual accompaniment of tears and smiles, reproaches +and exclamations, varied by cruel exultations and coquettish commands +to go away and never dare approach her again. + +"_Ma drogha_, listen and be appeased. Years ago you and I played +together as babies, and our fond mammas vowed we should one day mate. +When I was a youth of fourteen and you a mite of seven I went away to +India with my father, and at our parting promised to come back and +marry you. Being in a fret because you couldn't go also, you haughtily +declined the honor, and when I offered a farewell kiss, struck me with +this very little hand. Do you remember it?" + +"Not I. Too young for such nonsense." + +"I do, and I also remember that in my boyish way I resolved to keep my +word sooner or later, and I've done it." + +"We shall see, sir," cried Amy, strongly tempted to repeat her part of +the childish scene as well as her cousin, but her hand was not free, +and he got the kiss without the blow. + +"For eleven years we never met. You forgot me, and 'Cousin Sidney' +remained an empty name. I was in India till four years ago; since then +I've been flying about Germany and fighting in Poland, where I nearly +got my quietus." + +"My dear boy, were you wounded?" + +"Bless you, yes; and very proud of it I am. I'll show you my scars +some day; but never mind that now. A while ago I went to England, +seized with a sudden desire to find my wife." + +"I admire your patience in waiting; so flattering to me, you know," +was the sharp answer. + +"It looks like neglect, I confess; but I'd heard reports of your +flirtations, and twice of your being engaged, so I kept away till my +work was done. Was it true?" + +"I never flirt, Sidney, and I was only engaged a little bit once or +twice. I didn't like it, and never mean to do so any more." + +"I shall see that you don't flirt; but you are very much engaged now, +so put on your ring and make no romances about any 'S.P.' but myself." + +"I shall wait till you clear your character; I'm not going to care for +a deceitful impostor. What made you think of this prank?" + +"You did." + +"I? How?" + +"When in England I saw your picture, though you were many a mile away, +and fell in love with it. Your mother told me much about you, and I +saw she would not frown upon my suit. I begged her not to tell you I +had come, but let me find you and make myself known when I liked. +You were in Switzerland, and I went after you. At Coblentz I met +Sigismund, and told him my case; he is full of romance, and when we +overheard you in the balcony we were glad of the hint. Sigismund was +with me when you came, and admired Helen immensely, so he was wild to +have a part in the frolic. I let him begin, and followed you unseen to +Heidelberg, meaning to personate an artist. Meeting you at the castle, +I made a good beginning with the vaults and the ring, and meant to +follow it up by acting the baron, you were so bent on finding him, but +Sigismund forbade it. Turning over a trunk of things left there the +year before, I came upon my old Polish uniform, and decided to be a +Thaddeus." + +"How well you did it! Wasn't it hard to act all the time?" asked Amy, +wonderingly. + +"Very hard with Helen, she is so keen, but not a bit so with you, for +you are such a confiding soul any one could cheat you. I've betrayed +myself a dozen times, and you never saw it. Ah, it was capital fun to +play the forlorn exile, study English, and flirt with my cousin." + +"It was very base. I should think you'd be devoured with remorse. +Aren't you sorry?" + +"For one thing. I cropped my head lest you should know me. I was proud +of my curls, but I sacrificed them all to you." + +"Peacock! Did you think that one glimpse of your black eyes and fine +hair would make such an impression that I should recognize you again?" + +"I did, and for that reason disfigured my head, put on a mustache, and +assumed hideous spectacles. Did you never suspect my disguise, Amy?" + +"No. Helen used to say that she felt something was wrong, but I never +did till the other night." + +"Didn't I do that well? I give you my word it was all done on the spur +of the minute. I meant to speak soon, but had not decided how, when +you came out so sweetly with that confounded old cloak, of which I'd +no more need than an African has of a blanket. Then a scene I'd read +in a novel came into my head, and I just repeated it _con amore_. Was +I very pathetic and tragical. Amy?" + +"I thought so then. It strikes me as ridiculous now, and I can't help +feeling sorry that I wasted so much pity on a man who--" + +"Loves you with all his heart and soul. Did you cry and grieve over +me, dear little tender thing? and do you think now that I am a +heartless fellow, bent only on amusing myself at the expense of +others? It's not so; and you shall see how true and good and steady I +can be when I have any one to love and care for me. I've been alone so +long it's new and beautiful to be petted, confided in, and looked up +to by an angel like you." + +He was in earnest now; she felt it, and her anger melted away like dew +before the sun. + +"Poor boy! You will go home with us now, and let us take care of you +in quiet England. You'll play no more pranks, but go soberly to work +and do something that shall make me proud to be your cousin, won't +you?" + +"If you'll change 'cousin' to 'wife' I'll be and do whatever you +please. Amy, when I was a poor, dying, Catholic foreigner you loved me +and would have married me in spite of everything. Now that I'm your +well, rich, Protestant cousin, who adores you as that Pole never +could, you turn cold and cruel. Is it because the romance is gone, or +because your love was only a girl's fancy, after all?" + +"You deceived me and I can't forget it; but I'll try," was the soft +answer to his reproaches. + +"Are you disappointed that I'm not a baron?" + +"A little bit." + +"Shall I be a count? They gave me a title in Poland, a barren honor, +but all they had to offer, poor souls, in return for a little blood. +Will you be Countess Zytomar and get laughed at for your pains, or +plain Mrs. Power, with a good old English name?" + +"Neither, thank you; it's only a girlish fancy, which will soon be +forgotten. Does the baron love Helen?" asked Amy, abruptly. + +"Desperately, and she?" + +"I think he will be happy; she is not one to make confidantes, but I +know by her tenderness with me, her sadness lately, and something in +her way of brightening when he comes, that she thinks much of him and +loves Karl Hoffman. How it will be with the baron I cannot say." + +"No fear of him; he wins his way everywhere. I wish I were as +fortunate;" and the gay young gentleman heaved an artful sigh and +coughed the cough that always brought such pity to the girl's soft +eyes. + +She glanced at him as he leaned pensively on the low wall, looking +down into the lake, with the level rays of sunshine on his comely face +and figure. Something softer than pity stole into her eye, as she +said, anxiously,-- + +"You are not really ill, Sidney?" + +"I have been, and still need care, else I may have a relapse," was the +reply of this treacherous youth, whose constitution was as sound as a +bell. + +Amy clasped her hands, as if in a transport of gratitude, exclaiming, +fervently,-- + +"What a relief it is to know that you are not doomed to--" + +She paused with a shiver, as if the word were too hard to utter, and +Sidney turned to her with a beaming face, which changed to one of +mingled pain and anger, as she added, with a wicked glance,-- + +"Wear spectacles." + +"Amy, you've got no heart!" he cried, in a tone that banished her last +doubt of his love and made her whisper tenderly, as she clung to his +arm,-- + +"No, dear; I've given it all to you." + +Punctual to the minute, Major Erskine marched into the _salon_, with +Mrs. Cumberland on his arm, exclaiming, as he eyed the four young +people together again,-- + +"Now, ladies, is it to be 'Paradise Lost' or 'Regained' for the +prisoners at the bar?" + +At this point the astonished gentleman found himself taken possession +of by four excited