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diff --git a/13878-0.txt b/13878-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c7d522 --- /dev/null +++ b/13878-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11106 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13878 *** + +THE ENGLISH ORPHANS + +Or, A Home in the New World + +by + +MRS. MARY J. HOLMES + +Author of _Darkness and Daylight_, _Marian Grey_, _Meadow Brook_, +_Homestead_, _Dora Deane_, _Cousin Maude_, _Tempest and Sunshine_, +_Lena Rivers_, etc. + +1877 + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. The Emigrants + + II. Chicopee + + III. Billy Bender + + IV. Ella Campbell + + V. The Poor-House + + VI. Sal Furbush + + VII. The Lincolns + + VIII. At Church + + IX. The New Bonnet + + X. Winter at the Poor-House + + XI. Alice + + XII. A New Friend + + XIII. A New Home in Rice Corner + + XIV. Visitors + + XV. The Three Young Men + + XVI. The Schoolmistress + + XVII. Jealousy + + XVIII. A New Plan + + XIX. Mount Holyoke + + XX. The closing of the year + + XXI. Vacation + + XXII. Education Finished + + XXIII. Life in Boston + + XXIV. A Change of Opinion + + XXV. The Party + + XXVI. Making up his Mind + + XXVII. The Shadows Deepen + + XXVIII. Glenwood + + XXIX. A New Discovery + + XXX. The Crisis + + XXXI. A Question + + XXXII. Going Home + + XXXIII. Conclusion + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE EMIGRANTS. + + +"What makes you keep that big blue sun-bonnet drawn so closely over +your face? are you afraid of having it seen?" + +The person addressed was a pale, sickly-looking child about nine years +of age, who, on the deck of the vessel Windermere, was gazing intently +towards the distant shores of old England, which were fast receding +from view. Near her a fine-looking boy of fourteen was standing, and +trying in vain to gain a look at the features so securely shaded from +view by the gingham bonnet. + +At the sound of his voice the little girl started, and without turning +her head, replied, "Nobody wants to see me, I am so ugly and +disagreeable." + +"Ugly are you?" repeated the boy, and at the same time lifting her up +and forcibly holding her hands, he succeeded in looking her fully in +the face, "Well, you are not very handsome, that's a fact," said he, +after satisfying his curiosity, "but I wouldn't be sullen about it. +Ugly people are always smart, and perhaps you are. Any way, I like +little girls, so just let me sit here and get acquainted." + +Mary Howard, the child thus introduced to our readers, was certainly +not very handsome. Her features, though tolerably regular, were small +and thin, her complexion sallow, and her eyes, though bright and +expressive, seemed too large for her face. She had naturally a fine +set of teeth, but their beauty was impaired by two larger ones, which, +on each side of her mouth, grew directly over the others, giving to +the lower portion of her face a peculiar and rather disagreeable +expression. She had frequently been told that she was homely, and +often when alone had wept, and wondered why she, too, was not handsome +like her sister Ella, on whose cheek the softest rose was blooming, +while her rich brown hair fell in wavy masses about her white neck and +shoulders. But if Ella was more beautiful than Mary, there was far +less in her character to admire. She knew that she was pretty, and +this made her proud and selfish, expecting attention from all, and +growing sullen and angry if it was withheld. + +Mrs. Howard, the mother of these children, had incurred the +displeasure of her father, a wealthy Englishman, by marrying her music +teacher, whose dark eyes had played the _mischief_ with her heart, +while his fingers played its accompaniment on the guitar. Humbly at +her father's feet she had knelt and sued for pardon, but the old man +was inexorable, and turned her from his house, cursing the fate which +had now deprived him, as it were, of his only remaining daughter. Late +in life he had married a youthful widow who after the lapse of a few +years died, leaving three little girls, Sarah, Ella, and Jane, two of +them his own, and one a step-daughter and a child of his wife's first +marriage. + +As a last request Mrs. Temple had asked that her baby Jane should be +given to the care of her sister, Mrs. Morris who was on the eve of +embarking for America, and who within four weeks after her sister's +death sailed with her; young niece for Boston. Sarah, too, was adopted +by her father's brother; and thus Mr. Temple was left alone with his +eldest daughter, Ella. Occasionally he heard from Jane, but time and +distance gradually weakened the tie of parental affection, which wound +itself more closely around Ella; and now, when she, too, left him, and +worse than all, married a poor music teacher, the old man's wrath knew +no bounds. + +"But, we'll see," said he, as with his hands behind him, and his head +bent forward, he strode up and down the room--"we'll see how they'll +get on. I'll use all my influence against the dog, and when Miss +Ella's right cold and hungry, she'll be glad to come back and leave +him." + +But he was mistaken, for though right cold and hungry Ella ofttimes +was, she only clung the closer to her husband, happy to share his +fortune, whatever it might be. Two years after her marriage, hearing +that her father was dangerously ill, she went to him, but the +forgiveness she so ardently desired was never gained, for the old +man's reason was gone. Faithfully she watched until the end, and then +when she heard read his will (made in a fit of anger), and knew that +his property was all bequeathed to her sister in America, she crushed +the tears from her long eyelashes and went back to her humble home +prepared to meet the worst. + +In course of time three children, Frank, Mary, and Ella were added to +their number, and though their presence brought sunshine and gladness, +it brought also an increase of toil and care. Year after year Mr. +Howard struggled on, while each day rumors reached him of the plenty +to be had in the land beyond the sea; and at last, when hope seemed +dying out, and even his brave-hearted Ella smiled less cheerfully +than was her wont to do he resolved to try his fortune in the +far-famed home of the weary emigrant. This resolution he communicated +to his wife, who gladly consented to accompany him, for England now +held nothing dear to her save the graves of her parents, and in the +western world she knew she had two sisters, Sarah having some years +before gone with her uncle to New York. + +Accordingly the necessary preparations for their voyage were made as +soon as possible, and when the Windermere left the harbor of +Liverpool, they stood upon her deck waving a last adieu to the few +kind friends, who on shore were bidding them "God speed." + +Among the passengers was George Moreland, whose parents had died some +months before, leaving him and a large fortune to the guardianship of +his uncle, a wealthy merchant residing in Boston. This uncle, Mr. +Selden, had written for his nephew to join him in America, and it was +for this purpose that George had taken passage in the Windermere. He +was a frank, generous-hearted boy, and though sometimes a little too +much inclined to tease, he was usually a favorite with all who knew +him. He was a passionate admirer of beauty, and the moment the Howards +came on board and he caught a sight of Ella, he felt irresistibly +attracted towards her, and ere long had completely won her heart by +coaxing her into his lap and praising her glossy curls. Mary, whose +sensitive nature shrank from the observation of strangers, and who +felt that one as handsome as George Moreland must necessarily laugh at +her, kept aloof, and successfully eluded all his efforts to look under +her bonnet. This aroused his curiosity, and when he saw her move away +to a distant part of the vessel, he followed her, addressing to her +the remark with which we commenced this chapter. As George had said he +liked little girls, though he greatly preferred talking to pretty +ones. On this occasion, however, he resolved to make himself +agreeable, and in ten minutes' time he had so far succeeded in gaining +Mary's friendship, that she allowed him to untie the blue bonnet, +which he carefully removed, and then when she did not know it, he +scanned her features attentively as if trying to discover all the +beauty there was in them. + +At last gently smoothing back her hair, which was really bright and +glossy, he said, "Who told you that you were so ugly looking?" The +tears started to Mary's eyes, and her chin quivered, as she replied, +"Father says so, Ella says so, and every body says so, but mother and +Franky." + +"Every body doesn't always tell the truth," said George, wishing to +administer as much comfort as possible. "You've got pretty blue eyes, +nice brown hair, and your forehead, too, is broad and high; now if you +hadn't such a muddy complexion, bony cheeks, little nose, big ears and +awful teeth, you wouldn't be such a fright!" + +George's propensity to tease had come upon him, and in enumerating the +defects in Mary's face, he purposely magnified them; but he regretted +it, when he saw the effect his words produced. Hiding her face in her +hands, Mary burst into a passionate fit of weeping, then snatching the +bonnet from George's lap, she threw it on her head and was hurrying +away, when George caught her and pulling her back, said, "Forgive me, +Mary. I couldn't help plaguing you a little, but I'll try and not do +it again." + +For a time George kept this resolution, but he could not conceal the +preference which he felt for Ella, whose doll-like face, and childish +ways were far more in keeping with his taste, than Mary's old look and +still older manner. Whenever he noticed her at all, he spoke kindly to +her; but she knew there was a great difference between his treatment +of her and Ella, and oftentimes, when saying her evening prayer she +prayed that George Moreland might love her a little just a little. + +Two weeks had passed since the last vestige of land had disappeared +from view, and then George was taken dangerously ill with fever. Mrs. +Howard herself visited him frequently, but she commanded her children +to keep away, lest they, too, should take the disease. For a day or +two Mary obeyed her mother, and then curiosity led her near George's +berth. For several minutes she lingered, and was about turning away +when a low moan fell on her ear and arrested her footsteps. Her +mother's commands were forgotten, and in a moment she stood by +George's bedside. Tenderly she smoothed his tumbled pillow, moistened +his parched lips, and bathed his feverish brow, and when, an hour +afterward, the physician entered, he found his patient calmly +sleeping, with one hand clasped in that of Mary, who with the other +fanned the sick boy with the same blue gingham sun-bonnet, of which he +had once made fun, saying it looked like its owner, "rather +skim-milky." + +"Mary! Mary Howard!" said the physician, "this is no place for you," +and he endeavored to lead her away. + +This aroused George, who begged so hard for her to remain, that the +physician went in quest of Mrs. Howard, who rather unwillingly +consented, and Mary was duly installed as nurse in the sick room. +Perfectly delighted with her new vocation, she would sit for hours by +her charge, watching each change in his features and anticipating as +far as possible his wants. She possessed a very sweet, clear voice; +and frequently, when all other means had failed to quiet him, she +would bend her face near his and taking his hands in hers, would sing +to him some simple song of home, until lulled by the soft music he +would fall away to sleep. Such unwearied kindness was not without its +effect upon George, and one day when Mary as usual was sitting near +him, he called her to his side, and taking her face between his hands, +kissed her forehead and lips, saying, "What can I ever do to pay my +little nurse for her kindness?" + +Mary hesitated a moment, and then replied, "Love me as well as you do +Ella!" + +"As well as I do Ella!" he repeated, "I love you a great deal better. +She has not been to see me once. What is the reason?" + +Frank, who a moment before had stolen to Mary's side, answered for +her, saying, "some one had told Ella that if she should have the +fever, her curls would all drop off; and so," said he, "she won't come +near you!" + +Just then Mrs. Howard appeared, and this time she was accompanied by +Ella, who clung closely to her mother's skirt, looking cautiously out +from its thick folds. George did not as usual caress her, but he asked +her mockingly, "if her hair had commenced coming out!" while Ella only +answered by grasping at her long curls, as if to assure herself of +their safety. + +In a few days George was able to go on deck, and though he still +petted and played with Ella, he never again slighted Mary, or forgot +that she was present. More than once, too, a kind word, or +affectionate look from him, sent such a glow to her cheek and sparkle +to her eye, that Frank, who always loved her best, declared, "she was +as pretty as Ella any day if she'd break herself of putting her hand +to her mouth whenever she saw one looking at her," a habit which she +had acquired from being so frequently told of her uneven teeth. + +At last after many weary days at sea, there came the joyful news that +land was in sight; and next morning, when the children awoke, the +motion of the vessel had ceased, and Boston, with its numerous domes +and spires, was before them. Towards noon a pleasant-looking, +middle-aged man came on board, inquiring for George Moreland, and +announcing himself as Mr. Selden. George immediately stepped forward, +and after greeting his uncle, introduced Mr. and Mrs. Howard, speaking +at the same time of their kindness to him during his illness. + +All was now confusion, but in the hurry and bustle of going ashore, +George did not forget Mary. Taking her aside, he threw round her neck +a small golden chain, to which was attached a locket containing a +miniature likeness of himself painted a year before. + +"Keep it," said he, "to remember me by, or if you get tired of it, +give it to Ella for a plaything." + +"I wish I had one for you," said Mary; and George replied, "Never +mind, I can remember your looks without a likeness. I've only to shut +my eyes, and a little forlorn, sallow-faced, old-looking girl, with +crooked teeth--" + +He was prevented from finishing his speech by a low cry from Mary, +who, pressing his hands in hers, looked beseechingly in his face, and +said, "Oh, don't, George!--don't talk so." + +He had not teased her about her looks for a long time, and now just as +he was leaving her, 'twas more than she could bear. Instantly +regretting his thoughtless words, George took her in his arms, and +wiping away her tears, said, "Forgive me, Mary. I don't know what made +me say so, for I do love you dearly, and always will. You have been +kind to me, and I shall remember it, and some time, perhaps, repay +it." Then putting her down, and bidding adieu to Mr. and Mrs. Howard, +Frank, and Ella, he sprang into his uncle's carriage, and was rapidly +driven away. + +Mary looked after him as long as the heads of the white horses were in +sight, and then taking Frank's hand, followed her parents to the +hotel, where for a few days they had determined to stop while Mrs. +Howard made inquiries for her sister. + +Meantime, from the richly curtained windows of a large handsome +building a little girl looked out, impatiently waiting her father's +return, wondering why he was gone so long and if she should like her +cousin George, or whether he was a bearish looking fellow, with warty +hands, who would tease her pet kitten and ink the faces of her doll +babies. In the centre of the room the dinner table was standing, and +Ida Selden had twice changed the location of her cousin's plate, once +placing it at her side, and lastly putting it directly in front, so +she could have a fair view of his face. + +"Why don't they come?" she had said for the twentieth time, when the +sound of carriage wheels in the yard below made her start up, and +running down stairs, she was soon shaking the hands of her cousin, +whom she decided to be handsome, though she felt puzzled to know +whether her kitten and dolls were in any immediate danger or not! + +Placing her arm affectionately around him, she led him into the +parlor, saying, "I am so glad that you have come to live with me and +be my brother. We'll have real nice times, but perhaps you dislike +little girls. Did you ever see one that you loved?" + +"Yes, two," was the answer. "My cousin Ida, and one other." + +"Oh, who is she?" asked Ida. "Tell me all about her How does she look? +Is she pretty?" + +Instantly as George had predicted, there came before his vision the +image of "a forlorn-looking, sallow-faced child," whom he did not care +about describing to Ida. She, however, insisted upon a description, +and that evening when tea was over, the lamps lighted, and Mr. Selden +reading the paper, George told her of Mary, who had watched so kindly +over him during the weary days of his illness. Contrary to his +expectations, she did not laugh at the picture which he drew of Mary's +face, but simply said, "I know I should like her." Then after a +moment's pause, she continued; "They are poor, you say, and Mr. Howard +is a music teacher. Monsieur Duprês has just left me, and who knows +but papa can get Mr. Howard to fill his place." + +When the subject was referred to her father, he said that he had liked +the appearance of Mr. Howard, and would if possible find him on the +morrow and engage his services. The next morning Ida awoke with an +uncomfortable impression that something was the matter with the +weather. Raising herself on her elbow, and pushing back the heavy +curtains, she looked out and saw that the sky was dark with angry +clouds, from which the rain was steadily falling,--not in drizzly +showers, but in large round drops, which beat against the casement and +then bounded off upon the pavement below. + +All thoughts of Mr. Howard were given up for that day and as every +moment of Mr. Selden's time was employed for several successive ones, +it was nearly a week after George's arrival before any inquiries were +made for the family. The hotel at which they had stopped was then +found, but Mr. Selden was told that the persons whom he was seeking +had left the day before for one of the inland towns, though which one +he could not ascertain. + +"I knew 'twould be so," said Ida rather fretfully, "father might have +gone that rainy day as well as not. Now we shall never see nor hear +from them again, and George will be so disappointed." But George's +disappointment was soon forgotten in the pleasures and excitements of +school, and if occasionally thoughts of Mary Howard came over him, +they were generally dispelled by the lively sallies of his sprightly +little cousin, who often declared that "she should be dreadfully +jealous of George's travelling companion, were it not that he was a +great admirer of beauty and that Mary was terribly ugly." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +CHICOPEE. + + +It was the afternoon for the regular meeting of the Ladies Sewing +Society in the little village of Chicopee, and at the usual hour +groups of ladies were seen wending their way towards the stately +mansion of Mrs. Campbell, the wealthiest and proudest lady in town. + +Many, who for months had absented themselves from the society, came +this afternoon with the expectation of gaining a look at the costly +marble and rosewood furniture with which Mrs. Campbell's parlors were +said to be adorned. But they were disappointed, for Mrs. Campbell had +no idea of turning a sewing society into her richly furnished +drawing-rooms. The spacious sitting-room, the music-room adjoining, +and the wide cool hall beyond, were thrown open to all, and by three +o'clock they were nearly filled. + +At first there was almost perfect silence, broken only by a whisper or +under tone, but gradually the restraint wore way, and the woman near +the door, who had come "because she was a mind to, but didn't expect +to be noticed any way," and who, every time she was addressed, gave a +nervous hitch backward with her chair, had finally hitched herself +into the hall, where with unbending back and pursed up lips she sat, +highly indignant at the ill-concealed mirth of the young girls, who +on the stairs were watching her retrograde movements. The hum of +voices increased, until at last there was a great deal more talking +than working. The Unitarian minister's bride, Lilly Martin's +stepmother, the new clerk at Drury's, Dr. Lay's wife's new hat and its +probable cost, and the city boarders at the hotel, were all duly +discussed, and then for a time there was again silence while Mrs. +Johnson, president of the society, told of the extreme destitution in +which she had that morning found a poor English family, who had moved +into the village two or three years before. + +They had managed to earn a comfortable living until the husband and +father suddenly died, since which time the wife's health had been very +rapidly failing, until now she was no longer able to work, but was +wholly dependent for subsistence upon the exertions of her oldest +child Frank, and the charity of the villagers, who sometimes supplied +her with far more than was necessary, and again thoughtlessly +neglected her for many days. Her chief dependence, too, had now failed +her, for the day before the sewing society, Frank had been taken +seriously ill with what threatened to be scarlet fever. + +"Dear me," said the elegant Mrs. Campbell, smoothing the folds of her +rich India muslin--"dear me, I did not know that we had such poverty +among us. What will they do?" + +"They'll have to go to the poor-house, won't they?" + +"To the poor-house!" repeated Mrs. Lincoln, who spent her winters in +Boston, and whose summer residence was in the neighborhood of the +pauper's home, "pray don't send any more low, vicious children to the +poor-house. My Jenny has a perfect passion for them, and it is with +difficulty I can keep her away." + +"They are English, I believe," continued Mrs. Campbell. "I do wonder +why so many of those horridly miserable creatures will come to this +country." + +"Forgets, mebby, that she's English," muttered the woman at the door; +and Mrs. Johnson added, "It would draw tears from your eyes, to see +that little pale-faced Mary trying to wait upon her mother and +brother, and carrying that sickly baby in her arms so that it may not +disturb them." + +"What does Ella do?" asked one, and Mrs. Johnson replied, "She merely +fixes her curls in the broken looking-glass, and cries because she is +hungry." + +"She is pretty, I believe?" said Mrs. Campbell, and Rosa Pond, who sat +by the window, and had not spoken before, immediately answered, "Oh, +yes, she is perfectly beautiful; and do you know, Mrs. Campbell, that +when she is dressed clean and nice, I think she looks almost exactly +like your little Ella!" + +A haughty frown was Mrs. Campbell's only answer, and Rosa did not +venture another remark, although several whispered to her that they, +too, had frequently observed the strong resemblance between Ella +Howard and Ella Campbell. + +From what has been said, the reader will readily understand that the +sick woman in whom Mrs. Johnson was so much interested, was our old +acquaintance Mrs. Howard. + +All inquiries for her sisters had been fruitless, and after stopping +for a time in Worcester, they had removed to Chicopee, where recently +Mr. Howard had died. Their only source of maintenance was thus cut +off, and now they were reduced to the utmost poverty. Since we last +saw them a sickly baby had been added to their number. With motherly +care little Mary each day washed and dressed it, and then hour after +hour carried it in her arms, trying to still its feeble moans, which +fell so sadly on the ear of her invalid mother. + +It was a small, low building which they inhabited, containing but one +room and a bedroom, which last they had ceased to occupy, for one by +one each article of furniture had been sold, until at last Mrs. Howard +lay upon a rude lounge, which Frank had made from some rough boards. +Until midnight the little fellow toiled, and then when his work was +done crept softly to the cupboard, there lay one slice of bread, the +only article of food which the house contained. Long and wistfully he +looked at it, thinking how good it would taste; but a glance at the +pale faces near decided him. "They need it more than I," said he, and +turning resolutely away, he prayed that he "might sleep pretty soon +and forget how hungry he was." + +Day after day he worked on, and though his cheek occasionally flushed +with anger when of his ragged clothes and naked feet the village boys +made fun, he never returned them any answer, but sometimes when alone +the memory of their thoughtless jeers would cause the tears to start, +and then wiping them away, he would wonder if it was wicked to be poor +and ragged. One morning when he attempted to rise, he felt oppressed +with a languor he had never before experienced, and turning on his +trundlebed, and adjusting his blue cotton jacket, his only pillow, he +again slept so soundly that Mary was obliged to call him twice ere she +aroused him. + +That night he came home wild with delight,--he had earned a whole +dollar, and knew how he could earn another half dollar to-morrow. "Oh, +I wish it would come quick," said he, as he related his success to his +mother. + +But, alas, the morrow found him burning with fever and when he +attempted to stand, he found it impossible to do so. A case of scarlet +fever had appeared in the village and it soon became evident that the +disease had fastened upon Frank. The morning following the sewing +society Ella Campbell and several other children showed symptoms of +the same disease, and in the season of general sickness which +followed, few were left to care for the poor widow. Daily little Frank +grew worse. The dollar he had earned was gone, the basket of +provisions Mrs. Johnson had sent was gone, and when for milk the baby +Alice cried, there was none to give her. + +At last Frank, pulling the old blue jacket from under his head, and +passing it to Mary, said, "Take it to Bill Bender,--he offered me a +shilling for it, and a shilling will buy milk for Allie and crackers +for mother,--take it." + +"No, Franky," answered Mary, "you would have no pillow, besides, I've +got something more valuable, which I can sell. I've kept it long, but +it must go to keep us from starving;"--and she held to view the golden +locket, which George Moreland had thrown around her neck. + +"You shan't sell that," said Frank. "You must keep it to remember +George, and then, too, you may want it more some other time." + +Mary finally yielded the point, and gathering up the crumpled jacket, +started in quest of Billy Bender. He was a kind-hearted boy, two years +older than Frank, whom he had often befriended, and shielded from the +jeers of their companions. He did not want the jacket, for it was a +vast deal too small; and it was only in reply to a proposal from Frank +that he should buy it that he had casually offered him a shilling. But +now, when he saw the garment, and learned why it was sent he +immediately drew from his old leather wallet a quarter, all the money +he had in the world and giving it to Mary bade her keep it, as she +would need it all. + +Half an hour after a cooling orange was held to Frank's parched lips, +and Mary said, "Drink it, brother, I've got two more, besides some +milk and bread," but the ear she addressed was deaf and the eye dim +with the fast falling shadow of death. "Mother, mother!" cried the +little girl, "Franky won't drink and his forehead is all sweat. Can't +I hold you up while you come to him?" + +Mrs. Howard had been much worse that day, but she did not need the +support of those feeble arms. She felt, rather than saw that her +darling boy was dying, and agony made her strong. Springing to his +side she wiped from his brow the cold moisture which had so alarmed +her daughter chafed his hands and feet, and bathed his head, until he +seemed better and fell asleep. + +"Now, if the doctor would only come," said Mary; but the doctor was +hurrying from house to house, for more than one that night lay dying +in Chicopee. But on no hearthstone fell the gloom of death so darkly +as upon that low, brown house, where a trembling woman and a frail +young child watched and wept over the dying Frank. Fast the shades of +night came on, and when all was dark in the sick room, Mary sobbed +out, "We have no candle, mother, and if I go for one, and he should +die--" + +The sound of her voice aroused Frank, and feeling for his sister's +hand, he said, "Don't go, Mary:--don't leave me,--the moon is shining +bright, and I guess I can find my way to God just as well." + +Nine;--ten;--eleven;--and then through the dingy windows the silvery +moonlight fell, as if indeed to light the way of the early lost to +heaven. Mary had drawn her mother's lounge to the side of the +trundlebed, and in a state of almost perfect exhaustion, Mrs. Howard +lay gasping for breath while Mary, as if conscious of the dread +reality about to occur, knelt by her side, occasionally caressing her +pale cheek and asking if she were better. Once Mrs. Howard laid her +hands on Mary's head, and prayed that she might be preserved and kept +from harm by the God of the orphan, and that the sin of disobedience +resting upon her own head might not be visited upon her child. + +After a time a troubled sleep came upon her, and she slept, until +roused by a low sob. Raising herself up, she looked anxiously towards +her children. The moonbeams fell full upon the white, placid face of +Frank, who seemed calmly sleeping, while over him Mary bent, pushing +back from his forehead the thick, clustering curls, and striving hard +to smother her sobs, so they might not disturb her mother. + +"Does he sleep?" asked Mrs. Howard, and Mary, covering with her hands +the face of him who slept, answered, "Turn away, mother;--don't look +at him. Franky is dead. He died with his arms around my neck, and told +me not to wake you." + +Mrs. Howard was in the last stages of consumption, and now after +weeping over her only boy until her tears seemed dried, she lay back +half fainting upon her pillow. Towards daylight a violent coughing fit +ensued, during which an ulcer was broken, and she knew that she was +dying. Beckoning Mary to her side, she whispered, "I am leaving you +alone, in the wide world. Be kind to Ella, and our dear little Allie, +and go with her where she goes. May God keep and bless my precious +children,--and reward you as you deserve, my darling--" + +The sentence was unfinished, and in unspeakable awe the orphan girl +knelt between her mother and brother, shuddering in the presence of +death, and then weeping to think she was alone. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +BILLY BENDER. + + +Just on the corner of Chicopee Common, and under the shadow of the +century-old elms which skirt the borders of the grass plat called by +the villagers the "Mall," stands the small red cottage of widow +Bender, who in her way was quite a curiosity. All the "ills which +flesh is heir to," seemed by some strange fatality to fall upon her, +and never did a new disease appear in any quarter of the globe, which +widow Bender, if by any means she could ascertain the symptoms, was +not sure to have it in its most aggravated form. + +On the morning following the events narrated in the last chapter, +Billy, whose dreams had been disturbed by thoughts of Frank, arose +early, determined to call at Mrs. Howard's, and see if they were in +want of any thing. But his mother, who had heard rumors of the scarlet +fever, was up before him, and on descending to the kitchen, which with +all her sickness Mrs. Bender kept in perfect order, Billy found her +sitting before a blazing fire,--her feet in hot water, and her head +thrown back in a manner plainly showing that something new had taken +hold of her in good earnest. Billy was accustomed to her freaks, and +not feeling at all frightened, stepped briskly forward, saying, +"Well, mother, what's the matter now? Got a cramp in your foot, or +what?" + +"Oh, William," said she, "I've lived through a sight but my time has +come at last. Such a pain in my head and stomach. I do believe I've +got the scarlet fever, and you must run for the doctor quick." + +"Scarlet fever!" repeated Billy, "why, you've had it once, and you +can't have it again, can you?" + +"Oh, I don't know,--I never was like anybody else, and can have any +thing a dozen times. Now be spry and fetch the doctor but before you +go, hand me my snuff-box and put the canister top heapin' full of tea +into the tea-pot." + +Billy obeyed, and then, knowing that the green tea would remove his +mother's ailment quite as soon as the physician, he hurried away +towards Mrs. Howard's. The sun was just rising, and its red rays +looked in at the window, through which the moonlight had shone the +night before. Beneath the window a single rose-tree was blooming, and +on it a robin was pouring out its morning song. Within the cottage +there was no sound or token of life, and thinking its inmates were +asleep, Billy paused several minutes upon the threshold, fearing that +he should disturb their slumbers. At last with a vague presentiment +that all was not right, he raised the latch and entered, but instantly +started back in astonishment at the scene before him. On the little +trundlebed lay Frank, cold and dead, and near him in the same long +dreamless sleep was his mother, while between them, with one arm +thrown lovingly across her brother's neck, and her cheek pressed +against his, lay Mary--her eyelids moist with the tears which, though +sleeping she still shed. On the other side of Frank and nestled so +closely to him that her warm breath lifted the brown curls from his +brow, was Ella. But there were no tear stains on her face, for she +did not yet know how bereaved she was. + +For a moment Billy stood irresolute, and then as Mary moved uneasily +in her slumbers, he advanced a step or two towards her. The noise +aroused her, and instantly remembering and comprehending the whole, +she threw herself with a bitter cry into Billy's extended arms, as if +he alone were all the protector she now had in the wide, wide world. +Ere long Ella too awoke, and the noisy outburst which followed the +knowledge of her loss, made Mary still the agony of her own heart in +order to soothe the more violent grief of her excitable sister. + +There was a stir in the cradle, and with a faint cry the baby Alice +awoke and stretched her hands towards Mary who, with all a mother's +care took the child upon her lap and fed her from the milk which was +still standing in the broken pitcher. With a baby's playfulness Alice +dipped her small fingers into the milk, and shaking them in her +sister's face, laughed aloud as the white drops fell upon her hair. +This was too much for poor Mary, and folding the child closer to her +bosom she sobbed passionately. + +"Oh, Allie, dear little Allie, what will you do? What shall we all do? +Mother's dead, mother's dead!" + +Ella was not accustomed to see her sister thus moved, and her tears +now flowed faster while she entreated Mary to stop. "Don't do so, +Mary," she said. "Don't do so. You make me cry harder. Tell her to +stop, Billy. Tell her to stop." + +But Billy's tears were flowing too, and he could only answer the +little girl by affectionately smoothing her tangled curls, which for +once in her life she had forgotten to arrange At length rising up, he +said to Mary, "Something must be done. The villagers must know of it, +and I shall have to leave you alone while I tell them." + +In half an hour from that time the cottage was nearly filled with +people, some of whom came out of idle curiosity, and after seeing all +that was to be seen, started for home, telling the first woman who put +her head out the chamber window for particulars, that "'twas a +dreadful thing, and such a pity, too, that Ella should have to go to +the poor-house, with her pretty face and handsome curls." + +But there were others who went there for the sake of comforting the +orphans and attending to the dead, and by noon the bodies were +decently arranged for burial. Mrs. Johnson's Irish girl Margaret was +cleaning the room, and in the bedroom adjoining, Mrs. Johnson herself, +with two or three other ladies, were busily at work upon some plain, +neat shrouds, and as they worked they talked of the orphan children +who were now left friendless. + +"There will be no trouble," said one, "in finding a place for Ella, +she is so bright and handsome, but as for Mary, I am afraid she'll +have to go to the poor-house." + +"Were I in a condition to take either," replied Mrs. Johnson, "I +should prefer Mary to her sister, for in my estimation she is much the +best girl; but there is the baby, who must go wherever Mary does, +unless she can be persuaded to leave her." + +Before any one could reply to this remark, Mary, who had overheard +every word, came forward, and laying her face on Mrs. Johnson's lap, +sobbed out, "Let me go with Alice, I told mother I would." + +Billy Bender, who all this while had been standing by the door, now +gave a peculiar whistle, which with him was ominous of some new idea, +and turning on his heel started for home, never once thinking, until +he reached it, that his mother more than six hours before had sent him +in great haste for the physician. On entering the house, he found her, +as we expected, rolled up in bed, apparently in the last stage of +scarlet fever; but before she could reproach him, he said "Mother, +have you heard the news?" + +Mrs. Bender had a particular love for news, and now forgetting "how +near to death's door" she had been, she eagerly demanded, "What news? +What has happened?" + +When Billy told her of the sudden death of Mrs. Howard and Frank, an +expression of "What? That all?" passed over her face, and she said, +"Dear me, and so the poor critter's gone? Hand me my snuff, Billy. +Both died last night, did they? Hain't you nothin' else to tell?" + +"Yes, Mary Judson and Ella Campbell, too, are dead." + +Mrs. Bender, who like many others, courted the favor of the wealthy, +and tried to fancy herself on intimate terms with them, no sooner +heard of Mrs. Campbell's affliction, than her own dangerous symptoms +were forgotten, and springing up she exclaimed, "Ella Campbell dead! +What'll her mother do? I must go to her right away. Hand me my double +gown there in the closet, and give me my lace cap in the lower draw, +and mind you have the tea-kettle biled agin I get back." + +"But, mother," said Billy, as he prepared to obey her, "Mrs. Campbell +is rich, and there are enough who will pity her. If you go any where, +suppose you stop at Mrs. Howard's, and comfort poor Mary, who cries +all the time because she and Alice have got to go to the poor-house." + +"Of course they'll go there, and they orto be thankful they've got so +good a place--Get away.--That ain't my double gown;--that's a cloak. +Don't you know a cloak from a double gown?" + +"Yes, yes," said Billy, whose mind was not upon his mother's +toilet--"but," he continued, "I want to ask you, can't we,--couldn't +you take them for a few days, and perhaps something may turn up." + +"William Bender," said the highly astonished lady what can you mean? A +poor sick woman like me, with one foot in the grave, take the charge +of three pauper children! I shan't do it, and you needn't think of +it." + +"But, mother," persisted Billy, who could generally coax her to do as +he liked, "it's only for a few days, and they'll not be much trouble +or expense, for I'll work enough harder to make it up." + +"I have said _no_ once, William Bender, and when _I_ say no, I mean +no," was the answer. + +Billy knew she would be less decided the next time the subject was +broached, so for the present, he dropped it, and taking his cap he +returned to Mrs. Howard's, while his mother started for Mrs. +Campbell's. + +Next morning between the hours of nine and ten, the tolling bell sent +forth its sad summons, and ere long a few of the villagers were moving +towards the brown cottage, where in the same plain coffin slept the +mother and her only boy. Near them sat Ella, occasionally looking with +childish curiosity at the strangers around her, or leaning forward to +peep at the tips of the new morocco shoes which Mrs. Johnson had +kindly given her; then, when her eye fell upon the coffin, she would +burst into such an agony of weeping that many of the villagers also +wept in sympathy, and as they stroked her soft hair, thought, "how +much more she loved her mother than did Mary," who, without a tear +upon her cheek, sat there immovable, gazing fixedly upon the marble +face of her mother. Alice was not present, for Billy had not only +succeeded in winning his mother's consent to take the children for a +few days, but he had also coaxed her to say that Alice might come +before the funeral, on condition that he would remain at home and +take care of her. This he did willingly, for Alice, who had been +accustomed to see him would now go to no one else except Mary. + +Billy was rather awkward at baby tending, but by dint of emptying his +mother's cupboard, blowing a tin horn, rattling a pewter platter with +an iron spoon, and whistling Yankee Doodle, he managed to keep her +tolerably quiet until he saw the humble procession approaching the +house. Then, hurrying with his little charge to the open window, he +looked out. Side by side walked Mary and Ella, and as Alice's eyes +fell upon the former, she uttered a cry of joy, and almost sprang from +Billy's arms. But Mary could not come; and for the next half hour Mrs. +Bender corked her ears with cotton, while Billy, half distracted, +walked the floor, singing at the top of his voice every tune he had +ever heard, from "Easter Anthem" down to "the baby whose father had +gone a hunting," and for whom the baby in question did not care two +straws. + +Meantime the bodies were about to be lowered into the newly made +grave, when Mrs. Johnson felt her dress nervously grasped, and looking +down she saw Mary's thin, white face uplifted towards hers with so +earnest an expression, that she gently laid her hand upon her head, +and said, "What is it, dear?" + +"Oh, if I can,--if they only would let me look at them once more. I +couldn't see them at the house, my eyes were so dark." + +Mrs. Johnson immediately communicated Mary's request to the sexton, +who rather unwillingly opened the coffin lid. The road over which they +had come, was rough and stony and the jolt had disturbed the position +of Frank, who now lay partly upon his mother's shoulder, with his cheek +resting against hers. Tenderly Mary laid him back upon his own +pillow, and then kneeling down and burying her face in her mother's +bosom, she for a time remained perfectly silent, although the +quivering of her frame plainly told the anguish of that parting. At +length Mrs. Johnson gently whispered "Come, darling, you must come +away now;" but Mary did not move; and when at last they lifted her up, +they saw that she had fainted. In a few moments she recovered, and +with her arms across her sister's neck, stood by until the wide grave +was filled, and the bystanders were moving away. + +As they walked homeward together, two women, who had been present at +the funeral, discussed the matter as follows:-- + +"They took it hard, poor things, particularly the oldest." + +"Yes, though I didn't think she cared as much as t'other one, until +she fainted, but it's no wonder, for she's old enough to dread the +poor-house. Did you say they were staying at widder Bender's?" + +"Yes, and how in this world widder Bender, as poor as she pretends to +be, can afford to do it, is more than I can tell." + +"Are you going to the other funeral this afternoon?" + +"I guess I am. I wouldn't miss it for a good deal. Why as true as you +live, I have never set my foot in Mrs. Campbell's house yet, and know +no more what is in it than the dead." + +"Well, I do, for my girl Nancy Ray used to live there, and she's told +me sights. She says they've got a big looking-glass that cost three +hundred dollars." + +"So I've heard, and I s'pose there'll be great doin's this afternoon. +The coffin, they say, came from Worcester, and cost fifty dollars." + +"Now, that's what I call wicked. Sposin' her money did come from +England, she needn't spend it so foolishly; but then money didn't save +Ella's life, and they say her mother's done nothing but screech and +go on like a mad woman since she died. You'll go early, won't you?" + +"Yes, I mean to be there in season to get into the parlor if I can." + +And now, having reached the corner, where their path diverged, with a +mutual "good day" they parted. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ELLA CAMPBELL. + + +Scarcely three hours had passed since the dark, moist earth was heaped +upon the humble grave of the widow and her son, when again, over the +village of Chicopee floated the notes of the tolling bell, and +immediately crowds of persons with seemingly eager haste, hurried +towards the Campbell mansion, which was soon nearly filled. Among the +first arrivals were our acquaintances of the last chapter, who were +fortunate enough to secure a position near the drawing-room, which +contained the "big looking-glass." + +On a marble table in the same room, lay the handsome coffin, and in it +slept young Ella. Gracefully her small waxen hands were folded one +over the other, while white, half-opened rose buds were wreathed among +the curls of her hair, which fell over her neck and shoulders, and +covered the purple spots, which the disease had left upon her flesh. +"She is too beautiful to die, and the only child too," thought more +than one, as they looked first at the sleeping clay and then at the +stricken mother, who, draped in deepest black, sobbed convulsively and +leaned for support upon the arm of the sofa. What now to her were +wealth and station? What did she care for the elegance which had so +often excited the envy of her neighbors? That little coffin, which had +cost so many dollars and caused so much remark, contained what to her +was far dearer than all. And yet she was not one half so desolate as +was the orphan Mary, who in Mrs. Bender's kitchen sat weeping over her +sister Alice, and striving to form words of prayer which should reach +the God of the fatherless. + +But few of the villagers thought of her this afternoon. Their +sympathies were all with Mrs. Campbell; and when at the close of the +services she approached to take a last look of her darling, they +closed around her with exclamations of grief and tears of pity, though +even then some did not fail to note and afterwards comment upon the +great length of her costly veil, and the width of its hem! It was a +long procession which followed Ella Campbell to the grave, and with +bowed heads and hats uplifted, the spectators stood by while the +coffin was lowered to the earth; and then, as the Campbell carriage +drove slowly away, they dispersed to their homes, speaking, it may be, +more tenderly to their own little ones, and shuddering to think how +easily it might have been themselves who were bereaved. + +Dark and dreary was the house to which Mrs. Campbell returned. On the +stairs there was no patter of childish feet. In the halls there was no +sound of a merry voice, and on her bosom rested no little golden head, +for the weeping mother was childless. Close the shutters and drop the +rich damask curtains, so that no ray of sunlight, or fragrance of +summer flowers may find entrance there to mock her grief. In all +Chicopee was there a heart so crushed and bleeding as hers? Yes, on +the grass-plat at the foot of Mrs. Bender's garden an orphan girl was +pouring out her sorrow in tears which almost blistered her eyelids as +they fell. + +Alice at last was sleeping, and Mary had come out to weep alone where +there were none to see or hear. For her the future was dark and +cheerless as midnight. No friends, no money, and no home, except the +poor-house, from which young as she was, she instinctively shrank. + +"My mother, oh, my mother," she cried, as she stretched her hands +towards the clear blue sky, now that mother's home, "Why didn't I die +too?" + +There was a step upon the grass, and looking up Mary saw standing near +her, Mrs. Campbell's English girl, Hannah. She had always evinced a +liking for Mrs. Howard's family, and now after finishing her dishes, +and trying in vain to speak a word of consolation to her mistress, who +refused to be comforted, she had stolen away to Mrs. Bender's, +ostensibly to see all the orphans, but, in reality to see Ella, who +had always been her favorite. She had entered through the garden gate, +and came upon Mary just as she uttered the words, "Why didn't I die +too?" + +The sight of her grief touched Hannah's heart, and sitting down by the +little girl, she tried to comfort her. Mary felt that her words and +manner were prompted by real sympathy, and after a time she grew calm, +and listened, while Hannah told her that "as soon as her mistress got +so any body could go near her, she meant to ask her to take Ella +Howard to fill the place of her own daughter." + +"They look as much alike as two beans," said she, "and sposin' Ella +Howard ain't exactly her own flesh and blood, she would grow into +liking her, I know." + +Mary was not selfish, and the faint possibility that her sister might +not be obliged to go to the poor-house, gave her comfort, though she +knew that in all probability she herself must go. After a few more +words Hannah entered the cottage, but she wisely chose to keep from +Ella a knowledge of her plan, which very likely might not succeed. +That night after her return home Hannah lingered for a long time about +the parlor door, glancing wistfully towards her mistress, who +reclined upon the sofa with her face entirely hidden by her cambric +handkerchief. + +"It's most too soon, I guess," thought Hannah, "I'll wait till +to-morrow." + +Accordingly next morning, when, as she had expected, she was told to +carry her mistress's toast and coffee to her room, she lingered for a +while, and seemed so desirous of speaking that Mrs. Campbell asked +what she wanted. + +"Why, you see, ma'am, I was going to say a word about,--about that +youngest Howard girl." (She dared not say Ella.) "She's got to go to +the poor-house, and it's a pity, she's so handsome. Why couldn't she +come here and live? I'll take care of her, and 'twouldn't be nigh so +lonesome." + +At this allusion to her bereavement Mrs. Campbell burst into tears, +and motioned Hannah from the room. + +"I'll keep at her till I fetch it about," thought Hannah, as she +obeyed the lady's order. But further persuasion from her was rendered +unnecessary, for Mrs. Lincoln, whom we have once before mentioned, +called that afternoon, and after assuring her friend that she never +before saw one who was so terribly afflicted, or who stood so much in +need of sympathy, she casually mentioned the Howards, and the extreme +poverty to which they were reduced. This reminded Mrs. Campbell of +Hannah's suggestion, which she repeated to her visitor, who answered, +"It would unquestionably be a good idea to take her, for she is large +enough to be useful in the kitchen in various ways." + +Mrs. Campbell, who had more of real kindness in her nature than Mrs. +Lincoln, replied, "If I take her, I shall treat her as my own, for +they say she looks like her, and her name, too, is the same." + +Here Mrs. Campbell commenced weeping and as Mrs. Lincoln soon took +her leave, she was left alone for several hours. At the end of that +time, impelled by something she could not resist, she rang the bell +and ordered Hannah to go to Mrs. Bender's and bring Ella to her room +as she wished to see how she appeared. + +With the utmost care, Ella arranged her long curls, and then tying +over her black dress the only white apron which she possessed, she +started for Mrs. Campbell's. The resemblance between herself and Ella +Campbell was indeed so striking, that but for the dress the mother +might easily have believed it to have been her own child. As it was, +she started up when the little girl appeared, and drawing her to her +side, involuntarily kissed her; then causing her to sit down by her +side, she minutely examined her features, questioning her meantime +concerning her mother and her home in England. Of the latter Ella +could only tell her that they lived in a city, and that her mother had +once taken her to a large, handsome house in the country, which she +said was her old home. + +"There were sights of trees, and flowers, and vines, and fountains, +and little deer," said the child, "and when I asked ma why she did not +live there now, she cried, and pa put his arm tight 'round her,--so." + +From this Mrs. Campbell inferred that Ella's family must have been +superior to most of the English who emigrate to this country, and +after a few more questions she decided to take her for a time, at +least; so with another kiss she dismissed her, telling her she would +come for her soon. Meantime arrangements were making for Mary and +Alice and on the same day in which Mrs. Campbell was to call for Ella, +Mr. Knight, one of the "Selectmen," whose business it was to look +after the town's poor,[A] also came to the cottage. After learning +that Ella was provided for, he turned to Mary, asking "how old she +was, and what she could do," saying, that his wife was in want of just +such a girl to do "chores," and if she was willing to be separated +from Alice, he would give her a home with him. But Mary only hugged +her sister closer to her bosom as she replied "I'd rather go with +Alice. I promised mother to take care of her." + +[Footnote A: In Massachusetts each town has its own poor-house.] + +"Very well," said the man, "I'm going to North Chicopee, but shall be +back in two hours, so you must have your things all ready." + +"Don't cry so, Mary," whispered Billy, when he saw how fast her tears +were falling. "I'll come to see you every week, and when I am older, +and have money, I will take you from the poor-house, and Alice too." + +Just then, Mrs. Campbell's carriage drove up. She had been taking her +afternoon ride, and now, on her way home, had stopped for Ella, who in +her delight at going with so handsome a woman, forgot the dreary home +which awaited her sister, and which, but for Mrs. Campbell's fancy, +would have been hers also. While she was getting ready, Mr. Knight +returned, and driving his old-fashioned yellow wagon, with its square +box-seat up by the side of Mrs. Campbell's stylish carriage, he +entered the house, saying, "Come, gal, you're ready, I hope. The old +mare don't want to stand, and I'm in a desput hurry, too. I orto be to +hum this minute, instead of driving over that stony Portupog road. I +hope you don't mean to carry that are thing," he continued, pointing +with his whip towards Alice's cradle, which stood near Mary's box of +clothes. + +The tears came into Mary's eyes, and she answered "Alice has always +slept in it, and I didn't know but--" + +Here she stopped, and running up to Ella, hid her face in her lap, +and sobbed, "I don't want to go. Oh, I don't want to go, can't I stay +with you?" + +Billy's yellow handkerchief was suddenly brought into requisition, and +Mrs. Bender, who, with all her imaginary aches and pains, was a +kind-hearted woman, made vigorous attacks upon her snuff-box, while +Mrs. Campbell patted Mary's head, saying, "Poor child. I can't take +you both, but you shall see your sister often." + +Ella was too much pleased with Mrs. Campbell, and the thoughts of the +fine home to which she was going, to weep but her chin quivered, when +Mary held up the baby for her to kiss, and said, "Perhaps you will +never see little Allie again." + +When all was ready, Mr. Knight walked around his wagon, and after +trying to adjust the numerous articles it contained, said, "I don't +see how in the world I can carry that cradle, my wagon is chuck full +now. Here is a case of shoes for the gals to stitch, and a piller case +of flour for Miss Smith, and forty 'leven other traps, so I guess +you'll have to leave it. Mebby you can find one there, and if not, +why, she'll soon get used to going without it." + +Before Mary could reply, Billy whispered in her ear "Never mind, Mary; +you know that little cart that I draw mother's wood in, the cradle +will just fit it, and to-morrow afternoon I'll bring it to you, if it +doesn't rain." + +Mary knew that he meant what he said, and smiling on him through her +tears, climbed into the rickety wagon, which was minus a step, and +taking Alice in her arms, she was soon moving away. In striking +contrast to this, Ella, about five minutes afterwards, was carefully +lifted into Mrs. Campbells handsome carriage, and reclining upon soft +cushions, was driven rapidly towards her new home. + +Will their paths in life always continue thus different? Who can tell? + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE POOR-HOUSE. + + +How long and tiresome that ride was with no one for a companion except +Mr. Knight, who, though a kind-hearted man knew nothing about making +himself agreeable to little girls, so he remained perfectly taciturn, +whipping at every cow or pig which he passed, and occasionally +screaming to his horse, "Git up, old Charlotte. What are you 'bout?" + +Mary, who had seldom been out of the village, and who knew but little +of the surrounding country, for a time enjoyed looking about her very +much. First they went down the long hill which leads from the village +to the depot. Then they crossed the winding Chicopee river, and Mary +thought how much she should love to play in that bright green meadow +and gather the flowers which grew so near to the water's edge. The +causeway was next crossed, and turning to the right they came upon a +road where Mary had never been before, and which grew more rough and +stony as they advanced. + +On the top of a steep hill Mary looked back to see if Chicopee were +yet, visible, but nothing was to be seen except the spire of the +Unitarian Meeting-House. About a quarter of a mile to the west, +however, the graveyard was plainly discernible, and she looked until +her eyes were dim with tears at the spot where she knew her parents +and brother were lying. By this time Alice was asleep, and though the +little arms which held her ached sadly, there was no complaint, but +she wished Mr. Knight would speak to her once, if it were only to ask +her how she did! + +At last, concluding there would be no impropriety in making the first +advances herself, she said timidly, "Is it such a very bad place at +the poor-house?" + +"Why, no, not so dreadful. There's places enough, sight worse, and +then agin there's them, a good deal better But you needn't be afeard. +They'll take good care of you." + +"I wasn't thinking of myself," said Mary. + +"Who was you thinkin' of, then?" + +"Of Alice; she's always been sick and is not used to strangers, and +among so many I am afraid she will be frightened." + +"Oh, she'll soon get used to 'em. Nothin' like, habit. Weakly, is she? +Wall, the poor-house ain't much of a place to get well in, that's a +fact. But she'd be better off to die and go to her mother, and then +you could get a good place at some farmer's." + +Mary wondered how he could speak thus carelessly of what would cause +her so much sorrow. Gently lifting the old faded shawl, she looked +down upon Alice as she slept. There was a smile upon her face. She was +dreaming, and as her lips moved, Mary caught the word, "Ma," which the +child had applied indiscriminately both to herself and her mother. +Instantly the tears gushed forth, and falling upon the baby's face +awoke her. Her nap was not half out, and setting up a loud cry, she +continued screaming until they drove up to the very door of the +poor-house. + +"For the land's sake," said Mr. Knight, as he helped Mary from the +wagon, "what a racket; can't you contrive to stop it? you'll have Sal +Furbush in your hair, for she don't like a noise." + +Mary glanced nervously round in quest of the goblin Sal, but she saw +nothing save an idiotic face with bushy tangled hair; and nose +flattened against the window pane. In terror Mary clung to Mr. Knight, +and whispered, as she pointed towards the figure, which was now +laughing hideously, "What is it? Are there many such here?" + +"Don't be afeard," said Mr. Knight, "that's nobody but foolish Patsy; +she never hurt any body in her life. Come, now, let me show you to the +overseer." + +Mary looked towards the woods which skirted the borders of the meadow +opposite, and for half a moment felt inclined to flee thither, and +hide herself in the bushes; but Mr. Knight's hand was upon her +shoulder, and he led her towards a red-whiskered man, who stood in the +door. + +"Here, Parker," said he, "I've brought them children I was tellin' you +about. You've room for 'em, I s'pose." + +"Why, ye-es, we can work it so's to make room. Guess we shall have +rain to-morrow." + +Mary remembered that Billy would not come if it rained, and with a +sigh she noticed that the clouds were dark and threatening. They now +entered the kitchen, which was a long, low, narrow room, with a +fireplace on the right, and two windows opposite, looking towards the +west. The floor was painted and very clean, but the walls were +unfinished, and the brown rafters were festooned with cobwebs. In the +middle of the room, the supper table was standing, but there was +nothing homelike in the arrangement of the many colored dishes and +broken knives and forks, neither was there any thing tempting to one's +appetite in the coarse brown bread and white-looking butter. Mary was +very tired with holding Alice so long, and sinking into a chair near +the window, she would have cried; but there was a tightness in her +throat, and a pressure about her head and eyes, which kept the tears +from flowing. She had felt so once before. Twas when she stood at her +mother's grave; and now as the room grew dark, and the objects around +began to turn in circles, she pressed her hands tightly to her +forehead, and said, 'Oh, I hope I shan't faint." + +"To be sure you won't," said a loud, harsh voice, and instantly large +drops of water were thrown in her face, while the same voice +continued: "You don't have such spells often, I hope, for Lord knows I +don't want any more fitty ones here." + +"No, ma'am," said Mary, meekly; and looking up, she saw before her a +tall, square-backed, masculine-looking woman, who wore a very short +dress, and a very high-crowned cap, fastened under her chin with bows +of sky-blue ribbon. + +Mary knew she was indebted to this personage for the shower bath, for +the water was still trickling from her fingers, which were now engaged +in picking her teeth with a large pin. There was something exceedingly +cross and forbidding in her looks, and Mary secretly hoped she would +not prove to be Mrs. Parker, the wife of the overseer. She was soon +relieved of her fears by the overseer himself, who came forward and +said, "Polly, I don't see any other way but you'll have to take these +children into the room next to yourn. The baby worries a good deal, +and such things trouble my wife, now she's sick." + +The person addressed as "Polly," gave her shoulders an angry jerk, and +sticking the pin on the waist of her dress, replied, "So I s'pose it's +no matter if I'm kept awake all night, and worried to death. But I +guess you'd find there'd be queer doins here if I should be taken +away. I wish the British would stay to hum, and not lug their young +ones here for us to take care of." + +This was said with a lowering frown, and movement towards Mary, who +shrank back into the corner and covered her mouth with her hand, as if +that were the cause of offence. + +"But you can take an extra nap after dinner," said Mr. Parker, in a +conciliatory manner. "And then you are so good at managing children, +that I thought they would be better off near you." + +This speech, while it mollified Polly, made Mary shudder, as she +thought of Alice's being "managed" by such a woman. But she had no +time for thought, for Polly, who was very rapid in her movements, and +always in a hurry, said, "Come, child, I will show you where you are +going to sleep;" at the same time she caught up Alice, who, not liking +her handling, kicked so vigorously that she was soon dropped; Polly +remarking, that "she was mighty strong in her legs for a sick baby." + +After passing up a dark stairway they came to a door, which opened +under the garret stairs, and Mary was startled by a voice which seemed +to be almost over her head, and which, between a sneer and a hiss, +called out, "See where the immaculate Miss Grundy comes!" + +This was followed by a wild, insane chuckle, which made Mary spring in +terror to Polly's side. + +"Oh, who is it?" said she. "Is it Patsy?" + +"Patsy!" was the tart reply. "She never is saucy like that. It's Sal +Furbush." + +Mary longed to ask who Sal Furbush was; but as her guide did not seem, +at all inclined to be communicative, she followed on in silence until +they came to a longer and lighter hall, or "spaceway," as it is +frequently called in New England. On each side of this there were +doors opening into small sleeping rooms, and into one of these Polly +led her companion, saying, as she did so, "This is your room, and it's +a great favor to you to be so near me. But mind, that child mustn't +cry and keep me awake nights, for if she does, may-be you'll have to +move into that other space, where we heard the laugh." + +Mary thought she would rather do any thing than that. She also felt a +great curiosity to know who her companion was, so she at last ventured +to ask, "Do you live here, Miss Polly?" + +"Why, yes, I'm staying here for a spell now:--kind of seeing to +things. My name isn't Polly. It's Mrs. Mary Grundy, and somehow folks +have got to nicknaming me Polly, but it'll look more mannerly in you +to call me Mrs. Grundy; but what am I thinking of? The folks must have +their supper. So you'd better come down now." + +"If you please," said Mary, who knew she could not eat a mouthful, "If +you please, I'd rather stay here and rest me if I can have some milk +for Alice by and by." + +"Mercy sakes, ain't that child weaned?" asked Mrs. Grundy. + +"Ma'am?" said Mary, not exactly understanding her. + +"Ain't Ellis weaned, or must we break into the cream a dozen times a +day for her?" + +"She has never eaten any thing but milk," said Mary, weeping to think +how different Mrs. Grundy's manner was from her own dear mother's. + +"Wall, there's no use blubberin' so. If she must have milk, why she +must, and that's the end on't. But what I want to know is, how folks +as poor as yourn, could afford to buy milk for so big a child." + +Mary could have told of many hungry nights which she and Frank had +passed in order that Ella and Alice might be fed, but she made no +remark, and Mrs. Grundy soon left the room saying, "Come down when +you get ready for the milk I s'pose _skim_ will do." + +Half an hour after Alice began to cry; and Mary, knowing she was +hungry, laid her upon the bed and started for the milk. She trembled +as she drew near the garret stairs, and trod softly that she might not +be heard, but as she was passing the mysterious door, a voice entirely +different in its tone from the one assumed towards Mrs. Grundy, called +out, "Come here, little dear, and see your Aunty." + +Mary's circle of acquaintances was quite as large as she cared to have +it, and quickening her steps, she was soon in the kitchen, where she +found several old ladies still lingering over cups of very weak and +very red looking tea. As she entered the room they all suspended their +operations, and looking hard at her, asked if she were the little +English girl. On being told that she was, three of them returned to +their cups, while one shook her head, saying. "Poor child, I pity +you." + +Mary had heard that remark many times, but she knew that the words now +conveyed other meaning than what referred to her face or teeth. + +"Where can I find Mrs. Grundy?" she at last ventured to ask. + +"Where can you find who?" asked a spiteful looking woman. "Did she +tell you to call her so?" + +"She told me that was her name,--yes, ma'am," said Mary. + +"Well, _Mrs._ Grundy is in the but'ry," indicating with her elbow the +direction. + +Mary had no trouble in finding "the but'ry," but on trying the door, +she found it fastened inside. In answer to her gentle knock a harsh +voice replied, "Who's there?" + +"It's I. I've come after the milk for Alice." + +With a jerk Mrs. Grundy opened the door, and putting a pint cup two +thirds full of blue milk in Mary's hand, she hastily shut and fastened +it again. Quick as her movements were, Mary caught a smell of strong +green tea, and the sight of a sugar bowl and a slice of white bread. +She knew now why the door was buttoned, but thinking it was none of +her business, she started to return to the kitchen. As she passed the +outer door, an old gray-haired man, with a face perfectly simple and +foolish in its expression, stepped towards her, stretching out his +hands as if to reach her. With a loud cry she rushed headlong into the +kitchen, where one of the women was still sitting. + +"What's broke loose now?" asked the woman, to which Mary replied, +"Look at him!" at the same time pointing to the man, who with his hand +thrust out was still advancing towards her. + +"Don't be scared," said the woman. "It's uncle Peter. Let him touch +you and he'll go off;" but Mary didn't choose to be touched, and +retreating towards the chamber door, she fled rapidly up the stairs. + +This time she was not accosted by any one, but as she passed the dark +closet, she was surprised to hear a musical voice singing the national +air of her own country, and she wondered, too, at the taste of the +singer in finishing every verse with "God save Miss Grundy." + +That night Alice, who missed her cradle, was unusually restless, and +Mary, remembering Mrs. Grundy's threat, carried her in her arms until +after midnight. Then without undressing she threw herself upon the +bed, and, for the first time in many weeks, dreamed of George and his +parting promise to see her again. The next morning when she awoke she +found Mr. Parker's prediction verified, for the clouds were pouring +rain. "Billy won't come to-day," was her first thought, and throwing +herself upon the floor she burst into tears, wishing as she had once +done before that she had died with her mother. + +In the midst of her grief the door was pushed hastily open, and Mrs. +Grundy's harsh voice exclaimed, "Wall, so you are up at last, hey? I +didn't know but you was goin' to take it upon you to sleep over, but +that don't answer here." + +"Is it after breakfast time?" asked Mary. + +"After breakfast time," repeated Mrs. Grundy. "No, but I guess you'll +find there's something to do before breakfast, or did you think we's +goin' to support you in idleness?" + +Here, touched perhaps by the pale, tearful face uplifted to hers, Mrs. +Grundy's voice softened, and in a milder tone she added, "We won't +mind about it, seein' it's the first morning, but come, you must be +hungry by this time." + +Although so poor, Mrs. Howard had been extremely neat and as she said +"cold water cost nothing," she had insisted upon her children's being +very nice and particular in their morning toilet. Mary remembered +this, and now casting a rueful glance around the room she said, "I +wonder where I am going to wash me." + +The loud, scornful laugh which followed this remark made her look up +amazed at Mrs. Grundy, who replied, "In the back room sink, of course. +May-be you expected to have a china bowl and pitcher in your room, and +somebody to empty your slop. I wonder what _airs_ paupers won't take +on themselves next." + +"I didn't mean to take airs," said Mary; "I don't care where I wash +myself, but Alice is sick, and mother had me bathe her every morning. +While we were at Mrs. Bender's, though, I didn't do it, and I don't +think she seems as well." + +"Pride and poverty," muttered Mrs. Grundy. "She won't get many baths +here, I can tell you, nor you either, unless it is a dishwater one. +Know how to wash dishes hey?" + +"Yes, ma'am," said Mary meekly. + +"Then I'll give you a chance to try your hand after breakfast, but +come, I'm in a hurry." + +Mary glanced at Alice. She was sleeping sweetly, and though there +seemed to be no reason, she still lingered. + +"What are you waiting for?" asked Mrs. Grundy, and Mary, with some +hesitation, answered, "I haven't said my prayers yet." + +A change passed suddenly over Mrs. Grundy's face, and she turned away +without a word. When she was gone Mary fell on her knees, and though +the words she uttered were addressed more to her mother than to God, +she felt comforted, and rising up started for the kitchen. It was a +motley group which she found assembled around the breakfast table, and +as she entered the room, the man called Uncle Peter smiled on her, +saying, "Come here, little daughter, and let me touch you with the tip +of my fourth finger." + +Shrinking to nearly half her usual size, she managed to pass him +without coming in contact with said finger, which was merely a stump, +the first joint having been amputated. On reaching the back room she +readily found the place where she with all the rest was to wash. For +this she did not care, as the water was as cold and pure, and seemed +as refreshing as when dipped from her mother's tin wash-basin. But +when she came to the wiping part, and tried in vain to find a clean +corner' on the long towel, which hung upon a roller, she felt that she +was indeed a pauper. + +"I should think we might have a decent towel," thought she. "Mother +used to say it cost nothing to be clean;" then looking round to be +sure that no one saw her, she caught up the skirt of her dress and +drying her face with it, went back to the kitchen. + +She would greatly have preferred a seat by a pleasant looking old lady +who looked kindly on her, but Mrs. Grundy bade her sit down by her and +help herself. She did not exactly fancy the looks of the thick fried +pork, swimming in grease, so she took a potato and a slice of bread, +to get which she reached so far that the lower hook on her dress which +for a day or two had been uncertain whether to come off or stay on, +now decided the matter by dropping on the floor. As she was proceeding +with her breakfast, Uncle Peter suddenly dropping his knife and fork, +exclaimed, "Little daughter's teeth are awry, ain't they?" + +Mary had hoped that at the poor-house her mouth would not be a subject +of comment, but she was disappointed, and bursting into tears would +have risen from the table, had not the kind looking woman said, "Shame +on you, Peter, to plague a little girl." + +Uncle Peter, too, who was fond of children, seemed distressed, and +passing towards her the bowl of milk which was standing by him, he +said, "Drink it, daughter;--milk for babes, and meat for strong men." + +There was so much of real kindness in his manner that Mary's fear of +him diminished, and taking the offered milk she thanked him so kindly +that Uncle Peter, who was quite an orator, considered it his duty to +make a speech. Pushing back his chair, he commenced with a bow which +required so many changes of his legs that Mary wondered they were not +entirely twisted up. + +"Ladies and gentlemen, one and all," said he, "but particularly +ladies, what I have to say is this, that henceforth and for ever I am +the champion of this unprotected female, who from parts unknown has +come among us.--God bless her. I will also announce formally that I +still hold myself in readiness to teach the polite accomplishment of +dancing in my room, No. 41, Pauper's Hotel." + +Having finished this speech he resumed his breakfast, after which with +another of his wonderful bows he quitted the room. Mary was about +following his example when Mrs. Grundy said. "Come, catch hold now and +see how spry you can clear the table, and you, Rind," speaking to a +simple looking girl with crooked feet, "do you go to your shoes. Be +quick now, for it's goin' on seven o'clock." + +At this moment Mary caught sight of Mr. Parker, who was standing just +without the door, and his mischievous look as Mrs. Grundy gave out her +orders made Mary a little suspicious of that lady's real position +among them. But she had no time for thought, for just then through all +the closed doors and the long hall there came to her ears the sound of +a scream. Alice was crying, and instantly dropping the plate she held +in her hand, Mary was hurrying away, when Mrs. Grundy called her back, +saying "Let her cry a spell. 'Twill strengthen her lungs." + +Mary had more spirit than her face indicated, and in her mind she was +revolving the propriety of obeying, when Mr. Parker, who was still +standing by the door, said, "If that baby is crying, go to her by all +means." + +The look of gratitude which Mary's eyes flashed upon him, more than +compensated for the frown which darkened Mrs. Grundy's brow as she +slammed the doors together, muttering about "hen-hussies minding their +own business." + +Mary was not called down to finish the dishes, and when at last she +went to the kitchen for milk, she found them all washed and put away. +Mrs. Grundy was up to her elbow in cheese curd, and near her, tied +into an arm chair, sat Patsy, nodding her head and smiling as usual. +The pleasant looking woman was mopping the kitchen floor, and Mary, +for the first time, noticed that she was very lame. + +"Go out doors and come round. Don't you see you'll track the floor all +up?" said Mrs. Grundy, and the lame woman replied, "Never mind, Polly, +I can easy wipe up her tracks, and it's a pity to send her out in the +rain." + +Mary chose to obey Mrs. Grundy, who wiped the crumbs of curd and drops +of whey from her arms and took the cup, saying, "More milk? Seems to +me she eats a cart load! I wonder where the butter's to come from, if +we dip into the cream this way." + +Had Mary been a little older, she might have doubted whether the blue +looking stuff Mrs. Grundy poured into her cup ever saw any cream, but +she was only too thankful to get it on any terms, and hurried with it +back to her room. About noon the clouds broke away, while here and +there a patch of bright blue sky was to be seen. But the roads were so +muddy that Mary had no hope of Billy's coming, and this it was, +perhaps, which made the dinner dishes so hard to wash, and which made +her cry when told that all the knives and forks must be scoured, the +tea-kettle wiped, and set with its nose to the north, in what Mrs. +Grundy called the "Pout Hole," and which proved to be a place under +the stairs, where pots, kettles and iron ware generally were kept. + +All things have an end, and so did the scouring, in spite of Mary's +fears to the contrary, and then watching a time when Mrs. Grundy did +not see her, she stole away up stairs. Taking Alice on her lap she sat +down by the open window where the damp air cooled and moistened her +flushed face. The rain was over, and across the meadow the sun was +shining through the tall trees, making the drops of water which hung +upon the leaves sparkle and flash in the sunlight like so many tiny +rainbows. Mary watched them for a time, and then looking upward at +the thin white clouds which chased each other so rapidly across the +blue sky, wondered if her mother's home were there, and if she ever +thought of her children, so sad and lonely without her. + +A movement of Alice aroused her from her reverie, and looking into the +road, she saw directly opposite the house Billy Bender, and with him, +Alice's cradle. In a moment Mary's arms were thrown about his neck as +tightly as if she thought he had the power and was come to take her +away. + +"Oh, Billy, Billy," she said, "I was afraid you would not come, and it +made me so unhappy. Can't you take me home with you?" + +Billy had expected as much, and had tried hard to make his mother say +that if Mary and Alice were very homesick he might bring them home. +But this was Mrs. Bender's sick day, and Billy's entreaties only +increased the dangerous symptoms of _palsy_ from which she was now +suffering, the scarlet fever having been given up until another time. + +"If the _s'lect_ men pay me well for it," said she, "I will take them +what little time I have to live, but not without." + +Billy knew the town could support them much cheaper where they were, +so he gave up his project, and bought Mary a pound of seed cakes and +Alice a stick of candy. Then, the moment the rain had ceased he got +himself in readiness to start, for he knew how long the day would seem +to Mary, and how much Alice would miss her cradle. Three times before +he got outside the gate his mother called him back--once to find her +snuff-box;--once to see if there was not more color in her face than +there ought to be, and lastly to inquire if her mouth hadn't commenced +turning a little towards the right ear! After finding her box, +assuring her that her color was natural and her mouth all straight, he +at last got started. The road was long and the hills were steep, but +patiently Billy toiled on, thinking how surprised and pleased Mary +would be; and when he saw how joyfully she received him, he felt more +than paid for his trouble. Some boys would have rudely shaken her off, +ashamed to be caressed by a little girl, but Billy's heart was full of +kindly sympathy, and he returned her caresses as a brother would have +done. + +As he released her, he was startled at hearing some one call out, +"Bravo! That, I conclude, is a country hug. I hope she won't try it on +me!" + +Turning about he saw before him a white-faced boy, nearly of his own +age, whose dress and appearance indicated that he belonged to a higher +grade, as far as wealth was concerned. It was Henry Lincoln, notorious +both for pride and insolence. Billy, who had worked for Mr. Lincoln, +had been insulted by Henry many a time, and now he longed to avenge +it, but native politeness taught him that in the presence of Mary +'twould not be proper, so without a word to Henry he whispered to the +little girl, "That fellow lives near here, and if he ever gives you +trouble, just let me know." + +"Kissed her then, didn't you?" sneeringly asked Henry, retreating at +the same time, for there was something in Billy's eye, which he +feared. + +"Come into the house," said Mary, "where he can't see us," and leading +the way she conducted him up to her own room, where there was no fear +of being interrupted. + +Alice was first carefully fixed in her cradle, and then kneeling down +at Billy's side, and laying her arms across his lap, Mary told him of +every thing which had happened, and finished by asking, "how long she +must stay there." + +Had Billy's purse been as large as his heart, that question would have +been easily answered. Now he could only shake his head in reply, +while Mary next asked if he had seen Ella. + +"I have not seen her," returned he, "but I've heard that rainy as it +was this morning, Mrs. Campbell's maid was out selecting muslins and +jaconets for her, and they say she is not to wear black, as Mrs. +Campbell thinks her too young." + +Mary did not speak for some time, but her head dropped on Billy's knee +and she seemed to be intently thinking. At last, brushing aside the +hair which had fallen over her forehead, Billy said, "What are you +thinking about?" + +"I was wondering if Ella wouldn't forget me and Allie now she is rich +and going to be a lady." + +Billy had thought the same thing, and lifting the little girl in his +lap, he replied, "If _she_ does, I never will;"--and then he told her +again how, when he was older, and had money, he would take her from +the poor-house and send her to school, and that she should some time +be as much of a lady as Ella. + +By this time Mrs. Grundy's work in the kitchen was done. Patsy had +been shaken for stealing a ginger cake; the lame woman had been +scolded because her floor had dried in streaks, which was nothing +remarkable considering how muddy it was. Uncle Peter had been driven +from the pantry for asking for milk, and now the lady herself had come +up to change her morning apparel and don the high-crowned cap with the +sky-blue ribbons. Greatly was she surprised at the sound of voices in +the room adjoining, and while Mary was still in Billy's lap the door +opened, and Mrs. Grundy appeared, with her hands thrown up and the +wide border of her morning cap, which also did night service for its +fair owner, flying straight back. + +"Mary Howard!" said she; "a _man_ up in this hall where no male is +ever permitted to come! What does it mean? I shall be ruined!" + +"No danger, madam, I assure you," said Billy. "I came to bring Alice's +cradle, and did not suppose there was any thing improper in coming up +here." + +"It's nobody but Billy Bender," said Mary, frightened at Mrs. Grundy's +wrathful looks. + +"And who is Billy Bender? A beau? 'Pears to me you are beginning +young, and getting on fast, too, a settin' in his lap. S'posin' I +should do so--wouldn't it be a town's talk?" + +Mary tried to get down, but Billy, greatly amused at the highly +scandalized lady's distress, held her tightly, and Mrs. Grundy, +slamming the door together, declared "she'd tell Mr. Parker, and +that's the end on't." + +But no Mr. Parker made his appearance, and as the sun was getting +towards the west, Billy ere long started up, saying, he must go now, +but would come again next week. Mary followed him down stairs, and +then returning to her room cried herself into so sound a sleep that +Mrs. Grundy was obliged to scream to her at least a dozen times to +come down and set the supper table, adding as a finale, that "she +wondered if she thought she was a lady boarder or what." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +SAL FURBUSH. + + +The next morning between nine and ten, as Mary sat by Alice's cradle +rocking her to sleep, she was sensible of an unusual commotion in and +around the house. First there was the sound as of some one dancing in +the dark passage. Then there was the same noise in the kitchen below, +and a merry voice was heard singing snatches of wild songs, while +occasionally peals of laughter were heard mingled with Mrs. Grundy's +harsher tones. Mary's curiosity was roused, and as soon as Alice was +fairly asleep, she resolved to go down and ascertain the cause of the +disturbance, which had now subsided. + +As she opened her door, she saw advancing towards her from the +farthest extremity of the hall, a little, shrivelled up woman, with +wild flashing eyes, and hair hanging loosely over her shoulders. She +was shaking her fist in a very threatening manner, and as she drew +nearer Mary saw that her face was going through a great variety of +changes, being at first perfectly hideous in its expression, and then +instantly changing into something equally ridiculous, though not quite +so frightful. Quickly divining that this must be Sal Furbush, Mary +sprang back, but had not time to fasten her door ere the wild woman +was there. In a tremor of terror Mary ran under the bed as the only +hiding-place the room afforded, but her heart almost ceased beating as +she saw her pursuer about to follow her. Springing out with a bound +she would perhaps have made her egress through the open window, had +not Sally prevented her by seizing her arm, at the same time saying, +"Don't be alarmed, duckey, I shan't hurt you; I'm Sal. Don't you know +Sal?" + +The voice was low and musical, and there was something in its tones +which in a measure quieted Mary's fears, but she took good care to +keep at a respectful distance. After a while Sally asked, "Have you +come here to board?" + +"I have come here to live," answered Mary, "I have no other home." + +"Well, for your sake I hope there'll be an improvement in the fare, +for if there isn't I declare _I_ won't stay much longer, though to be +sure you don't look as if you'd been used to any thing better than +skim-milk. What ails your teeth, child?" + +Involuntarily Mary's hand went up to her mouth, and Sally, who if she +expected an answer, forgot to wait for it, continued. "Do you know +grammar, child?" + +Mary replied that she had studied it a few months in Worcester, and a +few weeks in Chicopee. + +"Oh, I am so glad," said Sal, "for now I shall have an associate. Why, +the greatest objection I have to the kind of people one meets with +here, is that they are so horribly vulgar in their conversation and +murder the Queen's English so dreadfully. But won't you and I have +good times saying the rules in concert?" + +Unfortunately Mary's knowledge of grammar was rather limited, and as +she did not exactly fancy Sal's proposition, she answered that she +had nearly forgotten all she ever knew of grammar. + +"Oh, that's nothing, child that's nothing," said Sal. "It will return +to you gradually. Why, things that happened forty years ago and were +forgotten twenty years ago come back to me every day, but then I +always did forget more in one night than some people, Miss Grundy, for +instance, ever knew in all their life." + +"Have you lived here long?" asked Mary. + +"Yes, a great while," and the expression of Sally's face grew graver, +as she added, "Perhaps you don't know that I lost little Willie, and +then Willie's father died too, and left me all alone. Their graves are +away on the great western prairies, beneath the buckeye trees, and one +night when the winter wind was howling fearfully, I fancied I heard +little Willie's voice calling to me from out the raging storm. So I +lay down on the turf above my lost darling, and slept so long, that +when I awoke my hair had all turned gray and I was in Chicopee, where +Willie's father used to live. After a while they brought me here and +said I was crazy, but I wasn't. My head was clear as a bell, and I +knew as much as I ever did, only I couldn't tell it, because, you see, +the right words wouldn't come. But I don't care now I've found some +one who knows grammar. How many _genders_ are there, child?" + +"Four," answered Mary, who had been studying Smith. + +Instantly Sal seized Mary's hands, and nearly wrenching them off in +her joy, capered and danced about the room, leaping over the cradle, +and finally exclaiming, "Capital! You think just as I do, don't you? +And have the same opinion of her? What are the genders, dear? Repeat +them" + +"Masculine, Feminine, Neuter and Common," said Mary + +"O, get out with your _common_ gender," screamed Sal. "_My_ grammar +don't read so. It says Masculine, Feminine Neuter and _Grundy_ gender, +to which last but one thing in the world belongs, and that is the lady +below with the cast iron back and India-rubber tongue." + +"Do you mean Mrs. Grundy?" asked Mary, and Sal replied, "_Mrs. +Grundy_? and who may Mrs. Grundy be? Oh, I understand, she's been +stuffing you." + +"Been what?" said Mary. + +"Excuse me," answered Sal. "That's a slang term I've picked up since +I've been here. It's so easy to get contaminated, when one is +constantly associated with such low people. I mean that during my +temporary seclusion Miss Grundy has probably given you erroneous +impressions which I take pleasure in correcting. She has no more right +to order us boarders around, and say when we shall breathe and when we +shan't, than I have. She's nothing more nor less than a town pauper +herself, and has to work at that." + +"So do we all," interrupted Mary, and Sal continued. "On that point +you are slightly mistaken, my dear. I don't have to. I didn't come +here to work. They tried it once." + +Here pushing her tangled hair back from her brow, she pointed to a +long scar, saying, "Do you see that?" Mary nodded, and Sal continued: +"When I first came here, the overseer was a bad man, not at all like +Mr. Parker. One day he told me to wash the dinner dishes, and to use +more than a pint of water, too, so I gathered them up and threw them +into the well; but this method of washing did not suit the overseer's +ideas of housekeeping, so he took a raw hide, and said he would either +'break my will,' or 'break my neck,' and because he could not break my +will, and dared not break my neck, he contented himself with breaking +my head. Every blow that he struck me was like melted lead poured +into my brains, which puffed out like sausages, and have never +recovered their wonted dimensions. The town took the matter up, but I +don't remember much about it, for I went to sleep again, and when I +woke the overseer was gone, and Mr. Parker was here in his place. I +was chained like a wild beast under the garret stairs, and Miss +Grundy's broad, stiff back was hung there for a door. Nobody asks me +to work now, but occasionally, just for pastime, I go into Mrs. +Parker's room and read to her, and tell her about my Willie, who went +away." + +"How long has Mrs. Parker been sick?" asked Mary. + +"I'm no judge of time," answered Sal, "but it seems a great while, for +since her illness Miss Grundy has been at the helm in the kitchen, and +perhaps it is all right that she should be, for somebody must manage, +and, as I had declared I would not work, 'twould hardly have been +consistent to change my mind. And then, too, Miss Grundy seems +admirably suited for the place. Her _forte_ is among pots and kettles, +and she will get the most work out of the boarders, keep them on the +least fare, and put more money into Mr. Parker's pocket at the end of +a year, than any one he could hire, and this is the secret of his +bearing so much from her." + +"But why does she want to fill his pockets with money?" + +Sal gave a knowing wink and replied, "You are not old enough to see +into every thing, so I dare say you wouldn't understand me if I should +hint that Mrs. Parker has the consumption, and can't live always." +Mary's looks plainly told that this remark had given her no idea +whatever, and Sal continued, "I knew you wouldn't understand, for you +haven't my discernment to begin with, and then you were never sent +away to school, were you?" + +"No, ma'am, was you?" asked Mary. + +"Say '_were you_,' if you please, it is more euphonious Yes, I was at +school in Leicester two years, and was called the best grammarian +there, but since I've sojourned with this kind of people, I've nearly +lost my refinement. To be sure I aim at exclusiveness, and now you've +come I shall cut them all, with the exception of Uncle Peter, who +would be rather genteel if he knew more of grammar." + +Just then Alice awoke, and Sally, who had not observed her before, +sprang forward with a scream of joy, and seizing the child in her +arms, threw her up towards the ceiling, catching her as she came down +as easily as she would a feather. Strange to say Alice neither +manifested any fear of the woman, nor dislike of the play, but laid +her head on Sally's shoulder as naturally as if it had been her +mother. + +"Dear little fellow," said Sal, "he looks like Willie, only not half +so handsome." + +"She isn't a boy," quickly interrupted Mary. "Her name is Alice." + +"No consequence," said Sally, "he's Willie to me;" and ever after, in +spite of Mary's remonstrance, she persisted in speaking of Alice as +"he," and "the little boy." + +Mary soon found that the poor-house with Sal Furbush shut up, and the +poor-house with Sal at liberty, were quite different affairs. Now it +was no longer lonely, for Sal's fertile imagination was constantly +suggesting something new, either by way of pastime or mischief. +Towards Miss Grundy, she and the other paupers evinced a strong +dislike, owing, in a great measure, to the air of superiority which +that lady thought proper to assume, and which was hardly more than +natural considering the position which she occupied. She was a capital +housekeeper, and to one unacquainted with the circumstances it seemed +strange, why a person, apparently so strong and healthy, should be in +the Alms-House. Unfortunately, however, she was subject to fits, +which made her presence so unpleasant to the people with whom she +lived that at last, no one was willing to hire her. About that time, +too, she was taken very ill, and as she had no relatives, she was +removed to the poor-house, where she had remained ever since. + +When Mrs. Parker became too feeble to work, Miss Grundy immediately +stepped into her place, filling it so well, that as Sal had said, Mr. +Parker bore a great deal from her, knowing that no one whom he could +hire would do as well, or save as much as she did. Sal Furbush she +could neither manage nor make work, and she vented her spite towards +her by getting her shut up on the slightest pretexts. Sal knew very +well to whom she was indebted for her "temporary seclusions," as she +called them, and she exerted herself to repay the debt with interest. +Sometimes on a sultry summer morning, when the perspiration stood +thickly on Miss Grundy's face as she bent over a red-hot cook-stove in +the kitchen, Sal with her, feet in the brook, which ran through the +back yard, and a big palm-leaf fan in her hand, would call out from +some shady spot, "Hallo, Miss Grundy, don't you wish you were a lady +boarder, and could be as cool and as comfortable as I am?" +Occasionally, too, when safely fastened in the pantry enjoying her +green tea and Boston crackers, she would be startled with the words, +"That must have an excellent relish!" and looking up, she would spy +Sal, cosily seated on the top shelf, eyeing her movements +complacently, and offering, perhaps, to assist her if she found the +tea too strong! + +Miss Grundy wore a wig, and as she seemed disturbed whenever the fact +was mentioned, the walls of the house both inside and out were +frequently ornamented with ludicrous pictures of herself, in which she +was sometimes represented as entirely bald-headed, while with +spectacles on the end of her nose, she appeared to be peering hither +and thither in quest of her wig. On these occasions Miss Grundy's +wrath knew no bounds, and going to Mr. Parker she would lay the case +before him in so aggravated a form, that at last to get rid of her, he +would promise that, for the next offence, Sal should be shut up. In +this way the poor woman, to use her own words, "was secluded from the +visible world nearly half the time." + +With the other inmates of the house, however, she was a special +favorite, and many were the kind turns which she had done for the lame +woman, whom Miss Grundy took delight in reminding that "she didn't +half earn the salt to her porridge." + +Next to the wig, nothing more annoyed Miss Grundy than to see Sal, +with grammar in hand, perched upon the window sill or table, and +repeating at the top of her voice the "rules," of which every fourth +one seemed to have been made with direct reference to herself. But it +was of no use for Miss Grundy to complain of this, for as Sal said, +"Mr. Parker merely winked at it as the vagaries of a disordered mind," +and she was free to quote her grammar from morning till night. +Whenever she was crazier than usual, her command of language was +proportionately greater, and her references to her grammar more +frequent, while no one in the house could venture a remark without +being immediately corrected for some impropriety of speech. + +Uncle Peter, who had a high opinion of Sally's abilities, always did +his best to converse as she directed, but in her "inspired days" even +he became utterly confounded, and once when in one of her lofty +strains, she had labored hard to impress upon him the all-important +fact that _adjectives_ are frequently changed into _adverbs_ by the +suffix "ly," the old man, quite out of his wits with his efforts to +understand and profit by her teachings, was guilty of a laughable +blunder. + +"Uncle Peter," said she, "did you notice how unusually funnily Miss +Grundy's wig was arranged at dinner to-day?" + +Thinking that he fully understood the reply which he was expected to +make, and anxious to make amends for his former stupidity, Uncle Peter +promptly replied, "No, madam I did not-_ly_.'" + +The look of horror which Sally's face assumed, convinced Uncle Peter +that he had failed in his attempts at speaking grammatically, and with +a sudden determination never again to try, he precipitately left the +house, and for the next two hours amused