individuals, for the girls embraced and kissed him, +the young men wrung his hand and thanked him, and all seemed bent +on assuring him that they were intensely happy, grateful and +affectionate. + +From this assault he emerged flushed and breathless, but beaming with +satisfaction, and saying paternally,-- + +"Bless you, my children, bless you. I hoped and worked for this, and +to prove how well I practise what I preach, let me present to you--my +wife." + +As he drew forward the plump widow with a face full of smiles +and tears, a second rush was made, and congratulations, salutes, +exclamations and embraces were indulged in to every one's +satisfaction. + +As the excitement subsided the major said, simply,-- + +"We were married yesterday at Montreaux. Let me hope that you will +prove as faithful as I have been, as happy as I am, as blest as I +shall be. I loved this lady in my youth, have waited many years, and +am rewarded at last, for love never comes too late." + +The falter in his cheery voice, the dimness of his eyes, the smile on +his lips, and the gesture with which he returned the pressure of the +hand upon his arm, told the little romance of the good major's life +more eloquently than pages of fine writing, and touched the hearts of +those who loved him. + +"I have been faithful for eleven years. Give me my reward soon, won't +you, dear?" whispered Sidney. + +"Don't marry me to-morrow, and if mamma is willing I'll think about it +by and by," answered Amy. + +"It is beautiful! let us go and do likewise," said Sigismund to his +betrothed. + +But Helen, anxious to turn the thoughts of all from emotions too deep +for words, drew from her pocket a small pearl-colored object, which +she gave to Amy with mock solemnity, as she said, turning to lay her +hand again in her lover's,-- + +"Amy, our search is over. _You_ may keep the gloves; _I_ have the +baron." + + + + +MY RED CAP + +"He who serves well need not fear to ask his wages." + + +I + + +It was under a blue cap that I first saw the honest face of Joe +Collins. In the third year of the late war a Maine regiment was +passing through Boston, on its way to Washington. The Common was all +alive with troops and the spectators who clustered round them to say +God-speed, as the brave fellows marched away to meet danger and death +for our sakes. + +Every one was eager to do something; and, as the men stood at ease, +the people mingled freely with them, offering gifts, hearty grips of +the hand, and hopeful prophecies of victory in the end. Irresistibly +attracted, my boy Tom and I drew near, and soon, becoming excited by +the scene, ravaged the fruit-stands in our neighborhood for tokens of +our regard, mingling candy and congratulations, peanuts and prayers, +apples and applause, in one enthusiastic jumble. + +While Tom was off on his third raid, my attention was attracted by +a man who stood a little apart, looking as if his thoughts were far +away. All the men were fine, stalwart fellows, as Maine men usually +are; but this one over-topped his comrades, standing straight and +tall as a Norway pine, with a face full of the mingled shrewdness, +sobriety, and self-possession of the typical New Englander. I liked +the look of him; and, seeing that he seemed solitary, even in a crowd, +I offered him my last apple with a word of interest. The keen blue +eyes met mine gratefully, and the apple began to vanish in vigorous +bites as we talked; for no one thought of ceremony at such a time. + +"Where are you from?" + +"Woolidge, ma'am." + +"Are you glad to go?" + +"Wal, there's two sides to that question. I calk'late to do my duty, +and do it hearty: but it _is_ rough on a feller leavin' his folks, for +good, maybe." + +There was a sudden huskiness in the man's voice that was not +apple-skins, though he tried to make believe that it was. I knew a +word about home would comfort him, so I went on with my questions. + +"It is very hard. Do you leave a family?" + +"My old mother, a sick brother,--and Lucindy." + +The last word was uttered in a tone of intense regret, and his brown +cheek reddened as he added hastily, to hide some embarrassment.-- + +"You see, Jim went last year, and got pretty well used up; so I felt +as if I'd ought to take my turn now. Mother was a regular old hero +about it and I dropped everything, and come off. Lucindy didn't think +it was my duty; and that made it awful hard, I tell you." + +"Wives are less patriotic than mothers," I began; but he would not +hear Lucindy blamed, and said quickly,-- + +"She ain't my wife yet, but we calk'lated to be married in a month +or so; and it was wus for her than for me, women lot so on not being +disappointed. I _couldn't_ shirk, and here I be. When I git to work, I +shall be all right: the first wrench is the tryin' part." + +Here he straightened his broad shoulders, and turned his face toward +the flags fluttering far in front, as if no backward look should +betray the longing of his heart for mother, home, and wife. I liked +that little glimpse of character; and when Tom returned with empty +hands, reporting that every stall was exhausted, I told him to find +out what the man would like best, then run across the street and get +it. + +"I know without asking. Give us your purse, and I'll make him as happy +as a king," said the boy, laughing, as he looked up admiringly at +our tall friend, who looked down on him with an elder-brotherly air +pleasant to see. While Tom was gone, I found out Joe's name and +business, promised to write and tell his mother how finely the +regiment went off, and was just expressing a hope that we might meet +again, for I too was going to the war as nurse, when the order to +"Fall in!" came rolling down the ranks, and the talk was over. Fearing +Tom would miss our man in the confusion, I kept my eye on him till the +boy came rushing up with a packet of tobacco in one hand and a good +supply of cigars in the other. Not a romantic offering, certainly, but +a very acceptable one, as Joe's face proved, as we scrambled these +treasures into his pockets, all laughing at the flurry, while less +fortunate comrades helped us, with an eye to a share of these fragrant +luxuries by and by. There was just time for this, a hearty shake of +the big hand, and a grateful "Good-by, ma'am;" then the word was +given, and they were off. Bent on seeing the last of them, Tom and I +took a short cut, and came out on the wide street down which so many +troops marched that year; and, mounting some high steps, we watched +for our man, as we already called him. + +As the inspiring music, the grand tramp, drew near, the old thrill +went through the crowd, the old cheer broke out. But it was a +different scene now than in the first enthusiastic, hopeful days. +Young men and ardent boys filled the ranks then, brave by instinct, +burning with loyal zeal, and blissfully unconscious of all that lay +before them. Now the blue coats were worn by mature men, some gray, +all grave and resolute: husbands and fathers, with the memory of wives +and children tugging at their heart-strings; homes left desolate +behind them, and before them the grim certainty of danger, hardship, +and perhaps the lifelong helplessness worse than death. Little of the +glamour of romance about the war now: they saw it as it was, a long, +hard task; and here were the men to do it well. Even the lookers-on +were different now. Once all was wild enthusiasm and glad uproar; now +men's lips were set, and women's smileless as they cheered; fewer +handkerchiefs whitened the air, for wet eyes needed them; and sudden +lulls, almost solemn in their stillness, followed the acclamations +of the crowd. All watched with quickened breath and brave souls that +living wave, blue below, and bright with a steely glitter above, as +it flowed down the street and away to distant battle-fields already +stained with precious blood. + +"There he is! The outside man, and tallest of the lot. Give him a +cheer, auntie: he sees us, and remembers!" cried Tom, nearly tumbling +off his perch, as he waved his hat, and pointed out Joe Collins. + +Yes, there he was, looking