himself by playing "Bruce's +Address" upon his old cracked fiddle. From that time Sal gave up all +hopes of educating Uncle Peter, and confined herself mostly to +literary efforts, of which we shall speak hereafter. + +The night following Sal's first acquaintance with Mary, Alice cried +until nearly day dawn. The milk which Miss Grundy's stinginess allowed +her, was not particularly conducive to her health, and besides that, +she missed the invigorating bath to which she had been accustomed +during her mother's lifetime. Mary had spoken of it two or three +times, but Miss Grundy only jerked her shoulders, saying, "she guessed +she wasn't going to have such a slush around the house. You can bring +her down," said she, "to the sink, and pump as much water on her as +you like;" so Mary said no more about it until the night of which we +have spoken, and then she determined on making one more effort. But +her heart almost failed her, when, on entering the kitchen, she saw +how the chairs and Miss Grundy's shoulders danced round. She well knew +that something was wrong, and attributing it to Alice's crying, she +awaited in silence for the storm to burst. + +"Rind," said Miss Grundy to the girl with crooked feet, who was +washing the milk-pail, "ain't there nary spare room in the dark +passage?" + +"None but the wool room, as I know on," was Rind's sullen response. + +"Well, wool room 'tis then,--for, as for my being kep' awake night +after night, by a good for nothin' young one, that hain't no business +here, any way, I shan't do it. So (speaking to Mary) you may just pick +up your duds and move this very morning." + +"Going to put 'em in with the wool?" asked Rind, suspending +operations, and holding up the pail so that the water ran out of the +spout. + +"You shet up," said Miss Grundy, "and wait until you're invited to +speak. Goodness alive, look at that slop! Tip up the pail, quick." + +By this time Mary had found courage to say she thought Alice would be +better if she could have her usual bath every morning. This only +increased Miss Grundy's wrath, and she whirled round so swiftly, that +her forehead came in contact with the sharp edge of the cellar door, +which chanced to be open. + +"Good," softly whispered Rind, while the shuffling motion of her club +feet showed how pleased she was. + +Mary, on the contrary, was really distressed, for she knew the bumped +head would be charged to her, and felt sure that she was further than +ever from the attainment of her object. Still, after Miss Grundy's +forehead was duly bathed in cold water, and bound up in a blue cotton +handkerchief (the lady's favorite color), she again ventured to say, +"Miss Grundy, if you will only let me wash Alice in my room, I'll +promise she shan't disturb you again." + +After a great deal of scolding and fretting about whims stuck-up +notions, and paupers trying to be somebody, Miss Grundy, who really +did not care a copper where Alice was washed, consented, and Mary ran +joyfully up stairs with the bucket of clear, cold water, which was so +soothing in its effects upon the feeble child, that in a short time +she fell into a deep slumber. Mary gently laid her down, and then +smoothing back the few silken curls which grew around her forehead, +and kissing her white cheek, she returned to the kitchen, determined +to please Miss Grundy that day, if possible. + +But Miss Grundy was in the worst of humors, and the moment Mary +appeared she called out, "Go straight back, and fetch that young one +down here. Nobody's a goin' to have you racin' up stairs every ten +minutes to see whether or no she sleeps with her eyes open or shet. +She can stay here as well as not, and if she begins to stir, Patsy can +jog the cradle." + +Mary cast a fearful glance at Patsy, who nodded and smiled as if in +approbation of Miss Grundy's command. She dared not disobey, so Alice +and her cradle were transferred to the kitchen, which was all day long +kept at nearly boiling heat from the stove room adjoining. Twice Mary +attempted to shut the door between, but Miss Grundy bade her open it +so she could "keep an eye on all that was going on." The new sights +and faces round her, and more than all, Patsy's strange appearance, +frightened Alice, who set up such loud screams that Miss Grundy shook +her lustily, and then cuffed Patsy, who cried because the baby did, +and pulling Mary's hair because she "most knew she felt gritty," she +went back to the cheese-tub, muttering something about "Cain's being +raised the hull time." + +At last, wholly exhausted and overcome with the heat Alice ceased +screaming, and with her eyes partly closed, she lay panting for +breath, while Mary, half out of her senses tipped over the dishwater, +broke the yellow pitcher, and spilled a pan of morning's milk. + +"If there's a stick on the premises, I'll use it, or my name isn't +Grundy," said the enraged woman, at the same time starting for a clump +of alders which grew near the brook. + +At this stage of affairs, Sal Furbush came dancing in curtseying, +making faces, and asking Mary if she thought "the temperature of the +kitchen conducive to health." + +Mary instinctively drew nearer to her, as to a friend, and grasping +her dress, whispered, "Oh, Sally, Aunt Sally, don't let her whip me +for nothing," at the same time pointing towards Miss Grundy, who was +returning with an alder switch, stripping off its leaves as she came. + +"Whip you? I guess she won't," said Sal, and planting herself in the +doorway as Miss Grundy came up, she asked, "Come you with hostile +intentions?" + +"Out of my way," said Miss Grundy. "I'll teach, that upstart to break +things when she's mad." Pushing Sal aside, she entered the kitchen. + +Mary retreated behind the cupboard door, and Miss Grundy was about to +follow her, when Sal, with a nimble bound, sprang upon her back, and +pulling her almost to the floor, snatched the whip from her hand, and +broke it in twenty pieces. How the matter would have ended is +uncertain, for at that moment Mr. Parker himself appeared, and to him +Miss Grundy and Sal detailed their grievances, both in the same +breath. + +"I can't get at a word," said he, and turning to the pleasant-looking +woman, who was quietly paring apples, he asked what it meant. + +In a plain, straightforward manner, she told all, beginning from the +time when Alice was first brought into the kitchen, and adding, as an +opinion of her own, that the child was suffering from heat. Mr Parker +was a good-natured, though rather weak man, and in reality slightly +feared Miss Grundy. On this occasion, however, he did not take sides +with her but said, "It was ridiculous to have such works, and that if +Mary wanted whipping, he would do it himself." + +"But Sal Furbush," said Miss Grundy, as she adjusted her head-gear, +which was slightly displaced, "can't she be shut up? There's bedlam to +pay the whole durin' time when she's loose." + +Mr. Parker knew this very well, but before he had time to answer, Mary +looked pleadingly in his face, and said, "if you please, don't shut +her up. She was not to blame, for I asked her to help me." + +"Wall, wall, we'll let her off this time, I guess," said he; and as +Uncle Peter just then put his head into the window, saying that "the +lord of the manor was wanted without," Mr. Parker left, glad to get +out of the muss so easily. No sooner was he gone, than Sal, catching +up the cradle, sorted for the stairs, saying, "I won't work, but I +can, and will take care of little Willie, and I choose to do it in a +more congenial atmosphere." Then, as Mary looked a little startled, +she added, "Never you fear, dearie, Sal knows what she's about, and +she won't make the little boy the least bit of a face." + +From that time there was no more trouble with Alice during the day, +for she seemed to cling naturally to Sally, who hour after hour rocked +and took care of her, while Mary, in the kitchen below, was busy with +the thousand things which Miss Grundy found for her to do. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE LINCOLNS + + +Mary had been at the poor-house about three weeks, when Miss Grundy +one day ordered her to tie on her sun-bonnet, and run across the +meadow and through the woods until she came to a rye stubble, then +follow the footpath along the fence until she came to another strip of +woods, with a brook running through it. "And just on the fur edge of +them woods," said she, "you'll see the men folks to work; and do you +tell 'em to come to their dinner quick." + +Mary tied her sun-bonnet and hurried off, glad to escape for a few +moments from the hot kitchen, with its endless round of washing +dishes, scouring knives, wiping door-sills, and dusting chairs. She +had no difficulty in finding the way and she almost screamed for joy, +when she came suddenly upon the sparkling brook, which danced so +merrily beneath the shadow of the tall woods. + +"What a nice place this would be to sit and read," was her first +exclamation, and then she sighed as she thought how small were her +chances for reading now. + +Quickly her thoughts traversed the past, and her tears mingled with +the clear water which flowed at her feet, as she recalled the time +when, blessed with a father's and mother's love, she could go to +school and learn as other children did. She was roused from her sad +reverie by the sound of voices, which she supposed proceeded from the +men, whose tones, she fancied, were softer than usual. "If I can hear +them, they can hear me," thought she, and shouting as loud as she +could, she soon heard Mr. Parker's voice in answer, saying he would +come directly. + +It was a mild September day, and as Mary knew that Sal would take care +of Alice, she determined not to hurry, but to follow the course of the +stream, fancying she should find it to be the same which ran through +the clothes-yard at home. She had not gone far, when she came suddenly +upon a boy and two little girls, who seemed to be playing near the +brook. In the features of the boy she recognized Henry Lincoln, and +remembering what Billy had said of him, she was about turning away, +when the smallest of the girls espied her, and called out, "Look here, +Rose, I reckon that's Mary Howard. I'm going to speak to her." + +"Jenny Lincoln, you mustn't do any such thing. Mother won't like it," +answered the girl called Rose. + +But whether "mother would like it," or not, Jenny did not stop to +think, and going towards Mary she said, "Have you come to play in the +woods?" + +"No," was Mary's reply. "I came to call the folks to dinner." + +"Oh, that was you that screamed so loud. I couldn't think who it was, +but it can't be dinner time?" + +"Yes 'tis; it's noon." + +"Well we don't have dinner until two, and we can stay here till that +time. Won't you play with us?" + +"No, I can't, I must go back and work," said Mary. + +"Work!" repeated Jenny. "I think it's bad enough to have to live in +that old house without working, but come and see our fish-pond;" and +taking Mary's hand, she led her to a wide part of the stream where the +water had been dammed up until it was nearly two feet deep and clear +as crystal. Looking in, Mary could see the pebbles on the bottom, +while a fish occasionally darted out and then disappeared. + +"I made this almost all myself," said Jenny. "Henry wouldn't help me +because he's so ugly, and Rose was afraid of blacking her fingers. But +I don't care Mother says I'm a great,--great,--I've forgotten the +word, but it means dirty and careless, and I guess I do look like a +fright, don't I?" + +Mary now for the first time noticed the appearance of her companion, +and readily guessed that the word which she could not remember, was +"slattern." She was a fat, chubby little girl, with a round, sunny +face and laughing blue eyes, while her brown hair hung around her +forehead in short, tangled curls. The front breadth of her pink +gingham dress was plastered with mud. One of her shoe strings was +untied, and the other one gone. The bottom of one pantalet was +entirely torn off, and the other rolled nearly to the knee disclosing +a pair of ankles of no Liliputian dimensions. The strings of her white +sun-bonnet were twisted into a hard knot, and the bonnet itself hung +down her back, partially hiding the chasm made by the absence of three +or four hooks and eyes. Altogether she was just the kind of little +girl which one often finds in the country swinging on gates and making +mud pies. + +Mary was naturally very neat; and in reply to Jenny's question as to +whether she looked like a fright, she answered, "I like your face +better than I do your dress, because it is clean." + +"Why, so was my dress this morning," said Jenny, "but here can't any +body play in the mud and not get dirty. My pantalet hung by a few +threads, and as I wanted a rag to wash my earthens with, I tore it +off. Why don't you wear pantalets?" + +Mary blushed painfully, as she tried to hide her bare feet with her +dress, but she answered, "When mother died I had only two pair, and +Miss Grundy says I sha'nt wear them every day. It makes too much +washing." + +"Miss Grundy! She's a spiteful old thing. She shook me once because I +laughed at that droll picture Sal Furbush drew of her on the front +door. I am afraid of Sal, ain't you?" + +"I was at first, but she's very kind to me, and I like her now." + +"Well, I always run when I see her. She makes such faces and shakes +her fist so. But if she's kind to you, I'll like her too. You go away +(speaking to Henry), and not come here to bother us." + +Henry gave a contemptuous whistle, and pointing to Mary's feet, said, +"Ain't they delicate? Most as small as her teeth!" + +The tears came into Mary's eyes, and Jenny, throwing a stick at her +brother, exclaimed, "For shame, Henry Lincoln! You always was the +meanest boy. Her feet ain't any bigger than mine. See," and she stuck +up her little dumpy foot, about twice as thick as Mary's. + +"Cracky!" said Henry, with another whistle. "They may be, too, and not +be so very small, for yours are as big as stone boats, any day, and +your ankles are just the size of the piano legs." So saying, he threw +a large stone into the water, spattering both the girls, but wetting +Jenny the most. After this he walked away apparently well pleased with +his performance. + +"Isn't he hateful?" said Jenny, wiping the water from her neck and +shoulders; "but grandma says all boys are so until they do something +with the oats,--I've forgot what. But there's one boy who isn't ugly. +Do you know Billy Bender?" + +"Billy Bender? Oh, yes," said Mary quickly, "he is all the friend +I've got in the world except Sal Furbush." + +"Well, he worked for my pa last summer, and oh, I liked him _so_ much. +I think he's the _bestest_ boy in the world. And isn't his face +beautiful?" + +"I never thought of it," said Mary. "What makes you think him so +handsome?" + +"Oh, I don't know unless it's because he makes such nice popple +whistles!" and as if the argument were conclusive, Jenny unrolled her +pantalet, and tried to wipe some of the mud from her dress, at the +same time glancing towards her sister, who at some little distance was +reclining against an old oak tree, and poring intently over "Fairy +Tales for Children." + +Seeing that she was not observed, Jenny drew nearer to Mary and said, +"If you'll never tell any body as long as you live and breathe, I'll +tell you something." + +Mary gave the required promise, and Jenny continued: "I shouldn't like +to have my mother know it, for she scolds all the time now about my +'vulgar tastes,' though I'm sure Rose likes the same things that I do, +except Billy Bender, and it's about him I was going to tell you. He +was so pleasant I couldn't help loving him, if mother did say I +mustn't. He used to talk to me about keeping clean, and once I tried a +whole week, and I only dirtied four dresses and three pair of +pantalets in all that time. Oh, how handsome and funny his eyes looked +when I told him about it. He took me in his lap, and said that was +more than he thought a little girl ought to dirty. Did you ever see +any boy you loved as well as you do Billy Bender?" + +Mary hesitated a moment, for much as she liked Billy, there was +another whom she loved better, though he had never been one half as +kind to her as Billy had. After a time she answered, "Yes, I like, or +I did like George Moreland, but I shall never see him again;" and then +she told Jenny of her home in England, of the long, dreary voyage to +America, and of her father's death; but when she came to the sad night +when her mother and Franky died, she could not go on, and laying her +face in Jenny's lap, she cried for a long time. Jenny's tears flowed, +too, but she tried to restrain them, for she saw that Rose had shut +her book and was watching her movements. + +Ere long, however, she resumed her reading, and then Jenny, softly +caressing Mary, said, "Don't cry so, for I'll love you, and we'll have +good times together too. We live in Boston every winter, but it will +be most six weeks before we go and I mean to see you every day." + +"In Boston?" said Mary, inquiringly. "_George_ lives in Boston." + +Jenny was silent a moment, and then suddenly clapping her hands +together, she exclaimed. "I know George Moreland. He lives just +opposite our house, and is Ida Selden's cousin. Why he's most as +handsome as Billy Bender, only he teases you more. I'll tell him about +you, for mother says he's got lots of money, and perhaps he'll give +you some." + +Mary felt that she wouldn't for the world have George know she was in +the poor-house, and she quickly answered, "No, no, you mustn't tell +him a word about me. I don't want you to. Promise that you won't." + +Loth as Jenny was to make such a promise, she finally did, adding, "I +guess I won't tell Rose either, for she and Ida are great friends. +George says he don't know which he likes best, though he thinks Rose +the handsomest. He like handsome girls, and so do I." + +Mary knew she had no beauty of which to boast, but Ella had, so she +very naturally mentioned her sister, saying how much she wished to see +her. + +"Why, you can see her at church," answered Jenny. "Why don't you ever +go?" + +"I am going next Sunday, Sally and I," was Mary's reply. "Billy told +me the last time he was here that he would come and stay with Alice." + +"Oh, I'm glad, and I hope they'll put you in my Sabbath school class, +for Ella is in it, but if they do I'll contrive to have Rose sit off a +good ways because,--because--" + +Here Jenny paused, but seeing that Mary was waiting for her to finish +the sentence, she added, "She's proud, and sometimes laughs at poor +girls." + +"Thank you, Miss Jenny Lincoln," said Rose, coming forward. "I'll tell +mother of this new intimacy, and she'll put a stop to it, I'll assure +you. But come along, I'm going home." + +Jenny arose to obey, but whispered to Mary, "You'll find me most +any time in these woods. I'd ask you to come to our house, only +mother wouldn't let you sit in the parlor. I shall see you +Sunday,--Good-bye." + +Mary watched her until she disappeared among the bushes and then she +too started for home, with a lighter heart than she had known before +for many a day. She had found a new friend, and though Miss Grundy +scolded because she had been gone so long, and threatened to shut her +up in Sal Furbush's cage, she did not mind it and actually commenced +humming a tune while Miss Grundy was storming about a bowl of sour +milk which she had found in the cupboard. A sharp box on her ears +brought her song to an end and the tears into her eyes, but she +thought of Jenny, and the fact that she too knew George made him seem +nearer, and when Miss Grundy did not see her she hastily drew the +golden locket from her bosom, and glancing at the handsome, boyish +face it revealed, quickly thrust it back as she heard a quick step in +the passage. + +She had no opportunity of seeing Jenny again that week, for she was +kept busy from morning till night, running here and there, first after +eggs, then after water, next for potatoes, and then after wood. And +still Miss Grundy told her fifty times a day that "she didn't half pay +her way, to say nothing about the young one." + +"Bolt at once," said Sal. "Bolt, and say you didn't come here to work: +that's the way I did." + +Mary was willing to do whatever she could, but she often wished Mrs. +Parker were able to be round, for then she was sure she would not have +to work so hard. She had several times been sent of errands to Mrs. +Parker's room, and that lady had always spoken kindly to her, asking +her if she was tired, or what made her look so pale. It was through +Mrs Parker's influence, too, that she had obtained permission to +attend church the following Sabbath. Mrs. Parker was a professor of +religion, and before her illness, some of the family had attended +church every Sunday. But since she had been sick, her husband had +thought it hardly worth while to harness up his horses, though he said +any one might go who chose to walk. Few, however, were able to walk; +so they remained at home, and Sunday was usually the noisiest day in +the week. Sal Furbush generally took the lead, and mounting the +kitchen table, sung camp meeting hymns as loud as she could scream. +Uncle Peter fiddled, Patsy nodded and laughed, the girl with crooked +feet by way of increasing the bedlam would sometimes draw a file +across the stove-pipe, while Miss Grundy scolded, and declared "she +could not and would not have such a noise." + +"Shut your head, madam, and there'll be less," was Sal's ready +rejoinder, as at the end of a verse she paused for breath. + +The first Sabbath Mary looked on in perfect amazement, but the next +one she spent in her own room, and after a deal of trouble, succeeded +in coaxing Sal to stay there too, listening while she read to her from +her little Bible. But the reading was perplexing business, for Sal +constantly corrected her pronunciation, or stopped her while she +expounded Scripture, and at last in a fit of impatience Mary tossed +the book into the crazy creature's lap, asking her to read her self. + +This was exactly what Sal wanted, and taking the foot of Mary's bed +for her rostrum, she read and preached so furiously, that Mary felt +almost glad when Miss Grundy came up to stop the racket, and locked +Sal in her own room. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +AT CHURCH. + + +The Sabbath following Mary's first acquaintance with Jenny was the one +on which she was to go to church. Billy Bender promised that if his +mother were not suffering from any new disease, he would come to stay +with Alice, and in case he failed, the pleasant-looking woman was to +take his place. Mary would have preferred going alone, but Sally +begged so hard, and promised so fairly "not to make a speck of a face +at the preacher, provided he used good grammar," that Mary finally +asked Mr. Parker to let her go. + +He consented willingly, saying he hoped the house would be peaceable +for once. And now, it was hard telling which looked forward to the +next Sunday with the most impatience, Mary or Sal, the latter of whom +was anxious to see the fashions, as she fancied her wardrobe was +getting out of date. To Mary's happiness there was one drawback. A few +weeks before her mother's death she had given to Ella her straw hat, +which she had outgrown, and now the only bonnet she possessed was the +veritable blue one of which George Moreland had made fun, and which by +this time was nearly worn out. Mrs. Campbell, who tried to do right +and thought that she did, had noticed Mary's absence from church, and +once on speaking of the subject before Hannah, the latter suggested +that probably she had no bonnet, saying that the one which she wore +at her mother's funeral was borrowed Mrs. Campbell immediately looked +over her things, and selecting a straw which she herself had worn +three years before, she tied a black ribbon across it, and sent it as +a present to Mary. + +The bonnet had been rather large for Mrs. Campbell, and was of course +a world too big for Mary, whose face looked bit, as Sal expressed it, +"like a yellow pippin stuck into the far end of a firkin." Miss +Grundy, however, said "it was plenty good enough for a pauper," +reminding Mary that "beggars shouldn't be choosers." + +"So it is good enough for paupers like you," returned Sal, "but people +who understand grammar always have a keen sense of the ridiculous." + +Mary made no remark whatever, but she secretly wondered if Ella wore +such a hat. Still her desire to see her sister and to visit her +mother's grave, prevailed over all other feelings, and on Sunday +morning it was a very happy child which at about nine o'clock bounded +down the stairway, tidily dressed in a ten cent black lawn and a pair +of clean white pantalets. + +There was another circumstance, too, aside from the prospect of seeing +Ella, which made her eyes sparkle until they were almost black. The +night before, in looking over the articles of dress which she would +need, she discovered that there was not a decent pair of stockings in +her wardrobe. Mrs. Grundy, to whom she mentioned the fact, replied +with a violent shoulder jerk, "For the land's sake! ain't you big +enough to go to meetin' barefoot, or did you think we kept silk +stockin's for our quality to wear?" + +Before the kitchen looking-glass, Sal was practising a courtesy which +she intended making to any one who chanced to notice her next day; but +after overhearing Miss Grundy's remark, she suddenly brought her +exercises to a close and left the kitchen. Arrived at her room, she +commenced tumbling over a basket containing her wearing apparel, +selecting from it a pair of fine cotton stockings which she had long +preserved, because they were the last thing Willie's father ever gave +her. "They are not much too large for her now," thought she, "but I +guess I'll take a small seam clear through them." This being done, she +waited until all around the house was still, and then creeping +stealthily to Mary's room, she pinned the stockings to the pantalets, +hanging the whole before the curtainless window, where the little girl +could see them the moment she opened her eyes! Mary well knew to whom +she was indebted for this unexpected pleasure, and in her accustomed +prayer that morning she remembered the poor old crazy woman, asking +that the light of reason might again dawn upon her darkened mind. + +On descending to the kitchen, Mary found Sal waiting for her, and, as +she had expected, rigged out in a somewhat fantastic style. Her dress, +which was an old plum-colored silk, was altogether too short-waisted +and too narrow for the prevailing fashion. A gauze handkerchief was +thrown across her neck, and fastened to her belt in front by a large +yellow bow. Her bonnet, which was really a decent one, was almost +entirely covered by a thick green veil, and notwithstanding the sun +was shining brightly, she carried in her hand a large blue cotton +umbrella, for fear it would rain! + +"Come, child," said she, the moment Mary appeared, "put on your +_tea-kettle_ (referring to the bonnet which Mary held in her hand), +and let us start." + +There was no looking-glass in Mary's room, and she stepped before the +one in the kitchen while she adjusted her hat, but her courage almost +failed her as she saw the queer-looking image reflected by the mirror. +She was unusually thin, and it seemed to her that her teeth were +never so prominent before. Her eyes, always large, now looked +unnaturally so and as she placed what Sal had termed a "tea-kettle" +upon her head, she half determined not to go. But Sal caught her hand, +saying, "Come, child, it's time we were off. They'll all know it's +Mrs. Campbell's old bonnet, and will laugh at her for giving it to +you." + +Billy had not come, but the pleasant-looking woman had succeeded in +making friends with Alice, and as Mary passed out of the yard she saw +her little sister spatting the window sill, and apparently well +pleased with her new nurse. Scarcely were they out of sight of the +house, when Sal, seating herself upon a large stone, commenced +divesting her feet of her shoes and stockings. + +"What are you doing?" asked Mary, in great surprise. + +"I guess I know better than to wear out my kid slippers when I've got +no Willie's father to buy me any more," answered Sal. "I'm going +barefoot until I reach the river bridge, and then I shall put them on +again." + +The shoes and stockings being carefully rolled up in a paper which Sal +produced from her pocket, they walked briskly forward, and reached the +village some time before the first bell rang for church. + +"Come down this street, please," said Mary to her companion, who with +slippers readjusted and umbrella hoisted was mincing along, +courtesying to every one she met, and asking them how they did--"Come +down this street; I want to see my old home." + +Sal readily complied, saying as they drew near the low brown house, in +which a strange family were now living, "There is nothing very elegant +in the architecture of this dwelling." + +Mary made no reply. With her head resting upon the garden fence, and +one hand clasped around a shrub which Franky had set out, she was +sobbing as though her heart would break. Very gently Sal laid her hand +on Mary's shoulder, and led her away, saying, "What would I not have +given for such a command of tears when Willie's father died. But I +could not weep; and my tears all turned to burning coals, which set my +brain on fire." + +The next time Mary raised her head they were opposite Mrs. Bender's, +where Sal declared it her intention to stop. As they were passing up +to the side door, Billy, who heard their footsteps, came out, and +shaking hands with Mary, and trying hard to keep from laughing at the +wonderful courtesy, which Sal Furbush made him. On entering the house +they found Mrs. Bender flat on her back, the pillow pulled out from +under her head, and the bed clothes tucked closely up under her chin. + +"Mother was so sick I couldn't come," said Billy to Mary, while Sal, +walking up to the bedside, asked, "Is your sickness unto death, my +good woman?" + +"Oh, I am afeard not," was the feeble response. "Folks with my +difficulty suffer for years." + +Mary looked inquiringly at Billy, and a smile but little according +with his mother's seeming distress parted his lips as he whispered, +"She was reading yesterday about a woman that had been bed-ridden with +a spinal difficulty, and now she declares that she too 'has got a +spine in her back,' though I fancy she would be in a pretty +predicament without one. But where did you get that fright of a +bonnet?" he continued. "It's like looking down a narrow lane to see +your face." + +Mary knew that Billy was very observing of dress, and she blushed +painfully as she replied, that Mrs. Campbell gave it to her. + +"Well, she ought to be ashamed," said he, "with all her money to give +you a corn-basket of a thing like that. Ella doesn't wear such a one, +I can tell you." + +Just then the first bell rang, and Sal, who had mischievously +recommended a mustard poultice, as being the most likely to draw Mrs. +Bender's spine to a head, started to go saying, "she wanted to be +there in season, so as to see the folks come in." + +Accordingly they again set forward, attracting more attention, and +causing more remarks, than any two who had passed through Chicopee for +a long time. On reaching the church, Sal requested the sexton to give +her a seat which would command a view of the greater part of the +congregation, and he accordingly led them to the farthest extremity of +one of the side galleries. Mary had been there at church before, but +as she had always sat near the door, she did not know in what part of +the building Mrs. Campbell's pew was located. As she leaned over the +railing, however, she concluded that the large square one with crimson +velvet cushions must be hers. Erelong the bell began to toll, and soon +a lady dressed in deep mourning appeared, and passing up the middle +aisle, entered the richly cushioned pew. She was accompanied by a +little girl, tastefully dressed in a frock of light-blue silk tissue. +A handsome French straw hat was set jauntily on one side of her head, +and her long curls hung over her white neck and shoulders. Mary knew +that this was Ella, and involuntarily starting up, she leaned forward +far enough to bring her bonnet directly in sight of some thoughtless +girls, who immediately commenced tittering, and pointing her out to +those near them. + +Blushing scarlet, the poor girl sank back into the seat, saying half +aloud, "O, I wish I hadn't come." + +"What's the matter?" said Sal. "Has somebody laughed at you? I'll +warrant there has;" and leaning over the railing herself, she shook +her fist threateningly at the girls, whose eyes were still directed +that way. + +Mary felt instinctively that her companion was attracting more +attention than her bonnet; and twitching her dress bade her sit down. +Sal obeyed; but she had no opportunity that morning of deciding +whether the sermon were grammatical or not, for she was constantly on +the look out, and whenever she saw any one scrutinizing Mary or +herself more closely than they ought, a shake of her fist and a horrid +face warned them to desist. Twice during church time Mary thought, nay +felt sure that she caught her sister's eye, but it was quickly +withdrawn, as if unwilling to be recognized. + +When church was out, Sal insisted upon going down immediately; so they +descended together to the porch below, reaching it just as Mrs. +Campbell appeared in the doorway. Had she chosen, Mary could have +touched the lady's dress as she passed; but she rather shrank from +being seen, and would probably not have been observed at all, had not +Sal planted herself directly in front of Mrs. Campbell, saying loudly +enough for all near her to hear, "Madam, do you not recognize your +munificent gift of charity in yonder amazing bonnet?" at the same time +pointing towards Mary, who nervously grasped the strings of her hat, +as if to remove the offensive article. + +Mrs. Campbell haughtily pushed Sal aside, and advancing towards the +child, said, "I am glad to see you at church Mary, and hope you will +now come regularly. You can accompany Ella home after the Sabbath +school, if you like." + +The words and manner were so cold and formal, that Mary was obliged to +force down her tears before she replied, that she was going to her +mother's grave, and wanted Ella to go with her. + +"It is pretty warm to walk so far, but if Ella wishes it she has my +permission. Only tell her not to get red and heated," said Mrs. +Campbell; and gathering up the folds of her rich silk, the texture of +which Sal Furbush had been examining, and comparing with her own +plum-color, she walked away. + +Scarcely was she gone, when Jenny Lincoln came tripping up, and +seizing both Mary's hands, exclaimed, "I am real glad you are here. I +thought you hadn't come, until I heard them talking about a crazy +woman. But let's go to my class, and you'll have a chance to see Ella +while the scholars are getting their seats." + +Mary accompanied her young friend to a pew, at the door of which she +met her sister face to face. There was a sudden exclamation of joy on +Mary's part, and an attempt to throw her arms around Ella's neck, but +the little girl drew back, and merely offering her hand, said, "Oh, +it's you, isn't it? I didn't know you, you looked so queer." + +"Heavens! what a head-dress! Big as our carriage top any day!" was the +next exclamation which reached Mary's ear, as Rose Lincoln brushed +past. Glancing from her sister to Rose, Mary half determined to tear +the bonnet from her head and trample it under her feet, but Jenny +softly squeezed her hand, and whispered, "Don't mind what Rose says; I +love you, and so does Billy Bender. I saw him in the village +yesterday, and asked him if he didn't, and he said he did." + +It required more than Billy Bender's love to soothe Mary then. Her +sister's cool reception, so different from what she had anticipated, +had stung her heart; and sitting down near the door, she burst into a +passionate fit of tears. Jenny, who was really distressed, +occasionally pressed her hand in token of sympathy, at the same time +offering her cloves, peanuts and sugar-plums. There was a brighter +flush, too, than usual, on Ella's cheek, for she knew that she had +done wrong, and she so jumbled together the words of her lesson, that +the teacher made her repeat it twice, asking her what was the matter. + +By the time Sabbath school was over, Mary had dried her tears; and +determining to make one more advance towards her sister, she said, +"Won't you go to mother's grave with me? I want to tell you about +little Allie. I have taught her to call your name most as plain as _I_ +can." + +Ella looked down at her embroidered pantalets, and hanging her head on +one side, said, "Oh, it's so dusty. I'm afraid I'll get all dirt,--and +hot, too. Mamma doesn't like to have me get hot." + +"Why not?" asked Jenny, who always wished to know the reason of +things. + +"'Cause it makes folks' skin rough, and break out," was Ella's reply. + +"Oh, pshaw!" returned Jenny, with a vain attempt to turn up her little +bit of a nose. "I play every day till I am most roasted, and my skin +ain't half as rough as yours. But say, will you go with Mary? for if +you don't I shall!" + +"I guess I won't," said Ella, and then, anxious to make Mary feel a +little comfortable, she added, "Mamma says Mary's coming to see me +before long, and then we'll have a real good time. I've lots of pretty +things--two silk dresses, and I wear French gaiters like these every +day." + +Glancing first at Mary, and then at Ella, Jenny replied, "Pho, that's +nothing; Mary knows more than you do, any way. Why, she can say every +speck of the multiplication table, and you only know the 10's!" + +When Ella was angry, or felt annoyed, she generally cried; and now +declaring that she knew more than the 10's she began to cry; and +announcing her intention of never speaking to Jenny again "as long as +she lived and breathed," she walked away, while Mary and Jenny +proceeded together towards the burying ground. With a bitter cry Mary +threw herself upon her mother's grave, and wept for a long, long time. + +"It would not be so bad," said Mary, "if there was any body left, but +I am all alone in the world. Ella does not love me--nobody loves me." + +It was in vain that Jenny told her of Billy Bender's love, of her own, +and George Moreland's too. Mary only wept the more, wishing that she +had died, and Allie too. At last remembering that she had left Sal +Furbush behind her, and knowing that it was time for her to go, she +arose, and leaning on Jenny, whose arm was passed lovingly about her, +she started to return. + +Afternoon service had commenced ere they reached the church, and as +Mary had no desire of again subjecting her bonnet to the ridicule of +Rose Lincoln, and as Jenny had much rather stay out doors in the +shade, they sat down upon the steps, wondering where Sal Furbush had +taken herself. "I mean to look in and see if she is here," said Jenny, +and advancing on tiptoe to the open door, she cast her eye over the +people within; then clapping her hand over her mouth to keep back a +laugh, she returned to Mary, saying, "Oh, if it isn't the funniest +thing in the world. There sits Sal in Mrs. Campbell's pew, fanning +herself with that great palm-leaf, and shaking her fist at Ella every +time she stirs!" + +It seems that Sal had amused herself during the intermission by +examining and trying the different pews, and taking a fancy to Mrs. +Campbell's, she had snugly ensconced herself in one corner of it, +greatly to the fear and mortification of Ella, who chanced to be the +only one of the family present. When service was out, Sal gathered up +her umbrella and courtesying her way through the crowd, soon found +Mary and started for home, declaring the clergyman to be "a well-read +grammarian, only a trifle too emphatic in his delivery." + +As they were descending the long hill which led to the river bridge, +Mr. Lincoln's carriage passed them, and Jenny, who was inside, seized +the reins, saying, "Please, pa, stop and let them ride--there's nobody +but Rose and me in here, and it is so hot and so far." + +Mr. Lincoln might possibly have complied with his daughter's request, +had not Rose chirrupped to the spirited horses, and said, "Don't, +father, for mercy's sake! ask those paupers to ride." + +So the carriage dashed on, but Mary forgot the long walk by +remembering the glance of affection which Jenny gave her as she looked +back from the window. Sal seemed unusually silent, and even forgot to +take off her shoes and stockings when she reached the river bridge. +Mary saw there was something weighing upon her mind, but she forbore +asking any questions, knowing that Sal would in her own good time make +her thoughts known. They had nearly reached home, when Sal suddenly +turned aside, and seating herself upon a rock under a white +beech-tree, said, "Miss Howard, I've been thinking what a splendid +minister was spoiled when they put dresses on me! Oh how hard I had to +hold myself to-day to keep from extemporizing to the congregation. I +reckon there wouldn't have been quite so many nodding as there were." + +In the excitement of the moment Sal arose, and throwing out her eyes, +gesticulated in a manner rather alarming to Mary, who had never before +seen so wild a look in the crazy woman's eyes. Soon, however, her mood +changed, and resuming her seat, she continued in a milder tone, "Did +you ever hear that I was an authoress?" + +"An authoress!" repeated Mary--"an authoress! Why no; are you?" + +"To be sure I am," answered Sal. "What's to hinder. Haven't I told you +repeatedly, that I once possessed an unusually large amount of +judgment; and this, added to my knowledge of grammar, and uncommon +powers of imagination, enabled me to produce a work which, but for an +unaccountable freak of the publisher, would have rendered my name +immortal." + +"I don't understand," said Mary, and Sally continued: "You see, I +wrote about six hundred pages of foolscap, which the publisher to whom +it was sent for examination was impolite enough to return, together +with a note, containing, as I suppose, his reasons for rejection; but +if he thinks I read it he's mistaken. I merely glanced at the words, +'Dear Madam--We regret--' and then threw it aside. It was a terrible +disappointment, and came near turning my brain; but there are other +publishing houses in the world, and one of these days I shall astonish +mankind. But come, we must hasten on, or the gormandizers will eat up +those custard pies which I found in the cellar with the brass-kettle +covered over them." + +Accordingly they started for home, but found, as Sal had predicted, +that supper was over and the pies all gone. By a little dexterous +management, however, she managed to find half of one, which Miss +Grundy had tucked away under an empty candle-box for her own future +eating. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE NEW BONNET. + + +The next morning, for a wonder. Jenny Lincoln was up before the sun, +and in the large dark closet which adjoined her sleeping room, she +rummaged through band-boxes and on the top shelves until she found and +brought to light a straw hat, which was new the fall before, but which +her mother had decided unfit to appear again in the city. Jenny had +heard the unkind remarks which Mary's odd-looking bonnet elicited, and +she now determined to give her this one, though she did not dare to do +so without her mother's consent. So after breakfast, when her mother +was seated at her work in the parlor, Jenny drew near, making known +her request, and asking permission to carry the bonnet to Mary +herself. + +"Mercy on me!" said Mrs. Lincoln, "what won't you think of next, and +where did you get such vulgar taste. It must have been from your +father, for I am sure you never took it from me. I dare say, now, you +had rather play with that town pauper than with the richest child in +Boston." + +For a moment Jenny was silent, and then as a new idea came into her +head, she said, "Ma, if you should die, and pa should die, and every +body should die, and we hadn't any money, wouldn't I have to be a town +pauper?" + +"What absurd questions you ask," said Mrs. Lincoln, overturning a +work-box to find a spool of cotton, which lay directly on top. "Do +what you please with the bonnet, which I fancy you'll find as much +too small for Mary as the one she now has is too large." + +Jenny felt fearful of this, but "where there's a will there's a way;" +and after considering a moment, she went in quest of her sister, who +had one just like it. Rose did not care a fig for the bonnet, and +after a while she agreed to part with it on condition that Jenny would +give her a coral bracelet, with gold clasps, which she had long +coveted. This fanciful little ornament was a birth-day present from +Billy and at first Jenny thought that nothing would tempt her to part +with it, but as Rose was decided, she finally yielded the point, +brushing away a tear as she placed the bracelet in her sister's hand. +Then putting the bonnet in a basket, and covering it with a newspaper, +she started for the poor-house. + +"Good morning, Miss Grundy," said she, as she appeared in the doorway. +"May I see Mary, just a little minute? I've got something for her." + +Miss Grundy was crosser than usual this morning on account of a sudden +illness which had come upon Patsy, so she jerked her shoulders, and +without turning her head, replied, "It's Monday mornin', and Mary +ain't goin' to be hindered by big bugs nor nobody else. Here 'tis +goin' on nine o'clock, and them dishes not done yet! If you want to +see her, you can go into the back room where she is." + +Nothing daunted by this ungracious reception, Jenny advanced towards +the "back room," where she found Mary at the "sink," her arms immersed +in dishwater, and a formidable pile of plates, platters and bowls all +ready to be wiped, standing near her. Throwing aside her bonnet and +seizing the coarse dish towel, Jenny exclaimed, "I'm going to wipe +dishes Mary, I know how, and when they are done, if Miss Grundy won't +let you go up stairs a minute, I'll ask Mr. Parker. I saw him under +the woodshed grinding an axe." + +It was a rare thing to see Jenny Lincoln in the kitchen at the +poor-house, and now the fact that she was there, and wiping dishes +too, circulated rapidly, bringing to the spot the sour-faced woman, +the pleasant-looking woman, the girl with the crooked feet, and half a +dozen others, each of whom commented upon the phenomenon after her own +fashion. + +"Do see the little thing," said one; "handles the wiping rag just like +any body!" + +"And look there," cried a second; "setting them up in the cupboard! +Did you ever!" While a third remarked that she wore silk stockings, +wondering whether they were bought on purpose for her, or had been cut +over from a pair of her mother's. + +Thus noticed and flattered Jenny worked away, assisting in scouring +knives and washing spiders, until her dress was splashed with +dishwater, and her white apron crocked by the kettles. + +"Won't your marm scold you for getting so dirty?' asked the girl with +the crooked feet. + +"I s'pose so," said Jenny, carelessly; "but then she scolds most all +the time, so I don't mind it!" + +The dishes being done, and Miss Grundy making no objections, Mary +accompanied Jenny up stairs, where the latter, opening her basket, +held to view a neat-looking straw hat, far prettier than the one which +Mrs. Campbell had presented. + +"See," said she, placing it upon Mary's head; "this is for you. I +wanted to give you mine, but 'twasn't big enough, so Rose let you have +hers. It's real becoming, too." + +The tears which fell from Mary's eyes were caused not less by Jenny's +kindness, than by the thought that the haughty Rose Lincoln had given +her a bonnet! She did not know of the sacrifice which the +noble-hearted Jenny had made to obtain it, and it was well she did +not, for it would have spoiled all the happiness she experienced in +wearing it. + +"Thank you, Jenny, and Rose too," said she. "I am so glad, for I love +to go to church, and I surely would never have gone again and wore +that other bonnet." + +"I wouldn't either," returned Jenny. "I think it was ridiculous for +Mrs. Campbell to give you such an old dud of a thing, and I know +mother thinks so too, for she laughed hard for her, when I described +it, though she said nothing except that 'beggars shouldn't be +choosers.' I wonder what that means. Do you know?" + +Mary felt that she was beginning to know, but she did not care to +enlighten Jenny, who soon sprang up, saying she must go home, or her +mother would be sending Henry after her. "And I don't want him to come +here," said she, "for I know you don't like him, and there don't +hardly any body, he's so stuck up and kind of--I don't know what." + +In passing through the hall, the girls met Miss Grundy, who had just +come from Patsy's room. As soon as she saw Mary, she said, "Clap on +your bonnet quick, and run as fast as ever you can to Miss +Thornfield's. Dr. Gilbert has gone there, and do you tell him to come +here right away, for Patsy is dreadful sick, and has fits all the +time." + +There was a tremor in her voice, and she seemed much excited, which +surprised the girls, who fancied she would not care even if Patsy +died. Mrs. Thornfield's was soon reached, the message given, and then +they hurried back. + +"Is Patsy worse?" asked Mary, as she saw the bedroom door open, and +two or three women standing near the bed. + +Miss Grundy did not answer, and when next her face was visible, the +girls saw that her eyes were red, as if she had been weeping. + +"Funny, isn't it?" said Jenny, as she started for home. "I didn't +suppose any thing would make her cry, and I guess now the tears are +sort of _sour!