up, with a smile on his brave brown face, +my little nosegay in his button-hole, a suspicious bulge in the pocket +close by, and doubtless a comfortable quid in his mouth, to cheer the +weary march. How like an old friend he looked, though we had only met +fifteen minutes ago; how glad we were to be there to smile back at +him, and send him on his way feeling that, even in a strange city, +there was some one to say, "God bless you, Joe!" We watched the +tallest blue cap till it vanished, and then went home in a glow of +patriotism,--Tom to long for his turn to come, I to sew vigorously on +the gray gown the new nurse burned to wear as soon as possible, and +both of us to think and speak often of poor Joe Collins and his +Lucindy. All this happened long ago; but it is well to recall those +stirring times,--to keep fresh the memory of sacrifices made for us by +men like these; to see to it that the debt we owe them is honestly, +gladly paid; and, while we decorate the graves of those who died, to +remember also those who still live to deserve our grateful care. + + +II + + +I never expected to see Joe again; but, six months later, we did meet +in a Washington hospital one winter's night. A train of ambulances had +left their sad freight at our door, and we were hurrying to get the +poor fellows into much needed beds, after a week of hunger, cold, and +unavoidable neglect. All forms of pain were in my ward that night, and +all borne with the pathetic patience which was a daily marvel to those +who saw it. + +Trying to bring order out of chaos, I was rushing up and down the +narrow aisle between the rows of rapidly filling beds, and, after +brushing several times against a pair of the largest and muddiest +boots I ever saw, I paused at last to inquire why they were impeding +the passageway. I found they belonged to a very tall man who seemed to +be already asleep or dead, so white and still and utterly worn out he +looked as he lay there, without a coat, a great patch on his forehead, +and the right arm rudely bundled up. Stooping to cover him, I saw that +he was unconscious, and, whipping out my brandy-bottle and salts, soon +brought him round, for it was only exhaustion. + +"Can you eat?" I asked, as he said, "Thanky, ma'am," after a long +draught of water and a dizzy stare. + +"Eat! I'm starvin'!" he answered, with such a ravenous glance at a +fat nurse who happened to be passing, that I trembled for her, and +hastened to take a bowl of soup from her tray. + +As I fed him, his gaunt, weather-beaten face had a familiar look; but +so many such faces had passed before me that winter, I did not recall +this one till the ward-master came to put up the cards with the +new-comers' names above their beds. My man seemed absorbed in his +food; but I naturally glanced at the card, and there was the name +"Joseph Collins" to give me an additional interest in my new patient. + +"Why, Joe! is it really you?" I exclaimed, pouring the last spoonful +of soup down his throat so hastily that I choked him. + +"All that's left of me. Wal, ain't this luck, now?" gasped Joe, as +gratefully as if that hospital-cot was a bed of roses. + +"What is the matter? A wound in the head and arm?" I asked, feeling +sure that no slight affliction had brought Joe there. + +"Right arm gone. Shot off as slick as a whistle. I tell you, it's a +sing'lar kind of a feelin' to see a piece of your own body go flyin' +away, with no prospect of ever coming back again," said Joe, trying to +make light of one of the greatest misfortunes a man can suffer. + +"That is bad, but it might have been worse. Keep up your spirits, Joe; +and we will soon have you fitted out with a new arm almost as good as +new." + +"I guess it won't do much lumberin', so that trade is done for. I +s'pose there's things left-handed fellers can do, and I must learn 'em +as soon as possible, since my fightin' days are over," and Joe looked +at his one arm with a sigh that was almost a groan, helplessness is +such a trial to a manly man,--and he was eminently so. + +"What can I do to comfort you most, Joe? I'll send my good Ben to help +you to bed, and will be here myself when the surgeon goes his rounds. +Is there anything else that would make you more easy?" + +"If you could just drop a line to mother to let her know I'm alive, it +would be a sight of comfort to both of us. I guess I'm in for a long +spell of hospital, and I'd lay easier if I knew mother and Lucindy +warn't frettin' about me." + +He must have been suffering terribly, but he thought of the women who +loved him before himself, and, busy as I was, I snatched a moment to +send a few words of hope to the old mother. Then I left him "layin' +easy," though the prospect of some months of wearing pain would have +daunted most men. If I had needed anything to increase my regard for +Joe, it would have been the courage with which he bore a very bad +quarter of an hour with the surgeons; for his arm was in a dangerous +state, the wound in the head feverish for want of care; and a heavy +cold on the lungs suggested pneumonia as an added trial to his list of +ills. + +"He will have a hard time of it, but I think he will pull through, +as he is a temperate fellow, with a splendid constitution," was the +doctor's verdict, as he left us for the next man, who was past help, +with a bullet through his lungs. + +"I don'no as I hanker to live, and be a burden. If Jim was able to do +for mother, I feel as if I wouldn't mind steppin' out now I'm so fur +along. As he ain't, I s'pose I must brace up, and do the best I can," +said Joe, as I wiped the drops from his forehead, and tried to look as +if his prospect was a bright one. + +"You will have Lucindy to help you, you know; and that will make +things easier for all." + +"Think so? 'Pears to me I couldn't ask her to take care of three +invalids for my sake. She ain't no folks of her own, nor much means, +and ought to marry a man who can make things easy for her. Guess I'll +have to wait a spell longer before I say anything to Lucindy about +marryin' now;" and a look of resolute resignation settled on Joe's +haggard face as he gave up his dearest hope. + +"I think Lucindy will have something to say, if she is like most +women, and you will find the burdens much lighter, for sharing them +between you. Don't worry about that, but get well, and go home as soon +as you can." + +"All right, ma'am;" and Joe proved himself a good soldier by obeying +orders, and falling asleep like a tired child, as the first step +toward recovery. + +For two months I saw Joe daily, and learned to like him very much, he +was so honest, genuine, and kind-hearted. So did his mates, for he +made friends with them all by sharing such small luxuries as came to +him, for he was a favorite; and, better still, he made sunshine in +that sad place by the brave patience with which he bore his own +troubles, the cheerful consolation he always gave to others. A droll +fellow was Joe at times, for under his sobriety lay much humor; and I +soon discovered that a visit from him was more efficacious than other +cordials in cases of despondency and discontent. Roars of laughter +sometimes greeted me as I went into his ward, and Joe's jokes were +passed round as eagerly as the water-pitcher. + +Yet he had much to try him, not only in the ills that vexed his flesh, +but the cares that tried his spirit, and the future that lay before +him, full of anxieties and responsibilities which seemed so heavy now +when the strong right arm, that had cleared all obstacles away before, +was gone. The letters I wrote for him, and those he received, told +the little story very plainly; for he read them to me, and found much +comfort in talking over his affairs, as most men do when illness +makes them dependent on a woman. Jim was evidently sick and selfish. +Lucindy, to judge from the photograph cherished so tenderly under +Joe's pillow, was a pretty, weak sort of a girl, with little character +or courage to help poor Joe with his burdens. The old mother was very +like her son, and stood by him "like a hero," as he said, but was +evidently failing, and