_" + +Dr. Gilbert came, but his skill could not save the poor idiot girl, +and at about four that afternoon she died. Around the bed of death +there were no tears or lamentations, for those who stood by and +watched the lamp of life as it went out, felt that the spirit which +was leaving them would be happier far in another world, for never in +this had a ray of reason shone upon poor Patsy's darkened mind. We +have said there were no tears, and yet, although the waters came not +to the surface, there was one heart which wept, as with unflinching +nerve the cold, stern woman arrayed the dead girl for the grave. + +That night Mary was aroused from sleep, by some one whispering her +name in her ear, and starting up, she saw Sally bending over her. + +"Come with me," said she softly, "and I'll show you the queerest sight +you ever saw." + +Trembling in every joint, Mary arose and followed Sal, who led her +towards the room where Patsy lay. As she drew near the door they +paused, and by the light of the autumn moon, which streamed through +the curtained window Mary saw Miss Grundy kneeling by the cold body, +and sobbing bitterly. Once she spoke, and Mary caught the words, "My +child, my poor child." + +Wonderingly she looked up to Sally for an explanation; but the crazy +woman only replied, as they returned to their rooms, "Yes,--there's +been queer doings some time or other, it's very evident; but I know +one thing, I'll never draw her profile again, and I'll call her _Mrs._ +Grundy after this!" + +It was hardly worth while, as the neighbors thought, to be at all the +trouble and expense of carrying a foolish girl without friends or +relatives to the graveyard, so they buried her beneath the shadow of a +wide-spreading maple, in a little inclosure where several other +unfortunate ones lay sleeping At the funeral many wondered at the +ghastly whiteness of Miss Grundy's face, and why she grasped at the +coffin lid, as if to keep from falling, when with others she gazed +upon the pale face which, in its dreamless slumber, looked calm and +placid as that of a child. + +There were but few who knew of Miss Grundy's sin, and her secret was +buried in Patsy's grave, where often a mother's form was bending and a +mother's tears were shed, when the world was dark and still, and there +was no eye to see, save that of Him who said, "Go and sin no more." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +WINTER AT THE POOR-HOUSE. + + +One afternoon about the middle of October, Mary sat under an +apple-tree in the orchard, weeping bitterly. It was in vain that +Alice, who was with her, and who by this time was able to stand alone, +climbed up to her side, patting her cheeks, and trying various ways to +win her attention. She still wept on, unmindful of the sound of rapid +footsteps upon the grass, nor until twice repeated did she hear the +words, "Why, Mary, what is the matter? What's happened?"--then looking +up she saw Billy Bender, who raised her in his arms, and insisted upon +knowing what was the matter. + +Laying her head on his shoulder, she sobbed out, "She's gone,--she's +gone, and there's nobody left but Sally. Oh dear, oh dear!" + +"Gone! Who's gone?" asked Billy. + +"Jenny," was Mary's reply. "She's gone to Boston, and won't come back +till next May; and I loved her so much." + +"Oh, yes, I know," returned Billy. "I met them all on their way to the +depot; but I wouldn't feel so badly. Jenny will come again, and +besides that, I've got some real good news to tell you. + +"About Ella?" said Mary. + +"No, not about Ella, but about myself; I'm coming here to live with +you." + +"Coming here to live!" repeated Mary with astonishment. "What for? +Are your folks all dead?" + +Billy smiled and answered, "Not quite so bad as that. I went to school +here two years ago, and I know I learned more than I ever did at home +in two seasons. The boys, when Henry Lincoln is away, don't act half +as badly as they do in the village; and then they usually have a lady +teacher, because it's cheaper I suppose, for they don't pay them half +as much as they do gentlemen, and I think they are a great deal the +best. Any way, I can learn the most when I go to a woman." + +"But what makes you come here, and what will your mother do?" asked +Mary. + +"She's got a sister come from the West to stay with her, and as I +shall go home every Saturday night, she'll get along well enough. I +heard Mr. Parker in the store one day inquiring for a boy to do +chores. So after consulting mother, I offered my services, and was +accepted. Won't we have real nice times going to school together, and +then I've brought a plaything for you. Are you afraid of dogs?" + +So saying he gave a whistle, and a large Newfoundland dog came +bounding through the orchard. At first Mary drew back in alarm, for +the dog, though young, was unusually large; but her fears soon +vanished when she saw how affectionate he was, licking her own and +Alice's hands, and bounding playfully upon his master's shoulders. + +"He is a nice fellow," said she, stroking his shaggy sides. What do +you call him?" + +"Tasso," answered Billy; and then seeing Mr. Parker at a distance, and +wishing to speak to him, he walked away. + +Three weeks from that time the winter school commenced; and Billy took +up his abode at the poor-house, greatly to the satisfaction of Sally +and Mary, and greatly to the annoyance of Miss Grundy, who, since +Patsy's death, was crosser and more fault-finding than ever. + +"Smart idea!" said she, "to have that great lummux around to be waited +on!" and when she saw how happy his presence seemed to make Mary, she +vented her displeasure upon her in various ways, conjuring up all +sorts of reasons why she should stay out of school as often as +possible, and wondering "what the world was a coming to, when young +ones hardly out of the cradle begun to court! It wasn't so in her +younger days, goodness knew!" + +"I wouldn't venture a great many remarks about my younger days, if I +were you, _Mrs._ Grundy," said Sal, who had adhered to her resolution +of always addressing her old enemy as _Mrs._, though she whispered it +to Mary as her opinion that the woman didn't fancy her new title. + +Much as Mary had learned to prize Sally's friendship, before winter +was over she had cause to value it still more highly. Wretched and +destitute as the poor crazed creature now was, she showed plainly that +at some period or other of her life, she had had rare advantages for +education, which she now brought into use for Mary's benefit. When +Mary first commenced attending school, Miss Grundy insisted that she +should knit every evening, and thus she found no opportunity for +studying at home. One evening when, as usual, a part of the family +were assembled around a blazing fire in the kitchen, Sal Furbush +suddenly exclaimed, "Mary, why don't you bring your books home at +night, just as Mr. Bender does." + +She had conceived a great respect for Billy, and always called him +_Mr._ Mary cast a rueful glance at the coarse sock, which certainly +was not growing fast, and replied, "I should like to, but I have to +knit all the time." + +"Fudge on your everlasting knitting," said Sal, snatching the sock +from Mary's hands and making the needles fly nimbly. "I'm going to be +very magnanimous, and every time you'll bring your books home I'll +knit for you--I beg Mrs. Grundy, that you'll not throw the fire all +over the floor," she added, as that lady gave the forestick a violent +kick. + +"The Lord save us!" was Miss Grundy's exclamation when after supper +the next evening she saw the three-legged stand loaded down with +Billy's and Mary's school books. + +But as no one made her any reply, she quietly resumed her work, +appropriating to her own use the only tallow candle there was burning, +and leaving Billy and Mary to see as best they could by the firelight. +For some time Mary pored over her lesson in Colburn, but coming to the +question, "24 is 3/5 of how many times 10?" she stopped, unable to +proceed farther. Again and again she read it over, without gathering a +single idea, and was on the point of asking Billy to assist her, when +Sal, who had been watching her, said, "Let me take your book, child." + +Mary did so, and then, as if conscious for the first time of Miss +Grundy's monopoly of the candle, Sal seized a large newspaper lying +near, and twisting it up, said, "Let there be light;" then thrusting +one end of it into the flames and drawing it out again, added, "and +there is light." + +After tumbling over the leaves awhile, she continued, "No, they didn't +study this when I was young; but tell me what 'tis that troubles you." + +Mary pointed to the problem, and after looking at it attentively a +moment, Sal said, "The answer to it is 4; and if you will give me some +little inkling of the manner in which you are taught to explain them +at school, perhaps I can tell you about that." + +"It begins in this way," said Mary. "If 24 is 3/5 of some number, 1/5 +of that number must be something or other, I don't know what." + +"One third of 24 of course," said Sal. + +"Oh, yes, that's it," exclaimed Mary, who began to understand it +herself. "Now, I guess I know. You find what one third of 24 is, and +if that is _one_ fifth, _five_ fifths would be five times that, and +then see how many times 10 will go in it." + +"Exactly so," said Sal. "You'll make an arithmetic yet, and have it +out just about the time I do my grammar. But," she added in another +tone, "I've concluded to leave out the Grundy gender!" + +Each night after this Mary brought home her books, and the rapid +improvement which she made in her studies was as much owing to Sally's +useful hints and assistance as to her own untiring perseverance. One +day when she returned from school Sally saw there was something the +matter, for her eyes were red and her cheeks flushed as if with +weeping. On inquiring of Billy, she learned that some of the girls had +been teasing Mary about her teeth, calling them "tushes," &c. + +As it happened one of the paupers was sick, and Dr. Gilbert was at +that time in the house. To him Sal immediately went, and after laying +the case before him, asked him to extract the offending teeth. Sally +was quite a favorite with the doctor, who readily consented, on +condition that Mary was willing, which he much doubted, as such teeth +came hard. + +"Willing or not, she shall have them out. It's all that makes her so +homely," said Sal; and going in quest of Mary, she led her to the +doctor, who asked to look in her mouth. + +There was a fierce struggle, a scream, and then one of the teeth was +lying upon the floor. + +"Stand still," said Sal, more sternly than she had ever before spoken +to Mary, who, half frightened out of her wits stood still while the +other one was extracted. + +"There," said Sal, when the operation was finished, "you look a +hundred per cent. better." + +For a time Mary cried and spit, hardly knowing whether the relished +the joke or not; but when Billy praised her improved looks, telling +her that "her mouth was real pretty," and when she herself dried her +eyes enough to see that it was a great improvement, she felt better, +and wondered why she had never thought to have them out before. + +Rapidly and pleasantly to Mary that winter passed away, for the +presence of Billy was in itself a sufficient reason why she should be +happy. He was so affectionate and brother-like in his deportment +towards her, that she began questioning whether she did not love him +as well, if not better, than she did her sister Ella, whom she seldom +saw, though she heard that she had a governess from Worcester, and was +taking music lessons on a grand piano which had been bought a year +before. Occasionally Billy called at Mrs. Campbell's, but Ella seemed +shy and unwilling to speak of her sister. + +"Why is there this difference?" he thought more than once, as he +contrasted the situation, of the two girls,--the one petted, caressed, +and surrounded by every luxury, and the other forlorn, desolate, and +the inmate of a poor-house; and then he built castles of a future, +when, by the labor of his own head or hands, Mary, too, should be rich +and happy. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +ALICE. + + +As spring advanced, Alice began to droop, and Sally's quick eye +detected in her infallible signs of decay. But she would not tell it +to Mary, whose life now seemed a comparatively happy one. Mr. and Mrs. +Parker were kind to her,--the pleasant-looking woman and the girl with +crooked feet were kind to her. Uncle Peter petted her, and even Miss +Grundy had more than once admitted that "she was about as good as +young ones would average." Billy, too, had promised to remain and work +for Mr. Parker during the summer, intending with the money thus earned +to go the next fall and winter to the Academy in Wilbraham. Jenny was +coming back ere long, and Mary's step was light and buoyant as she +tripped singing about the house, unmindful of Miss Grundy's +oft-expressed wish that "she would stop that clack," or of the +anxious, pitying eyes Sal Furbush bent upon her, as day after day the +faithful old creature rocked and tended little Alice. + +"No," said she, "I cannot tell her. She'll have tears enough to shed +by and by, but I'll double my diligence, and watch little Willie more +closely." So night after night, when Mary was sleeping the deep sleep +of childhood, Sally would steal noiselessly to her room, and bending +over the little wasting figure at her side, would wipe the cold sweat +from her face, and whisper in the unconscious baby's ear messages of +love for "the other little Willie, now waiting for her in Heaven." + +At last Mary could no longer be deceived, and one day when Alice lay +gasping in Sally's lap she said, "Aunt Sally isn't Alice growing +worse? She doesn't play now, nor try to walk." + +Sally laid her hand on Mary's face and replied, "Poor child, you'll +soon be all alone, for Willie's going to find his mother." + +There was no outcry,--no sudden gush of tears, but nervously clasping +her hands upon her heart, as if the shock had entered there, Mary sat +down upon her bed, and burying her face in the pillow, sat there for a +long time. But she said nothing, and a careless observer might have +thought that she cared nothing, as it became each day more and more +evident that Alice was dying. But these knew not of the long nights +when with untiring love she sat by her sister's cradle, listening to +her irregular breathing, pressing her clammy hands, and praying to be +forgiven if ever, in thought or deed, she had wronged the little one +now leaving her. + +And all this time there came no kind word or message of love from +Ella, who knew that Alice was dying, for Billy had told her so. "Oh, +if she would only come and see her;" said Mary, "it wouldn't seem half +so bad." + +"Write to her," said Sal; "peradventure that may bring her." + +Mary had not thought of this before, and now tearing a leaf from her +writing-book, and taking her pen, she wrote hurriedly, "Ella, dear +Ella, won't you come and see little Alice once before she dies? You +used to love her, and you would now, if you could see how white and +beautiful she looks. Oh, do come. Mrs. Campbell will let you, I know." + +This note, which was blurred and blotted with tears was carried by +Billy, who was going to the village, and delivered to Mrs. Campbell +herself. Perhaps the proud woman remembered the time when her own +darling died, or it may be that conscience upbraided her for caring so +much for one orphan and utterly neglecting the other two. Be that as +it may, her tears fell upon the paper and mingled with Mary's as she +replied, "Ella shall come this afternoon." + +But before afternoon a drizzling shower came on, and Mary watched and +wept in vain, for Ella did not come. The next morning was bright and +beautiful as April mornings often are, and at as early an hour as was +consistent with Mrs. Campbell's habits, her carriage was before the +door, and herself and Ella seated within it. The little lady was not +in the best of humors, for she and her maid had quarrelled about her +dress; Ella insisting upon a light-blue merino, and the maid proposing +a plain delaine, which Ella declared she would not wear. Mrs. +Campbell, to whom the matter was referred, decided upon the delaine, +consequently Ella cried and pouted, saying she wouldn't go, wondering +what Alice wanted to be sick for, or any way why they should send for +her. + +Meantime in and around the poor-house there was for once perfect +silence. Sal Furbush had been invisible for hours,--the girl with +crooked feet trod softly as she passed up and down the stairs,--Uncle +Peter's fiddle was unstrung, and, securely locked in his fiddle box, +was stowed away at the bottom of his old red chest,--and twice that +morning when no one saw her, Miss Grundy had stolen out to Patsy's +grave. Mary was not called to wash the dishes, but up in her own room +she sat with her head resting upon the window sill, while the sweet, +fresh air of the morning swept over her face, lifting the hair from +her flushed brow. Billy Bender was standing near her, his arm thrown +around her, and his lips occasionally pressing her forehead. + +Suddenly there was the sound of carriage wheels, and he whispered in +her ear, "Ella is coming." + +Hastily running down the stairs, Mary met her sister in the doorway, +and throwing her arms around her neck, burst into tears. Ella would +gladly have shaken her off, for she felt that her curls were in danger +of being mussed, and she had besides hardly recovered from her pet. +But Mary firmly held her hand, and led her on through the long hall, +into a room which they usually denominated "the best room." + +There, upon the table, lay a little stiffened form. The blue eyes were +closed, and the long eyelashes rested upon the marble cheek, and in +the waxen hands, folded so carefully over the other, there was a +single snow-drop. No one knew who placed it there, or whence it came. +Gently Mary laid back the thin muslin covering, saying as she did so, +"Allie is dead. I've got no sister left but you!" and again her arms +closed convulsively about Ella's neck. + +"You kind of choke me!" said Ella, trying to get free, and it was not +until Mrs. Campbell, thoroughly ashamed of her want of feeling, took +her hand and placed it on Alice's cold cheek, asking her if she were +not sorry her little sister was dead, that she manifested any emotion +whatever. Then, as if something of her better nature were roused, her +lip trembled for a moment, and she burst into a violent fit of +weeping. + +"It is hardly natural that she should feel it as deeply as Mary," said +Mrs. Campbell to Billy Bender, who was present. + +He made no reply, but he never forgot that scene; and when years after +he met with Ella on terms of perfect equality,--when he saw her +petted, flattered, and admired, he turned away from the fawning +multitude, remembering only the April morning when she stood by the +dead body of her sister. + +During all this time no trace of Sal Furbush had been seen, and at +last a strict search was instituted but to no effect, until Billy, who +chanced to be passing the dark closet under the garret stairs, heard +her whispering to herself, "Yes, little Willie's dead, and Sally's got +_three_ in Heaven now." + +Entering the place, he found her crouched in one corner, her hair +hanging down her back, and her eyes flashing with unusual brightness. + +"Why, Sally," said he, "what are you here for?" + +"To save the credit of the house," was her ready reply. "When the +other Willie died, they chained me in this dungeon, and thinking they +might do so again, I concluded to come here quietly wishing to save +all trouble and confusion, for the utmost decorum should be preserved +in the house of death." + +"Poor woman," said Billy kindly, "no one wishes you to stay here. Come +with me,"--and he took her hand to lead her forth. + +But she resisted him, saying, that "fasting and solitude were nature's +great restoratives." + +"She has showed her good sense for once," said Miss Grundy, on hearing +of Sally's whereabouts, "but' ain't the critter hungry?" and owing to +some newly touched chord of kindness, a slice of toast and a cup of +hot tea erelong found entrance into the darksome cell. + +Strange to say, too, the hand which brought it was not repulsed, +though very demurely and in seeming earnestness was the question +asked, "Mrs. Grundy, haven't you met with a change?" + +The next day was the funeral. At first there was some talk of burying +the child in the same inclosure with Patsy; but Mary plead so +earnestly to have her laid by her mother, that her request was +granted, and that night when the young spring moon came out, it looked +quietly down upon the grave of little Alice, who by her mother's side +was sweetly sleeping. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A NEW FRIEND. + + +Three weeks had passed away since Alice's death, and affairs at the +poor-house were beginning to glide on as usual. Sal Furbush, having +satisfied her own ideas of propriety by remaining secluded for two or +three days, had once more appeared in society; but now that Alice was +no longer there to be watched, time hung wearily upon her hands, and +she was again seized with her old desire for authorship. Accordingly, +a grammar was commenced, which she said would contain Nine Hundred and +Ninety Nine rules for speaking the English language correctly! + +Mary, who had resumed her post as dish washer in the kitchen, was +almost daily expecting Jenny; and one day when Billy came in to +dinner, he gave her the joyful intelligence that Jenny had returned, +and had been in the field to see him, bidding him tell Mary to meet +her that afternoon in the woods by the brook. + +"Oh, I do hope Miss Grundy will let me go," said Mary, "and I guess +she will, for since Allie died, she hasn't been near so cross." + +"If she don't, I will," answered Mr. Parker, who chanced to be +standing near, and who had learned to regard the little orphan girl +with more than usual interest. + +But Miss Grundy made no objections, and when the last dishcloth was +wrung dry, and the last iron spoon put in its place, Mary bounded +joyfully away to the woods, where she found Jenny, who embraced her in +a manner which showed that she had not been forgotten. + +"Oh," said she, "I've got so much to tell you, and so much to hear, +though I know all about dear little Allie' death,--didn't you feel +dreadfully?" + +Mary's tears were a sufficient answer, and Jenny, as if suddenly +discovering something new, exclaimed, "Why, what have you been doing? +Who pulled your teeth?" + +Mary explained the circumstance of the tooth-pulling, and Jenny +continued: "You look a great deal better, and if your cheeks were only +a little fatter and your skin not quite so yellow, you'd be real +handsome; but no matter about that. I saw George Moreland in Boston, +and I wanted to tell him about you, but I'd promised not to; and then +at first I felt afraid of him, for you can't think what a great big +fellow he's got to be. Why, he's awful tall! and handsome, too. Rose +likes him, and so do lots of the girls, but I don't believe he cares a +bit for any of them except his cousin Ida, and I guess he does like +her;--any way, he looks at her as though he did." + +Mary wondered _how_ he looked at her, and would perhaps have asked, +had she not been prevented by the sudden appearance of Henry Lincoln, +who directly in front of her leaped across the brook. He was evidently +not much improved in his manners, for the moment he was safely landed +on terra firma, he approached her, and seizing her round the waist, +exclaimed, "Hallo, little pauper! You're glad to see me back, I dare +say." + +Then drawing her head over so that he could look into her face, he +continued, "Had your tusks out, haven't you! Well, it's quite an +improvement, so much so that I'll venture to kiss you." + +Mary struggled, and Jenny scolded, while Henry said "Don't kick and +flounce so, my little beauty. If there's any thing I hate, it's seeing +girls make believe they're modest. That clodhopper Bill kisses you +every day, I'll warrant." + +Here Jenny's wrath exploded; and going up to her brother, she +attempted to pull him away, until bethinking her of the brook, she +commenced sprinkling him with water, but observing that more of it +fell upon Mary than her brother, she desisted, while Henry, having +accomplished his purpose, began spitting and making wry faces, +assuring Mary that "she needn't be afraid of his ever troubling her +again, for her lips were musty, and tasted of the poor-house!" + +Meanwhile Tasso, who had become a great favorite with Mary, and who, +on this occasion, had accompanied her to the woods, was standing on +the other side of the brook, eyeing Henry's movements, and apparently +trying to make up his mind whether his interference was necessary or +not. A low growl showed that he was evidently deciding the matter, +when Henry desisted, and walked leisurely off. + +Erelong, however, he returned, and called out, "See, girls, I've got +an elegant necklace for you." + +Looking up, they saw him advancing towards them, with a small water +snake, which he held in his hand; and, readily divining his purpose, +they started and ran, while he pursued them, threatening to wind the +snake around the neck of the first one he caught. Jenny, who was too +chubby to be very swift-footed, took refuge behind a clump of alder +bushes but Mary kept on, and just as she reached a point where the +brook turned, Henry overtook her, and would perhaps have carried his +threat into execution, had not help arrived from an unexpected +quarter. Tasso, who had watched, and felt sure that this time all was +not right, suddenly pounced upon Henry, throwing him down, and then +planting himself upon his prostrate form, in such a manner that he +dared not move. + +"Oh, good, good," said Jenny, coming out from her concealment; "make +Tasso keep him there ever so long; and," she continued, patting the +dog, "if you won't hurt him much, you may shake him just a little." + +"No, no," said Henry, writhing with fear, "call him off, do call him +off. Oh, mercy!" he added, as Tasso, who did not particularly care to +have the case reasoned, showed two rows of very white teeth. + +Mary could not help laughing at the figure which Henry cut; but +thinking him sufficiently punished, she called off the dog, who obeyed +rather unwillingly, and ever after manifested his dislike to Henry by +growling angrily whenever he appeared. + +One morning about two weeks afterwards, Mary was in the meadow +gathering cowslips for dinner, when she heard some one calling her +name; and looking up, she saw Jenny hurrying towards her, her +sun-bonnet hanging down her back as usual, and her cheeks flushed with +violent exercise. As soon as she came up, she began with, "Oh my, +ain't I hot and tired, and I can't stay a minute either, for I run +away. But I had such good news to tell you, that I would come. You are +going to have a great deal better home than this. You know where Rice +Corner is, the district over east?" + +Mary replied that she did, and Jenny continued: "We all went over +there yesterday to see Mrs. Mason. She's a real nice lady, who used to +live in Boston, and be intimate with ma, until three or four years +ago, when Mr. Mason died. We didn't go there any more then, and I +asked Rose what the reason was, and she said Mrs. Mason was poor now, +and ma had 'cut her;' and when I asked her what she _cut_ her with, +she only laughed, and said she believed I didn't know any thing. But +since then I've learned what it means." + +"What does it?" asked Mary, and Jenny replied: "If a person dies and +leaves no money, no matter how good his folks are, or how much you +like them, you mustn't know them when you meet them in the street, or +you must cross over the other side if you see them coming; and then +when ladies call and speak about them, you must draw a great long +breath, and wonder 'how the poor thing will get along, she was so +dreadful extravagant.' I positively heard mother say those very words +about Mrs. Mason; and what is so funny, the washwoman the same day +spoke of her, and cried when she told how kind she was, and how she +would go without things herself for the sake of giving to the poor. +It's queer, isn't it?" + +Ah, Jenny, Jenny, you've much of life yet to learn! + +After a moment's pause, Jenny proceeded: "This Mrs. Mason came into +the country, and bought the prettiest little cottage you ever saw. She +has lots of nice fruit, and for all mother pretends in Boston that she +don't visit her, just as soon as the fruit is ripe, she always goes +there. Pa says it's real mean, and he should think Mrs. Mason would +see through it." + +"Did you go there for fruit yesterday?" asked Mary. + +"Oh, no," returned Jenny. "Mother said she was tired to death with +staying at home. Besides that, she heard something in Boston about a +large estate in England, which possibly would fall to Mrs. Mason, and +she thought it would be real kind to go and tell her. Mrs. Mason has +poor health, and while we were there, she asked mother if she knew of +any good little girl she could get to come and live with her; 'one,' +she said, 'who could be quiet when her head ached, and who would read +to her and wait on her at other times.' Mother said she did not know +of any; but when Mrs. Mason went out to get tea, I followed and told +her of you, and the tears came into her eyes when I said your folks +were all dead, and you were alone and sorry. She said right off that +she would come round and see you soon, and if she liked you, you +should live with her. But I must run back, for I suppose you know +mother brought our governess with us, and it's time I was turning my +toes out and my elbows in. Ugh! how I do hate such works. If I ever +have a house, there shan't be a fashionable thing about it. I'll have +it full of cats, dogs, and poor children, with a swing and a +'_teater_' in every room, and Billy Bender shall live with me, and +drive the horses!" + +So saying, she ran off; and Mary, having gathered her cowslips, sat +down to think of Mrs. Mason, and wonder if she should ever see her. +Since Alice's death she had been in the daily habit of learning a +short lesson, which she recited to Sally, and this afternoon, when the +dishes were all washed, she had as usual stolen away to her books. She +had not been long occupied, ere Rind called her, saying Mr. Knight, +who, it will be remembered, had brought her to the poor-house, was +down stairs and wanted to see her, and that there was a lady with him, +too. + +Mary readily guessed that the lady must be Mrs. Mason and carefully +brushing her hair, and tying on a clean apron, she descended to the +kitchen, where she was met by Mr. Knight, who called out, "Hallo, my +child, how do you do? 'Pears to me you've grown handsome. It agrees +with you to live here I reckon, but I'll venture you'll be glad enough +to leave, and go and live with her, won't you?" pointing towards a +lady, who was just coming from Mrs. Parker's room, and towards whom +Mary's heart instantly warmed. + +"You see," continued Mr. Knight, "one of the Lincoln girls has taken +a mighty shine to you, and it's queer, too, for they're dreadful +stuck-up folks." + +"If you please, sir," said Mary, interrupting him, "Jenny isn't a bit +stuck up." + +"Umph!" returned Mr. Knight. "She don't belong to the Lincoln race +then, I guess. I know them, root and branch. Lincoln's wife used to +work in the factory at Southbridge, but she's forgot all about that, +and holds her head dreadful high whenever she sees me. But that's +neither here nor there. This woman wants you to live with her. Miss +Mason, this is Mary. Mary, this is Miss Mason." + +The introduction being thus happily over, Mrs. Mason proceeded to ask +Mary a variety of questions, and ended by saying she thought she would +take her, although she would rather not have her come for a few days, +as she was going to be absent. Miss Grundy was now interrogated +concerning her knowledge of work, and with quite a consequential air, +she replied, "Perhaps, ma'am, it looks too much like praising myself, +considerin' that I've had the managin' of her mostly, but I must +confess that she's lived with me so long and got my ways so well, that +she's as pleasant a mannered, good-tempered child, and will scour as +bright a knife as you could wish to see!" + +Mary saw that Mrs. Mason could hardly repress a smile as she replied, +"I am glad about the temper and manners, but the scouring of knives is +of little consequence, for Judith always does that." + +Sal Furbush, who had courtesied herself into the room, now asked to +say a word concerning Mary. "She is," said she, "the very apple of my +eye, and can parse a sentence containing three double relatives, two +subjunctive moods and four nominatives absolute, perfectly easily." + +"I see you are a favorite here," said Mrs. Mason, laying her hand +gently on Mary's head, "and I think that in time you will be quite as +much of one with me, so one week from Saturday you may expect me." + +There was something so very affectionate in Mrs. Mason's manner of +speaking, that Mary could not keep her tears back; and when Sally, +chancing to be in a poetic mood, said to her, "Maiden, wherefore +weepest thou?" she replied, "I can't help it. She speaks so kind, and +makes me think of mother." + +"Speaks so _kindly_, you mean," returned Sal, while Mrs. Mason, +brushing a tear from her own eye, whispered to the little girl, "I +will be a mother to you, my child;" then, as Mr. Knight had finished +discussing the weather with Mr. Parker, she stepped into his buggy, +and was driven away. + +"That's what I call a thoroughly grammatical lady," said Sal, looking +after her until a turn in the road hid her from view, "and I shall try +to be resigned, though the vital spark leaves this house when Mary +goes." + +Not long after, Rind asked Miss Grundy if William Bender was going +away. + +"Not as I know on," answered Miss Grundy. "What made you think of +that?" + +"'Cause," returned Rind, "I heard Sal Furbush having over a mess of +stuff about the _spark's_ leaving when Mary did, and I thought mebby +he was going, as you say he's her spark!" + +The next afternoon Jenny, managing to elude the watchful eyes of her +mother and governess, came over to the poor-house. + +"I'm so glad you are going," said she, when she heard of Mrs. Mason's +visit. "I shall be lonesome without you, but you'll have such a happy +home, and when you get there mayn't I tell George Moreland about you +the next time I see him?" + +"I'd rather you wouldn't," said Mary, "for I don't believe he +remembers me at all." + +"Perhaps not," returned Jenny, "and I guess you wouldn't know him; for +besides being so tall, he has begun to _shave_, and Ida thinks he's +trying to raise whiskers!" + +That night, when Mary was alone, she drew from its hiding-place the +golden locket, but the charm was broken, and the pleasure she had +before experienced in looking at it, now faded away with Jenny's +picture of a whiskered young man, six feet high! Very rapidly indeed +did Mary's last week at the poor-house pass away, and for some reason +or other, every thing went on, as Rind said, "wrong end up." Miss +Grundy was crosser than usual, though all observed that her voice grew +milder in its tone whenever she addressed Mary, and once she went so +far as to say, by way of a general remark, that she "never yet treated +any body, particularly a child, badly, without feeling sorry for it." + +Sal Furbush was uncommonly wild, dancing on her toes, making faces, +repeating her nine hundred and ninety-nine rules of grammar, and +quoting Scripture, especially the passage, "The Lord gave, and the +Lord taketh away, &c." Uncle Peter, too, labored assiduously at +"Delia's Dirge," which he intended playing as Mary was leaving the +yard. + +Saturday came at last, and long before the sun peeped over the eastern +hills, Mary was up and dressed. Just as she was ready to leave her +room, she heard Sally singing in a low tone, "Oh, there'll be +mourning,--mourning,--mourning,--mourning, Oh, there'll be mourning +when Mary's gone away." + +Hastily opening her own door, she knocked at Sal's, and was bidden to +enter. She found her friend seated in the middle of the floor, while +scattered around her were the entire contents of the old barrel and +box which contained her wearing apparel. + +"Good morning, little deary," said she, "I am looking over my somewhat +limited wardrobe, in quest of something wherewith to make your young +heart happy, but my search is vain. I can find nothing except the +original MS. of my first novel. I do not need it now, for I shall make +enough out of my grammar. So take it, and when you are rich and +influential, you'll have no trouble in getting it published,--none at +all." + +So saying, she thrust into Mary's hand a large package, carefully +wrapped in half a dozen newspapers, and the whole enveloped in a +snuff-colored silk handkerchief, which "Willie's father used to wear." +Here Rind came up the stairs saying breakfast was ready, and after +putting her present aside, Mary descended to the kitchen, where she +found the table arranged with more than usual care. An old red waiter, +which was only used on special occasions, was placed near Miss Grundy, +and on it stood the phenomenon of a hissing coffee-pot: and what was +stranger, still, in the place of the tin basin from which Mary had +recently been accustomed to eat her bread and milk, there was now a +cup and saucer, which surely must have been intended for her. Her +wonder was at its height when Miss Grundy entered from the back room, +bearing a plate filled with snowy white biscuit, which she placed upon +the table with an air of "There! what do you think of that?"--then +seating herself, she skimmed all the cream from the bowl of milk, and +preparing a delicious cup of coffee, passed it to Mary, before helping +the rest. + +"Is the Millennium about to be ushered in?" asked Sal in amazement; +while Uncle Peter, reverently rising, said, Fellow-citizens, and +ladies, for these extras let us thank the Lord, remembering to ask a +continuation of the same!" + +"Do let your victuals stop your mouth," said Miss Grundy, "and don't +act as though we never had coffee and biscuit for breakfast before." + +"My memory has failed wonderfully, if we ever did," was Uncle Peter's +reply. + +Breakfast being over, Mary as usual commenced clearing the table, but +Miss Grundy bade her "sit down and _rest_ her," and Mary obeyed, +wondering what she had done to tire herself. About 9 o'clock, Mr. +Knight drove up alone, Mrs. Mason being sick with nervous headache. "I +should have been here sooner," said he, "but the roads is awful rough +and old Charlotte has got a stub or somethin' in her foot But where's +the gal? Ain't she ready?" + +He was answered by Mary herself, who made her appearance, followed by +Billy bearing the box. And now commenced the leave-takings, Miss +Grundy's turn coming first. + +"May I kiss you, Miss Grundy?" said Mary, while Sal exclaimed aside, +"What! kiss those sole-leather lips?" at the same time indicating by a +guttural sound the probable effect such a process would have upon her +stomach! + +Miss 'Grundy bent down and received the child's kiss, and then darting +off into the pantry, went to skimming pans of milk already skimmed! +Rind and the pleasant-looking woman cried outright, and Uncle Peter, +between times, kept ejaculating, "Oh, Lord!--oh, massy sake!--oh, for +land!" while he industriously plied his fiddle bow in the execution of +"Delia's Dirge," which really sounded unearthly, and dirgelike enough. +Billy knew it would be lonely without Mary, but he was glad to have +her go to a better home, go he tried to be cheerful; telling her he +would take good care of Tasso, and that whenever she chose she must +claim her property. + +Aside from him, Sally was the only composed one. It is true, her eyes +were very bright, and there was a compression about her mouth seldom +seen, except just before one of her frenzied attacks. Occasionally, +too, she pressed her hands upon her head, and walking to the sink, +bathed it in water, as if to cool its inward heat; but she said +nothing until Mary was about stepping into the buggy, when she +whispered in her ear, "If that novel should have an unprecedented run, +and of course it will, you would not mind sharing the profits with me, +would you?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A NEW HOME IN RICE CORNER. + + +Very different this time was Mary's ride with Mr. Knight from what it +had been some months before, and after brushing away a few natural +tears, and sending back a few heart-sighs to the loved ones left +behind, her spirits rallied, and by the time they reached the borders +of Rice Corner, there was such a look of quiet happiness on her face +that even Mr. Knight noticed it. + +"I'll be hanged if I know what to make of it," said he. "When you rid +with me afore, I thought you was about as ugly favored a child as I +ever see, and now you look full as well as they'll average. What you +been doin'?" + +"Perhaps it's because I've had my teeth out," suggested Mary, and Mr. +Knight, with another scrutinizing look in her face, replied, "Wall, I +guess 'tis that. Teeth is good is their place, but when they git to +achin', why, yank 'em out." + +So saying, he again relapsed into silence, and commenced whipping at +the thistle tops and dandelions. As they rode on, Mary fancied that +the country looked pleasanter and the houses better, than in the +region of the poor-house; and when a sudden turn of the road brought +into view a beautiful blue sheet of water, embosomed by bright green +hills, her delight knew no bounds. Springing up and pointing towards +it, she exclaimed, "Oh, please stop a moment and look. Isn't it +lovely! What is it?" + +"That? Oh, that's nothing but 'Pordunk Pond, or as folks most +generally call 'em, seem' there's two, North and South Pond." + +"But it's big enough to be a lake, isn't it?" asked Mary. + +"Why, yes," returned her companion. "It's better than five miles long, +and a mile or so wide, and in York State I s'pose they'd call it a +lake, but here in old Massachusetts we stick to fust principles, and +call all things by their right names." + +"How far is the pond from Mrs. Mason's?" asked Mary, casting longing +glances towards the distant sandy beach, and the graceful trees which +drooped over the water's edge. + +"It's farther back than 'tis there, 'cause it's uphill all the way," +said Mr. Knight, "but here we be at Miss Mason's,--this house right +here," and he pointed to a neat, handsome cottage, almost hidden from +view by the dense foliage which surrounded it. + +There was a long lawn in front, and into the carriage road on the +right of it Mr. Knight turned, and driving up to a side door; said to +Mary, "Come, jump down, for my foot is so lame I don't believe I'll +get out. But there's your chest. You can't lift that. Hallo, Judith, +come 'ere." + +In answer to this call, a fat, pleasant-looking colored woman appeared +in the doorway, and as if fresh from the regions of cookdom, wiped the +drops of perspiration from her round jolly face. + +"Here, Judith," said Mr Knight, "help this gal lift her traps out." + +Judith complied, and then bidding old Charlotte to "get up," Mr. +Knight drove away, leaving Mary standing by the kitchen door. + +"Come in and sit down," said Judith, pushing a chair towards Mary +with her foot. "It's as hot here as oven, but I had crambry sass and +ginger snaps, and massy knows what to make this morning, and I got +belated; but set down and make yourself to home." + +Mary took the proffered seat, and then Judith left the room for a few +moments, saying when she returned, that as Mrs. Mason was still +suffering from a headache, she could not see Mary until after dinner. +"And," continued Judith "she told me to entertain you, but I don't +know what to say, nor do first. Harry died just a week to a day before +he was to be married, and so I never had any little girls to talk to. +Can't you think of something to talk about? What have you been used to +doing?" + +"Washing dishes," was Mary's reply, after glancing about the room, and +making sure that on this occasion there were none to wash. + +"Wall," answered Judith, "I guess you won't have that to do here; for +one night when some of the neighbors were in, I heard Miss Mason tell +'em that she got you to read to her and wait on her. And then she said +something about your not having an equal chance with your sister. You +hain't but one, now t'other's dead, have you?" + +Mary replied in the negative, and Judith continued: "Wall, now, you've +got over the first on't, I reckon you'se glad the baby's dead, for she +must have been kind of a bother, wasn't she?" + +Instantly Mary's thoughts flew back to an empty cradle, and again a +little golden head was pillowed upon her breast, as often in times +past it had been, and as it would never be again. Covering her face +with her hands, she sobbed, "Oh, Allie, Allie! I wish she hadn't +died." + +Judith looked on in amazement, and for want of something better to do, +placed a fresh stick of wood in the stove, muttering to herself. "Now +I never! I might of knew I didn't know what to say. What a pity Harry +died. I'll give her that big ginger snap the minute it's baked. See if +I don't." + +Accordingly, when the snap was done, Judith placed it in Mary's hands, +bidding her eat it quick, and then go up and see the nice chamber Mrs. +Mason had arranged for her. + +"If you please," said Mary, rapidly shifting the hot cake from one +hand to the other,--"if you please, I had rather go up now, and eat +the cake when it is cool." + +"Come, then," said Judith; and leading the way, she conducted Mary up +the staircase, and through a light, airy hall to the door of a small +room, which she opened, saying "Look, ain't it pretty?" + +But Mary's heart was too full to speak, and for several minutes she +stood silent. With the exception of her mother's pleasant parlor in +Old England, she had never before seen any thing which seemed to her +so cosy and cheerful as did that little room, with its single bed, +snowy counterpane, muslin curtains, clean matting, convenient toilet +table, and what to her was fairer than all the rest, upon the +mantel-piece there stood two small vases, filled with sweet spring +flowers, whose fragrance filled the apartment with delicious perfume. +All this was so different from the bare walls, uncovered floors, and +rickety furniture of the poor-house, that Mary trembled lest it should +prove a dream, from which erelong she would awake. + +"Oh, why is Mrs. Mason so kind to me?" was her mental exclamation; and +as some of our readers may ask the same question, we will explain to +them that Mrs. Mason was one of the few who "do to others as they +would others should do to them." + +Years before our story opens, she, too, was a lonely orphan, weeping +in a dreary garret, as ofttimes Mary had wept in the poor-house, and +it was the memory of those dark hours, which so warmed her heart +towards the little girl she had taken under her charge. From Jenny we +have learned something of her history. Once a happy, loving wife, +surrounded by wealth and friends, she had thought the world all bright +and beautiful. But a change came over the spirit of her dream. Her +noble husband died,--and the day succeeding his burial, she was told +that their fortune, too, was gone. One by one, as misfortune came upon +her, did her fashionable friends desert her, until she was left alone, +with none to lean upon except the God of the widow and fatherless, and +in Him she found a strong help for her dark hour of need. Bravely she +withstood the storm, and when it was over, retired with the small +remnant of her once large fortune to the obscure neighborhood of Rice +Corner, where with careful economy she managed to live comfortably, +besides saving a portion for the poor and destitute. She had taken a +particular fancy to Mary, and in giving her a home, she had thought +more of the good she could do the child, than of any benefit she would +receive from her services as waiting maid. She had fully intended to +go for Mary herself; but as we already know, was prevented by a severe +headache, and it was not until three o'clock in the afternoon, that +she was even able to see her at all. Then, calling Judith, she bade +her bring the little girl to her room, and leave them alone. + +Judith obeyed, charging Mary to "tread on tiptoe, and keep as still as +a mouse, for Miss Mason's head ached fit to split." + +This caution was unnecessary, for Mary had been so much accustomed to +sick persons that she knew intuitively just what to do and when to do +it and her step was so light, her voice so low, and the hand which +bathed the aching head so soft and gentle in its touch, that Mrs. +Mason involuntarily drew her to her bosom, and kissing her lips, +called her her child, and said she should never leave her then laying +back in her easy chair, she remained perfectly still, while Mary +alternately fixed her hair, and smoothed her forehead until she fell +into a quiet slumber, from which she did not awake until Judith rang +the bell for supper, which was neatly laid out in a little dining +parlor, opening into the flower garden. There was something so very +social and cheering in the appearance of the room, and the arrangement +of the table, with its glossy white cloth, and dishes of the same hue, +that Mary felt almost as much like weeping as she did on the night of +her arrival at the poor-house. But Mrs. Mason seemed to know exactly +how to entertain her; and by the time that first tea was over, there +was hardly a happier child in the world than was Mary. + +As soon as Mrs. Mason arose from the table, she, too, sprang up, and +taking hold of the dishes, removed them to the kitchen in a much +shorter space of time than was usually occupied by Judith. "Git away +now," said that lady as she saw Mary making preparations to wash the +cups and saucers. "I never want any body putterin' round under my +feet. I always wash and wipe and scour my own things, and then I know +they are done." + +Accordingly, she returned to Mrs. Mason, who, wishing to retire early, +soon dismissed her to her own room, where she for some time amused +herself with watching the daylight as it gradually disappeared from +the hills which lay beyond the pond. Then when it all was gone, and +the stars began to come out, she turned her