begged him to come home as soon as he was able, +that she might see him comfortably settled before she must leave him. +Her courage sustained his, and the longing to see her hastened his +departure as soon as it was safe to let him go; for Lucindy's letters +were always of a dismal sort, and made him anxious to put his shoulder +to the wheel. + +"She always set consider'ble by me, mother did, bein' the oldest; and +I wouldn't miss makin' her last days happy, not if it cost me all the +arms and legs I've got," said Joe, as he awkwardly struggled into the +big boots an hour after leave to go home was given him. + +It was pleasant to see his comrades gather round him with such hearty +adieus that his one hand must have tingled; to hear the good wishes +and the thanks called after him by pale creatures in their beds; and +to find tears in many eyes beside my own when he was gone, and nothing +was left of him but the empty cot, the old gray wrapper, and the name +upon the wall. + +I kept that card among my other relics, and hoped to meet Joe again +somewhere in the world. He sent me one or two letters, then I went +home; the war ended soon after, time passed, and the little story of +my Maine lumberman was laid away with many other experiences which +made that part of my life a very memorable one. + + +III + + +Some years later, as I looked out of my window one dull November day, +the only cheerful thing I saw was the red cap of a messenger who was +examining the slate that hung on a wall opposite my hotel. A tall man +with gray hair and beard, one arm, and a blue army-coat. I always +salute, figuratively at least, when I see that familiar blue, +especially if one sleeve of the coat is empty; so I watched the +messenger with interest as he trudged away on some new errand, wishing +he had a better day and a thicker pair of boots. He was an unusually +large, well-made man, and reminded me of a fine building going to +ruin before its time; for the broad shoulders were bent, there was a +stiffness about the long legs suggestive of wounds or rheumatism, and +the curly hair looked as if snow had fallen on it too soon. Sitting at +work in my window, I fell into the way of watching my Red Cap, as I +called him, with more interest than I did the fat doves on the roof +opposite, or the pert sparrows hopping in the mud below. I liked the +steady way in which he plodded on through fair weather or foul, as if +intent on doing well the one small service he had found to do. I liked +his cheerful whistle as he stood waiting for a job under the porch +of the public building where his slate hung, watching the luxurious +carriages roll by, and the well-to-do gentlemen who daily passed him +to their comfortable homes, with a steady, patient sort of face, as if +wondering at the inequalities of fortune, yet neither melancholy nor +morose over the small share of prosperity which had fallen to his lot. + +I often planned to give him a job, that I might see him nearer; but +I had few errands, and little Bob, the hall-boy, depended on doing +those: so the winter was nearly over before I found out that my Red +Cap was an old friend. + +A parcel came for me one day, and bidding the man wait for an answer, +I sat down to write it, while the messenger stood just inside the +door like a sentinel on duty. When I looked up to give my note and +directions, I found the man staring at me with a beaming yet bashful +face, as he nodded, saying heartily,-- + +"I mistrusted it was you, ma'am, soon's I see the name on the bundle, +and I guess I ain't wrong. It's a number of years sence we met, and +you don't remember Joe Collins as well as he does you, I reckon?" + +"Why, how you have changed! I've been seeing you every day all winter, +and never knew you," I said, shaking hands with my old patient, and +very glad to see him. + +"Nigh on to twenty years makes consid'able of a change in folks, +'specially if they have a pretty hard row to hoe." + +"Sit down and warm yourself while you tell me all about it; there is +no hurry for this answer, and I'll pay for your time." + +Joe laughed as if that was a good joke, and sat down as if the fire +was quite as welcome as the friend. + +"How are they all at home?" I asked, as he sat turning his cap round, +not quite knowing where to begin. + +"I haven't got any home nor any folks neither;" and the melancholy +words banished the brightness from his rough face like a cloud. +"Mother died soon after I got back. Suddin', but she was ready, and I +was there, so she was happy. Jim lived a number of years, and was a +sight of care, poor feller; but we managed to rub along, though we had +to sell the farm: for I couldn't do much with one arm, and doctor's +bills right along stiddy take a heap of money. He was as comfortable +as he could be; and, when he was gone, it wasn't no great matter, for +there was only me, and I don't mind roughin' it." + +"But Lucindy, where was she?" I asked very naturally. + +"Oh! she married another man long ago. Couldn't expect her to take +me and my misfortins. She's doin' well, I hear, and that's a comfort +anyway." + +There was a look on Joe's face, a tone in Joe's voice as he spoke, +that plainly showed how much he had needed comfort when left to bear +his misfortunes all alone. But he made no complaint, uttered no +reproach, and loyally excused Lucindy's desertion with a simple sort +of dignity that made it impossible to express pity or condemnation. + +"How came you here, Joe?" I asked, making a sudden leap from past to +present. + +"I had to scratch for a livin', and can't do much: so, after tryin' a +number of things, I found this. My old wounds pester me a good deal, +and rheumatism is bad winters; but, while my legs hold out, I can git +on. A man can't set down and starve; so I keep waggin' as long as I +can. When I can't do no more, I s'pose there's almshouse and hospital +ready for me." + +"That is a dismal prospect, Joe. There ought to be a comfortable place +for such as you to spend your last days in. I am sure you have earned +it." + +"Wal, it does seem ruther hard on us when we've give all we had, and +give it free and hearty, to be left to knock about in our old age. But +there's so many poor folks to be took care of, we don't get much of +a chance, for _we_ ain't the beggin' sort," said Joe, with a wistful +look at the wintry world outside, as if it would be better to lie +quiet under the snow, than to drag out his last painful years, +friendless and forgotten, in some refuge of the poor. + +"Some kind people have been talking of a home for soldiers, and I hope +the plan will be carried out. It will take time; but, if it comes to +pass, you shall be one of the first men to enter that home, Joe, if I +can get you there." + +"That sounds mighty cheerin' and comfortable, thanky, ma'am. Idleness +is dreadful tryin' to me, and I'd rather wear out than rust out; so I +guess I can weather it a spell longer. But it will be pleasant to look +forrard to a snug harbor bymeby. I feel a sight better just hearin' +tell about it." He certainly looked so, faint as the hope was; for the +melancholy eyes brightened as if they already saw a happier refuge in +the future than almshouse, hospital, or grave, and, when he trudged +away upon my errand, he went as briskly as if every step took him +nearer to the promised home. + +After that day it was all up with Bob, for I told my neighbors Joe's +story, and we kept him trotting busily, adding little gifts, and +taking the sort of interest in him that comforted the lonely fellow, +and made him feel that he had not outlived his usefulness. I never +looked out when he was at his post that he did not smile back at me; I +never passed him in the street that the red cap was not touched with a +military flourish; and, when any of us beckoned to him, no twinge of +rheumatism was too sharp to keep him from hurrying to do our errands, +as if he had Mercury's winged feet. + +Now and then he came in for a chat, and always asked how the Soldiers' +Home was prospering; expressing his opinion that "Boston was the +charitablest city under the sun, and he