eyes towards one, which +had always seemed to her to be her mother's soul, looking down upon +her from the windows of heaven. Now, to-night there shone beside it a +smaller, feebler one, and in the fleecy cloud which floated around it, +she fancied she could define the face of her baby sister. +Involuntarily stretching out her hands, she cried, "Oh, mother, Allie, +I am so happy now;" and to the child's imagination the stars smiled +lovingly upon her, while the evening wind, as it gently moved the +boughs of the tall elm trees, seemed like the rustle of angels' wings. +Who shall say the mother's spirit was not there to rejoice with her +daughter over the glad future opening so brightly before her? + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +VISITORS. + + +The Tuesday following Mary's arrival at Mrs. Mason's, there was a +social gathering at the house of Mr. Knight. This gathering could +hardly be called a tea party, but came more directly under the head of +an "afternoon's visit," for by two o'clock every guest had arrived, +and the "north room" was filled with ladies, whose tongues, like their +hands, were in full play. Leathern reticules, delicate embroidery, and +gold thimbles were not then in vogue in Rice Corner; but on the +contrary, some of Mrs. Knight's visitors brought with them large, +old-fashioned work-bags, from which the ends of the polished +knitting-needles were discernible; while another apologized for the +magnitude of her work, saying that "her man had fretted about his +trousers until she herself began to think it was time to finish them; +and so when she found Miss Mason wasn't to be there, she had just +brought them along." + +In spite of her uniform kindness, Mrs. Mason was regarded by some of +her neighbors as a bugbear, and this allusion to her immediately +turned the conversation in that direction. + +"Now, do tell," said Widow Perkins, vigorously rapping her snuff-box +and passing it around. "Now, do tell if it's true that Miss Mason has +took a girl from the town-house?" + +On being assured that such was the fact, she continued "Now I _will_ +give up. Plagued as she is for things, what could have possessed her?" + +"I was not aware that she was very much troubled to live," said Mrs. +Knight, whose way of thinking, and manner of expressing herself, was +entirely unlike Mrs. Perkins. + +"Wall, she is," was Mrs. Perkins's reply; and then hitching her chair +closer to the group near her, and sinking her voice to a whisper, she +added, "You mustn't speak of it on any account, for I wouldn't have it +go from me, but my Sally Ann was over there t'other day, and neither +Miss Mason nor Judy was to home. Sally Ann has a sight of +curiosity,--I don't know nothing under the sun where she gets it, for +I hain't a mite,--Wall, as I was tellin' you, there was nobody to +home, and Sally Ann she slips down cellar and peeks into the pork +barrel, and as true as you live, there warn't a piece there. Now, when +country folks get out of salt pork, they are what I call middlin' +poor." + +And Mrs. Perkins finished her speech with the largest pinch of +maccaboy she could possibly hold between her thumb and forefinger. + +"Miss Perkins," said an old lady who was famous for occasionally +rubbing the widow down, "Miss Perkins, that's just as folks think. +It's no worse to be out of pork than 'tis to eat codfish the whole +durin' time." + +This was a home thrust, for Mrs. Perkins, who always kept one or two +boarders, and among them the school-teacher was notorious for feeding +them on codfish. + +Bridling up in a twinkling, her little gray eyes flashed fire as she +replied, "I s'pose it's me you mean, Miss Bates; but I guess I've a +right to eat what I'm a mind to. I only ask a dollar and ninepence a +week for boarding the school marm--" + +"And makes money at that," whispered a rosy-cheeked girlish-looking +woman, who the summer before had been the "school-marm," and who now +bore the name of a thrifty young farmer. + +Mrs. Perkins, however, did not notice this interruption but proceeded +with, "Yes, a dollar and ninepence is all I ever ask, and if I kept +them so dreadful slim, I guess the committee man wouldn't always come +to me the first one." + +"Mrs. Perkins, here's the pint," said Mrs. Bates, dropping a stitch in +her zeal to explain matters; "you see the cheaper they get the +school-ma'am boarded, the further the money goes, and the longer +school they have. Don't you understand it?" + +Mrs. Knight, fancying that affairs were assuming altogether too +formidable an aspect, adroitly turned the conversation upon the +heroine of our story, saying how glad she was that Mary had at last +found so good a home. + +"So am I," said Mrs. Bates; "for we all know that Mrs. Mason will take +just as good care of her, as though she were her own; and she's had a +mighty hard time of it, knocked around there at the poor-house under +Polly Grundy's thumb." + +"They do say," said Mrs. Perkins, whose anger had somewhat cooled, +"They do say that Miss Grundy is mowing a wide swath over there, and +really expects to have Mr. Parker, if his wife happens to die." + +In her girlhood Mrs. Perkins had herself fancied Mr. Parker, and now +in her widowhood, she felt an unusual interest in the failing health +of his wife. No one replied to her remark, and Mrs. Bates continued: +"It really used to make my heart ache to see the little forlorn thing +sit there in the gallery, fixed up so old and fussy, and then to see +her sister prinked out like a milliner's show window, a puckerin' and +twistin', and if she happens to catch her sister's eye, I have +actually seen her turn up her nose at her,--so--" and Mrs. Bates's +nasal organ went up towards her eyebrows in imitation of the look +which Ella sometimes gave Mary. "It's wicked in me, perhaps," said +Mrs. Bates, "but pride must have a fall, and I do hope I shall live to +see the day when Ella Campbell won't be half as well off as her +sister." + +"I think Mrs. Campbell is answerable for some of Ella's conduct," said +Mrs. Knight, "for I believe she suffered her to visit the poor-house +but once while Mary was there." + +"I guess she'll come oftener now she's living with a city bug," +rejoined Mrs. Perkins. + +Just then there was the sound of carriage wheels, and a woman near the +door exclaimed, "If you'll believe it there she is now, going right +straight into Mrs. Mason's yard." + +"Well, if that don't beat me," said Mrs. Perkins. "Seems to me I'd +have waited a little longer for look's sake. Can you see what she's +got on from here?" and the lady made a rush for the window to +ascertain if possible that important fact. + +Meantime the carriage steps were let down and Mrs. Campbell alighted. +As Mrs. Knight's guests had surmised, she was far more ready to visit +Mary now than heretofore. Ella, too, had been duly informed by her +waiting-maid that she needn't mind denying that she had a sister to +the Boston girls who were spending a summer in Chicopee. + +"To be sure," said Sarah, "she'll never be a fine lady like you and +live in the city; but then Mrs. Mason is a very respectable woman, and +will no doubt put her to a trade, which is better than being a town +pauper; so you mustn't feel above her any more, for it's wicked, and +Mrs. Campbell wouldn't like it, for you know she and I are trying to +bring you up in the fear of the Lord." + +Accordingly Ella was prepared to greet her sister more cordially than +she had done before in a long time, and Mary that day took her first +lesson in learning that too often friends come and go with prosperity. +But she did not think of it then. She only knew that her sister's arm +was around her neck, and her sister's kiss upon her cheek. With a cry +of joy, she exclaimed, "Oh, Ella, I knew you'd be glad to find me so +happy." + +But Ella wasn't particularly glad. She was too thoroughly heartless to +care for any one except herself, and her reception of her sister was +more the result of Sarah's lesson, and of a wish expressed by Mrs. +Campbell, that she would "try and behave as well as she could towards +Mary." Mrs. Campbell, too, kissed the little girl, and expressed her +pleasure at finding her so pleasantly situated; and then dropping +languidly upon the sofa, asked for Mrs. Mason, who soon appeared, and +received her visitor with her accustomed politeness. + +"And so you, too, have cared for the orphan," said Mrs. Campbell. +"Well, you will find it a task to rear her as she should be reared, +but a consciousness of doing right makes every thing seem easy. My +dear, (speaking to Ella,) run out and play awhile with your sister, I +wish to see Mrs. Mason alone." + +"You may go into the garden," said Mrs. Mason to Mary, who arose to +obey; but Ella hung back, saying she 'didn't want to go,--the garden +was all nasty, and she should dirty her clothes." + +"But, my child," said Mrs. Campbell, "I wish to have you go, and you +love to obey me, do you not?" + +Still Ella hesitated, and when Mary took hold of her hand, she jerked +it away, saying, "Let me be." + +At last she was persuaded to leave the room, but on reaching the hall +she stopped, and to Mary's amazement applied her ear to the keyhole. + +"I guess I know how to cheat her," said she in a whisper. "I've been +sent off before, but I listened and heard her talk about me." + +"Talk about you!" repeated Mary. "What did she say?" + +"Oh, 'set me up,' as Sarah says," returned Ella; and Mary, who had +never had the advantage of a waiting maid, and who consequently was +not so well posted on "slang terms," asked what "setting up" meant. + +"Why," returned Ella, "she tells them how handsome and smart I am, and +repeats some cunning thing I've said or done; and sometimes she tells +it right before me, and that's why I didn't want to come out." + +This time, however, Mrs. Campbell's conversation related more +particularly to Mary. + +"My dear Mrs. Mason," she began, "you do not know how great a load you +have removed from my mind by taking Mary from the poor-house." + +"I can readily understand," said Mrs. Mason, "why you should feel more +than a passing interest in the sister of your adopted daughter, and I +assure you I shall endeavor to treat her just as I would wish a child +of mine treated, were it thrown upon the wide world." + +"Of course you will," returned Mrs. Campbell, "and I only wish you had +it in your power to do more for her, and in this perhaps I am selfish. +I felt badly about her being in the poor-house, but truth compels me +to say, that it was more on Ella's account than her own. I shall give +Ella every advantage which money can purchase, and I am excusable I +think for saying that she is admirably fitted to adorn any station in +life; therefore it cannot but be exceedingly mortifying to her to +know that one sister died a pauper and the other was one for a length +of time. This, however, can not be helped, and now, as I said before I +only wish it were in your power to do more for Mary. I, of course, +know that you are poor, but I do not think less of you for that--" + +Mrs. Mason's body became slightly more erect, but she made no reply, +and Mrs. Campbell continued. + +"Still I hope you will make every exertion in your power to educate +and polish Mary as much as possible, so that if by chance Ella in +after years should come in contact with her, she would not +feel,--ahem,--would not,--would not be--" + +"Ashamed to own her sister, I suppose you would say," interrupted Mrs. +Mason. "Ashamed to acknowledge that the same blood flowed in her +veins, that the same roof once sheltered them, and that the same +mother bent lovingly over their pillows, calling them her children." + +"Why, not exactly that," said Mrs. Campbell, fidgeting in her chair +and growing very red. "I think there is a difference between feeling +mortified and ashamed. Now you must know that Ella would not be +particularly pleased to have a homely, stupid, rawboned country girl +pointed out as her sister to a circle of fashionable acquaintances in +Boston, where I intend taking her as soon as her education is +finished; and I think it well enough for Mary to understand, that with +the best you can do for her there will still be a great difference +between her own and her sister's position." + +"Excuse me, madam," again interrupted Mrs. Mason, "a stupid, awkward +country girl Mary is not, and never will be. In point of intellect she +is far superior to her sister, and possesses more graceful and +lady-like manners. Instead of Ella's being ashamed of her, I fancy it +will be just the reverse, unless your daughter's foolish vanity and +utter selfishness is soon checked. Pardon me for being thus plain, +but in the short time Mary has been with me, I have learned to love +her, and my heart already warms towards her as towards a daughter, and +I cannot calmly hear her spoken of so contemptuously." + +During this conversation, Ella had remained listening at the +keyhole, and as the voices grew louder and more earnest, Mary, too, +distinguished what they said. She was too young to appreciate it fully, +but she understood enough to wound her deeply; and as she just then +heard Ella say there was a carriage coming, she sprang up the stairs, +and entering her own room, threw herself upon the bed and burst into +tears. Erelong a little chubby face looked in at the door, and a voice +which went to Mary's heart, exclaimed, "Why-ee,--Mary,--crying the first +time I come to see you!" + +It was Jenny, and in a moment the girls were in each other's arms. + +"Rose has gone to the garden with Ella," said Jenny, "but she told me +where to find you, and I came right up here. Oh, what a nice little +room, so different from mine with my things scattered every where. But +what is the matter? Don't you like to live with Mrs. Mason?" + +"Yes, very much," answered Mary. "It isn't that," and then she told +what she had overheard. + +"It's perfectly ridiculous and out of character for Mrs. Campbell to +talk so," said Jenny, looking very wise. "And it's all, false, too. +You are not stupid, nor awkward, nor very homely either; Billy Bender +says so, and he knows. I saw him this morning, and he talked ever so +much about you. Next fall he's going to Wilbraham to study Latin and +Chinese too, I believe, I don't know though. Henry laughs and says, 'a +plough-jogger study Latin!' But I guess Billy will some day be a +bigger man than Henry don't you?" + +Mary was sure of it; and then Jenny proceeded to open her budget of +news concerning the inmates of the poor-house. "Sal Furbush," said +she, "is raving crazy now you are gone, and they had to shut her up, +but yesterday she broke away and came over to our house. Tasso was +with her, and growled so at Henry that he ran up garret, and then, +like a great hateful, threw bricks at the dog. I told Sally I was +coming to see you, and she said, 'Ask her if she has taken the first +step towards the publication of my novel. Tell her, too, that the +Glory of Israel has departed, and that I would drown myself if it were +not for my clothes, which I fear Mrs. Grundy would wear out!'" + +Here Rose called to her sister to come down, and accordingly the two +girls descended together to the parlor, where they found Mrs. Lincoln. +She was riding out, she said, and had just stopped a moment to inquire +after Mrs. Mason's health and to ask for a _very few_ flowers,--they +did look so tempting! She was of course perfectly delighted to meet +Mrs. Campbell, and Mrs. Campbell was perfectly delighted to meet her; +and drawing their chairs together, they conversed for a long time +about Mrs. So and So, who either had come, or was coming from Boston +to spend the summer. + +"I am so glad," said Mrs. Lincoln, "for we need some thing to keep us +alive. I don't see, Mrs. Campbell, how you manage to live here through +the winter, no society nor any thing." + +Here Mrs. Mason ventured to ask if there were not some very pleasant +and intelligent ladies in the village. + +"Oh, ye-es," said Mrs. Lincoln, with a peculiar twist to her mouth, +which Jenny said she always used when she was "putting on." "They are +well enough, but they are not the kind of folks we would recognize at +home. At least they don't belong to 'our set,'" speaking to Mrs. +Campbell who replied, "Oh, certainly not." It was plain even to a +casual observer that Mrs. Lincoln's was the ruling spirit to which +Mrs. Campbell readily yielded, thinking that so perfect a model of +gentility could not err. Mr. Knight possibly might have enlightened +her a little with regard to her friend's pedigree, but he was not +present, and for half an hour more the two ladies talked together of +their city acquaintances, without once seeming to remember that Mrs. +Mason, too, had formerly known them all intimately. At last Mrs. +Lincoln arose, saying she must go, as she had already stopped much +longer than she intended, "but when I get with you," said she, turning +to Mrs. Campbell, "I never know when to leave." + +Mrs. Mason invited her to remain to tea, saying it was nearly ready. +Mrs. Campbell, who had also arisen, waited for Mrs. Lincoln to decide, +which she soon did by reseating herself and saying, laughingly, "I +don't know but I'll stay for a taste of those delicious looking +strawberries I saw your servant carry past the window." + +Erelong the little tea-bell rang, and Mrs. Lincoln, who had not before +spoken to Mary, now turned haughtily towards her, requesting her to +watch while they were at supper and see if the coachman did not drive +off with the horses as he sometimes did. Mary could not trust herself +to reply for she had agreed to sit next Jenny at table, and had in her +own mind decided to give her little friend her share of berries. She +glanced once at Mrs. Mason, who apparently did not notice her, and +then gulping down her tears, took her station by the window, where she +could see the coachman who, instead of meditating a drive around the +neighborhood was fast asleep upon the box. Jenny did not miss her +companion until she was sitting down to the table, and then noticing +an empty plate between herself and her mother, who managed to take up +as much room as possible, she rather impolitely called out, "Here, +mother, sit along and make room for Mary. That's her place. Why, where +is she? Mrs. Mason, may I call her?" + +Mrs. Mason, who had seen and heard more than Mary fancied, and who in +seating her guests had contrived to bring Mary's plate next to Mrs. +Lincoln, nodded, and Jenny springing up ran to the parlor, where Mary +stood counting flies, looking up at the ceiling, and trying various +other ways to keep from crying. Seizing both her hands Jenny almost +dragged her into the dining-room, where she found it rather difficult +squeezing in between her mother and Rose, whose elbows took up much +more room than was necessary. A timely _pinch_, however, duly +administered, sent the young lady along an inch or so, and Jenny and +Mary were at last fairly seated. + +Mrs. Lincoln reddened,--Mrs. Campbell looked concerned,--Mrs. Mason +amused,--Rose angry,--Mary mortified,--while Ella, who was not quick +enough to understand, did not look at all except at her strawberries, +which disappeared rapidly. Then in order to attract attention, she +scraped her saucer as loudly as possible; but for once Mrs. Mason was +very obtuse, not even taking the hint when Mrs. Campbell removed a +portion of her own fruit to the plate of the pouting child, bidding +her "eat something besides berries." + +After a time Mrs. Lincoln thought proper to break the silence which +she had preserved, and taking up her fork said, "You have been buying +some new silver, haven't you?" + +"They were a present to me from my friend, Miss Martha Selden," was +Mrs. Mason's reply. + +"Possible!" said Mrs. Campbell. + +"Indeed!" said Mrs. Lincoln, and again closely examining the fork, she +continued, "Aunt Martha is really getting liberal in her old age. But +then I suppose she thinks Ida is provided for, and there'll be no +particular need of her money in that quarter." + +"Provided for? How?" asked Mrs. Mason, and Mrs Lincoln answered, "Why +didn't you know that Mr. Selden's orphan nephew, George Moreland, had +come over from England to live with him? He is heir to a large +fortune, and it is said that both Mr. Selden and Aunt Martha are +straining every nerve to eventually bring about a match between George +and Ida." + +There was no reason why Mary should blush at the mention of George +Moreland, still she did do so, while Jenny slyly stepped upon her +toes. But her embarrassment was unobserved, for what did she, a pauper +girl, know or care about one whose future destiny, and wife too, were +even then the subject of more than one scheming mother's speculations. +Mrs. Mason smiled, and said she thought it very much like child's +play, for if she remembered rightly Ida couldn't be more than thirteen +or fourteen. + +"About that," returned Mrs. Lincoln; "but the young man is +older,--eighteen or nineteen, I think." + +"No, mother," interrupted Jenny, who was as good at keeping ages as +some old women, "he isn't but seventeen." + +"Really," rejoined Mrs. Campbell, "I wouldn't wonder if our little +Jenny had some designs on him herself, she is so anxious to make him +out young." + +"Oh, fy," returned Jenny. "He can't begin with Billy Bender!" + +Mrs. Lincoln frowned, and turning to her daughter, said 'I have +repeatedly requested, and now I command you not to bring up Billy +Bender in comparison with every thing and every body." + +"And pray, who is Billy Bender?" asked Mrs. Mason, and Mrs. Lincoln +replied, "Why, he's a great rough, over grown country boy, who used to +work for Mr. Lincoln, and now he's on the town farm, I believe." + +"But he's _working_ there," said Jenny, "and he's going to get money +enough to go to school next fall at Wilbraham; and I heard father say +he deserved a great deal of credit for it and that men that made +themselves, or else men that didn't, I've forgot which, were always +the smartest." + +Here the older portion of the company laughed, and Mrs. Lincoln, +bidding her daughter not to try to tell any thing unless she could get +it straight, again resumed the subject of the silver forks, saying to +Mrs. Mason, "I should think you'd be so glad. For my part I'm +perfectly wedded to a silver fork, and positively I could not eat +without one." + +"But, mother," interrupted Jenny, "Grandma Howland hasn't any, and I +don't believe she ever had, for once when we were there and you +carried yours to eat with, don't you remember she showed you a little +two tined one, and asked if the victuals didn't taste just as good +when you lived at home and worked in the,--that great big noisy +building,--I forget the name of it?" + +It was fortunate for Jenny's after happiness that Mrs. Campbell was +just then listening intently for something which Ella was whispering +in her ear, consequently she did not hear the remark, which possibly +might have enlightened her a little with regard to her friend's early +days. Tea being over, the ladies announced their intention of leaving, +and Mrs. Mason, recollecting Mrs. Lincoln's request for flowers, +invited them into the garden, where she bade them help themselves. It +required, however, almost a martyr's patience for her to stand quietly +by, while her choicest flowers were torn from their stalks, and it was +with a sigh of relief that she finally listened to the roll of the +wheels which bore her guests away. + +Could she have listened to their remarks, as on a piece of wide road +their carriages kept side by side for a mile or more, she would +probably have felt amply repaid for her flowers and trouble too. + +"Dear me," said Mrs. Campbell, "I never could live in such a lonely +out of the way place." + +"Nor I either," returned Mrs. Lincoln, "but I think Mrs. Mason appears +more at home here than in the city. I suppose you know she was a poor +girl when Mr. Mason married her, and such people almost always show +their breeding. Still she is a good sort of a woman, and it is well +enough to have some such nice place to visit and get fruit. Weren't +those delicious berries, and ain't these splendid rosebuds?" + +"I guess, though," said Jenny, glancing at her mother's huge bouquet, +"Mrs. Mason didn't expect you to gather quite so many. And Rose, too, +trampled down a beautiful lily without ever apologizing." + +"And what if I did?" retorted Rose. "She and that girl have nothing to +do but fix it up." + +This allusion to Mary, reminded Mrs. Campbell of her conversation with +Mrs. Mason, and laughingly she repeated it. "I never knew before," +said she, "that Mrs. Mason had so much spirit. Why, she really seemed +quite angry, and tried hard to make Mary out beautiful, and graceful, +and all that." + +"And," chimed in Ella, who was angry at Mrs. Mason for defending her +sister, and angry at her sister for being defended, "don't you think +she said that Mary ought to be ashamed of me." + +"Is it possible she was so impudent!" said Mrs. Lincoln; "I wish I +had been present, I would have spoken my mind freely, but so much one +gets for patronizing such creatures." + +Here the road became narrow, and as the western sky showed indications +of a storm, the coachmen were told to drive home as soon as possible. + +Mrs. Campbell's advice with regard to Mary, made no difference +whatever with Mrs. Mason's plans. She had always intended doing for +her whatever she could, and knowing that a good education was of far +more value than money, she determined to give her every advantage +which lay in her power. There was that summer a most excellent school +in Rice Corner, and as Mrs. Mason had fortunately no prejudices +against a district school, where so many of our best and greatest men +have been educated, she resolved to send her little protegé, as soon +as her wardrobe should be in a suitable condition. Accordingly in a +few days Mary became a regular attendant at the old brown +school-house, where for a time we will leave her, and passing silently +over a period of several years, again in another chapter open the +scene in the metropolis of the "Old Bay State." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE THREE YOUNG MEN + + +It was beginning to be daylight in the city of Boston; and as the gray +east gradually brightened and grew red in the coming of day, a young +man looked out upon the busy world around him, with that feeling of +utter loneliness which one so often feels in a great city where all is +new and strange to him. Scarcely four weeks had passed since the notes +of a tolling bell had fallen sadly upon his ear, and he had looked +into a grave where they laid his mother to her last dreamless rest. A +prevailing fever had effected what the fancied ailments of years had +failed to do, and Billy Bender was now an orphan, and alone in the +wide world. He knew that he had his own fortune to make, and after +settling his mother's affairs and finding there was nothing left for +him, he had come to the city, and on the morning which we have +mentioned went forth alone to look for employment, with no other +recommendation than the frank, honest expression of his handsome face. +It was rather discouraging, wearisome work, and Billy's heart began to +misgive him as one after another refused his request. + +"It was foolish in me to attempt it," thought he, as he stopped once +more in front of a large wholesale establishment on M---- street. + +Just then his eye caught the sign on which was lettered, "R.J. Selden +& Co." The name sounded familiar, and something whispered to him to +enter. He did so, and meeting in the doorway a tall, elegant-looking +young man, he asked for Mr. Selden. + +"My uncle," returned the gentleman, who was none other than George +Moreland, "has not yet come down, but perhaps I can answer your +purpose just as well. Do you wish to purchase goods?" + +Billy, thinking that every one must know his poverty, fancied there +was something satirical in the question, but he was mistaken; the +manner was natural to the speaker, who, as Billy made no direct reply, +again asked. "What would you like, sir?" + +"Something to do, for I have neither money nor home," was Billy's +prompt answer. + +"Will you give me your name?" asked George. + +Billy complied, and when he spoke of his native town, George repeated +it after him, saying, "I have some acquaintances who spend the summer +in Chicopee; but you probably have never known them." + +Immediately Billy thought of the Lincolns, and now knew why the name +of Selden seemed so familiar. He had heard Jenny speak of Ida, and +felt certain that R.J. Selden was her father. + +For a moment George regarded him intently, and then said, "We seldom +employ strangers without a recommendation; still I do not believe you +need any. My uncle is wanting a young man, but the work may hardly +suit you," he added, naming the duties he would be expected to +perform, which certainly were rather menial. Still, as the wages were +liberal, and he would have considerable leisure, Billy, for want of a +better, accepted the situation, and was immediately introduced to his +business. For some time he only saw George at a distance, but was told +by one of the clerks that he was just graduated at Yale, and was now a +junior partner in his uncle's establishment. "We all like him very +much," said the clerk, "he is so pleasant and kind, though a little +proud, I guess." + +This was all that Billy knew of him until he had been in Mr. Selden's +employment nearly three weeks; then, as he was one day poring over a +volume of Horace which he had brought with him, George, who chanced to +pass by, looked over his shoulder, exclaiming, "Why, Bender, can you +read Latin? Really this is a novelty. Are you fond of books?" + +"Yes, very," said Billy, "though I have but a few of my own." + +"Fortunately then I can accommodate you," returned George, "for I have +a tolerably good library, to which you can at any time have access. +Suppose you come round to my uncle's to-night. Never mind about +thanking me," he added, as he saw Billy about to speak; "I hate to be +thanked, so to-night at eight o'clock I shall expect you." + +Accordingly that evening Billy started for Mr. Selden's. George, who +wished to save him from any embarrassment, answered his ring himself, +and immediately conducted him to his room, where for an hour or so +they discussed their favorite books and authors. At, last, George, +astonished at Billy's general knowledge of men and things, exclaimed, +"Why, Bender. I do believe you are almost as good a scholar as I, who +have been through college. Pray how does it happen?" + +In a few words Billy explained that he had been in the habit of +working summers, and going to school at Wilbraham winters; and then, +as it was nearly ten, he hastily gathered up the books which George +had kindly loaned him, and took his leave. As he was descending the +broad stairway he met a young girl fashionably dressed, who stared at +him in some surprise and then passed on, wondering no doubt how one of +his evident caste came to be in the front part of the house. In the +upper hall she encountered George, and asked of him who the stranger +was. + +"His name is Bender, and he came from Chicopee," answered George. + +"Bender from Chicopee," repeated Ida. "Why I wonder if it isn't the +Billy Bender about whom Jenny Lincoln has gone almost mad." + +"I think not," returned her cousin, "for Mrs. Lincoln would hardly +suffer her daughter to _mention_ a poor boy's name, much less to go +mad about him." + +"But," answered Ida, "he worked on Mr. Lincoln's farm when Jenny was a +little girl; and now that she is older she talks of him nearly all the +time, and Rose says it would not surprise her if she should some day +run off with him." + +"Possibly it is the same," returned George. "Any way, he is very +fine-looking, and a fine fellow too, besides being an excellent +scholar." + +The next day, when Billy chanced to be alone, George approached him, +and after making some casual remarks about the books he had borrowed, +&c., he said, "Did you ever see Jenny Lincoln in Chicopee?" + +"Oh, yes," answered Billy, brightening up, for Jenny had always been +and still was a great favorite with him; "Oh, yes, I know Jenny very +well. I worked for her father some years ago, and became greatly +interested in her." + +"Indeed? Then you must know Henry Lincoln?" + +"Yes, I know him," said Billy; while George continued, "And think but +little of him of course?" + +On this subject Billy was noncommittal. He had no cause for liking +Henry, but would not say so to a comparative stranger, and at last he +succeeded in changing the conversation. George was about moving away, +when observing a little old-fashioned looking book lying upon one of +the boxes, he took it up and turning to the fly-leaf read the name of +"Frank Howard." + +"Frank Howard! Frank Howard!" he repeated; "where have I heard that +name? Who is he, Bender?" + +"He was a little English boy I once, loved very much; but he is dead +now," answered Billy; and George, with a suddenly awakened curiosity, +said, "Tell me about him and his family, will you?" + +Without dreaming that George had ever seen them, Billy told the story +of Frank's sickness and death,--of the noble conduct of his little +sister, who, when there was no other alternative, went cheerfully to +the poor-house, winning by her gentle ways the love of those unused to +love, and taming the wild mood of a maniac until she was harmless as a +child. As he proceeded with his story, George became each moment more +and more interested, and when at last there was a pause, he asked, +"And is Mary in the poor-house now?" + +"I have not mentioned her name, and pray how came you to know it?" +said Billy in some surprise. + +In a few words George related the particulars of his acquaintance with +the Howards, and then again asked where both Mary and Ella were. + +Billy replied that for a few years back Mary had lived with a Mrs. +Mason, while Ella, at the time of her mother's death had been adopted +by Mrs. Campbell. "But," said he, "I never think of Ella in connection +with Mary, they are so unlike; Ella is proud and vain and silly, and +treats her sister with the utmost rudeness, though Mary is far more +agreeable and intelligent, and as I think the best looking." + +"She must have changed very much," answered George; "for if I +remember rightly, she was not remarkable for personal beauty." + +"She hasn't a silly, doll baby's face, but there isn't a finer looking +girl in Chicopee, no, nor in Boston either," returned Billy, with so +much warmth and earnestness that George laughed aloud, saying, "Why, +really, Bender, you are more eloquent on the subject of female beauty +than I supposed you to be; but go on; tell me more of her. Is she at +all refined or polished?" + +"I dare say she would not meet with _your_ ideas of a lady," answered +Billy; "but she does mine exactly, for she possesses more natural +refinement and delicacy than two thirds of the city belles." + +"Really, I am getting quite interested in her," said George. "How is +her education?" + +"Good, very good," returned Billy, adding that she was now teaching in +Rice Corner, hoping to earn money enough to attend some seminary in +the fall. + +"Teaching!" repeated George; "why she can't be over sixteen." + +He was going to say more, when some one slapped him rudely on the +shoulder, calling out, "How are you, old feller, and what is there in +Boston to interest such a scapegrace as I am?" + +Looking up, Billy saw before him Henry Lincoln, exquisitely dressed, +but bearing in his appearance evident marks of dissipation. + +"Why, Henry," exclaimed George, "how came you here? I supposed you +were drawing lampblack caricatures of some one of the tutors in old +Yale. What's the matter? What have you been doing?" + +"Why you see," answered Henry, drawing his cigar from his mouth and +squirting, by accident of course, a quantity of spittle over Billy's +nicely blacked shoes; "Why you see one of the sophs got his arm broken +in a row, and as I am so tender-hearted and couldn't bear to hear him +groan, to say nothing of his swearing, the faculty kindly advised me +to leave, and sent on before me a recommendation to the old man. But, +egad I fixed 'em. I told 'em he was in Boston, whereas he's in +Chicopee, so I just took the letter from the office myself. It reads +beautifully. Do you understand?" + +All this time, in spite of the tobacco juice, Henry had apparently +taken no notice of Billy, whom George now introduced, saying, he +believed they were old acquaintances. With the coolest effrontery +Henry took from his pocket a quizzing glass and applying it to his +eye, said, "I've absolutely studied until I'm near-sighted, but I +don't think I ever met this chap before." + +"Perhaps, sir," said Billy haughtily, "it may refresh your memory a +little to know that I was once the owner of Tasso!" + +"Blast the brute," muttered Henry, meaning Billy quite as much as the +dog; then turning to George, he asked, "how long the _old folks_ had +been in Chicopee." + +"Several weeks, I think," answered George; and then, either because he +wanted to hear what Henry would say, or because of a re-awakened +interest in Mary Howard, he continued, "By the way. Henry, when you +came so unceremoniously upon us, we were speaking of a young girl in +Chicopee whom you have perhaps ferreted out ere this, as Bender says +she is fine looking." + +Henry stroked his whiskers, which had received far more cultivation +than his brains, stuck his hat on one side, and answered. "Why, yes, I +suppose that in my way I am some thing of a b'hoy with the fair sex, +but really I do not now think of more than one handsome girl in +Chicopee, and that is Ella Campbell, but she is young yet, not as old +as Jenny--altogether too small fry for Henry Lincoln, Esq. But who is +the girl?" + +Billy frowned, for he held Mary's name as too sacred to be breathed by +a young man of Henry Lincoln's character; while George replied, "Her +name is Mary Howard." + +"What, the pauper?" asked Henry, looking significantly at Billy, who +replied, "The same, sir." + +"Whew-ew," whistled Henry, prolonging the diphthong to an unusual +length. "Why, she's got two teeth at least a foot long, and her face +looks as though she had just been in the vinegar barrel, and didn't +like the taste of it." + +"But without joking, though, how does she look?" asked George; while +Billy made a movement as if he would help the insolent puppy to find +his level. + +"Well, now, old boy," returned Henry, "I'll tell you honestly, that +the last time I saw her, I was surprised to find how much she was +improved. She has swallowed those abominable teeth, or done something +with them, and is really quite decent looking. In short," he +continued, with a malicious leer at Billy, which made the blood tingle +to his finger's end, "In short, she'll do very well for a city buck +like me to play the mischief with for a summer or so, and then cast +off like an old coat." + +There was a look in Billy's eye as Henry finished this speech which +decided that young man to make no further remarks concerning Mary, and +swaggering towards the door he added, "Well, Moreland, when will you +come round and take a horn of brandy? Let me know, and I'll have in +some of the bloods." + +"Thank you," said George, "I never use the article." + +"I beg your pardon," returned Henry, in a tone of mock humility. "I +remember now that you've taken to carrying a Prayer Book as big as an +old woman's moulding board, and manage to come out behind in the +service about three or four lines so as to be distinctly heard; but I +suppose you think it pleases the old gent your uncle, and that +furthers your cause with the daughter. By the way, present my +compliments to Miss Selden, and ask her if she has any word to send to +Chicopee, for I'll have to go there by and by, though I hate to +mightily, for it'll be just like the old man to put me through in the +hay field; and if there's any thing I abominate, it's work." + +So saying, he took his leave. Just then there was a call for Mr. +Moreland, who also departed, leaving Billy alone. + +"It is very strange that she never told me she knew him," thought he; +and then taking from his pocket a neatly folded letter, he again read +it through. But there was nothing in it about George, except the +simple words, "I am glad you have found a friend in Mr. Moreland. I am +sure I should like him, just because he is kind to you." + +"Yes, she's forgotten him," said Billy, and that belief gave him +secret satisfaction. He had known Mary long and the interest he had +felt in her when a homely, neglected child, had not in the least +decreased as the lapse of time gradually ripened her into a fine, +intelligent-looking girl. He was to her a brother still, but she to +him was dearer far than a sister; and though in his letters he always +addressed her as such, in his heart he claimed her as something +nearer, and yet he had never breathed in her ear a word of love, or +hinted that it was for her sake he toiled both early and late, +hoarding up his earnings with almost a miser's care that she might be +educated. + +Regularly each week she wrote to him, and it was the receipt of these +letters, and the thoughts of her that kept his heart so brave and +cheerful, as, alone and unappreciated, except by George, he worked on, +dreaming of a bright future, when the one great object of his life +should be realized. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE SCHOOL-MISTRESS. + + +In the old brown school-house, overshadowed by apple-trees and +sheltered on the west by a long steep hill, where the acorns and wild +grapes grew, Mary Howard taught her little flock of twenty-five, +coaxing some, urging others, and teaching them all by her kind words +and winsome ways to love her as they had never before loved an +instructor. + +When first she was proposed as a teacher in Rice Corner, Widow +Perkins, and a few others who had no children to send, held up their +hands in amazement, wondering "what the world was comin' to, and if +the committee man, Mr. Knight, s'posed they was goin' to be rid over +rough-shod by a town pauper; but she couldn't get a _stifficut_, for +the Orthodox minister wouldn't give her one; and if he did, the +Unitarian minister wouldn't!" + +Accordingly, when it was known that the ordeal had been passed, and +that Mary had in her possession a piece of paper about three inches +square, authorizing her to teach a common district school, this worthy +conclave concluded that "either every body had lost their senses, or +else Miss Mason, who was present at the examination, had sat by and +whispered in her ear the answers to all hard questions." "In all my +born days I never seen any thing like it," said the widow, as she +distributed her green tea, sweetened with brown sugar, to a party of +ladies, which she was entertaining "But you'll see, she won't keep her +time more'n half out.--Sally Ann, pass them nutcakes.--Nobody's goin' +to send their children to a pauper. There's Miss Bradley says she'll +take her'n out the first time they get licked.--Have some more sass, +Miss Dodge. I want it eat up, for I believe it's a workin',--but I +telled her that warn't the trouble; Mary's too softly to hurt a +miskeeter. And so young too. It's government she'll lack in.--If any +body'll have a piece of this dried apple pie, I'll cut it." + +Of course, nobody wanted a piece, and one of the ladies, continuing +the conversation, said she supposed Mary would of course board with +Mrs. Mason. The tea-pot lid, which chanced to be off, went on with a +jerk, and with the air of a much injured woman the widow replied: +"Wall, I can tell her this much, it's no desirable job to board the +school-marm, though any body can see that's all made her so anxious +for Mary to have the school. She's short on't, and wants a little +money. Do any on you know how much she charges?" + +Nobody knew, but a good many "guessed she didn't charge any thing," +and the widow, rising from the table and telling Sally Ann to "rense +the sass dishes, and pour it in the vinegar bottle," led her guests +back to the best room, saying, "a dollar and ninepence (her usual +price) was next to nothing, but she'd warrant Miss Mason had more'n +that" + +Fortunately, Mary knew nothing of Mrs. Perkins's displeasure, and +never dreamed that any feeling existed towards her, save that of +perfect friendship. Since we last saw her, she had grown into a fine, +healthy-looking girl. Her face and figure were round and full, and her +complexion, though still rather pale, was clear as marble, contrasting +well with her dark brown hair and eyes, which no longer seemed +unnaturally large. Still she was not beautiful, it is true, and yet +Billy was not far from right when he called her the finest looking +girl in Chicopee; and it was for this reason, perhaps, that Mrs. +Campbell watched her with so much jealousy. + +Every possible pains had been taken with Ella's education. The best +teachers had been hired to instruct her, and she was now at a +fashionable seminary, but still she did not possess one half the ease +and gracefulness of manner, which seemed natural to her sister. Since +the day of that memorable visit, the two girls had seen but little of +each other. Ella would not forgive Mrs. Mason for praising Mary, nor +forgive Mary for being praised; and as Mrs. Campbell, too pretended to +feel insulted, the intercourse between the families gradually ceased; +and oftentimes when Ella met her sister, she merely acknowledged her +presence by a nod, or a simple "how d'ye do?" + +When she heard that Mary was to be a teacher, she said "she was glad, +for it was more respectable than going into a factory, or working +out." Mrs. Campbell, too, felt in duty bound to express her pleasure, +adding, that "she hoped Mary would give satisfaction, but 'twas +extremely doubtful, she was _so_ young, and possessed of so little +dignity!" + +Unfortunately, Widow Perkins's red cottage stood directly opposite the +school-house; and as the widow belonged to that stirring few who +always "wash the breakfast dishes, and make the beds before any one is +up in the house," she had ample leisure to watch and report the +proceedings of the new teacher. Now Mrs. Perkins's clock was like its +mistress, always half an hour in advance of the true time and Mary had +scarcely taught a week ere Mr. Knight, "the committee man," was duly +hailed in the street, and told that the 'school-marm wanted lookin' +to, for she didn't begin no mornin' till half-past nine, nor no +afternoon till half past one! "Besides that," she added, "I think she +gives 'em too long a play spell. Any ways, seem's ef some on em was +out o'door the hull time." + +Mr. Knight had too much good sense to heed the widow's complaints, and +he merely replied, "I'm glad on't. Five hours is enough to keep little +shavers cramped up in the house,--glad on't." + +The widow, thus foiled in her attempts at making disturbance, finally +gave up the strife, contenting herself with quizzing the older girls, +and asking them if Mary could do all the hard sums in Arithmetic, or +whether she took them home for Mrs. Mason to solve! Old leathern-bound +Daboll, too, was brought to light, and its most difficult problems +selected and sent to Mary, who, being an excellent mathematician, +worked them all out to the widow's astonishment. But when it was known +that quill pens had been discarded, and steel ones substituted in +their place, Mrs. Perkins again looked askance, declaring that Mary +couldn't make a quill pen, and by way of testing the matter, Sally Ann +was sent across the road with a huge bunch of goose quills, which +"Miss Howard" was politely requested "to fix, as ma wanted to write +some letters." + +Mary candidly confessed her ignorance, saying she had never made a pen +in her life; and the next Sabbath the widow's leghorn was missed from +its accustomed pew in the Unitarian church, and upon inquiry, it was +ascertained that "she couldn't in conscience hear a man preach who +would give a 'stifficut' to a girl that didn't know how to make a +pen!" + +In spite, however, of these little annoyances, Mary was contented and +happy. She knew that her pupils loved her and that the greater part of +the district were satisfied, so she greeted the widow with her +pleasantest smile, and by always being particularly polite to Sally +Ann, finally overcame their prejudices to a considerable extent. + +One afternoon about the middle of July, as Mrs. Perkins was seated by +her front window engaged in "stitching shoes," a very common +employment in some parts of New England, her attention was suddenly +diverted by a tall, stylish-looking young man, who, driving his +handsome horse and buggy under the shadow of the apple-trees, alighted +and entered into conversation with a group of little girls who were +taking their usual recess. Mrs. Perkins's curiosity was roused, and +Sally Ann was called to see who the stranger was. But for a wonder, +Sally Ann didn't know, though she "guessed the hoss was one of the +East Chicopee livery." + +"He's talkin' to Liddy Knight," said she, at the same time holding +back the curtain, and stepping aside so as not to be visible herself. + +"Try if you can hear what he's sayin," whispered Mrs. Perkins; but a +class of boys in the school-house just then struck into the +multiplication table, thus effectually drowning any thing which Sally +Ann might otherwise have heard. + +"I know them children will split their throats. Can't they hold up a +minute," exclaimed Mrs. Perkins, greatly annoyed at being thus +prevented from overhearing a conversation, the nature of which she +could not even guess. + +But as some other Widow Perkins may read this story we will for her +benefit repeat what the young man was saying to Lydia Knight, who +being nearest to him was the first one addressed. + +"You have a nice place for your school-house and play-grounds." + +"Yes, sir," answered Lydia, twirling her sun-bonnet and taking up a +small round stone between her naked toes. + +"Do you like to go to school?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Have you a good teacher?