was sure he and his mates +would be took care of somehow." + +When we parted in the spring, I told him things looked hopeful, bade +him be ready for a good long rest as soon as the hospitable doors were +open, and left him nodding cheerfully. + + +IV + + +But in the autumn I looked in vain for Joe. The slate was in its old +place, and a messenger came and went on his beat; but a strange face +was under the red cap, and this man had two arms and one eye. I asked +for Collins, but the new-comer had only a vague idea that he was dead; +and the same answer was given me at headquarters, though none of the +busy people seemed to know when or where he died. So I mourned for +Joe, and felt that it was very hard he could not have lived to enjoy +the promised refuge; for, relying upon the charity that never fails, +the Home was an actual fact now, just beginning its beneficent career. +People were waking up to this duty, money was coming in, meetings were +being held, and already a few poor fellows were in the refuge, feeling +themselves no longer paupers, but invalid soldiers honorably supported +by the State they had served. Talking it over one day with a friend, +who spent her life working for the Associated Charities, she said,-- + +"By the way, there is a man boarding with one of my poor women, who +ought to be got into the Home, if he will go. I don't know much about +him, except that he was in the army, has been very ill with rheumatic +fever, and is friendless. I asked Mrs. Flanagin how she managed to +keep him, and she said she had help while he was sick, and now he is +able to hobble about, he takes care of the children, so she is able to +go out to work. He won't go to his own town, because there is nothing +for him there but the almshouse, and he dreads a hospital; so +struggles along, trying to earn his bread tending babies with his one +arm. A sad case, and in your line; I wish you'd look into it." + +"That sounds like my Joe, one arm and all. I'll go and see him; I've a +weakness for soldiers, sick or well." + +I went, and never shall forget the pathetic little tableau I saw as I +opened Mrs. Flanagin's dingy door; for she was out, and no one heard +my tap. The room was redolent of suds, and in a grove of damp clothes +hung on lines sat a man with a crying baby laid across his lap, while +he fed three small children standing at his knee with bread and +molasses. How he managed with one arm to keep the baby from squirming +on to the floor, the plate from upsetting, and to feed the hungry +urchins who stood in a row with open mouths, like young birds, was +past my comprehension. But he did, trotting baby gently, dealing out +sweet morsels patiently, and whistling to himself, as if to beguile +his labors cheerfully. + +The broad back, the long legs, the faded coat, the low whistle were +all familiar; and, dodging a wet sheet, I faced the man to find it +was indeed my Joe! A mere shadow of his former self, after months of +suffering that had crippled him for life, but brave and patient still; +trying to help himself, and not ask aid though brought so low. + +For an instant I could not speak to him, and, encumbered with baby, +dish, spoon, and children, he could only stare at me with a sudden +brightening of the altered face that made it full of welcome before a +word was uttered. + +"They told me you were dead, and I only heard of you by accident, not +knowing I should find my old friend alive, but not well, I'm afraid?" + +"There ain't much left of me but bones and pain, ma'am. I'm powerful +glad to see you all the same. Dust off a chair, Patsey, and let the +lady set down. You go in the corner, and take turns lickin' the dish, +while I see company," said Joe, disbanding his small troop, and +shouldering the baby as if presenting arms in honor of his guest. + +"Why didn't you let me know how sick you were? And how came they to +think you dead?" I asked, as he festooned the wet linen out of the +way, and prepared to enjoy himself as best he could. + +"I did send once, when things was at the wust; but you hadn't got +back, and then somehow I thought I was goin' to be mustered out for +good, and so wouldn't trouble nobody. But my orders ain't come yet, +and I am doing the fust thing that come along. It ain't much, but the +good soul stood by me, and I ain't ashamed to pay my debts this way, +sence I can't do it in no other;" and Joe cradled the chubby baby in +his one arm as tenderly as if it had been his own, though little Biddy +was not an inviting infant. + +"That is very beautiful and right, Joe, and I honor you for it; but +you were not meant to tend babies, so sing your last lullabies, and be +ready to go to the Home as soon as I can get you there." + +"Really, ma'am? I used to lay and kind of dream about it when I +couldn't stir without yellin' out; but I never thought it would ever +come to happen. I see a piece in the paper describing it, and it +sounded dreadful nice. Shouldn't wonder if I found some of my mates +there. They were a good lot, and deservin' of all that could be done +for 'em," said Joe, trotting the baby briskly, as if the prospect +excited him, as well it might, for the change from that damp nursery +to the comfortable quarters prepared for him would be like going from +Purgatory to Paradise. + +"I don't wonder you don't get well living in such a place, Joe. You +should have gone home to Woolwich, and let your friends help you," I +said, feeling provoked with him for hiding himself. + +"No, ma'am!" he answered, with a look I never shall forget, it was so +full of mingled patience, pride, and pain. "I haven't a relation +in the world but a couple of poor old aunts, and they couldn't do +anything for me. As for asking help of folks I used to know, I +couldn't do it; and if you think I'd go to Lucindy, though she is wal +off, you don't know Joe Collins. I'd die fust! If she was poor and I +rich, I'd do for her like a brother; but I couldn't ask no favors of +her, not if I begged my vittles in the street, or starved. I forgive, +but I don't forgit in a hurry; and the woman that stood by me when I +was down is the woman I believe in, and can take my bread from without +shame. Hooray for Biddy Flanagin! God bless her!" and, as if to find a +vent for the emotion that filled his eyes with grateful tears, Joe +led off the cheer, which the children shrilly echoed, and I joined +heartily. + +"I shall come for you in a few days; so cuddle the baby and make much +of the children before you part. It won't take you long to pack up, +will it?" I asked, as we subsided with a general laugh. + +"I reckon not as I don't own any clothes but what I set in, except a +couple of old shirts and them socks. My hat's stoppin' up the winder, +and my old coat is my bed-cover. I'm awful shabby, ma'am, and that's +one reason I don't go out more. I can hobble some, but I ain't got +used to bein' a scarecrow yet," and Joe glanced from the hose without +heels that hung on the line to the ragged suit he wore, with a +resigned expression that made me long to rush out and buy up half the +contents of Oak Hall on the spot. + +Curbing this wild impulse I presently departed with promises of speedy +transportation for Joe, and unlimited oranges to assuage the pangs of +parting for the young Flanagins, who escorted me to the door, while +Joe waved the baby like a triumphal banner till I got round the +corner. + +There was such a beautiful absence of red tape about the new +institution that it only needed a word in the right ear to set things +going; and then, with a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all +together, Joe Collins was taken up and safely landed in the Home he so +much needed and so well deserved. + +A happier man or a more grateful one it would be hard to find, and if +a visitor wants an enthusiastic guide about the place, Joe is the one +to take, for all is comfort, sunshine, and good-will to him; and +he unconsciously shows how great the need of this refuge is, as +he hobbles about on his lame feet, pointing out its beauties, +conveniences, and delights with his one arm, while his face shines, +and