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"What is her name?" + +"Miss Howard,--Mary Howard, and she lives with Miss Mason." + +"Mary Howard,--that's a pretty name,--is she pretty too?" + +"Not so dreadful," chimed in Susan Bradley. "She licked brother Tim +to-day, and I don't think she's much pretty." + +This speech quickly called out the opinion of the other girls as +follows: + +"He ought to be licked, for he stole a knife and then lied about it; +and Miss Howard is real pretty, and you needn't say she ain't, Susan +Bradley." + +"Yes, indeed, she's pretty," rejoined a second. "Such handsome eyes, +and little white hands." + +"What color are her eyes?" asked the stranger, to which two replied, +"blue," and three more said "black;" while Lydia Knight, who was the +oldest of the group, finally settled the question by saying, that +"they sometimes looked blue; but if she was real pleased, or sorry +either, they turned black!" + +The stranger smiled and said, "Tell me more about her. Does she ever +scold, or has she too pretty a mouth for that?" + +"No, she never scolds," said Delia Frost, "and she's got the nicest, +whitest teeth, and I guess she knows it, too for she shows them a +great deal." + +"She's real white, too," rejoined Lydia Knight, "though pa says she +used to be yaller as saffron." + +Here there was a gentle rap upon the window, and the girls starting +off, exclaimed, "There, we must go in." + +"May I go too?" asked the stranger, following them to the door. + +The girls looked at each other, then at him, then at each other again, +and at last Lydia said, "I don't care, but I guess Miss Howard will be +ashamed, for 'twas Suke Bradley's turn to sweep the school-house this +noon-time, and she wouldn't do it, 'cause Tim got licked." + +"Never mind the school-house," returned the stranger, "but introduce +me as Mr. Stuart." + +Lydia had never introduced any body in her life, and following her +companions to her seat, she left Mr. Stuart standing in the doorway. +With her usual politeness, Mary came forward and received the +stranger, who gave his name as Mr. Stuart, saying, "he felt much +interested in common schools, and therefore had ventured to call." + +Offering the seat of honor, viz., the splint-bottomed chair, Mary +resumed her usual duties, occasionally casting a look of curiosity at +the stranger, whose eyes seemed constantly upon her. It was rather +warm that day, and when Mary returned from her dinner, Widow Perkins +was greatly shocked at seeing her attired in a light pink muslin +dress, the short sleeves of which showed to good advantage her round +white arms. A narrow velvet ribbon confined by a small brooch, and a +black silk apron, completed her toilet, with the exception of a tiny +locket, which was suspended from her neck by a slender gold chain. +This last ornament, immediately riveted Mr. Stuart's attention, and +from some strange cause sent the color quickly to his face. After a +time, as if to ascertain whether it were really a locket, or a watch, +he asked "if Miss Howard could tell him the hour." + +"Certainly sir," said she, and stepping to the desk and consulting a +silver time-piece about the size of a dining plate, she told him that +it was half-past three. + +He nodded, and seemed very much interested in two little boys who sat +near him, engaged in the laudable employment of seeing which could +snap spittle the farthest and the best. + +Just then there was a movement at the door, and a new visitor appeared +in the person of Mrs. Perkins, who, with her large feather fan and +flounced gingham dress, entered smiling and bowing, and saying "she +had been trying all summer to visit the school." + +Mr. Stuart immediately arose and offered his chair, but there was +something in his manner which led Mary to suppose that an introduction +was not at all desired, so she omitted it, greatly to the chagrin of +the widow, who, declining the proffered seat, squeezed herself between +Lydia Knight and another girl, upsetting the inkstand of the one, and +causing the other to make a curious character out of the letter "X" +she chanced to be writing. + +"Liddy, Liddy," she whispered, "who is that man?" + +But Lydia was too much engrossed with her spoiled apron to answer this +question, and she replied with, "Marm may I g'wout; I've spilt the ink +all over my apron." + +Permission, of course, was granted, and as the girl who sat next knew +nothing of the stranger, Mrs. Perkins began to think she might just as +well have staid at home and finished her shoes. "But," thought she, +"may-be I shall find out after school." + +Fortune, however, was against the widow, for scarcely was her feather +fan in full play, when Sally Ann came under the window, and punching +her back with a long stick, told her in a loud whisper, that "she must +come right home, for Uncle Jim and Aunt Dolly had just come from the +cars." + +Accordingly, Mrs. Perkins, smoothing down her gingham flounces, and +drawing on her cotton gloves, arose to go, asking Mary as she passed, +"if that was an acquaintance of hers." + +Mary shook her head, and the widow, more puzzled than ever, took her +leave. + +When school was out, Mr. Stuart, who seemed in no haste whatever, +entered into a lively discussion with Mary concerning schools and +books, adroitly managing to draw her out upon all the leading topics +of the day. At last the conversation turned upon flowers; and when +Mary chanced to mention Mrs. Mason's beautiful garden, he instantly +expressed a great desire to see it, and finally offered to accompany +Mary home, provided she had no objections. She could not, of course, +say no, and the Widow Perkins, who, besides attending to "Uncle Jim" +and "Aunt Dolly," still found time to watch the school-house, came +very near letting her buttermilk biscuit burn to a cinder, when she +saw the young man walking down the road with Mary. Arrived at Mrs. +Mason's, the stranger managed to make himself so agreeable, that Mrs. +Mason invited him to stay to tea,--an invitation which he readily +accepted. Whoever he was, he seemed to understand exactly how to find +out whatever he wished to know; and before tea was over, he had +learned of Mary's intention to attend the academy in Wilbraham, the +next autumn. + +"Excuse me for making a suggestion," said he, "but why not go to Mt. +Holyoke? Do you not think the system of education there a most +excellent one?" + +Mary glanced at Mrs. Mason, who replied, that "she believed they did +not care to take a pupil at South Hadley for a less period than a +year; and as Mary was entirely dependent upon herself, she could not +at present afford that length of time." + +"That does make a difference," returned Mr. Stuart "but I hope she +will not give up Mt. Holyoke entirely, as I should prefer it to +Wilbraham." + +Tea being over, Mr. Stuart arose to go; and Mary, as she accompanied +him to the door, could not forbear asking how he liked Mrs. Mason's +garden, which he had forgotten even to look at! + +Blushing deeply, he replied, "I suppose Miss Howard has learned ere +this, that there are in the world things fairer and more attractive +than flowers, but I will look at them when I come again;" then +politely bidding her good night, he walked away, leaving Mary and Mrs. +Mason to wonder,--the one what he came there for, and the other +whether he would ever come again. The widow, too, wondered and +fidgeted, as the sun went down behind the long hill, and still under +the apple-tree the gray pony stood. + +"It beats all nater what's kept him so long," said she, when he at +last appeared, and, unfastening, his horse, drove off at a furious +rate; "but if I live I'll know all about it to-morrow;" and with this +consolatory remark she returned to the best room, and for the +remainder of the evening devoted herself to the entertainment of Uncle +Jim and his wife Aunt Dolly. + +That evening, Mr. Knight, who had been to the Post Office, called at +Mrs. Mason's, bringing with him a letter which bore the Boston +postmark. Passing it to Mary, he winked at Mrs. Mason, saying, "I +kinder guess how all this writin' works will end; but hain't there +been a young chap to see the school?" + +"Yes; how did you know it," returned Mrs. Mason, while Mary blushed +more deeply than she did when Billy's letter was handed her. + +"Why, you see," answered Mr. Knight, "I was about at the foot of the +Blanchard hill, when I see a buggy comin' like Jehu. Just as it got +agin me it kinder slackened, and the fore wheel ran off smack and +scissors." + +"Was he hurt?" quickly asked Mary. + +"Not a bit on't," said Mr. Knight, "but he was scared some, I guess. I +got out and helped him, and when he heard I's from Rice Corner, he +said he'd been into school. Then he asked forty-'leven questions about +you, and jest as I was settin' you up high, who should come a +canterin' up with their long-tailed gowns, and hats like men, but Ella +Campbell, and a great white-eyed pucker that came home with her from +school. Either Ella's horse was scary, or she did it a purpose, for +the minit she got near, it began to rare and she would have fell off, +if that man hadn't catched it by the bit, and held her on with t'other +hand. I allus was the most sanguinary of men, (Mr. Knight was never so +far wrong in his life,) and I was buildin' castles about him, and our +little school-marm, when Ella came along, and I gin it up, for I see +that he was took, and she did look handsome with her curls a flyin'. +Wall, as I wasn't of no more use, I whipped up old Charlotte and come +on." + +"When did Ella return?" asked Mary, who had not before heard of her +sister's arrival. + +"I don't know," said Mr. Knight. "The first I see of her she was +cuttin' through the streets on the dead run; but I mustn't stay here, +gabbin', so good night, Miss Mason,--good night, Mary, hope you've got +good news in that are letter." + +The moment he was gone, Mary ran up to her room, to read her letter, +from which we give the following extract. + +"You must have forgotten George Moreland, or you would have mentioned +him to me. I like him very much indeed, and yet I could not help +feeling a little jealous, when he manifested so much interest in you. +Sometimes, Mary, I think that for a brother I am getting too selfish, +and do not wish any one to like you except myself, but I surely need +not feel so towards George, the best friend I have in Boston. He is +very kind, lending me books, and has even offered to use his influence +in getting me a situation in one of the best law offices in the city." + +After reading this letter, Mary sat for a long time, thinking of +George Moreland,--of the time when she first knew him,--of all that +William Bender had been to her since,--and wondering, as girls +sometimes will, which she liked the best. Billy, unquestionably, had +the strongest claim to her love, but could he have known how much +satisfaction she felt in thinking that George still remembered and +felt interested in her, he would have had some reason for fearing, as +he occasionally did, that she would never be to him aught save a +sister. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +JEALOUSY. + + +The day following Mr. Stuart's visit was Saturday, and as there was no +school, Mary decided to call upon her sister, whom she had not seen +for some months. Mrs. Mason, who had some shopping to do in the +village, offered to accompany her, and about two in the afternoon, +they set forward in Mr. Knight's covered buggy. The roads were smooth +and dry, and in a short time they reached the bridge near the depot. A +train of cars bound for Boston was just going out, and from one of the +windows Mr. Stuart was looking, and waving his hand towards Mary, who +bowed in token of recognition. + +The sight and sound of the cars made "old Charlotte," whom Mrs. Mason +was driving, prick up her ears, and feet too, and in a few moments she +carried her load to the village. Leaving Mrs. Mason at the store, Mary +proceeded at once to Mrs. Campbell's. She rang the door-bell a little +timidly, for the last time she saw her sister, she had been treated +with so much coldness, that she now felt some anxiety with regard to +the reception she was likely to meet. + +"Is Miss Campbell at home?" she asked of the girl who answered her +ring. + +"Yes, she's at home," replied the girl, "but is busy dressing for +company." + +"Tell her her sister is here, if you please. I won't detain her +long," said Mary, trying hard to shake off the tremor which always +came upon her, when she found herself in Mrs. Campbell's richly +furnished house. + +Conducting Mary into the parlor, the girl departed with her message to +Ella, who, together with the young lady whom Mr. Knight had styled a +"white-eyed pucker," but whose real name was Eliza Porter, was +dressing in the chamber above. The door of the room was open, and from +her position, Mary could hear distinctly every word which was uttered. + +"Miss Ella," said the girl, "your sister is in the parlor, and wants +to see you." + +"My sister," repeated Ella, "oh, forlorn! What brought her here +to-day? Why didn't you tell her I wasn't at home?" + +"I never told a lie in my life," answered the honest servant girl, +while Miss Porter in unfeigned surprise said "Your sister! I didn't +know you had one. Why doesn't she live at home?" + +Concealment was no longer possible, and in a half vexed, half laughing +tone, Ella replied, "Why, I thought you knew that I was an orphan whom +Mrs. Campbell adopted years ago." + +"You an orphan!" returned Miss Porter. "Well, if I ever! Who adopted +your sister?" + +"A poor woman in the country," was Ella's answer. + +Miss Porter, who was a notorious flatterer, replied, "I must see her, +for if she is any thing like you, I shall love her instantly." + +"Oh, she isn't like _me_" said Ella, with a curl of her lip. "She's +smart enough, I suppose, but she hasn't a bit of polish or refinement. +She doesn't come here often, and when she does, I am always in a +fidget, for fear some of the city girls will call, and she'll do +something _outré_." + +"I guess, then, I won't go down, at least not till I'm dressed," +answered Miss Porter; and Ella, throwing on a dressing-gown, descended +to the parlor, where she met her sister with the ends of her fingers, +and a simple, "Ah, Mary, how d'ye do? Are you well?" + +After several commonplace remarks, Ella at last asked, "How did you +know I was at home?" + +"Mr. Knight told me," said Mary. + +"Mr. Knight," repeated Ella; "and pray, who is he? I don't believe +he's on my list of acquaintances." + +"Do you remember the man who carried me to the poor-house?" asked +Mary. + +"Hush--sh!" said Ella, glancing nervously towards the door. "There is +a young lady up stairs, and it isn't necessary for her to know you've +been a pauper." + +By this time Miss Porter was dressed. She was very fond of display, +and wishing to astonish the "country girl" with her silks and satins, +came rustling into the parlor. + +"My sister," said Ella carelessly. + +Miss Porter nodded, and then throwing herself languidly upon the sofa, +looked down the street, as if expecting some one. At last, supporting +herself on her elbow, she lisped out, "I don't believe that he'th +coming, for here 'tis after four!" + +"Tisn't likely he'll stay in the graveyard all night," returned Ella. +"I wish we'd asked him whose graves he was going to visit, don't you?" +Then, by way of saying something more to Mary, she continued, "Oh, you +ought to know what an adventure I had yesterday. It was a most +miraculous escape, for I should certainly have been killed, if the +most magnificent-looking gentleman you ever saw, hadn't caught me +just in time to keep Beauty from throwing me. You ought to see his +eyes, they were perfectly splendid!" + +Mary replied, that she herself thought he had rather handsome eyes. + +"_You!_ where did you ever see him?" asked Ella. + +"He visited my school yesterday afternoon." + +"Oh, no, that can't be the one," returned Ella, while Miss Porter, +too, said, "Certainly not; our cavalier never thaw the inthide of a +district school-houth, I know." + +"I am quite sure he saw one yesterday," said Mary, relating the +circumstance of Mr. Knight's meeting him at the spot where Ella came +so near getting a fall. + +"Did he go home with you?" asked Ella, in a tone plainly indicating +that a negative answer was expected. + +Mary understood the drift of her sister's questioning, and promptly +replied, "Yes, he went home with me, and staid to tea." + +Ella's countenance lowered, while Miss Porter exclaimed, "I declare, +we may as well give up all hope, for your sister, it seems, has the +first claim." + +"Pshaw!" said Ella, contemptuously, while Miss Porter, again turning +to Mary, asked, "Did you learn his name? If you did, you are more +fortunate than we were; and he came all the way home with us, too, +leading Ella's pony; and besides that, we met him in the street this +morning." + +"His name," returned Mary, "is Stuart, and he lives in Boston, I +believe." + +"Stuart,--Stuart,--" repeated Ella; "I never heard Lizzie Upton, or +the Lincolns, mention the Stuarts, but perhaps they have recently +removed to the city. Any way, this young man is somebody, I know." + +Here Miss Porter, again looking down the road, exclaimed, "There, +he's coming, I do believe." + +Both girls rushed to the window, but Mr. Stuart was not there; and +when they were reseated, Mary very gravely remarked, that he was +probably ere this in Worcester, as she saw him in the eastern train. + +"Why, really," said Ella, "you seem to be well posted in his affairs. +Perhaps you can tell us whose graves he wished to find. He said he had +some friends buried here, and inquired for the sexton." + +Mary knew nothing about it, and Ella, as if thinking aloud, continued, +"It must be that he got belated, and went from the graveyard, across +the fields, to the depot;--but, oh horror!" she added, "there comes +Lizzie Upton and the rest of the Boston girls. Mary, I guess you'll +have to go, or rather, I guess you'll have to excuse me, for I must +run up and dress. By the way, wouldn't you like some flowers? If you +would just go into the kitchen, and ask Bridget to show you the +garden." + +Mary had flowers enough at home, and so, in spite of Ella's manoeuvre, +she went out at the front door, meeting "Lizzie Upton, and the rest of +the Boston girls," face to face. Miss Porter, who acted the part of +hostess while Ella was dressing, was quickly interrogated by Lizzie +Upton, as to who the young lady was they met in the yard. + +"That's Ella Campbell's sister," said Miss Porter. Then lowering her +voice to a whisper, she continued, "Don't you believe, Ella isn't Mrs. +Campbell's own daughter, but an adopted one!" + +"I know that," answered Lizzie; "but this sister, where does she +live?" + +"Oh, in a kind of a heathenish, out-of-the-way place, and teaches +school for a living." + +"Well," returned Lizzie, "she is a much finer looking girl than +Ella." + +"How can you say so," exclaimed three or four girls in a breath, and +Lizzie replied, "Perhaps she hasn't so much of what is called beauty +in her face, but she has a great deal more intellect." + +Here the door-bell again rang; and Ella, having made a hasty toilet, +came tripping down the stairs in time to welcome Rose Lincoln, whom +she embraced as warmly as if a little eternity, instead of three days, +had elapsed since they met. + +"I had perfectly despaired of your coming," said she "Oh, how sweet +you do look! But where's Jenny?" + +Rose's lip curled scornfully, as she replied, "Why, she met Mary +Howard in the store, and I couldn't drag her away." + +"And who is Mary Howard?" asked Lizzie Upton. + +Rose glanced at Ella, who said, "Why, she's the girl you met going out +of the yard." + +"Oh, yes.--I know,--your sister," returned Lizzie. "Isn't she to be +here? I have noticed her in church, and should like to get acquainted +with her. She has a fine eye and forehead." + +Ella dared not tell Lizzie, that Mary was neither polished nor +refined, so she answered, that "she could not stay this afternoon, as +Mrs. Mason, the lady with whom she lived, was in a hurry to go home." + +Miss Porter looked up quickly from her embroidery, and winked slyly at +Ella in commendation of her falsehood. Jenny now came bounding in, her +cheeks glowing, and her eyes sparkling like diamonds. + +"I'm late, I know," said she, "but I met Mary in the store, and I +never know when to leave her. I tried to make her come with me, +telling her that as you were her sister 'twas no matter if she weren't +invited; but she said that Mrs. Mason had accepted an invitation to +take tea with Mrs. Johnson, and she was going there too." + +Instantly Lizzie Upton's eyes were fixed upon Ella, who colored +scarlet; and quickly changing the conversation, she commenced talking +about her adventure of the evening before, and again the +"magnificent-looking stranger, with his perfectly splendid eyes," was +duly described. + +"Oh, yes," said Jenny, who generally managed to talk all the time, +whether she was heard or not. "Yes, Mary told me about him. He was in +her school yesterday, and if I were going to describe George Moreland, +I could not do it more accurately than she did, in describing Mr. +Stuart. You never saw George, did you?" + +"No," said Ella pettishly, "but seems to me Mary is dreadful anxious +to have folks know that Mr. Stuart visited her school." + +"No, she isn't," answered Jenny. "I told her that I rode past her +school-house yesterday, and should have called, had I not seen a big +man's head protruding above the window sill. Of course, I asked who he +was, and she told me about him, and how he saved you from a broken +neck." + +Ella's temper, never the best, was fast giving way, and by the time +the company were all gone, she was fairly in a fit of the pouts. +Running up stairs, and throwing herself upon the bed, she burst into +tears, wishing herself dead, and saying she knew no one would care if +she were, for every body liked Mary better than they did her. + +Miss Porter, who stood by, terribly distressed of course, rightly +guessed that the every body, on this occasion, referred merely to Mr. +Stuart and Lizzie Upton. Ella was always jealous of any commendation +bestowed upon Mary seeming to consider it as so much taken from +herself, and consequently, could not bear that Lizzie should even +think well of her. The fact, too, that Mr. Stuart had not only visited +her school, but also walked home with her, was a sufficient reason why +she should he thoroughly angry. Miss Porter knew that the surest +method of coaxing her out of her pouting fit, was to flatter her, and +accordingly she repeated at least a dozen complimentary speeches, some +of which she had really heard, while others were manufactured for the +occasion. In this way the cloud was gradually lifted from her face, +and erelong she was laughing merrily at the idea, that a girl "so +wholly unattractive as Mary, should ever have made her jealous!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +A NEW PLAN. + + +The summer was drawing to a close, and with it Mary's school. She had +succeeded in giving satisfaction to the entire district with the +exception of Mrs. Bradley, who "didn't know why Tim should be licked +and thrashed round just because his folks wasn't wuth quite so much as +some others," this being, in her estimation, the only reason why the +notorious Timothy was never much beloved by his teachers. Mr Knight, +with whom Mary was a great favorite, offered her the school for the +coming winter, but she had decided upon attending school herself, and +after modestly declining his offer, told him of her intention. + +"But where's the money coming from?" said he. + +Mary laughingly asked him how many bags of shoes he supposed she had +stitched during the last two years. + +"More'n two hundred, I'll bet," said he. + +"Not quite as many as that," answered Mary; "but still I have managed +to earn my clothes, and thirty dollars besides; and this, together +with my school wages, will pay for one term, and part of another." + +"Well, go ahead," returned Mr. Knight. "I'd help you if I could. Go +ahead, and who knows but you'll one day be the President's wife." + +Like the majority of New England farmers, Mr Knight was far from +being wealthy. From sunrise until sundown he worked upon the old +homestead where his father had dwelt. Spring after spring, he ploughed +and planted the sandy soil. Autumn after autumn he gathered in the +slender harvest, and still said he would not exchange his home among +the hills for all the broad acres of his brother, who at the far West, +counted his dollars by the thousands. He would gladly have helped +Mary, but around his fireside were six children dependent upon him for +food, clothing, and education, and he could only wish his young friend +success in whatever she undertook. + +When Widow Perkins heard that Mary was going away to school, she +forgot to put any yeast in the bread which she was making, and bidding +Sally Ann "watch it until it riz," she posted off to Mrs. Mason's to +inquire the particulars, reckoning up as she went along how much +fourteen weeks' wages would come to at nine shillings (a dollar and a +half New England currency) per week. + +"'Tain't no great," said she, as simultaneously with her arrival at +Mrs. Mason's door, she arrived at the sum of twenty-one dollars. +"'Tain't no great, and I wouldn't wonder if Miss Mason fixed over some +of her old gowns for her." + +But with all her quizzing, and "pumping," as Judith called it, she was +unable to ascertain any thing of importance, and mentally styling Mrs. +Mason, Mary, Judith and all, "great gumpheads," she returned home, and +relieved Sally Ann from her watch over unleavened bread. Both Mrs. +Mason and Mary laughed heartily at the widow's curiosity, though, as +Mary said, "It was no laughing matter where the money was to come from +which she needed for her books and clothing." + +Every thing which Mrs. Mason could do for her she did, and even +Judith, who was never famous for generosity; brought in one Saturday +morning a half-worn merino, which she thought "mebby could be turned +and sponged, and made into somethin' decent," adding, in an undertone, +that "she'd had it out airin' on the clothes hoss for more'n two +hours!" + +Sally Furbush, too, brought over the old purple silk which "Willie's +father had given her." She was getting on finely with her grammar, she +said, and in a few days she should write to Harper, so that he might +have time to engage the extra help he would necessarily need, in +bringing out a work of that kind! + +"I should dedicate it to Mrs. Grundy," said she, "just to show her how +forgiving I can be, but here is a difficulty. A person, on seeing the +name, '_Mrs._ Polly Grundy,' would naturally be led to inquire for +'_Mr._ Polly Grundy,' and this inquiry carried out, might cause the +lady some little embarrassment, so I've concluded to have the +dedication read thus:--'To Willie's father, who sleeps on the western +prairie, this useful work is tremblingly, tearfully, yet joyfully +dedicated by his relict, Sarah.'" + +Mary warmly approved of this plan, and after a few extra flourishes in +the shape of a courtesy, Sally started for home. + +A few days afterward, Jenny Lincoln came galloping up to the +school-house door, declaring her intention of staying until school was +out, and having a good time. "It's for ever and ever since I've seen +you," said she, as she gathered up the skirt of her blue riding-dress, +and followed Mary into the house, "but I've been so bothered with +those city girls. Seems as though they had nothing to do but to get up +rides in hay carts, or picnics in the woods and since Henry came home +they keep sending for us. This afternoon they have all gone +blackberrying in a hay cart, but I'd rather come here." + +At this point, happening to think that the class in Colburn who were +toeing the mark so squarely, would perhaps like a chance to recite, +Jenny seated herself near the window, and throwing off her hat, made +fun for herself and some little boys, by tickling their naked toes +with the end of her riding-whip. When school was out, and the two +girls were alone, Jenny entered at once upon the great object of her +visit. + +"I hear you are going to Wilbraham," said she, "but I want you to go +to Mount Holyoke. We are going, a whole lot of us, that is, if we can +pass examination. Rose isn't pleased with the idea, but I am. I think +'twill be fun to wash potatoes and scour knives. I don't believe that +mother would ever have sent us there if it were not that Ida Selden is +going. Her father and her aunt Martha used to be schoolmates with Miss +Lyon, and they have always intended that Ida should graduate at Mount +Holyoke. Now, why can't you go, too?" + +Instantly Mary thought of Mr. Stuart, and his suggestion. "I wish I +could," said she, "but I can't. I haven't money enough, and there is +no one to give it to me." + +"It wouldn't hurt Mrs. Campbell to help you a little," returned Jenny. +"Why, last term Ella spent almost enough for candies, and gutta-percha +toys, to pay the expense of half a year's schooling, at Mount Holyoke. +It's too bad that she should have every thing, and you nothing." + +Here Jenny's remarks were interrupted by the loud rattling of wheels, +and the halloo of many voices. Going to the door she and Mary saw +coming down the road at a furious rate, the old hay cart, laden with +the young people from Chicopee, who had been berrying in Sturbridge, +and were now returning home in high glee. The horses were +fantastically trimmed with ferns and evergreens, while several of the +girls were ornamented in the same way. Conspicuous among the noisy +group, was Ella Campbell. Henry Lincoln's broad-brimmed hat was +resting on her long curls, while her white sun-bonnet was tied under +Henry's chin. + +The moment Jenny appeared, the whole party set up a shout so +deafening, that the Widow Perkins came out in a trice, to see "if the +old Harry was to pay, or what." No sooner did Henry Lincoln get sight +of Mary, than springing to his feet, and swinging his arm around his +head, he screamed out, "Three cheers for the school ma'am and her +handsome lover, Billy! Hurrah!" + +In the third and last hurrah, the whole company joined, and when that +was finished, Henry struck up on a high key, + + + "Oh, where have you been, Billy boy, Billy boy, + Oh, where have you been charming Billy?" + + +but only one voice joined in with his, and that was Ella's! Mary +reddened at what she knew was intended as an insult, and when she +heard her sister's voice chiming in with Henry, she could not keep +back her tears. + +"Wasn't that smart?" said Jenny, when at last the hay cart disappeared +from view, and the noise and dust had somewhat subsided. Then as she +saw the tears in Mary's eyes, she added, "Oh, I wouldn't care if they +did teaze me about Billy Bender. I'd as lief be teazed about him as +not." + +"It isn't that," said Mary, smiling in spite of herself, at Jenny's +frankness. "It isn't that. I didn't like to hear Ella sing with your +brother, when she must have known he meant to annoy me." + +"That certainly was wrong," returned Jenny; "but Ella isn't so much to +blame as Henry, who seems to have acquired a great influence over her +during the few weeks he has been at home. You know she is easily +flattered, and I dare say Henry has fully gratified her vanity in that +respect, for he says she is the only decent-looking girl in Chicopee. +But see, there comes Mrs. Mason, I guess she wonders what is keeping +you so long." + +The moment Mrs. Mason entered the school-room, Jenny commenced talking +about Mount Holyoke, her tongue running so fast, that it entirely +prevented any one else from speaking, until she stopped for a moment +to take breath. Then Mrs. Mason very quietly remarked, that if Mary +wished to go to Mount Holyoke she could do so. Mary looked up +inquiringly, wondering what mine had opened so suddenly at her feet; +but she received no explanation until Jenny had bidden her good-bye, +and gone. Then she learned that Mrs. Mason had just received $100 from +a man in Boston, who had years before owed it to her husband, and was +unable to pay it sooner. "And now," said Mrs. Mason, "there is no +reason why you should not go to Mount Holyoke, if you wish to." + +The glad tears which came to Mary's eyes were a sufficient evidence +that she did wish to, and the next day a letter was forwarded to Miss +Lyon, who promptly replied, expressing her willingness to receive Mary +as a pupil. And now Rice Corner was again thrown into a state of +fermentation. Mary was going to Mount Holyoke, and what was more +marvellous still, Mrs. Mason had bought her a black silk dress, which +cost her a dollar a yard! and more than one good dame declared her +intention of "giving up," if paupers came on so fast. This having been +a pauper was the thing of which Mary heard frequently, now that her +prospects were getting brighter. And even Ella, when told that her +sister was going to Mount Holyoke, said to Miss Porter, who was still +with her, "Why, isn't she getting along real fast for one who has +been on the town?" + +Mrs. Lincoln, too, and Rose were greatly provoked, the former +declaring she would not send her daughters to a school which was so +cheap that paupers and all could go, were it not that Lizzie Upton had +been there, and Ida Selden was going. Jenny, however, thought +differently. She was delighted, and as often as she possibly could, +she came to Mrs. Mason's to talk the matter over, and tell what good +times they'd have, "provided they didn't set her to pounding clothes," +which she presumed they would, just because she was so fat and +healthy. The widow assumed a very resigned air, saying "She never did +meddle with other folks' business, and she guessed she shouldn't begin +by 'tendin' to Mary's, but 'twas a miracle where all the money came +from." + +A few more of the neighbors felt worried and troubled but as no +attention was paid to their remarks, they gradually ceased, and by the +time Mary's preparations were completed, curiosity and gossip seemed +to have subsided altogether. She was quite a favorite in the +neighborhood, and on the morning when she left home, there was many a +kind good-bye, and word of love spoken to her by those who came to see +her off. Mr. Knight carried her to the depot, where they found Sally +Furbush, accompanied by Tasso, her constant attendant. She knew that +Mary was to leave that morning, and had walked all that distance, for +the sake of seeing her, and giving her a little parting advice. It was +not quite time for the cars, and Mr. Knight, who was always in a +hurry, said "he guessed he wouldn't stay," so squeezing both of Mary's +hands, he bade her good-bye, telling her "to be a good girl, and not +get to running after the sparks." + +Scarcely was he gone, when Mary's attention was attracted by the sound +of many voices, and looking from the window, she saw a group of the +city girls advancing towards the depot. Among them was Ella, talking +and laughing very loudly Mary's heart beat very rapidly, for she +thought her sister was coming to bid her good-bye, but she was +mistaken. Ella had no thought or care for her, and after glancing in +at the sitting-room, without seeming to see its inmates, though not to +see them was impossible, she turned her back, and looking across the +river, which was directly in front, she said in her most drawling +tone, "Why don't Rose come? I shan't have time to see her at all, I'm +afraid." + +Lizzie Upton, who was also there, looked at her in astonishment, and +then said, "Why, Ella, isn't that your sister?" + +"My sister? I don't know. Where?" returned Ella. + +Mary laughed, and then Ella, facing about, exclaimed, "Why, Mary, you +here? I forgot that you were going this morning." + +Before Mary could reply. Sally Furbush arose, and passed her hand +carefully over Ella's head. Partly in fear, and partly in anger, Ella +drew back from the crazy woman, who said, "Don't be alarmed, little +one, I only wanted to find the cavity which I felt sure was there." + +Lizzie Upton's half-smothered laugh was more provoking to Ella, than +Sally's insinuation of her want of brains, but she soon recovered her +equanimity, for Mr. Lincoln's carriage at that moment drove up. Henry +sprang nimbly out, kissing his hand to Ella, who blushed, and then +turning to Rose, began wishing she, too, was old enough to go to Mount +Holyoke. + +"I guess you'd pass about as good an examination now, as some who are +going," returned Rose, glancing contemptuously towards Mary, to whom +Jenny was eagerly talking. + +This directed Henry's attention that way, and simultaneously his own +and Mary's eyes met. With a peculiar expression of countenance, he +stepped towards her, saying "Good morning, school ma'am. For what part +are you bound with all this baggage?" pointing to a huge chest with a +feather bed tied over it, the whole the property of a daughter of +Erin, who stood near, carefully guarding her treasure. + +Had he addressed Mary civilly, she would have replied with her usual +politeness, but as it was, she made no reply and he turned to walk +away. All this time Tasso lay under the table, winking and blinking at +his old enemy, with an expression in his eyes, which Henry would +hardly have relished, could he have seen him. + +"Hark! Isn't that the cars?" said Jenny, as a low, heavy growl fell on +her ear; but she soon ascertained what it was, for as Henry was +leaving the room, he kicked aside the blue umbrella, which Sal had +brought with her for fear of a shower, and which was lying upon the +floor. + +In an instant, Tasso's growl changed to a bark, and bristling with +anger, he rushed towards Henry, but was stopped by Sal just in time to +prevent his doing any mischief. With a muttered oath, which included +the "old woman" as well as her dog, the young man was turning away, +when Jenny said, "Shame on you, to swear before ladies!" + +After assuring himself by a look that Ella and the city girls were all +standing upon the platform, Henry replied with a sneer, "I don't see +any ladies in the room." + +Instantly Sal, now more furious than the dog, clutched her long, bony +fingers around his arm, saying, "Take back that insult, sir, or Tasso +shall tear you in pieces! What am I, if I am not a lady?" + +Henry felt sure that Sal meant what she said, and with an air of +assumed deference, he replied as he backed himself out of his +uncomfortable quarters, "I beg your pardon Mrs. Furbush, I forgot that +you were present." + +The whistle of the cars was now heard, and in a moment the locomotive +stood puffing before the depot. From one of the open windows a fair +young face looked out, and a voice which thrilled Mary's every nerve, +it seemed so familiar, called out, "Oh, Rosa, Jenny, all of you, I'm +so glad you are here; I was afraid there would be some mistake, and +I'd have to go alone." + +"Isn't your father with you?" asked Henry, bowing so low, that he +almost pitched headlong from the platform. + +"No," answered the young lady, "he couldn't leave, nor George either, +so Aunt Martha is my escort. She's fast asleep just opposite me, never +dreaming, I dare say, that we've stopped." + +"The mischief," said Henry. "What's to be done? The old gent was +obliged to be in Southbridge to-day, so he bade me put Rose and Jenny +under your father's protection; but as he isn't here I'll have to go +myself." + +"No you won't either," returned Ida, "Aunt Martha is as good as a man +any time, and can look after three as well as one." + +"That's Ida Selden! Isn't she handsome?" whispered Jenny to Mary. + +But Mary hardly heard her. She was gazing admiringly at Ida's animated +face, and tracing in it a strong resemblance to the boyish features, +which looked so mischievously out from the golden locket, which at +that moment lay next to her heart. + +"All aboard," shouted the shrill voice of the conductor and Mary awoke +from her reverie, and twining her arms around Sally Furbush's neck, +bade her good-bye. + +"The Lord be with you," said Sally, "and be sure you pay strict +attention to Grammar!" + +Mary next looked for Ella, but she stood at a distance jesting +lightly with Henry Lincoln, and evidently determined not to see her +sister, who was hurrying towards her, when "All aboard" was again +shouted in her ear, while at the same moment, the conductor lifted her +lightly upon the step where Rose and Jenny were standing. + +"This car is brim full," said Rose, looking over her shoulder, "but I +guess you can find a good seat in the next one." + +The train was already in motion, and as Mary did not care to peril her +life or limbs for the sake of pleasing Rose, she followed her into the +car, where there was a goodly number of unoccupied seats, +notwithstanding Rose's assertion to the contrary. As the train moved +rapidly over the long, level meadow, and passed the Chicopee +burying-ground, Mary looked out to catch a glimpse of the thorn-apple +tree, which overshadowed the graves of her parents, and then, as she +thought how cold and estranged was the only one left of all the home +circle, she drew her veil over her face and burst into tears. + +"Who is that young lady?" asked Ida, who was riding backward and +consequently directly opposite to Mary. + +"What young lady?" said Rose; and Ida replied, "The one who kissed +that queer-looking old woman and then followed you and Jenny into the +cars." + +"Oh, that was Mary Howard," was Rose's answer. + +"Mary Howard!" repeated Ida, as if the name were one she had heard +before, "who is she, and what is she?" + +"Nobody but a town pauper," answered Rose, "and one of Jenny's +protegee's. You see she is sitting by her." + +"She doesn't seem like a pauper," said Ida. "I wish she would take off +that veil. I want to see how she looks." + +"Rough and blowsy, of course, like any other country girl," was Rose's +reply. + +By this time Mary had dried her tears, and when they reached the +station at Warren, she removed her veil, disclosing to view a face, +which instead of being "rough and blowsy" was smooth and fair almost +as marble. + +"That isn't a pauper, I know," said Ida; and Rose replied, "Well, she +has been, and what's the difference?" + +"But where does she live now?" continued Ida. "I begin to grow +interested." + +"I suppose you remember Mrs. Mason, who used to live in Boston," +answered Rose. "Well, she has adopted her, I believe, but I don't know +much about it, and care a good deal less." + +"Mrs. Mason!" repeated Ida. "Why, Aunt Martha thinks all the world of +her, and I fancy she wouldn't sleep quite so soundly, if she knew her +adopted daughter was in the car. I mean to tell her.--Aunt Martha, +Aunt Martha!" + +But Aunt Martha was too fast asleep to heed Ida's call, and a gentle +shake was necessary to rouse her to consciousness. But when she became +fully awake, and knew why she was roused, she started up, and going +towards Mary, said in her own peculiarly sweet and winning manner, +"Ida tells me you are Mrs. Mason's adopted daughter, and Mrs. Mason is +the dearest friend I ever had. I am delighted to see you." + +Jenny immediately introduced her to Mary, as Miss Selden, whispering +in her ear at the same time that she was George's aunt; then rising +she gave her seat to Aunt Martha, taking another one for herself near +Rose and Ida. Without seeming to be curious at all, Aunt Martha had a +peculiar way of drawing people out to talk of themselves, and by the +time they reached the station, where they left the cars for Mt. +Holyoke, she had learned a good share of Mary's early history, and +felt quite as much pleased with the freshness and simplicity of her +young friend, as Mary did with her polished and elegant manners. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +MT. HOLYOKE + + +"Oh, forlorn what a looking place!" exclaimed Rose Lincoln, as from +the windows of the crowded vehicle in which they had come from the +cars, she first obtained a view of the not very handsome village of +South Hadley. + +Rose was in the worst of humors, for by some mischance, Mary was on +the same seat with herself, and consequently she was very much +distressed, and crowded. She, however, felt a little afraid of Aunt +Martha, who she saw was inclined to favor the object of her wrath, so +she restrained her fault-finding spirit until she arrived at South +Hadley, where every thing came in for a share of her displeasure. + +"_That_ the Seminary!" said she contemptuously, as they drew up before +the building. "Why, it isn't half as large, or handsome as I supposed. +Oh, horror! I know I shan't stay here long." + +The furniture of the parlor was also very offensive to the young lady, +and when Miss Lyon came in to meet them, she, too, was secretly +styled, "a prim, fussy, slippery-tongued old maid." Jenny, however, +who always saw the bright side of every thing, was completely charmed +with the sweet smile, and placid face, so well remembered by all who +have seen and known, the founder of Mt. Holyoke Seminary. After some +conversation between Miss Lyon and Aunt Martha it was decided that +Rose and Jenny should room together, as a matter of course, and that +Mary should room with Ida. Rose had fully intended to room with Ida +herself, and this decision made her very angry: but there was no help +for it and she was obliged to submit. + +Our readers are probably aware, that an examination in certain +branches is necessary, ere a pupil can be admitted into the school at +Mt. Holyoke, where the course of instruction embraces three years, and +three classes, Junior, Middle, and Senior. Rose, who had been much +flattered on account of her scholarship, confidently expected to enter +the Middle class. Jenny, too, had the same desire, though she +confessed to some misgivings concerning her knowledge of a goodly +number of the necessary branches. Ida was really an excellent scholar, +and was prepared to enter the Senior class, while Mary aspired to +nothing higher, than admission into the Junior. She was therefore +greatly surprised, when Aunt Martha, after questioning her as to what +she had studied, proposed that she should be examined for the Middle +class. + +"Oh, no," said Mary quickly, "I should fail, and I wouldn't do that +for the world." + +"Have you ever studied Latin?" asked Aunt Martha. + +Before Mary could reply, Rose exclaimed, "_She_ study Latin! How +absurd! Why, she was never away to school in her life." + +Aunt Martha silenced her with a peculiar look, while Mary answered, +that for more than two years, she had been reading Latin under Mrs. +Mason's instruction. + +"And you could not have a better teacher," said Aunt Martha. "So try +it by all means." + +"Yes, do try," said Ida and Jenny, in the same breath; and after a +time, Mary rather reluctantly consented. + +"I'll warrant she intends to sit by us, so we can tell her every +other word," muttered Rose to Jenny, but when the trial came she +thought differently. + +It would be wearisome to give the examination in detail, so we will +only say, that at its close, Rose Lincoln heard with shame and +confusion, that she could only be admitted into the Junior Class, her +examination having proved a very unsatisfactory one. Poor Jenny, too, +who had stumbled over almost every thing, shared the same fate, while +Mary, expecting nothing, and hoping nothing, burst into tears when +told that she had acquitted herself creditably, in all the branches +requisite for an admission into the Middle class. + +"Mrs. Mason will be so glad, and Billy, too," was her first thought; +and then, as she saw how disappointed Jenny looked, she seized the +first opportunity to throw her arms around her neck, and whisper to +her how sorry she was that she had failed. + +Jenny, however, was of too happy a temperament to remain sad for a +long time, and before night her loud, merry laugh had more than once +rang out in the upper hall, causing even Miss Lyon to listen, it was +so clear and joyous. That afternoon, Aunt Martha, who was going to +call upon Mrs. Mason, started for home, leaving the girls alone among +strangers. It was a rainy, dreary day, and the moment her aunt was +gone, Ida threw herself upon the bed and burst into tears. Jenny, who +occupied the next room, was also low spirited, for Rose was terribly +cross, calling her a "ninny hammer," and various other dignified +names. Among the four girls, Mary was the only cheerful one, and after +a time she succeeded in comforting Ida, while Jenny, catching +something of her spirit, began to laugh loudly, as she told a group of +girls how many ludicrous blunders she made when they undertook to +question her about Euclid, which she had never studied in her life! + +And now in a few days life at Mt. Holyoke commenced in earnest. +Although perfectly healthy, Mary looked rather delicate, and it was +for this reason, perhaps, that the sweeping and dusting of several +rooms were assigned to her, as her portion of the labor. Ida and Rose +fared much worse, and were greatly shocked, when told that they both +belonged to the wash circle! + +"I declare," said Rose, "it's too bad. I'll walk home before I'll do +it;" and she glanced at her white hands, to make sure they were not +already discolored by the dreaded soap suds! + +Jenny was delighted with her allotment, which was dish-washing. + +"I'm glad I took that lesson at the poor-house years ago," said she +one day to Rose, who snappishly replied, "I'd shut up about the +poor-house, or they'll think you the pauper instead of Madam Howard." + +"Pauper? Who's a pauper?" asked Lucy Downs, eager to hear so desirable +a piece of news. + +Ida Selden's large black eyes rested reprovingly upon Rose, who nodded +towards Mary, and forthwith Miss Downs departed with the information, +which was not long in reaching Mary's ears. + +"Why, Mary, what's the matter?" asked Ida, when towards the close of +the day she found her companion weeping in her room. Without lifting +her head, Mary replied, "It's foolish in me to cry, I know, but why +need I always be reproached with having been a pauper. I couldn't help +it. I promised mother I would take care of little Allie as long as she +lived, and if she went to the poor-house, I had to go too." + +"And who was little Allie?" asked Ida, taking Mary's hot hands between +her own. + +In few words Mary related her history, omitting her acquaintance with +George Moreland, and commencing at the night when her mother died. Ida +was warm-hearted and affectionate, and cared but little whether one +were rich or poor if she liked them. From the first she had been +interested in Mary, and now winding her arms about her neck, and +kissing away her tears, she promised to love her, and to be to her as +true and faithful a friend as Jenny. This promise, which was never +broken, was of great benefit to Mary, drawing to her side many of the +best girls in school, who soon learned to love her for herself, and +not because the wealthy Miss Selden seemed so fond of her. + +Neither Ida nor Rose were as happy in school, as Mary and Jenny. Both +of them fretted about the rules, which they were obliged to observe, +and both of them disliked and dreaded their portion of the work. Ida, +however, was happier than Rose, for she was fonder of study, and one +day when particularly interested in her lessons, she said to Mary, +that she believed she should be tolerably contented, were it not for +the everlasting washing. + +Looking up a moment after, she saw that Mary had disappeared. But she +soon returned, exclaiming, "I've fixed it. It's all right. I told her +I was a great deal stronger than you, that I was used to washing, and +you were not, and that it made your side ache; so she consented to +have us exchange, and after this you are to dust for me, and I am to +wash for you." + +Ida disliked washing so much, that she raised no very strong +objections to Mary's plan, and then when she found how great a +kindness had really been shown her, she tried hard to think of some +way in which to repay it. At last, George Moreland, to whom she had +written upon the subject, suggested something which met her views +exactly. Both Ida and her aunt had told George about Mary, and +without hinting that he knew her, he immediately commenced making +minute inquiries concerning her, of Ida, who communicated them to +Mary, wondering why she always blushed so deeply, and tried to change +the conversation. In reply to the letter in which Ida had told him of +Mary's kindness, George wrote, "You say Miss Howard is very fond of +music, and that there is no teacher connected with the institution. +Now why not give her lessons yourself? You can do it as well as not, +and it will be a good way of showing your gratitude." + +Without waiting to read farther, Ida ran in quest of Mary, to whom she +told what George had written. "You don't know," said she, "how much +George asks about you. I never saw him so much interested in any one +before, and half the girls in Boston are after him, too." + +"Poor fellow, I pity him," said Mary; and Ida continued, "Perhaps it +seems foolish in me to say so much about him, but if you only knew +him, you wouldn't wonder. He's the handsomest young man I ever saw, +and then he's so good, so different from other young men, especially +Henry Lincoln." + +Here the tea bell rang, and the conversation was discontinued. + +When Rose heard that Mary was taking music lessons, she exclaimed to a +group of girls with whom she was talking, "Well, I declare, beggars +taking music lessons! I wonder what'll come next? Why, you've no idea +how dreadfully poor she is. Our summer residence is near the +alms-house, and when she was there I saw a good deal of her. She had +scarcely any thing fit to wear, and I gave her one of my old bonnets, +which I do believe she wore for three or four years." + +"Why Rose Lincoln," said Jenny, who had overheard all, and now came +up to her sister, "how can you tell what you know is not true?" + +"Not true?" angrily retorted Rose. "Pray didn't she have my old +bonnet?" + +"Yes," answered Jenny, "but I bought it of you, and paid you for it +with a bracelet Billy Bender gave me,--you know I did." + +Rose was cornered, and as she saw noway of extricating herself, she +turned on her heel and walked away, muttering about the meanness of +doing a charitable deed, and then boasting of it! + +The next day Jenny chanced to go for a moment to Mary's room. As she +entered it, Mary looked up, saying, "You are just the one I want to +see. I've been writing about you to Billy Bender. You can read it if +you choose." + +When Jenny had finished reading the passage referred to, she said, +"Oh, Mary, I didn't suppose you overheard Rose's unkind remarks about +that bonnet." + +"But I did," answered Mary, "and I am glad, too, for I had always +supposed myself indebted to her instead of you. Billy thought so, too, +and as you see, I have undeceived him. Did I tell you that he had left +Mr. Selden's employment, and gone into a law office?" + +"Oh, good, good. I'm so glad," exclaimed Jenny, dancing about the +room. "Do you know whose office he is in?" + +"Mr. Worthington's," answered Mary, and Jenny continued: "Why, Henry +is studying there. Isn't it funny? But Billy will beat him, I know he +will,--he's so smart. How I wish he'd write to me! Wouldn't I feel +grand to have a gentleman correspondent?" + +"Suppose you write to him," said Mary, laughingly. "Here's just room +enough," pointing to a vacant spot upon the paper. "He's always +asking about you, and you can answer his questions yourself." + +"I'll do it," said Jenny, and seizing the pen, she thoughtlessly +scribbled off a ludicrous account of her failure, and of the blunders +she was constantly committing, while she spoke of Mary as the pattern +for the whole school, both in scholarship and behavior. + +"There!" said she, wiping her gold pen upon her silk apron (for Jenny +still retained some of the habits of her childhood) "I guess he'll +think I'm crazy, but I hope he'll answer it, any way." + +Mary hoped so too, and when at last Billy's letter came, containing a +neatly written note for Jenny, it was difficult telling which of the +two girls was the happier. + +Soon after Mary went to Mount Holyoke, she had received a letter from +Billy, in which he expressed his pleasure that she was at school, but +added that the fact of her being there interfered greatly with his +plan of educating her himself. "Mother's ill health," said he, +"prevented me from doing any thing until now, and just as I am in a +fair way to accomplish my object, some one else has stepped in before +me. But it is all right, and as you do not seem to need my services at +present, I shall next week leave Mr. Selden's employment, go into Mr. +Worthington's law office as clerk, hoping that when the proper time +arrives, I shall not be defeated in another plan which was formed in +boyhood, and which has become the great object of my life." + +Mary felt perplexed and troubled. Billy's letters of late had been +more like those of a lover than a brother, and she could not help +guessing the nature of "the plan formed in boyhood." She knew she +should never love him except with a sister's love, and though she +could not tell him so, her next letter lacked the tone of affection +with which she was accustomed to write, and on the whole a rather +formal affair. Billy, who readily perceived the change, attributed it +to the right cause, and from that time his letters became far less +cheerful than usual. + +Mary usually cried over them, wishing more than once that Billy would +transfer his affection from herself to Jenny, and it was for this +reason, perhaps, that without stopping to consider the propriety of +the matter, she first asked Jenny to write to him, and then encouraged +her in answering his notes, which (as her own letters grew shorter) +became gradually longer and longer, until at last his letters were +addressed to Jenny, while the notes they contained were directed to +Mary! + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE CLOSING OF THE YEAR. + + +Rapidly the days passed on at Mount Holyoke. Autumn faded into winter, +whose icy breath floated for a time over the mountain tops, and then +melted away at the approach of spring, which, with its swelling buds +and early flowers, gave way in its turn to the long bright days of +summer. And now only a few weeks remained ere the annual examination +at which Ida was to be graduated. Neither Rose nor Jenny were to +return the next year, and nothing but Mr. Lincoln's firmness and good +sense had prevented their being sent for when their mother first heard +that they had failed to enter the Middle class. + +Mrs. Lincoln's mortification was undoubtedly greatly increased from +the fact that the despised Mary had entered in advance of her +daughters. "Things are coming to a pretty pass," said she. "Yes, a +pretty pass; but I might have known better than to send my children to +such a school." + +Mr. Lincoln could not forbear asking her in a laughing way, "if the +schools which she attended were of a higher order than Mount Holyoke." + +Bursting into tears, Mrs. Lincoln replied that "she didn't think she +ought to be _twitted_ of her poverty." + +"Neither do I," returned her husband. "You were no more to blame for +working in the factory, than Mary is for having been a pauper!" + +Mrs. Lincoln was silent, for she did not particularly care to hear +about her early days, when she had been an operative in the cotton +mills of Southbridge. She had possessed just enough beauty to +captivate the son of the proprietor, who was fresh from college, and +after a few weeks' acquaintance they were married. Fortunately her +husband was a man of good sense, and restrained her from the +commission of many foolish acts. Thus when she insisted upon sending +for Rose and Jenny, he promptly replied that they should not come +home! Still, as Rose seemed discontented, complaining that so much +exercise made her side and shoulder ache, and as Jenny did not wish to +remain another year unless Mary did, he consented that they should +leave school at the close of the term, on condition that they went +somewhere else. + +"I shall never make any thing of Henry," said he, "but my daughters +shall receive every advantage, and perhaps one or the other of them +will comfort my old age." + +He had spoken truly with regard to Henry, who was studying, or +pretending to study law in the same office with Billy Bender. But his +father heard no favorable accounts of him, and from time to time large +bills were presented for the payment of carriage hire, wine, and +"drunken sprees" generally. So it is no wonder the disappointed father +sighed, and turned to his daughters for the comfort his only son +refused to give. + +But we have wandered from the examination at Mount Holyoke, for which +great preparations were being made. Rose, knowing she was not to +return, seemed to think all further effort on her part unnecessary; +and numerous were the reprimands, to say nothing of the black marks +which she received. Jenny, on the contrary, said she wished to +retrieve her reputation for laziness, and leave behind a good +impression. So, never before in her whole life had she behaved so +well, or studied so hard as she did during the last few weeks of her +stay at Mount Holyoke. Ida, who was expecting her father, aunt and +cousin to be present at the anniversary, was so engrossed with her +studies, that she did not observe how sad and low spirited Mary +seemed. She had tasted of knowledge, and now thirsted for more; but it +could not be; the funds were exhausted, and she must leave the school, +never perhaps to return again. + +"How much I shall miss my music, and how much I shall miss you," she +said one day to Ida, who was giving her a lesson. + +"It's too bad you haven't a piano," returned Ida, "you are so fond of +it, and improve so fast!" then after a moment she added, "I have a +plan to propose, and may as well do it now as any time. Next winter +you must spend with me in Boston. Aunt Martha and I arranged it the +last time I was at home, and we even selected your room, which is next +to mine, and opposite to Aunt Martha's. Now what does your ladyship +say to it?" + +"She says she can't go," answered Mary. + +"Can't go!" repeated Ida. "Why not? Jenny will be in the city, and you +are always happy where she is; besides you will have a rare chance for +taking music lessons of our best teachers; and then, too, you will be +in the same house with George, and that alone is worth going to Boston +for, I think." + +Ida little suspected that her last argument was the strongest +objection to Mary's going, for much as she wished to meet George +again, she felt that she would not on any account go to his own home, +lest he should think she came on purpose to see him. There were other +reasons, too, why she did not wish to go. Henry and Rose Lincoln would +both be in the city, and she knew that neither of them would scruple +to do or say any thing which they thought would annoy her. Mrs. Mason, +too, missed her, and longed to have her at home; so she resisted all +Ida's entreaties, and the next letter which went to Aunt Martha, +carried her refusal. + +In a day or two, Mary received two letters, one from Billy and one +from Mrs. Mason, the latter of which contained money for the payment +of her bills; but on offering it to the Principal, how was she +surprised to learn that her bills had not only been regularly paid and +receipted, but that ample funds were provided for the defraying of her +expenses during the coming year. A faint sickness stole over Mary, for +she instantly thought of Billy Bender, and the obligations she would +now be under to him for ever. Then it occurred to her how impossible +it was that he should have earned so much in so short a time; and as +soon as she could trust her voice to speak, she asked who it was that +had thus befriended her. + +Miss ---- was not at liberty to tell, and with a secret suspicion of +Aunt Martha, who had seemed much interested in her welfare, Mary +returned to her room to read the other letter, which was still +unopened. It was some time since Billy had written to her alone, and +with more than her usual curiosity, she broke the seal; but her head +grew dizzy, and her spirits faint, as she read the passionate +outpouring of a heart which had cherished her image for years, and +which, though fearful of rejection, would still tell her how much she +was beloved. "It is no sudden fancy," said he, "but was conceived +years ago, on that dreary afternoon, when in your little room at the +poor-house, you laid your head in my lap and wept, as you told me how +lonely you were. Do you remember it, Mary? I do; and never now does +your image come before me, but I think of you as you were then, when +the wild wish that you should one day be mine first entered my heart. +Morning, noon, and night have I thought of you, and no plan for the +future have I ever formed which had not a direct reference to you. +Once, Mary, I believed my affection for you returned, but now you are +changed greatly changed. Your letters are brief and cold, and when I +look around for the cause, I am led to fear that I was deceived in +thinking you ever loved me, as I thought you did. If I am mistaken, +tell me so; but if I am not, if you can never be my wife, I will +school myself to think of you as a brother would think of an only and +darling sister." + +This letter produced a strange effect upon Mary. She thought how much +she was indebted to one who had stood so faithfully by her when all +the world was dark and dreary. She thought, too, of his kindness to +the dead, and that appealed more strongly to her sympathy than aught +else he had ever done for her. There was no one to advise her, and +acting upon the impulse of the moment, she sat down and commenced a +letter, the nature of which she did not understand herself, and which +if sent, would have given a different coloring to the whole of her +after life. She had written but one page, when the study bell rang, +and she was obliged to put her letter by till the morrow. For several +days she had not been well, and the excitement produced by Billy's +letter tended to increase her illness, so that on the following +morning when she attempted to rise, she found herself seriously ill. +During the hours in which she was alone that day, she had ample time +for reflection, and before night she wrote another letter to Billy, in +which she told him how impossible it was for her to be the wife of one +whom she had always loved as an own, and dear brother. This letter +caused Mary so much effort, and so many bitter tears, that for several +days she continued worse, and at last gave up all hope of being +present at the examination. + +"Oh it's too bad," said Ida, "for I _do_ want you to see Cousin +George, and I know he'll be disappointed too, for I never saw any +thing like the interest he seems to take in you." + +A few days afterwards as Mary was lying alone, thinking of Billy, and +wondering if she had done right in writing to him as she did, Jenny +came rushing in wild with delight. + +Her father was down stairs, together with Ida's father George, and +Aunt Martha. "Most the first thing I did," said she, "was to inquire +after Billy Bender! I guess Aunt Martha was shocked, for she looked so +_queer_. George laughed, and Mr. Selden said he was doing well, and +was one of the finest young men in Boston. But why don't you ask about +George? I heard him talking about you to Rose, just as I left the +parlor." + +Mary felt sure that any information of her which Rose might give would +not be very complimentary, and she thought right; for when Rose was +questioned concerning "Miss Howard," she at first affected her +ignorance of such a person; and then when George explained himself +more definitely, she said, "Oh, _that_ girl! I'm sure I don't know +much about her, except that she's a _charity scholar_, or something of +that kind." + +At the words "charity scholar," there was a peculiar smile on George's +face; but he continued talking, saying, "that if that were the case, +she ought to be very studious and he presumed she was." + +"As nearly as I can judge of her," returned Rose, "she is not +remarkable for brilliant talents; but," she added, as she met Ida's +eye, "she has a certain way of showing off, and perhaps I am mistaken +with regard to her." + +Very different from this was the description given of her by Ida, who +now came to her cousin's side, extolling Mary highly, and lamenting +the illness which would prevent George from seeing her. Aunt Martha, +also, spoke a word in Mary's favor, at the same time endeavoring to +stop the unkind remarks of Rose, whom she thoroughly disliked, and who +she feared was becoming too much of a favorite with George. Rose was +not only very handsome, but she also possessed a peculiar faculty of +making herself agreeable whenever she chose, and in Boston she was +quite a favorite with a certain class of young men. It was for George +Moreland, however, that her prettiest and most coquettish airs were +practised. He was the object which she would secure; and when she +heard Mary Howard so highly commended in his presence, she could not +forbear expressing her contempt, fancying that he, with his high +English notions, would feel just as she did, with regard to poverty +and low origin. As for George, it was difficult telling whom he did +prefer, though the last time Rose was in Boston, rumor had said that +he was particularly attentive to her; and Mrs. Lincoln, who was very +sanguine, once hinted to Ida, the probability that a relationship +would sooner or later exist between the two families. + +Rose, too, though careful not to hint at such a thing in Ida's +presence, was quite willing that others of her companions at Mount +Holyoke should fancy there was an intimacy, if not an engagement +between herself and Mr. Moreland. Consequently he had not been in +South Hadley twenty-four hours, ere he was pointed out by some of the +villagers, as being the future husband of the elder Miss Lincoln, +whose haughty, disagreeable manners had become subject of general +remark. During the whole of George's stay at Mount Holyoke, Rose +managed to keep him at her side, entertaining him occasionally with +unkind remarks concerning Mary, who, she said, was undoubtedly +feigning her sickness, so as not to appear in her classes, where she +knew she could do herself no credit; "but," said she, "as soon as the +examination is over, she'll get well fast enough, and bother us with +her company to Chicopee." + +In this Rose was mistaken, for when the exercises closed Mary was +still too ill to ride, and it was decided that she should remain a few +days until Mrs. Mason could come for her. With many tears Ida and +Jenny bade their young friend good-bye, but Rose, when asked to go up +and see her turned away disdainfully, amusing herself during their +absence by talking and laughing with George Moreland. + +The room in which Mary lay, commanded a view of the yard and gateway; +and after Aunt Martha, Ida, and Jenny had left her, she arose, and +stealing to the window, looked out upon the company as they departed. +She could readily divine which was George Moreland, for Rose Lincoln's +shawl and satchel were thrown over his arm, while Rose herself walked +close to his elbow, apparently engrossing his whole attention. Once he +turned around, but fearful of being herself observed, Mary drew back +behind the window curtain, and thus lost a view of his face. He, +however, caught a glimpse of her, and asked if that was the room in +which Miss Howard was sick. + +Rose affected not to hear him, and continued enumerating the many +trials which she had endured at school, and congratulating herself +upon her escape from the "horrid place." But for once George was not +an attentive listener. Notwithstanding his apparent indifference, he +was greatly disappointed at not seeing Mary. It was for this he had +gone to Mount Holyoke; and in spite of Rose's endeavors to make him +talk, he was unusually silent all the way, and when they at last +reached Chicopee, he highly offended the young lady by assisting Jenny +to alight instead of herself. + +"I should like to know what you are thinking about," she said rather +pettishly, as she took his offered hand to say good-bye. + +With a roguish look in his eye, George replied, "I've been thinking of +a young lady. Shall I tell you her name?" + +Rose blushed, and looking interestingly embarrassed answered, that of +course 'twas no one whom she knew. + +"Yes, 'tis," returned George, still holding her hand and as Aunt +Martha, who was jealously watching his movements from the window, just +then called out to him "to jump in, or he'd be left," he put his face +under Rose's bonnet, and whispered, "Mary Howard!" + +"Kissed her, upon my word!" said Aunt Martha with a groan, which was +rendered inaudible to Ida by the louder noise of the engine. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +VACATION. + + +In Mrs. Mason's pleasant little dining parlor, the tea-table was +neatly spread for two, while old Judith, in starched gingham dress, +white muslin apron, bustled in and out, occasionally changing the +position of a curtain or chair, and then stepping backward to witness +the effect. The stuffed rocking chair, with two extra cushions, and a +pillow, was drawn up to the table, indicating that an invalid was +expected to occupy that seat, while near one of the plates was a +handsome bouquet, which Lydia Knight had carefully arranged, and +brought over as a present for her young teacher. A dozen times had +Lydia been told to "clip down to the gate and see if they were +comin';" and at last, seating herself resignedly upon the hall stairs, +Judith began to wonder "what under the sun and moon had happened." + +She had not sat there long, ere the sound of wheels again drew her to +the door, and in a moment old Charlotte and the yellow wagon entered +the yard. Mary, who was now nearly well, sprang out, and bounding up +the steps, seized Judith's hand with a grasp which told how glad she +was to see her. + +"Why, you ain't dreadful sick, is you?" said Judith peering under her +bonnet. + +"Oh, no, not sick at all," returned Mary; and then, as she saw the +chair, with its cushions and pillows, she burst into a loud laugh, +which finally ended in a hearty cry, when she thought how kind was +every one to her. + +She had been at home but a few days when she was solicited to take +charge of a small select school. But Mrs Mason thought it best for her +to return to Mount Holyoke, and accordingly she declined Mr. Knight's +offer, greatly to his disappointment, and that of many others. Mrs. +Bradley, who never on any occasion paid her school bill, was the +loudest in her complaints, saying that, "for all Tim never larnt a +speck, and stood at the foot all summer long when Mary kept before, +he'd got so sassy there was no living with him, and she wanted him out +of the way." + +Widow Perkins, instead of being sorry was glad, for if Mary didn't +teach, there was no reason why Sally Ann shouldn't. "You'll never have +a better chance," said she to her daughter, "there's no stifficut +needed for a private school, and I'll clap on my things and run over +to Mr Knight's before he gets off to his work." + +It was amusing to see Mr. Knight's look of astonishment, when the +widow made her application. Lydia, who chanced to be present, hastily +retreated behind the pantry door, where with her apron over her mouth, +she laughed heartily as she thought of a note, which the candidate for +teaching had once sent them, and in which "i's" figured conspicuously, +while her mother was "_polightly_ thanked for those yeast?" + +Possibly Mr. Knight thought of the note, too, for he gave the widow no +encouragement, and when on her way home she called for a moment at +Mrs. Mason's, she "thanked her stars that Sally Ann wasn't obliged to +keep school for a livin', for down below where she came from, teachers +warn't fust cut!" + +One morning about a week after Mary's return, she announced her +intention of visiting her mother's grave. "I am accustomed to so much +exercise," said she, "that I can easily walk three miles, and perhaps +on my way home I shall get a ride." + +Mrs Mason made no objection, and Mary was soon on her way. She was a +rapid walker, and almost before she was aware of it, reached the +village. As she came near Mrs. Campbell's, the wish naturally arose +that Ella should accompany her. Looking up she saw her sister in the +garden and called to her. + +"Wha-a-t?" was the very loud and uncivil answer which came back to +her, and in a moment Ella appeared round the corner of the house, +carelessly swinging her straw flat, and humming a fashionable song. On +seeing her sister she drew back the corners of her mouth into +something which she intended for a smile, and said, "Why, I thought it +was Bridget calling me, you looked so much like her in that gingham +sun-bonnet. Won't you come in?" + +"Thank you," returned Mary, "I was going to mother's grave, and +thought perhaps you would like to accompany me." + +"Oh, no," said Ella, in her usual drawling tone, "I don't know as I +want to go. I was there last week and saw the monument." + +"What monument?" asked Mary, and Ella replied "Why, didn't you know +that Mrs. Mason, or the town, or somebody, had bought a monument, with +mother's and father's, and Franky's, and Allie's name on it?" + +Mary waited for no more, but turned to leave, while Ella, who was +anxious to inquire about Ida Selden, and who could afford to be +gracious, now that neither Miss Porter, nor the city girls were there, +called after her to stop and rest, when she came back. Mary promised +to do so, and then hurrying on, soon reached the graveyard, where, as +Ella had said, there stood by her parents' graves a large handsome +monument. + +William Bender was the first person who came into her mind, and as she +thought of all that had passed between them, and of this last proof of +his affection, she seated herself among the tall grass and flowers, +which grew upon her mother's grave, and burst into tears. She had not +sat there long, ere she was roused by the sound of a footstep. Looking +up, she saw before her the young gentleman, who the year previous had +visited her school in Rice Corner. Seating himself respectfully by her +side, he spoke of the three graves, and asked if they were her friends +who slept there. There was something so kind and affectionate in his +voice and manner, that Mary could not repress her tears, and snatching +up her bonnet which she had thrown aside she hid her face in it and +again wept. + +For a time, Mr. Stuart suffered her to weep, and then gently removed +the gingham bonnet, and holding her hand between his, he tried to +divert her mind by talking upon other topics, asking her how she had +been employed during the year, and appearing greatly pleased, when +told that she had been at Mount Holyoke. Observing, at length, that +her eyes constantly rested upon the monument, he spoke of that, +praising its beauty, and asking if it were her taste. + +"No," said she, "I never saw it until to-day, and did not even know it +was here." + +"Some one wished to surprise you, I dare say," returned Mr. Stuart. +"It was manufactured in Boston, I see. Have you friends there?" + +Mary replied that she had one, a Mr. Bender, to which Mr. Stuart +quickly rejoined, "Is it William Bender? I have heard of him through +our mutual friend George Moreland, whom you perhaps have seen." + +Mary felt the earnest gaze of the large, dark eyes which were fixed +upon her face, and coloring deeply, she replied that they came from +England in the same vessel. + +"Indeed!" said Mr. Stuart. "When I return to the city shall I refresh +his memory a little with regard to you?" + +"I'd rather you would not," answered Mary. "Our paths in life are very +different; and he of course would feel no interest in me." + +"Am I to conclude that you, too, feel no interest in him?" returned +Mr. Stuart, and again his large eyes rested on Mary's face, with a +curious expression. + +But she made no reply, and soon rising up, said it was time for her to +go home. + +"Allow me to accompany you as far as Mrs. Campbell's," said Mr. +Stuart. "I am going to call upon Miss Ella, whose acquaintance I +accidentally made last summer. Suppose you call too. You know her, of +course?" Mary replied that she did, and was about to speak of the +relationship between them, when Mr. Stuart abruptly changed the +conversation, and in a moment more they were at Mrs. Campbell's door. +Ella was so much delighted at again seeing Mr. Stuart, that she hardly +noticed her sister at all, and did not even ask her to remove her +bonnet. After conversing a while upon indifferent subjects, Mr. Stuart +asked Ella to play, saying he was very fond of music. But Ella, like +other fashionable ladies, "couldn't of course play any thing,--was +dreadfully out of practice, and besides that her music was all so +old-fashioned." + +Mr. Stuart had probably seen such cases before, and knew how to manage +them, for he continued urging the matter, until Ella arose, and +throwing back her curls, sauntered to wards the piano, saying she +should be obliged to have some one turn the leases for her. Mr. Stuart +of course volunteered his services, and after a violent turning of the +music-stool by way of elevating it, and a turning back by way of +lowering it, Ella with the air of a martyr, declared herself ready to +play whatever Mr. Stuart should select, provided it were not "old." + +A choice being made she dashed off into a spirited waltz, skipping a +good many notes, and finally ending with a tremendous crash. Fond as +Mr. Stuart was of music, he did not call for a repetition from her, +but turning to Mary asked if she could play. + +Ella laughed aloud at the idea, and when Mary replied that she did +play a little, she laughed still louder, saying, "Why, _she_ can't +play, unless it's 'Days of Absence,' with one hand, or something of +that kind." + +"Allow me to be the judge," said Mr. Stuart, and leading Mary to the +piano, he bade her play any thing she pleased. + +Ida had been a faithful teacher, and Mary a persevering pupil, so that +whatever she played was played correctly and with good taste; at least +Mr. Stuart thought so, for he kept calling for piece after piece, +until she laughingly told him her catalogue was nearly exhausted, and +she'd soon be obliged to resort to the _scales!_ + +Ella looked on in amazement, and when Mary had finished playing, +demanded of her where she had learned so much, and who was her +teacher; adding that her _fingering_ was wretched; "but then," said +she, "I suppose you can't help it, your fingers are so stiff!" + +For a moment Mr. Stuart regarded her with an expression which it +seemed to Mary she had seen before, and then consulting his watch, +said he must go, as it was nearly car time, After he was gone, Ella +asked Mary endless questions as to where she met him, what he said, +and if she told him they were sisters. "How elegantly he was dressed," +said she, "Didn't you feel dreadfully ashamed of your gingham +sun-bonnet and gown?" + +"Why, no," said Mary. "I never once thought of them." + +"I should, for I know he notices every thing," returned Ella; and then +leaning on her elbow so as to bring herself in range of the large +mirror opposite, she continued, "seems to me my curls are not arranged +becomingly this morning." + +Either for mischief, or because she really thought so, Mary replied +"that they did not look as well as usual;" whereupon Ella grew red in +the face, saying that "she didn't think she looked so very badly." + +Just then the first dinner bell rang, and starting up Ella exclaimed, +"Why-ee, _I_ forgot that ma expected General H. to dine. I must go and +dress this minute." + +Without ever asking her sister to stay to dinner, she hastily left the +room. Upon finding herself so unceremoniously deserted, Mary tied on +the despised gingham bonnet and started for home. She had reached the +place where Ella the year before met with Mr. Stuart, when she saw a +boy, whom she knew was living at the poor-house, coming down the hill +as fast as a half blind old horse could bring him. When he got +opposite to her he halted, and with eyes projecting like harvest +apples, told her to "jump in, for Mrs. Parker was dying, and they had +sent for her." + +"I've been to your house," said he, "and your marm thought mebby I'd +meet you." + + + +Mary immediately sprang in, and by adroitly questioning Mike, whose +intellect was not the brightest in the world, managed to ascertain +that Mrs. Parker had been much worse for several days, that Sal +Furbush had turned nurse; faithfully attending her night and day, and +occasionally sharing "her vigils" with a "sleek, fancy-looking girl, +who dressed up in meetin' clothes every day, and who had first +proposed sending for Mary." Mary readily guessed that the "sleek, +fancy-looking" girl was Jenny, and on reaching the poor house she +found her suspicions correct, for Jenny came out to meet her, followed +by Sally, who exclaimed, "Weep, oh daughter, and lament, for earth has +got one woman less and Heaven one female more!" + +Passing into the house, Mary followed Jenny to the same room where +once her baby sister had lain, and where now upon the same table lay +all that was mortal of Mrs. Parker. Miss Grundy, who was standing near +the body, bowed with a look of very becoming resignation, and then as +if quite overcome, left the room. Just then a neighbor, who seemed to +be superintending affairs, came in, and Mary asked what she could do +to assist them. + +"Nothing until to-morrow, when if you please you can help make the +shroud," answered the woman, and Jenny catching Mary around the neck, +whispered, "You'll stay all night with me; there's no one at home but +Rose, and we'll have such a nice time." + +Mary thought of the little room up stairs where Alice had died, and +felt a desire to sleep there once more, but upon inquiry she found +that it was now occupied by Sally Furbush. + +"You must come and see my little parlor," said she to Mary, and taking +her hand she led her up to the room, which was greatly improved. A +strip of faded, but rich carpeting was before the bed. A low +rocking-chair stood near the window, which was shaded with a striped +muslin curtain, the end of which was fringed out nearly a quarter of a +yard, plainly showing Sally's handiwork. The contents of the old +barrel were neatly stowed away in a square box, on the top of which +lay a worn portfolio, stuffed to its utmost capacity with manuscript. + +"For all this elegance," said Sally, "I am indebted to my worthy and +esteemed friend, Miss Lincoln." + +But Mary did not hear, for her eyes were riveted upon another piece of +furniture. At the foot of the bed stood Alice's cradle, which Billy +Bender had brought there on that afternoon now so well remembered by +Mary. + +"Oh, Sally," said she, "how came this here?" + +"Why," returned Sally, hitting it a jog, "I don't sleep any now, and I +thought the nights would seem shorter, if I had this to rock and make +believe little Willie was in it. So I brought it down from the garret, +and it affords me a sight of comfort, I assure you!" + +Mary afterwards learned that often during the long winter nights the +sound of that cradle could be heard, occasionally drowned by Sally's +voice, which sometimes rose almost to a shriek, and then died away in +a low, sad wail, as she sang a lullaby to the "Willie who lay sleeping +on the prairie at the West." + +As there was now no reason why she should not do so, Mary accompanied +Jenny home, where, as she had expected, she met with a cool reception +from Rose, who merely nodded to her, and then resumed the book she was +reading. After tea, Mary stepped for a moment into the yard, and then +Rose asked Jenny what she intended doing with her "genteel visitor." + +"Put her in the best chamber, and sleep there myself," said Jenny, +adding that "they were going to lie awake all night just to see how it +seemed." + +But in spite of this resolution, as midnight advanced Jenny found that +Mary's answers, even when Billy Bender was the topic, became more and +more unsatisfactory, and finally ceased altogether. Concluding to let +her sleep a few minutes, and then wake her up, Jenny turned on her +pillow and when her eyes again opened, the morning sun was shining +through the half-closed shutters, and the breakfast bell was jingling +in the lower hall. + +When Mary returned to the poor-house, she found a new arrival in the +person of Mrs. Perkins! The widow had hailed Mike as he passed her +house the day before, and on learning how matters stood, offered to +accompany him home. Mike, who had an eye for "fancy-looking girls," +did not exactly like Mrs. Perkins' appearance. Besides that, his +orders were to bring Mary, and he had no idea of taking another as a +substitute. Accordingly, when on his return from Mrs. Mason's, he saw +the widow standing at her gate, all equipped with parasol and satchel, +he whipped up his horse, and making the circuit of the school-house, +was some ways down the road ere the widow suspected his intentions. +"Thanking her stars" (her common expression) "that she had a good pair +of feet," Mrs. Perkins started on foot, reaching the poor-house about +sunset. She was now seated in what had been Mrs. Parker's room, and +with pursed-up lips, and large square collar very much like the +present fashion, was stitching away upon the shroud, heaving +occasionally a long-drawn sigh, as she thought how lonely and desolate +poor Mr. Parker must feel! + +"Will you give me some work?" asked Mary, after depositing her bonnet +upon the table. + +"There's nothing for you," returned Mrs. Perkins. "I can do all that +is necessary, and prefer working alone." + +"Yes, she shall help too, if she wants to," snapped out Mrs. Grundy, +with one of her old shoulder jerks. "Mary's handy with the needle, for +I larnt her myself." + +In a short time Mrs. Perkins disappeared from the room, and Sally's +little bright eyes, which saw every thing, soon spied her out in the +woodshed asking Mr. Parker "if Polly Grundy couldn't be kept in the +kitchen where she belonged." + +Scarcely had she left the shed when Miss Grundy herself appeared, +fretting about "the meddlesome old widow who had come there stickin' +round before Mrs. Parker was hardly cold!" + +This put a new idea into Sally's head, and the whole household was +startled as she broke out singing, "the loss of one is the gain of +another," and so forth. Mrs. Perkins proposed that she should be shut +up, but Miss Grundy, for once in Sally's favor, declared "she'd fight, +before such a thing should be done;" whereupon Mrs. Perkins lamented +that the house had now "no head," wondering how poor Mr. Parker would +get along with "such an unmanageable crew." + +Numerous were the ways with which the widow sought to comfort the +widower, assuring him "that she ached for him clear to her heart's +core! and I know how to pity you, too," said she, "for when my +Hezekiah died I thought I couldn't stand it." Then by way of +administering further consolation, she added that "the _wust_ was to +come, for only them that had tried it knew how lonesome it was to live +on day after day, and night after night, week in and week out, without +any husband or wife." + +Mr. Parker probably appreciated her kindness, for when after the +funeral the following day she announced her intention of walking home, +he ordered Mike to "tackle up," and carry her. This was hardly in +accordance with the widow's wishes, and when all was in readiness, she +declared that she was afraid to ride after Mike's driving. Uncle Peter +was then proposed as a substitute, but the old man had such a dread of +Mrs. Perkins, who Sal (for mischief) had said was in love with him, +that at the first intimation he climbed up the scuttle hole, where an +hour afterwards he was discovered peeping cautiously out to see if the +coast was clear. Mr. Parker was thus compelled to go himself, Miss +Grundy sending after him the very Christian-like wish that "she hoped +he'd tip over and break the widow's neck!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +EDUCATION FINISHED. + + +Vacation was over, and again in the halls of Mount Holyoke was heard +the tread of many feet, and the sound of youthful voices, as one by +one the pupils came back to their accustomed places. For a time Mary +was undecided whether to return or not, for much as she desired an +education, she could not help feeling delicate about receiving it from +a stranger; but Mrs. Mason, to whom all her thoughts and feelings were +confided, advised her to return, and accordingly the first day of the +term found her again at Mount Holyoke, where she was warmly welcomed +by her teachers and companions. Still it did not seem like the olden +time, for Ida was not there, and Jenny's merry laugh was gone. She had +hoped that her sister would accompany her, but in reply to her +persuasions, Ella answered that "she didn't want to work,--she wasn't +obliged to work,--and she wouldn't work!" quoting Rose Lincoln's "pain +in the side, callous on her hand, and cold on her lungs," as a +sufficient reason why every body should henceforth and for ever stay +away from Mount Holyoke. + +Mrs. Lincoln, who forgot that Rose had complained of a pain in her +side long before she ever saw South Hadley, advised Mrs. Campbell, by +all means, never to send her daughter to such a place. "To be sure it +may do well enough," said she, "for a great burly creature like Mary +Howard, but your daughter and mine are altogether too delicate and +daintily bred to endure it." + +Mrs. Campbell of course consented to this, adding that she had secured +the services of a highly accomplished lady as governess for Ella, and +proposing that Rose and Jenny, instead of accompanying their mother to +the city as usual, should remain with her during the winter, and share +Ella's advantages. To this proposition, Mrs. Lincoln readily assented, +and while Mary, from habitual exercise both indoors and out, was +growing more and more healthful and vigorous, Rose Lincoln, who was +really delicate, was drooping day by day, and growing paler and paler +in the closely heated school-room, where a breath of fresh air rarely +found entrance, as the "accomplished governess" could not endure it. +Daily were her pupils lectured upon the necessity of shielding +themselves from the winter winds, which were sure "to impart such a +rough, blowzy appearance to their complexion." + +Rose profited well by this advice, and hardly any thing could tempt +her into the open air, unless it were absolutely necessary. All day +long she half reclined upon a small sofa, which at her request was +drawn close to the stove, and even then complaining of being chilly +she sometimes sat with her shawl thrown over her shoulders. Jenny, on +the contrary, fanned herself furiously at the farthest corner of the +room, frequently managing to open the window slyly, and regale herself +with the snow which lay upon the sill. Often, too, when her lessons +were over for the day, she would bound away, and after a walk of a +mile or so, would return to the house with her cheeks glowing, and her +eyes sparkling like stars. Burnishing a striking contrast to her pale, +sickly sister, who hovered over the stove, shivering if a window were +raised, or a door thrown open. + +In the course of the winter Mrs. Lincoln came up to visit her +daughters, expressing herself much pleased with Rose's improved looks +and manners. "Her complexion was so pure" she said, "so different from +what it was when she came from Mount Holyoke." + +Poor Jenny, who, full of life and spirits came rushing in to see her +mother, was cut short in her expression of joy by being called "a +perfect bunch of fat!" + +"Why, Jenny, what does make you so red and coarse?" said the +distressed mother. "I know you eat too much," and before Mrs. Lincoln +went home, she gave her daughter numerous lectures concerning her +diet; but it only made matters worse; and when six weeks after, Mrs. +Lincoln came again she found that Jenny had not only gained five +pounds, but that hardly one of her dresses would meet! + +"Mercy me!" said she, the moment her eye fell upon Jenny's round, +plump cheeks, and fat shoulders, "you are as broad as you are long. +What a figure you would cut in Boston!" + +For once the merry Jenny cried, wondering how she could help being +healthy and fat. Before Mrs. Lincoln left Chicopee, she made a +discovery, which resulted in the removal of Jenny to Boston. With the +exception of the year at Mount Holyoke, Jenny had never before passed +a winter in the country, and now everything delighted her. In spite of +her governess's remonstrance, all her leisure moments were spent in +the open air, and besides her long walks, she frequently joined the +scholars, who from the district school came over at recess to slide +down the long hill in the rear of Mrs. Campbell's barns and stables. +For Jenny to ride down hill at all was bad enough, "but to do so with +_district school_ girls, and then be drawn up by coarse, vulgar boys, +was far worse;" and the offender was told to be in readiness to +accompany her mother home, for she could not stay in Chicopee another +week. + +"Oh, I'm so glad," said Rose, "for now I shan't freeze to death +nights." + +Mrs. Lincoln demanded what she meant, and was told that Jenny insisted +upon having the window down from the top, let the weather be what it +might; "and," added Rose 'when the wind blows hard I am positively +obliged to hold on to the sheets to keep myself in bed!" + +"A Mount Holyoke freak," said Mrs. Lincoln. "I wish to mercy neither +of you had ever gone there." + +Rose answered by a low cough, which her mother did not hear, or at +least did not notice. Jenny, who loved the country and the country +people, was not much pleased with her mother's plan. But for once Mrs. +Lincoln was determined, and after stealing one more sled-ride down the +long hill, and bidding farewell to the old desk in the school-house, +sacred for the name carved three years before with Billy Bender's +jack-knife, Jenny went back with her mother to Boston, leaving Rose to +droop and fade in the hot, unwholesome atmosphere of Miss Hinton's +school-room. + +Not long after Jenny's return to the city, she wrote to Mary an +amusing account of her mother's reason for removing her from Chicopee. +"But on the whole, I am glad to be at home," said she, "for I see +Billy Bender almost every day. I first met him coming down Washington +Street, and he walked with me clear to our gate. Ida Selden had a +party last week, and owing to George Moreland's influence, Billy was +there. He was very attentive to me, though Henry says 'twas right the +other way. But it wasn't. I didn't ask him to go out to supper with +me. I only told him I'd introduce him to somebody who would go, and he +immediately offered me his arm. Oh, how mother scolded, and how angry +she got when she asked me if I wasn't ashamed, and I told her I +wasn't! + +"Billy doesn't appear just as he used to. Seems as though something +troubled him; and what is very strange, he never speaks of you, unless +I do first. You've no idea how handsome he is. To be sure, he hasn't +the air of George Moreland, and doesn't dress as elegantly, but I +think he's finer looking. Ever so many girls at Ida's party asked who +he was, and said 'twas a pity he wasn't rich, but that wouldn't make +any difference with me,--I'd have him just as soon as though he was +wealthy. + +"How mother would go on if she should see this! But I don't care,--I +like Billy Bender, and I can't help it, and _entre nous_, I believe he +likes me better than he did! But I must stop now, for Lizzie Upton has +called for me to go with her and see a poor blind woman in one of the +back alleys." + +From this extract it will be seen that Jenny, though seventeen years +of age, was the same open-hearted, childlike creature as ever. She +loved Billy Bender, and she didn't care who knew it. She loved, too, +to seek out and befriend the poor, with which Boston, like all other +large cities, abounded. Almost daily her mother lectured her upon her +bad taste in the choice of her associates, but Jenny was incorrigible, +and the very next hour might perhaps be seen either walking with Billy +Bender, or mounting the rickety stairs of some crazy old building, +where a palsied old woman or decrepit old man watched for her coming, +and blessed her when she came. + +Early in the spring Mr. Lincoln went up to Chicopee to make some +changes in his house, preparatory to his family's removal thither. +When he called at Mrs. Campbell's