his voice quavers a little as he says gratefully,-- + +"The State don't forget us, you see, and this is a Home wuth havin'. +Long life to it!" + + + + +WHAT THE BELLS SAW AND SAID + +[Written in 1867.] + +"Bells ring others to church, but go not in themselves." + + +No one saw the spirits of the bells up there in the old steeple at +midnight on Christmas Eve. Six quaint figures, each wrapped in a +shadowy cloak and wearing a bell-shaped cap. All were gray-headed, for +they were among the oldest bell-spirits of the city, and "the light of +other days" shone in their thoughtful eyes. Silently they sat, looking +down on the snow-covered roofs glittering in the moonlight, and the +quiet streets deserted by all but the watchmen on their chilly rounds, +and such poor souls as wandered shelterless in the winter night. +Presently one of the spirits said, in a tone, which, low as it was, +filled the belfry with reverberating echoes,-- + +"Well, brothers, are your reports ready of the year that now lies +dying?" + +All bowed their heads, and one of the oldest answered in a sonorous +voice:-- + +"My report isn't all I could wish. You know I look down on the +commercial part of our city and have fine opportunities for seeing +what goes on there. It's my business to watch the business men, and +upon my word I'm heartily ashamed of them sometimes. During the war +they did nobly, giving their time and money, their sons and selves to +the good cause, and I was proud of them. But now too many of them have +fallen back into the old ways, and their motto seems to be, 'Every one +for himself, and the devil take the hindmost.' Cheating, lying and +stealing are hard words, and I don't mean to apply them to _all_ who +swarm about below there like ants on an ant-hill--_they_ have other +names for these things, but I'm old-fashioned and use plain words. +There's a deal too much dishonesty in the world, and business seems to +have become a game of hazard in which luck, not labor, wins the prize. +When I was young, men were years making moderate fortunes, and were +satisfied with them. They built them on sure foundations, knew how to +enjoy them while they lived, and to leave a good name behind them when +they died. + +"Now it's anything for money; health, happiness, honor, life itself, +are flung down on that great gaming-table, and they forget everything +else in the excitement of success or the desperation of defeat. Nobody +seems satisfied either, for those who win have little time or taste +to enjoy their prosperity, and those who lose have little courage or +patience to support them in adversity. They don't even fail as they +used to. In my day when a merchant found himself embarrassed he didn't +ruin others in order to save himself, but honestly confessed the +truth, gave up everything, and began again. But now-a-days after all +manner of dishonorable shifts there comes a grand crash; many suffer, +but by some hocus-pocus the merchant saves enough to retire upon and +live comfortably here or abroad. It's very evident that honor and +honesty don't mean now what they used to mean in the days of old May, +Higginson and Lawrence. + +"They preach below here, and very well too sometimes, for I often +slide down the rope to peep and listen during service. But, bless you! +they don't seem to lay either sermon, psalm or prayer to heart, for +while the minister is doing his best, the congregation, tired with +the breathless hurry of the week, sleep peacefully, calculate their +chances for the morrow, or wonder which of their neighbors will lose +or win in the great game. Don't tell me! I've seen them do it, and if +I dared I'd have startled every soul of them with a rousing peal. Ah, +they don't dream whose eye is on them, they never guess what secrets +the telegraph wires tell as the messages fly by, and little know +what a report I give to the winds of heaven as I ring out above them +morning, noon, and night." And the old spirit shook his head till the +tassel on his cap jangled like a little bell. + +"There are some, however, whom I love and honor," he said, in a +benignant tone, "who honestly earn their bread, who deserve all the +success that comes to them, and always keep a warm corner in their +noble hearts for those less blest than they. These are the men who +serve the city in times of peace, save it in times of war, deserve the +highest honors in its gift, and leave behind them a record that keeps +their memories green. For such an one we lately tolled a knell, my +brothers; and as our united voices pealed over the city, in all +grateful hearts, sweeter and more solemn than any chime, rung the +words that made him so beloved,-- + +"'Treat our dead boys tenderly, and send them home to me.'" + +He ceased, and all the spirits reverently uncovered their gray heads +as a strain of music floated up from the sleeping city and died among +the stars. + +"Like yours, my report is not satisfactory in all respects," began the +second spirit, who wore a very pointed cap and a finely ornamented +cloak. But, though his dress was fresh and youthful, his face was +old, and he had nodded several times during his brother's speech. +"My greatest affliction during the past year has been the terrible +extravagance which prevails. My post, as you know, is at the court end +of the city, and I see all the fashionable vices and follies. It is +a marvel to me how so many of these immortal creatures, with such +opportunities for usefulness, self-improvement and genuine happiness +can be content to go round and round in one narrow circle of +unprofitable and unsatisfactory pursuits. I do my best to warn them; +Sunday after Sunday I chime in their ears the beautiful old hymns +that sweetly chide or cheer the hearts that truly listen and believe; +Sunday after Sunday I look down on them as they pass in, hoping to see +that my words have not fallen upon deaf ears; and Sunday after Sunday +they listen to words that should teach them much, yet seem to go by +them like the wind. They are told to love their neighbor, yet too many +hate him because he possesses more of this world's goods or honors +than they: they are told that a rich man cannot enter the kingdom of +heaven, yet they go on laying up perishable wealth, and though often +warned that moth and rust will corrupt, they fail to believe it till +the worm that destroys enters and mars their own chapel of ease. Being +a spirit, I see below external splendor and find much poverty of heart +and soul under the velvet and the ermine which should cover rich and +royal natures. Our city saints walk abroad in threadbare suits, and +under quiet bonnets shine the eyes that make sunshine in the shady +places. Often as I watch the glittering procession passing to and fro +below me. I wonder if, with all our progress, there is to-day as much +real piety as in the times when our fathers, poorly clad, with weapon +in one hand and Bible in the other, came weary distances to worship in +the wilderness with fervent faith unquenched by danger, suffering and +solitude. + +"Yet in spite of my fault-finding I love my children, as I call +them, for all are not butterflies. Many find wealth no temptation to +forgetfulness of duty or hardness of heart. Many give freely of their +abundance, pity the poor, comfort the afflicted, and make our city +loved and honored in other lands as in our own. They have their cares, +losses, and heartaches as well as the poor; it isn't all sunshine with +them, and they learn, poor souls, that + + "'Into each life some rain must fall, + Some days must be dark and dreary.' + +"But I've hopes of them, and lately they have had a teacher so genial, +so gifted, so well-beloved that all who listen to him must be better +for the lessons of charity, good-will and cheerfulness which he brings +home to them by the magic of tears and smiles. We know him, we love +him, we always remember him as the year comes round, and the blithest +song our brazen tongues utter is a Christmas carol to the Father of +'The Chimes!'" + +As the spirit spoke his voice grew cheery, his old face shone, and in +a burst of hearty enthusiasm he flung up his cap and cheered like a +boy. So did the others, and as the fairy shout echoed through the +belfry a troop of shadowy figures, with faces lovely or grotesque, +tragical or gay, sailed by on the wings of the wintry wind and waved +their hands to the spirits of the bells. + +As the excitement subsided and the spirits reseated themselves, +looking ten years younger for that burst, another spoke. A venerable +brother in a dingy mantle, with a tuneful voice, and eyes that seemed +to have grown sad with looking on much misery. + +"He loves the poor, the man we've just hurrahed for, and he makes +others love and remember them, bless him!" said the spirit. "I hope +he'll touch the hearts of those who listen to him here and beguile +them to open their hands to my unhappy children over yonder. If I +could set some of the forlorn souls in my parish beside the happier +creatures who weep over imaginary woes as they are painted by his +eloquent lips, that brilliant scene would be better than any sermon. +Day and night I look down on lives as full of sin, self-sacrifice and +suffering as any in those famous books. Day and night I try to +comfort the poor by my cheery voice, and to make their wants known by +proclaiming them with all my might. But people seem to be so intent on +business, pleasure or home duties that they have no time to hear and +answer my appeal. There's a deal of charity in this good city, and +when the people do wake up they work with a will; but I can't help +thinking that if some of the money lavished on luxuries was spent on +necessaries for the poor, there would be fewer tragedies like that +which ended yesterday. It's a short story, easy to tell, though long +and hard to live; listen to it. + +"Down yonder in the garret of one of the squalid houses at the foot of +my tower, a little girl has lived for a year, fighting silently and +single-handed a good fight against poverty and sin. I saw her when she +first came, a hopeful, cheerful, brave-hearted little soul, alone, yet +not afraid. She used to sit all day sewing at her window, and her lamp +burnt far into the night, for she was very poor, and all she earned +would barely give her food and shelter. I watched her feed the doves, +who seemed to be her only friends; she never forgot them, and daily +gave them the few crumbs that fell from her meagre table. But there +was no kind hand to feed and foster the little human dove, and so she +starved. + +"For a while she worked bravely, but the poor three dollars a week +would not clothe and feed and warm her, though the things her busy +fingers made sold for enough to keep her comfortably if she had +received it. I saw the pretty color fade from her cheeks; her eyes +grew hollow, her voice lost its cheery ring, her step its elasticity, +and her face began to wear the haggard, anxious look that made its +youth doubly pathetic. Her poor little gowns grew shabby, her shawl so +thin she shivered when the pitiless wind smote her, and her feet were +almost bare. Rain and snow beat on the patient little figure going +to and fro, each morning with hope and courage faintly shining, each +evening with the shadow of despair gathering darker round her. It was +a hard time for all, desperately hard for her, and in her poverty, sin +and pleasure tempted her. She resisted, but as another bitter winter +came she feared that in her misery she might yield, for body and soul +were weakened now by the long struggle. She knew not where to turn +for help; there seemed to be no place for her at any safe and happy +fireside; life's hard aspect daunted her, and she turned to death, +saying confidingly, 'Take me while I'm innocent and not afraid to go.' + +"I saw it all! I saw how she sold everything that would bring money +and paid her little debts to the utmost penny; how she set her poor +room in order for the last time; how she tenderly bade the doves +good-by, and lay down on her bed to die. At nine o'clock last night as +my bell rang over the city, I tried to tell what was going on in the +garret where the light was dying out so fast. I cried to them with all +my strength.-- + +"'Kind souls, below there! a fellow-creature is perishing for lack +of charity! Oh, help her before it is too late! Mothers, with little +daughters on your knees, stretch out your hands and take her in! Happy +women, in the safe shelter of home, think of her desolation! Rich men, +who grind the faces of the poor, remember that this soul will one day +be required of you! Dear Lord, let not this little sparrow fall to +the ground! Help, Christian men and women, in the name of Him whose +birthday blessed the world!' + +"Ah me! I rang, and clashed, and cried in vain. The passers-by only +said, as they hurried home, laden with Christmas cheer: 'The old bell +is merry to-night, as it should be at this blithe season, bless it!' + +"As the clocks struck ten, the poor child lay down, saying, as she +drank the last bitter draught life could give her, 'It's very cold, +but soon I shall not feel it;' and with her quiet eyes fixed on the +cross that glimmered in the moonlight above me, she lay waiting for +the sleep that needs no lullaby. + +"As the clock struck eleven, pain and poverty for her were over. It +was bitter cold, but she no longer felt it. She lay serenely sleeping, +with tired heart and hands, at rest forever. As the clocks struck +twelve, the dear Lord remembered her, and with fatherly hand led her +into the home where there is room for all. To-day I rung her knell, +and though my heart was heavy, yet my soul was glad; for in spite of +all her human woe and weakness, I am sure that little girl will keep a +joyful Christmas up in heaven." + +In the silence which the spirits for a moment kept, a breath of softer +air than any from the snowy world below swept through the steeple and +seemed to whisper, "Yes!" + +"Avast there! fond as I am of salt water, I don't like this kind," +cried the breezy voice of the fourth spirit, who had a tiny ship +instead of a tassel on his cap, and who wiped his wet eyes with the +sleeve of his rough blue cloak. "It won't take me long to spin my +yarn; for things are pretty taut and ship-shape aboard our craft. +Captain Taylor is an experienced sailor, and has brought many a ship +safely into port in spite of wind and tide, and the devil's own +whirlpools and hurricanes. If you want to see earnestness come aboard +some Sunday when the Captain's on the quarter-deck, and take an +observation. No danger of falling asleep there, no more than there is +up aloft, 'when the stormy winds do blow.' Consciences get raked fore +and aft, sins are blown clean out of the water, false colors are +hauled down and true ones run up to the masthead, and many an immortal +soul is warned to steer off in time from the pirates, rocks and +quicksands of temptation. He's a regular revolving light, is the +Captain,--a beacon always burning and saying plainly, 'Here are +life-boats, ready to put off in all weathers and bring the shipwrecked +into quiet waters.' He comes but seldom now, being laid up in the home +dock, tranquilly waiting till his turn comes to go out with the tide +and safely ride at anchor in the great harbor of the Lord. Our crew +varies a good deal. Some of 'em have rather rough voyages, and come +into port pretty well battered; land-sharks fall foul of a good many, +and do a deal of damage; but most of 'em carry brave and tender hearts +under the blue jackets, for their rough nurse, the sea, manages to +keep something of the child alive in the grayest old tar that makes +the world his picture-book. We try to supply 'em with life-preservers +while at sea, and make 'em feel sure of a hearty welcome when ashore, +and I believe the year '67 will sail away into eternity with a +satisfactory cargo. Brother North-End made me pipe my eye; so I'll +make him laugh to pay for it, by telling a clerical joke I heard the +other day. Bellows didn't make it, though he might have done so, as +he's a connection of ours, and knows how to use his tongue as well +as any of us. Speaking of the bells of a certain town, a reverend +gentleman affirmed that each bell uttered an appropriate remark so +plainly, that the words were audible to all. The Baptist bell cried, +briskly, 'Come up and be dipped! come up and be dipped!' The +Episcopal bell slowly said, 'Apos-tol-ic suc-cess-ion! apos-tol-ic +suc-cess-ion!' The Orthodox bell solemnly pronounced, 'Eternal +damnation! eternal damnation!' and the Methodist shouted, invitingly, +'Room for all! room for all!'" + +As the spirit imitated the various calls, as only a jovial bell-sprite +could, the others gave him a chime of laughter, and vowed they would +each adopt some tuneful summons, which should reach human ears and +draw human feet more willingly to church. + +"Faith, brother, you've kept your word and got the laugh out of us," +cried a stout, sleek spirit, with a kindly face, and a row of little +saints round his cap and a rosary at his side. "It's very well we are +doing this year; the cathedral is full, the flock increasing, and the +true faith holding its own entirely. Ye may shake your heads if you +will and fear there'll be trouble, but I doubt it. We've warm hearts +of our own, and the best of us don't forget that when we were +starving, America--the saints bless the jewel!--sent us bread; when we +were dying for lack of work, America opened her arms and took us in, +and now helps us to build churches, homes and schools by giving us a +share of the riches all men work for and win. It's a generous nation +ye are, and a brave one, and we showed our gratitude by fighting for +ye in the day of trouble and giving ye our Phil, and many another +broth of a boy. The land is wide enough for us both, and while we work +and fight and grow together, each may learn something from the other. +I'm free to confess that your religion looks a bit cold and hard to +me, even here in the good city where each man may ride his own hobby +to death, and hoot at his neighbors as much as he will. You seem to +keep your piety shut up all the week in your bare, white churches, and +only let it out on Sundays, just a trifle musty with disuse. You set +your rich, warm and soft to the fore, and leave the poor shivering at +the door. You give your people bare walls to look upon, common-place +music to listen to, dull sermons to put them asleep, and then wonder +why they stay away, or take no interest when they come. + +"We leave our doors open day and night; our lamps are always burning, +and we may come into our Father's house at any hour. We let rich and +poor kneel together, all being equal there. With us abroad you'll see +prince and peasant side by side, school-boy and bishop, market-woman +and noble lady, saint and sinner, praying to the Holy Mary, whose +motherly arms are open to high and low. We make our churches inviting +with immortal music, pictures by the world's great masters, and rites +that are splendid symbols of the faith we hold. Call it mummery if +ye like, but let me ask you why so many of your sheep stray into our +fold? It's because they miss the warmth, the hearty, the maternal +tenderness which all souls love and long for, and fail to find in your +stern. Puritanical belief. By Saint Peter! I've seen many a lukewarm +worshipper, who for years has nodded in your cushioned pews, wake and +glow with something akin to genuine piety while kneeling on the stone +pavement of one of our cathedrals, with Raphael's angels before his +eyes, with strains of magnificent music in his ears, and all about +him, in shapes of power or beauty, the saints and martyrs who have +saved the world, and whose presence inspires him to follow their +divine example. It's not complaining of ye I am, but just reminding ye +that men are but children after all, and need more tempting to virtue +than they do to vice, which last comes easy to 'em since the Fall. Do +your best in your own ways to get the poor souls into bliss, and good +luck to ye. But remember, there's room in the Holy Mother Church for +all, and when your own priests send ye to the divil, come straight to +us and we'll take ye in." + +"A truly Catholic welcome, bull and all," said the sixth spirit, who, +in spite of his old-fashioned garments, had a youthful face, earnest, +fearless eyes, and an energetic voice that woke the echoes with its +vigorous tones. "I've a hopeful report, brothers, for the reforms of +the day are wheeling into rank and marching on. The war isn't over nor +rebeldom conquered yet, but the Old Guard has been 'up and at 'em' +through the year. There has been some hard fighting, rivers of ink +have flowed, and the Washington dawdlers have signalized themselves by +a 'masterly inactivity.' The political campaign has been an anxious +one; some of the leaders have deserted; some been mustered out; some +have fallen gallantly, and as yet have received no monuments. But at +the Grand Review the Cross of the Legion of Honor will surely shine on +many a brave breast that won no decoration but its virtue here; for +the world's fanatics make heaven's heroes, poets say. + +"The flock of Nightingales that flew South during the 'winter of our +discontent' are all at home again, some here and some in Heaven. But +the music of their womanly heroism still lingers in the nation's +memory, and makes a tender minor-chord in the battle-hymn of freedom. + +"The reform in literature isn't as vigorous as I could wish; but a +sharp attack of mental and moral dyspepsia will soon teach _our_ +people that French confectionery and the bad pastry of Wood, Bracdon, +Yates & Co. is not the best diet for the rising generation. + +"Speaking of the rising generation reminds me of the schools. They are +doing well; they always are, and we are justly proud of them. +There may be a slight tendency toward placing too much value +upon book-learning; too little upon home culture. Our girls are +acknowledged to be uncommonly pretty, witty and wise, but some of +us wish they had more health and less excitement, more domestic +accomplishments and fewer ologies and isms, and were contented with +simple pleasures and the old-fashioned virtues, and not quite so fond +of the fast, frivolous life that makes them old so soon. I am fond +of our girls and boys. I love to ring for their christenings and +marriages, to toll proudly for the brave lads in blue, and tenderly +for the innocent creatures whose seats are empty under my old roof. +I want to see them anxious to make Young America a model of virtue, +strength and beauty, and I believe they will in time. + +"There have been some important revivals in religion; for the world +won't stand still, and we must keep pace or be left behind to +fossilize. A free nation must have a religion broad enough to embrace +all mankind, deep enough to fathom and fill the human soul, high +enough to reach the source of all love and wisdom, and pure enough to +satisfy the wisest and the best. Alarm bells have been rung, anathemas +pronounced, and Christians, forgetful of their creed, have abused +one another heartily. But the truth always triumphs in the end, and +whoever sincerely believes, works and waits for it, by whatever +name he calls it, will surely find his own faith blessed to him in +proportion to his charity for the faith of others. + +"But look!--the first red streaks of dawn are in the East. Our vigil +is over, and we must fly home to welcome in the holidays. Before we +part, join with me, brothers, in resolving that through the coming +year we will with all our hearts and tongues,-- + + "'Ring out the old, ring in the new, + Ring out the false, ring in the true; + Ring in the valiant man and free, + Ring in the Christ that is to be.'" + +Then hand in hand the spirits of the bells floated away, singing in +the hush of dawn the sweet song the stars sung over Bethlehem,--"Peace +on earth, good will to men." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KITTY'S CLASS DAY AND OTHER +STORIES*** + + +******* This file should be named 10360.txt or 10360.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/3/6/10360 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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