to see Rose, he was greatly shocked +at her altered and languid appearance. The cough, which her mother had +not observed fell ominously on his ear; for he thought of a young +sister who many years before in the bloom of girlhood had passed away +from his side. A physician was immediately called and after an +examination Rose's lungs were pronounced diseased, though not as yet +beyond cure. She was of course taken from school; and with the utmost +care, and skilful nursing, she gradually grew better. + +Jenny, who had never been guilty of any great love for books, was also +told that her school days were over, and congratulated herself upon +being a "full grown young lady," which fact no one would dispute, who +saw her somewhat large dimensions. + +When Ella learned that Jenny as well as Rose was emancipated from the +school-room, she immediately petitioned her mother for a similar +privilege, saying that she knew all that was necessary for her to +know. Miss Hinton, too, being weary of one pupil, and desiring a +change for herself, threw her influence in Ella's favor, so that at +last Mrs. Campbell yielded; and Ella, piling up her books, carried +them away, never again referring to them on any occasion, but spending +her time in anticipating the happiness she should enjoy the following +winter; when she was to be first introduced to Boston society. + +Unlike this was the closing of Mary's school days. Patiently and +perseveringly, through the year she had studied, storing her mind with +useful knowledge; and when at last the annual examination came, not +one in the senior class stood higher, or was graduated with more honor +than herself. Mrs. Mason, who was there, listened with all a parent's +pride and fondness to her adopted child, as she promptly responded to +every question. But it was not Mrs. Mason's presence alone which +incited Mary to do so well. Among the crowd of spectators she caught a +glimpse of a face which twice before she had seen, once in the +school-room at Rice Corner, and once in the graveyard at Chicopee. +Turn which way she would, she felt, rather than saw, how intently Mr. +Stuart watched her, and when at last the exercises were over, and she +with others arose to receive her Diploma, she involuntarily glanced in +the direction where she knew he sat. For an instant their eyes met, +and in the expression of his, she read an approval warmer than words +could have expressed. + +That night Mary sat alone in her room, listening almost nervously to +the sound of every footstep, and half starting up if it came near her +door. But for certain reasons Mr. Stuart did not think proper to call, +and while Mary was confidently expecting him, he was several miles on +his way home. + +In a day or two Mary returned to Chicopee, but did not, like Ella, lay +her books aside and consider her education finished. Two or three +hours each morning were devoted to study, or reading of some kind. For +several weeks nothing was allowed to interfere with this arrangement, +but at the end of that time, the quiet of Mrs. Mason's house was +disturbed by the unexpected arrival of Aunt Martha and Ida, who came +up to Chicopee for the purpose of inducing Mrs. Mason and Mary to +spend the coming winter in Boston. At first Mrs. Mason hesitated, but +every objection which either she or Mary raised was so easily put +aside, that she finally consented, saying she would be ready to go +about the middle of November. Aunt Martha, who was a bustling, active +little woman, and fancied that her brother's household always went +wrong without her, soon brought her visit to a close, and within the +week went back to Boston, together with Ida. + +The day following their departure, Mrs. Perkins came over to inquire +who "them stuck up folks was, and if the youngest wasn't some kin to +the man that visited Mary's school two years before;" saying "they +favored each other enough to be brother and sister." + +"Why, so they do," returned Mary. "I have often tried to think who it +was that Ida resembled; but they are not at all related, I presume." + +Mrs. Mason said nothing, and soon changing the conversation, told Mrs. +Perkins of her projected visit. + +"Wall, if it don't beat all what curis' things turn up!" said the +widow. "You are going to Boston, and mercy knows what'll become of +me,--but laws, I ain't a goin' to worry; I shall be provided for some +way." + +"Why, what is the matter?" asked Mrs. Mason, noticing for the first +time that her visitor seemed troubled. + +After walking to the window to hide her emotions, and then again +resuming her rocking chair, the widow communicated to them the +startling information that Sally Ann was going to be married! + +"Married! To whom?" asked Mrs. Mason and Mary in the same breath, but +the widow said they must "guess;" so after guessing every marriageable +man or boy in town they gave it up, and were told that it was no more +nor less than Mr. Parker! + +"Mr. Parker!" repeated Mary. "Why, he's old enough to be her father, +ain't he?" + +"Oh, no," returned Mrs. Perkins; "Sally Ann will be thirty if she +lives till the first day of next January." + +"You have kept the matter very quiet," said Mrs. Mason; and the widow, +exacting from each a promise never to tell as long as they lived, +commenced the story of her wrongs. + +It seems that not long after Mrs. Parker's demise, Mr. Parker began to +call at the cottage of the widow, sometime to inquire after her +health, but oftener to ask about a _red heifer_ which he understood +Mrs. Perkins had for sale! On these occasions Sally Ann was usually +invisible, so week after week Mr. Parker continued to call, talking +always about the "red heifer," and whether he'd better buy her or not. + +"At last," said the widow, "I got sick on't, and one day after he'd +sat more'n two hours, says I, 'Ebenezer, if you want that red heifer, +say so, and that'll end it.' Up he jumps, and says he, 'I'll let you +know in a few days;' then pullin' from his trowsers pocket two little +nurly apples, he laid 'em on the table as a present for Sally Ann! +Wall, the next time he come I was sick, and Sally Ann let him in. I +don't know what possessed me, but thinks to me I'll listen, and as I'm +a livin' woman, instead of ever mentioning the heifer, he asked as +fair and square as ever a man could, if she'd have him! and Sally Ann, +scart nigh about to death, up and said 'Yes.'" + +Here the widow, unable to proceed further, stopped, but soon regaining +breath continued, "Nobody but them that's passed through it can guess +how I felt. My head swam, and when I come to I was lyin' on the broad +stair." + +"Are they to be married soon?" asked Mrs. Mason, and Mrs. Perkins +answered, "Of course. Was there ever an old fool of a widower who +wasn't in a hurry? Next Thursday is the day sot, and I've come to +invite you, and see if you'd lend me your spoons and dishes, and them +little towels you use on the table, and your _astor_ lamps, and some +flowers if there's any fit, and let Judy come over to help about +cookin' the turkey and sperrib!" + +Mrs. Mason promised the loan of all these things, and then the widow +arose to go. Mary, who accompanied her to the door, could not help +asking whether Mr. Parker had finally bought her red heifer. + +The calico sun-bonnet trembled, and the little gray eyes flashed +indignantly as she said, "That man never wanted my red heifer a bit +more than he wanted me!" + +True to her promise, Mrs. Mason the next Thursday sent Judith over to +the cottage with her "spoons, dishes, little towels, and _astor_ +lamp," while she herself carried over the best and fairest flowers +which had escaped the frosts of autumn. Mary was chosen to dress the +bride, who, spite of her red hair, would have looked quite well, had +her skirt been a trifle longer and wider. Mrs. Perkins had insisted +that five breadths of silk was sufficient, consequently Sally Ann +looked as Sal Furbush said, "not wholly unlike a long tallow candle, +with a red wick." + +Mrs. Perkins, who flourished in a lace cap and scarlet ribbons, +greeted her son-in-law with a burst of tears, saying she little +thought when they were young that she should ever be his mother! + +For the sake of peace Mr. Parker had invited Miss Grundy to be present +at the wedding, but as this was the first intimation that Miss Grundy +had received of the matter, she fell into a violent fit of anger, +bidding him to "go to grass with his invitations," and adding very +emphatically, that "she'd have him to know she never yet saw the day +when she'd marry _him_, or any other living man." + +Mr. Parker of course couldn't dispute her, so he turned away, +wondering within himself "what made _wimmen_ so queer!" + +The day following the wedding, the bride went to her new home, where +she was received by Miss Grundy with a grunt which was probably +intended for a "how d'ye do." Uncle Peter expressed his pleasure at +making the acquaintance of one more of the "fair sect," but hoped that +"estimable lady her mother, wouldn't feel like visiting her often, as +mothers were very apt to make mischief." Sally Furbush was the only +cool and collected one present, and she did the honors of the house so +gracefully and well, that but for the wildness of her eyes and an +occasional whispering to herself, the bride would never have suspected +her of insanity. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +LIFE IN BOSTON. + + +"Come this way, Mary. I'll show you your chamber. It's right here next +to mine," said Ida Selden, as on the evening of her friend's arrival +she led her up to a handsomely furnished apartment, which for many +weeks had borne the title of "Mary's room." + +"Oh, how pleasant!" was Mary's exclamation, as she surveyed the room +in which every thing was arranged with such perfect taste. + +A cheerful coal fire was blazing in the grate, for no murderous stove +was ever suffered to invade the premises where Aunt Martha ruled. The +design of the Brussels carpet was exquisitely beautiful, and the roses +upon it looked as if freshly plucked from the parent stalk. At one end +of the room, and just opposite the grate, were two bay windows, +overlooking Mr. Selden's fine, large garden, and shaded by curtains of +richly embroidered lace. In front of the fire was a large easy chair, +covered with crimson damask; and scattered about the room were +ottomans, divans, books, pictures, and every thing which could in any +way conduce to a young lady's comfort or happiness. On the marble +mantel there stood two costly vases, filled with rare flowers, among +which Mary recognized her favorites. But ere she had time to speak of +it, Ida opened a side door, disclosing to view a cosy little bedroom, +with a large closet and bathing room adjoining. + +"Here," said she, "you are to sleep; but you needn't expect to be +entirely exclusive, for every night when I feel cold or fidgety, I +shall run in here and sleep with you. Is it a bargain?" + +Mary was too happy to speak, and dropping into the easy chair she +burst into tears. In a moment Ida, too, was seated in the same chair, +and with her arm around Mary's neck was wondering why she wept. Then +as her own eyes chanced to fall upon the vases, she brought one of +them to Mary, saying, "See, these are for you,--a present from one, +who bade me present them with his compliments to the little girl who +nursed him on board the Windermere, and who cried because he called +her ugly!" + +Mary's heart was almost audible in its beatings, and her cheeks took +the hue of the cushions on which she reclined. Returning the vase to +the mantel-piece, Ida came back to her side, and bending closer to her +face, whispered, "Cousin George told me of you years ago when he first +came here, but I forgot all about it, and when we were at Mount +Holyoke, I never suspected that you were the little girl he used to +talk so much about. But a few days before he went away he reminded me +of it again, and then I understood why he was so much interested in +you. I wonder you never told me you knew him, for of course you like +him. You can't help it." + +Mary only heard a part of what Ida said. "Just before he went away.--" +Was he then gone, and should she not see him after all? A cloud +gathered upon her brow, and Ida readily divining its cause, replied, +"Yes, George is gone. Either he or father must go to New Orleans, and +so George of course went. Isn't it too bad? I cried and fretted, but +he only pulled my ears, and said he should think I'd be glad for he +knew we wouldn't want a great six-footer domineering over us, and +following us every where, as he would surely do were he at home." + +Mary felt more disappointed than she was willing to acknowledge, and +for a moment she half wished herself back in Chicopee, but soon +recovering her equanimity, she ventured to ask how long George was to +be gone. + +"Until April, I believe," said Ida; "but any way you are to stay until +he comes, for Aunt Martha promised to keep you. I don't know exactly +what George said to her about you, but they talked together more than +two hours, and she says you are to take music lessons and drawing +lessons, and all that. George is very fond of music." + +Here thinking she was telling too much, Ida suddenly stopped, and as +the tea bell just then rang, she started up, saying, "Oh, I forgot +that father was waiting in the parlor to see you. I've said so much +about you that his curiosity is quite roused, but I can introduce you +at the table just as well." Our lady readers will pardon Mary if +before meeting Mr. Selden she gave herself a slight inspection in the +long mirror, which hung in her dressing room. Passing the brush +several times through her glossy hair, and smoothing down the folds of +her neatly fitting merino, she concluded that she looked well enough +for a traveller, and with slightly heightened color, followed Ida into +the supper room, where she found assembled Mrs. Mason, Aunt Martha, +and Mr. Selden. The moment her eye fell upon the latter, she +recognized the same kindly beaming eye and pleasant smile, which had +won her childish heart, when on board the Windermere he patted her +head, as George told how kind she had been to him. + +"We have met before, I believe," said he, and warmly shaking her hand +he bade her welcome to Boston. + +Then seating her by his side at the table he managed by his kind +attentions to make both her and Mrs. Mason feel perfectly at home. +Aunt Martha, too, was exceedingly polite, but after what Ida had told +her, Mary could not help feeling somewhat embarrassed in her presence. +This, however, gradually wore away, and before the evening was over +she began to feel very much at home, and to converse with Aunt Martha +as freely and familiarly as with Ida. + +The next morning between ten and eleven the door bell rang, and in a +moment Jenny Lincoln, whose father's house was just opposite, came +tripping into the parlor. She had lost in a measure that rotundity of +person so offensive to her mother, and it seemed to Mary that there +was a thoughtful expression on her face never seen there before, but +in all other respects, she was the same affectionate, merry-hearted +Jenny. + +"I just this minute heard you were here, and came over just as I was," +said she, glancing at the same time at her rich, though rather untidy +morning wrapper. After asking Mary if she wasn't sorry George had +gone, and if she expected to find Mr. Stuart, she said, "I suppose you +know Ella is here, and breaking every body's heart, of course. She +went to a concert with us last evening, and looked perfectly +beautiful. Henry says she is the handsomest girl he ever saw, and I do +hope she'll make something of him, but I'm afraid he is only trifling +with her, just as he tries to do with every body." + +"I am afraid so too," said Ida, "but now Mary has come perhaps he'll +divide his attentions between the two." + +If there was a person in the world whom Mary thoroughly detested, it +was Henry Lincoln, and the idea of his trifling with _her_, made her +eyes sparkle and flash so indignantly that Ida noticed it, and +secretly thought that Henry Lincoln would for once find his match. +After a time Mary turned to Jenny, saying, "You haven't told me a +word about,--about William Bender. Is he well?" + +Jenny blushed deeply, and hastily replying that he was the last time +she saw him, started up, whispering in Mary's ear, "Oh, I've got so +much to tell you,--but I must go now." + +Ida accompanied her to the door, and asked why Rose too did not call. +In her usual frank, open way, Jenny answered, "You know why. Rose is +so queer." + +Ida understood her and replied, "Very well; but tell her that if she +doesn't see fit to notice my visitors, I certainly shall not be polite +to hers." + +This message had the desired effect; for Rose, who was daily expecting +a Miss King, from Philadelphia, felt that nothing would mortify her +more than to be neglected by Ida, who was rather a leader among the +young fashionables. Accordingly after a long consultation with her +mother, she concluded it best to call upon Mary. In the course of the +afternoon, chancing to be near the front window, she saw Mr. Selden's +carriage drive away from his door, with Ida and her visitor. + +"Now is my time," thought she; and without a word to her mother or +Jenny, she threw on her bonnet and shawl, and in her thin French +slippers, stepped across the street and rang Mr. Selden's door bell. +Of course she was "so disappointed not to find the young ladies at +home," and leaving her card for them, tripped back, highly pleased +with her own cleverness. + +Meantime Ida and Mary were enjoying their ride about the city, until +coming suddenly upon an organ-grinder and monkey, the spirited horses +became frightened and ran, upsetting the carriage, and dragging it +some distance. Fortunately Ida was only bruised, but Mary received a +severe cut upon her head, which, with the fright, caused her to +faint. A young man, who was passing down the street and saw the +accident, immediately came to the rescue; and when Mary awoke to +consciousness, Billy Bender was supporting her, and gently pushing +back from her face the thick braids of her long hair. At first she +thought she was not much hurt, but when she attempted to lift her head +she uttered a cry of pain, and laid it heavily back upon his bosom. + +"Who is she?--Who is she?" asked the eager voices of the group around, +but no one answered, until a young gentleman, issuing from one of the +fashionable drinking saloons, came blustering up, demanding "what the +row was." + +Upon seeing Ida, his manner instantly changed, and after learning that +she, with another young lady, had been upset, he ordered the crowd "to +stand back," at the same time forcing his way forward until he caught +a sight of Mary's face. + +"Whew, Bill," said he, "your old flame the pauper, isn't it?" + +It was fortunate for Henry Lincoln that Billy Bender's arms were both +in use, otherwise he might have measured his length upon the side +walk, which exercise he would hardly have relished in the presence of +Ida. As it was, Billy frowned angrily upon him, and in a fierce +whisper bade him beware how he used Miss Howard's name. By this time +the horses were caught, anther carriage procured, and Mary, still +supported by Billy Bender, was carefully lifted into it, and borne +back to Mr. Selden's house. Henry Lincoln also accompanying her, and +giving out numerous orders as to "what ought to be done!" + +Many of Ida's friends, hearing of the accident, flocked in to see her, +and to inquire after the young lady who was injured. Among the first +who called was Lizzie Upton, whom the reader has once met in Chicopee. +On her way home she stopped at Mrs. Campbell's, where she was +immediately beset by Ella, to know "who the beautiful young lady was +that Henry Lincoln had so heroically saved from a violent +death,--dragging her out from under the horses' heels!" + +Lizzie looked at her a moment in surprise, and then replied, "Why, +Miss Campbell, is it possible you don't know it was your own sister!" + +It was Henry Lincoln himself who had given Ella her information, +without, however, telling the lady's name; and now, when she learned +that 'twas Mary, she was too much surprised to answer, and Lizzie +continued, "I think you are laboring under a mistake. It was not Mr. +Lincoln, who saved your sister's life, but a young law student, whom +you perhaps have seen walking with George Moreland." + +Ella replied that she never saw George Moreland, as he left Boston +before she came; and then as she did not seem at all anxious to know +whether Mary was much injured or not, Lizzie soon took her leave. Long +after she was gone, Ella sat alone in the parlor, wondering why Henry +should tell her such a falsehood, and if he really thought Mary +beautiful. Poor simple Ella,--she was fast learning to live on Henry +Lincoln's smile, to believe each word that he said, to watch nervously +for his coming and to weep if he stayed away. There were other young +men in Boston, who, attracted by her pretty face, and the wealth of +which she was reputed to be heiress, came fawningly around her, but +with most strange infatuation, she turned from them all, caring only +for Henry Lincoln. He, on the contrary, merely sought her society for +the sake of passing away an idle hour, boasting among his male +acquaintances of the influence had acquired over her, by +complimenting her curls and pretty face! He knew that she was jealous +of any praise or attention bestowed by him upon another, and had +purposely told her what he did of Mary, exulting within himself as he +saw the pain his words inflicted. + +"I know he was only trying to tease me," was the conclusion to which +Ella finally came, and then there arose in her mind a debate as to +whether, under the circumstances, it were not best to treat her sister +with rather more respect than she was wont to do. "The Seldens," +thought she, "are among the first. If they notice her others will, and +why should not I?" + +This question was at last decided in the affirmative, and towards the +close of the afternoon, she started for Mr. Selden's, on her way +meeting with Henry, who asked "where she was going?" + +"To see that _beautiful_ young lady," returned Ella, rather pettishly; +whereupon Henry laughed aloud, and asked "if it were not a little the +richest joke he had ever put upon her." + +Ella saw no joke at all, but as Henry had turned about, and was +walking back with her, she could not feel angry, and prattled on, +drinking in his words of flattery, as he told her how charmingly she +looked at the concert, and how jealous he felt when he saw so many +admiring eyes gazing upon what he considered his own exclusive +property! The very expressive look which accompanied this remark made +Ella's heart beat rapidly, for Henry had never before said any thing +quite so pointed, and the cloud, which for a time had rested on her +brow, disappeared. + +When they reached Mr. Selden's house, Henry announced his intention of +calling also to inquire after Mary whom he respected on her sister's +account! "But," said he, "I am in something of a hurry, and as you +girls have a thousand things to talk about, I hardly think I can wait +for you." + +"Oh, pray, don't wait," returned Ella, hoping in her heart that he +would. + +Upon asking for Mary, she was taken immediately to her room, where she +found her reclining upon a sofa, attired in a tasteful crimson morning +gown, which gave a delicate tint to her cheeks. She was paler than +usual, and her thick shining hair was combed up from her forehead in a +manner highly becoming to her style of beauty. Until that day Ella had +never heard her sister called handsome--never even thought such a +thing possible; but now, as she looked upon her, she acknowledged to +herself that Henry was more than half right, and she felt a pang of +jealousy,--a fear that Mary might prove her rival. Still she tried to +be agreeable, telling her how fortunate she was in being at Mr. +Selden's, "for," said she, "I dare say some of our first people will +notice you just because you are here!" + +Ida hastily walked to the window, standing with her back towards Ella, +who continued. "I think it's so funny. I've inquired and inquired +about Mr. Stuart, but no one knows him, and I've come to the +conclusion he was an impostor,--or a country schoolmaster, one or the +other." + +There was a suppressed laugh behind the lace curtain where Ida stood, +and when Mary began to defend Mr. Stuart, she came out, and with great +apparent interest asked who he was, and where they had seen him. +Afterwards Mary remembered the mischief which shone in Ida's eyes as +they described Mr. Stuart, but she thought nothing of it then. + +After asking Mary who paid for her music lessons,--how many new +dresses she'd got, and who cut them, Ella started to go, carelessly +saying as she left the room, that when Mary was able she should expect +to see her at Mrs. Campbell's. + +In the mean time Henry had become so much engaged in a conversation +with Mr. Selden, that he forgot the lapse of time until he heard Ella +coming down the stairs. Then impelled by a mean curiosity to see what +she would do, he sat still, affecting not to notice her. She heard his +voice, and knew that he was still in the parlor. So for a long time +she lingered at the outer door, talking very loudly to Ida, and +finally, when there was no longer any excuse for tarrying, she +suddenly turned back, and shaking out her cloak and tippet, exclaimed, +"Why, where can my other glove be? I must have dropped it in the +parlor, for I do not remember of having had it up stairs!" + +The parlor was of course entered and searched, and though no missing +glove was found, the company of Henry Lincoln was thus secured. Have +my readers never seen a Henry Lincoln, or an Ella Campbell? + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +A CHANGE OF OPINION. + + +"Oh, mother won't you take this pillow from my head, and put another +blanket on my feet, and fix the fire, and give me some water, or +something? Oh, dear, dear!--" groaned poor Rose Lincoln, as with +aching head and lungs, she did penance for her imprudence in crossing +the wet, slippery street in thin slippers and silken hose. + +Mrs. Lincoln, who knew nothing of this exposure, loudly lamented the +extreme delicacy of her daughter's constitution, imputing it wholly to +Mount Holyoke discipline, and wishing, as she had often done before, +that "she'd been wise and kept her at home." Jenny would have wished +so, too, if by this means Rose's illness could have been avoided, for +it was not a very agreeable task to stay in that close sick room, +listening to the complaints of her fault-finding sister, who tossed +and turned and fretted, from morning until night, sometimes wishing +herself dead, and then crying because she "wanted something, and +didn't know what." + +"Oh, dear," said she, one evening several days after the commencement +of her illness, "how provoking to be obliged to lie here moping with +the dullest of all dull company, when there's Mrs. Russell's party +next week, and I've such a lovely dress to wear. Why ain't I as +strong and healthy as you? though I wouldn't be so fat for any thing." + +Jenny knew that whatever answer she could make would not be the right +one, so she said nothing, and after a moment Rose again, spoke. + +"I'll go to that party sick or well. I wouldn't miss of it for any +thing." + +This time Jenny looked up in surprise, asking why her sister was so +particularly anxious to attend the party. + +"Because," returned Rose, "Mary Howard will be there, and you know as +well as I how awkward she'll appear,--never was in any kind of society +in her life." + +"I don't see what inducement that can be for you to expose your +health," said Jenny, and Rose continued: "I want to see Ida mortified +once, for she might know better than to bring a green, country girl +here, setting her up as something wonderful, and expecting every body +to believe it just because _Miss Selden_ said so. Didn't you tell me +there was some one continually going to inquire after Mary?" + +"Yes," answered Jenny; whereupon Rose got very angry, complaining that +no one called upon her except that little simpleton Ella, who only +came, when she thought there was a chance of seeing Henry! + +"Seems to me you've changed your mind with regard to Ella," said +Jenny. + +"No I hain't either," answered Rose, "I always thought her silly, and +now she hangs round Henry so much I'm thoroughly disgusted. But +see,--there's Henry now, at Mr. Selden's gate,--with another +gentleman." + +The moon was shining brightly, and looking out, Jenny saw Billy Bender +and her brother mounting the steps which led to Mr. Selden's door. + +"It's funny that they should be together," thought she, while Rose +continued, "Nothing will surprise me now, if Henry has got to running +after her. I am glad George Moreland is away, though I fancy he's too +much good sense to swallow a person, just because Ida and his old maid +aunt say he must." + +Here the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of Mr. Lincoln, +who came as usual to see his daughter. In the mean time the two young +men, who accidentally met at the gate, had entered Mr. Selden's +parlor, and inquired for the young ladies. + +"Come, you must go down," said Ida to Mary, when the message was +delivered. This is the third time Mr. Bender has called, and you have +no excuse for not now seeing him. "By the way," she continued, as Mary +said something about 'Billy,' "don't call him Billy; we know him as +_Mr._ Bender and Billy is so,--so,--" + +"So countrified," suggested Mary. + +"Yes, countrified if you please," returned Ida. "So after this he is +_William_. Haven't you noticed that Jenny calls him so? But come," she +added mischievously, "never mind brushing your hair. Mr. Stuart isn't +down there!" + +With the exception of the time when she was hurt, Mary had not seen +William for more than two years and a half and now when she met him, +she was so much embarrassed that she greeted him with a reserve, +amounting almost to coldness. He on the contrary, was perfectly +self-possessed, but after a few commonplace remarks, he seated himself +on the opposite side of the room, and entered into conversation with +Mrs. Mason concerning Chicopee and its inhabitants. Frequently Mary's +eyes rested upon him, and she felt a thrill of pride when she saw how +much his residence in Boston had improved him, and how handsome he +really was. But any attempt to converse with him was rendered +impossible by Henry Lincoln, who, toady as he was, thought proper to +be exceedingly polite to Mary, now that the Seldens noticed her so +much. Seating himself by her side with all the familiarity of an old +friend, and laying his arm across the back of the sofa, so that to +William it looked as if thrown around her shoulders, he commenced a +tirade of nonsense as meaningless as it was disagreeable. More than +once, too, he managed to let fall a very pointed compliment, feeling +greatly surprised to see with what indifference it was received. + +"Confound the girl!" thought he, beginning to feel piqued at her +coldness. "Is she made of ice, or what?" + +And then he redoubled his efforts at flattery, until Mary, quite +disgusted, begged leave to change her seat, saying by way of apology +that she was getting too warm. In the course of the evening George +Moreland was mentioned. Involuntarily Mary blushed, and Henry, who was +watching her proposed that she resume her former seat, "for," said he, +"you look quite as warm and red where you are." + +"The nearest I ever knew him come to any thing witty," whispered Ida, +from behind a fire screen. "I do believe you've rubbed up his ideas, +and I predict that you win him instead of Ella." + +Mary did not even smile, for to her there was something revolting in +the idea of being even teased about Henry, who was conceited enough to +attribute her reserve to the awe which he fancied his "elegant +presence" inspired! If Ella with all her wealth and beauty placed an +invaluable estimate upon his attentions, why should not her +unpretending sister be equally in love with him? And the young dandy +stroked his mustache with his white fingers, and wondered what Ella +Campbell would say if she knew how much her sister admired him, and +how very nearly his admiration was returned! + +At length William arose to go, and advancing towards Mary, he took her +hand, saying in a low tone with marked emphasis on the word _sister_, +"I find my sister greatly changed and improved since I last saw her." + +"And you too are changed," returned Mary, her eyes filling with tears, +for William's manner was not as of old. + +"Yes, in more respects than one," said he, "but I shall see you again. +Do you attend Mrs. Russell's party?" + +Mary replied in the affirmative, and the next moment he was gone. Half +an hour after, Henry, too, departed, saying to Mary as he went out, +"You musn't fail to be at Mrs. Russell's, for I shall only go for the +sake of seeing you.--Truth, upon my honor, what little I have," he +continued, as Mary's eyes flashed forth her entire disbelief of what +he said. "I am in earnest now, if I never was before." + +Ida laughed aloud at the mystified picture which Mary's face presented +as the door closed upon Henry. "You are too much of a novice to see +through every thing, but you'll learn in time that opinions frequently +change with circumstances," said she. + +That night in his chamber, with his heels upon the marble mantel, and +his box of cigars and bottle of brandy at his side, the man of fashion +soliloquized as follows: "Zounds! How that girl has improved. Never +saw the like in my life.--Talk about family and rank, and all that +stuff. Why, there isn't a lady in Boston that begins to have the _air +distingué_ which Mary Howard has. Of course she'll be all the go. +Every thing the Seldens take up is. Ain't I glad Moreland is in New +Orleans; for with his notions he wouldn't hesitate to marry her if he +liked her, poor as she is. Now if she only had the chink, I'd walk up +to her quick. I don't see why the deuce the old man need to have got +so involved just now, as to make it necessary for me either to work or +have a rich wife. Such eyes too, as Mary's got! Black and fiery one +minute, blue and soft the next. Well, any way I'll have a good time +flirting with her, just for the sake of seeing Ella wince and whimper, +if nothing more. Bah! What a simpleton she is, compared with Mary. I +wonder how much Mrs. Campbell _is_ worth, and if Ella will have it +all." + +And the young man retired to dream of debts liquidated by the gold +which a marriage with Ella Campbell would bring him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE PARTY. + + +"Bring me my new dress, Jenny; I want to see if the Honiton lace on +the caps is as wide as Ida Selden's." + +"What do you mean?" asked Jenny, turning quickly towards her sister, +whose white, wasted face looked fitter for a shroud than a gay party +dress. + +"I mean what I say," returned Rose; "I'm not going to be cooped up +here any longer. I'm going to the party to-morrow night, if I never go +again!" + +"Why, Rose Lincoln, are you crazy?" asked Jenny. "You haven't been in +the street yet, and how do you expect to go to-morrow night? Mother +wouldn't let you, if she were here." + +"Well, thank fortune, she and father both are in Southbridge; and +besides that, I'm a great deal better; so hand me my dress." + +Jenny complied, and reclining on pillows scarcely whiter than herself, +Rose Lincoln examined and found fault with a thin gossamer fabric, +none suited for any one to wear in a cold wintry night, and much less +for her. + +"There, I knew it wasn't as wide as Ida's into an eighth of an inch," +said she, measuring with her finger the expensive lace. "I'll have +some new. Come, Jenny, suppose you go down street and get it, for I'm +bent upon going;" and the thoughtless girl sprang lightly upon the +floor, and _chasséd_ half way across the room to show how well and +strong she was. + +Jenny knew that further expostulation from her was useless, but she +refused to go for the lace, and Sarah, the servant girl, was sent with +a note from Rose saying she wanted a nice article, 8 or 10 dollars per +yard. + +"I don't believe father would like to have you make such a bill," said +Jenny when Sarah was gone. "Mother didn't dare tell him about your new +dress, for he told her she mustn't get any thing charged, and he said, +too, something about hard times. Perhaps he's going to fail. Wouldn't +it be dreadful?" + +If Rose heard the last part of this sentence she did not need it, for +to her the idea of her father's failing was preposterous. When the +dinner bell rang she threw on a heavy shawl, and descending to the +dining parlor, remained below stairs all the afternoon, forcing back +her cough, and chatting merrily with a group of young girls who had +called to see her, and congratulated her upon her improved health, for +excitement lent a deep glow to her cheek, which would easily deceive +the inexperienced. The next day, owing to overexertion, Rose's temples +were throbbing with pain, and more than once, she half determined not +to go; but her passion for society was strong, and Mrs. Russell's +party had so long been anticipated and talked about that she felt she +would not miss it for the world, and as she had confessed to Jenny, +there was also a mean curiosity to see how Mary Howard would appear at +a fashionable party. + +"Saturate my handkerchief with cologne, and put the vinaigrette where +I can reach it while you arrange my hair," said she to Sarah, who at +the usual hour came up to dress her young mistress for the evening. +"There, be careful and not brush so hard, for that ugly pain isn't +quite gone--now bring me the glass and let me see if I do look like a +ghost." + +"Pale, delicate folks is always more interesting than red, hearty +ones," said the flattering servant, as she obeyed. + +"Mercy, how white I am!" exclaimed Rose, glancing at the ashen face +reflected by the mirror. "Rub my cheeks with cologne, Sarah, and see +if that won't bring some color into them. There, that'll do. Now hand +me my dress. Oh, isn't it beautiful?" she continued, as she threw +aside the thickly wadded double gown, and assumed a light, thin dress, +which fell in soft, fleecy folds around her slight figure. + +"Faith, an ye looks sweet, God bless you," said Sarah as she clasped +the diamond bracelet around the snowy arms and fastened the costly +ornaments in the delicate ears. + +When her toilet was completed, Rose stood up before the long mirror, +and a glow of pride came to her cheeks, as she saw how lovely she +really was. + +"You's enough sight handsomer than Miss Jenny," whispered Sarah, as +the door opened and Jenny appeared, more simply arrayed than her +sister, but looking as fresh and blooming as a rose-bud. + +"How beautiful you are, Rosa," said she, "only it makes me shiver to +look at your neck and arms. You'll wear your woollen sack, besides +your shawl and cloak, won't you?" + +"Nonsense, I'm not going to be bundled up this way, for don't you see +it musses the lace," said Rose, refusing the warm sack which Jenny +brought her. + +A rap at the door and a call from Henry that the carriage was waiting, +ended the conversation, and throwing on their cloaks and hoods, the +girls descended to the hall, where with unusual tenderness Henry +caught up his invalid sister, and drawing her veil closely over her +face, carried her to the covered sleigh, so that her feet might not +touch the _icy walk_. + +"What! Rose Lincoln here!" exclaimed half a dozen voices as Rose +bounded into the dressing-room. + +"Yes, Rose Lincoln _is_ here," she replied, gayly divesting herself of +her wrapping. "I'm not going to die just yet, I guess, neither am I +going to be housed up all winter. The fresh air has done me good +already,--see," and she pointed to a bright round spot which burnt +upon her cheeks. + +A young girl, whose family had one by one fallen victims to the great +New England plague, consumption, shuddered and turned way, for to her +eye the glow which Rose called health was but the hectic bloom of +death. + +"How beautiful she is!" said more than one, as with her accustomed +grace Rose entered the brilliant drawing-room. And truly Rose was +beautiful that night, but like the gorgeous foliage of the fading +autumn 'twas the beauty of decay, for death was written on her +blue-veined brow, and lurked amid the roses on her cheek. But little +thought she of that, as with smiling lip and beaming eye she received +the homage of the admiring throng. + +"Upon my word, you do look very well," said Henry, coming for a moment +to his sister's side. "Why, you'd be the star of the evening, were it +not for _ma belle_ Ella. See, there she comes," and he pointed to a +group just entering the room. + +An expression of contempt curled Rose's lip, as she glanced at Ella, +and thought of being outshone by her dollish figure and face. "I'm in +no danger, unless a more formidable rival than that silly thing +appears," thought she; and she drew up her slender form with a more +queenly grace, and bowed somewhat haughtily to Ella, who came up to +greet her. There was a world of affection in Ella's soft hazel ayes, +as they looked eagerly up to Henry, who for the sake of torturing the +young girl feigned not to see her until she had stood near him some +minutes. Then offering her his hand he said, with the utmost +nonchalance, "Why, Ella, are you here? I was watching so anxiously for +your sister that I did not notice your entrance." + +Ella had dressed herself for the party with more than usual care, and +as she smoothed down the folds of her delicate pink silk, and shook +back her long glossy curls, she thought, "He cannot think Mary +handsomer than I am to-night;" and now when the first remark he +addressed to her was concerning her sister, she replied rather +pettishly, "I believe you are always thinking about Mary." + +"Now, don't be jealous," returned Henry, "I only wish to see the +contrast between you." + +Ella fancied that the preference would of course be in her favor, and +casting aside all unpleasant feelings, she exerted herself to the +utmost to keep Henry at her side, asking him numberless questions, and +suddenly recollecting something which she wished to tell him, if he +made a movement towards leaving her. + +"Confound it. How tight she sticks to a fellow," thought he, "but I'll +get away from her yet." + +Just then Ida and Mary were announced. Both Aunt Martha and Ida had +taken great pains to have their young friend becomingly dressed, and +she looked unusually well in the embroidered muslin skirt, satin +waist, and blonde bertha which Aunt Martha had insisted upon her +accepting as a present. The rich silken braids of her luxuriant hair +were confined at the back of her finely formed head with a golden +arrow, which, with the exception of a plain band of gold on each +wrist, was the only ornament she wore. This was her first introduction +to the gay world, but so keen was her perception of what was polite +and proper, that none would ever have suspected it and yet there was +about her something so fresh and unstudied, that she had hardly +entered the room ere many were struck with her easy, unaffected +manners, so different from the practised airs of the city belles. + +Ella watched her narrowly, whispering aside to Henry how sorry she +felt for poor Mary, she was so _verdant_, and really hoping she +wouldn't do any thing very awkward, for 'twould mortify her to death! +"but, look," she added, "and see how many people Ida is introducing +her to." + +"Of course, why shouldn't she?" asked Henry; and Ella replied, "I +don't know,--it seems so funny to see Mary here, don't it?" + +Before Henry could answer, a young man of his acquaintance touched his +shoulder, saying, "Lincoln, who is that splendid-looking girl with +Miss Selden? I haven't seen a finer face in Boston, for many a day." + +"That? Oh, that's Miss Howard, from Chicopee. An intimate friend of +our family. Allow me the pleasure of introducing you," and Henry +walked away, leaving Ella to the tender mercies of Rose, who, as one +after another quitted her side, and went over to the "enemy," grew +very angry, wondering if folks were bewitched, and hoping Ida Selden +"felt better, now that she'd _made_ so many notice her protegée." + +Later in the evening, William Bender came, and immediately Jenny began +to talk to him of Mary, and the impression she was making. Placing her +hand familiarly upon his arm, as though that were its natural resting +place, she led him towards a group, of which Mary seemed the centre of +attraction. Near her stood Henry Lincoln, bending so low as to +threaten serious injury to his fashionable pants, and redoubling his +flattering compliments, in proportion as Mary grew colder, and more +reserved in her manner towards him. Silly and conceited as he was, he +could not help noticing how differently she received William Bender +from what she had himself. But all in good time, thought he, glancing +at Ella, to see how she was affected by his desertion of her, and his +flirtation with her sister. She was standing a little apart from any +one, and with her elbow resting upon a marble stand, her cheeks +flushed, and her eyelashes moist with the tears she dared not shed, +she was watching him with feelings in which more of real pain than +jealousy was mingled; for Ella was weak and simple-hearted, and loved +Henry Lincoln far better than such as he deserved to be loved. + +"Of what are you thinking, Ella?" asked Rose, who finding herself +nearly alone, felt willing to converse with almost any one. + +At the sound of her voice Ella looked up, and coming quickly to her +side, said, "It's so dull and lonesome here, I wish I'd staid at +home." + +In her heart Rose wished so too, but she was too proud to acknowledge +it, and feeling unusually kind towards Ella, whose uneasiness she +readily understood, she replied, "Oh, I see you are jealous of Henry, +but he's only trying to teaze you, for he can't be interested in that +awkward thing." + +"But he is. I 'most _know_ he is," returned Ella, with a trembling of +the voice she tried in vain to subdue; and then, fearing she could not +longer restrain her emotion, she suddenly broke away from Rose, and +ran hastily up to the dressing-room. + +Nothing of all this escaped Henry's quick eye, and as sundry unpaid +bills for wine, brandy, oyster suppers, and livery, came looming up +before his mind, he thought proper to make some amends for his +neglect. Accordingly when Ella returned to the drawing-room, he +offered her his arm, asking "what made her eyes so red," and slyly +pressing her hand, when she averted her face saying, "Nothing,--they +weren't red." + +Meantime William Bender, having managed to drop Jenny from his arm, +had asked Mary to accompany him to a small conservatory, which was +separated from the reception rooms by a long and brilliantly lighted +gallery. As they stood together, admiring a rare exotic, William's +manner suddenly changed, and drawing Mary closer to his side, he said +distinctly, though hurriedly, "I notice, Mary, that you seem +embarrassed in my presence, and I have, therefore, sought this +opportunity to assure you that I shall not again distress you by a +declaration of love, which, if returned, would now give me more pain +than pleasure, for as I told you at Mr. Selden's, I am changed in more +respects than one. It cost me a bitter struggle to give you up, but +reason and judgment finally conquered, and now I can calmly think of +you, as some time belonging to another, and with all a brother's +confidence, can tell you that I, too, love another,--not as once I +loved you, for that would be impossible but with a calmer, more +rational love." + +All this time Mary had not spoken, though the hand which William had +taken in his trembled like an imprisoned bird; but when he came to +speak of loving another, she involuntarily raised his hand to her +lips, exclaiming, "It's Jenny, it's Jenny." + +"You have guessed rightly," returned William, smiling at the +earnestness of her manner. "It is Jenny, though how such a state of +things ever came about, is more than I can tell." + +Mary thought of the old saying, "Love begets love," but she said +nothing, for just then Jenny herself joined them. Looking first at +William, then at Mary, and finally passing her arm around the latter, +she whispered, "I know he's told you, and I'm glad, for somehow I +couldn't tell you myself." + +Wisely thinking that his company could be dispensed with, William +walked away, leaving the two girls alone. In her usual frank way, +Jenny rattled on, telling Mary how happy she was, and how funny it +seemed to be engaged, and how frightened she was when William asked +her to marry him. + +Fearing that they might be missed, they at last returned to the +parlor, where they found Ella seated at the piano, and playing a very +spirited polka. Henry, who boasted that he "could wind her around his +little finger," had succeeded in coaxing her into good humor, but not +at all desiring her company for the rest of the evening, he asked her +to play, as the easiest way to be rid of her. She played unusually +well, but when, at the close of the piece, she looked around for +commendation, from the one for whose ear alone she had played, she saw +him across the room, so wholly engrossed with her sister that he +probably did not even know when the sound of the piano ceased. + +Poor Ella; it was with the saddest heartache she had ever known that +she returned from a party which had promised her so much pleasure, and +which had given her so much pain. Rose, too, was bitterly +disappointed. One by one her old admirers had left her for the society +of the "pauper," as she secretly styled Mary, and more than once +during the evening had she heard the "beauty" and "grace" of her rival +extolled by those for whose opinion she cared the most; and when, at +one o'clock in the morning, she threw herself exhausted upon the sofa, +she declared "'twas the last party she'd ever attend." + +Alas, for thee, Rosa, that declaration proved too true! + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +MAKING UP HIS MIND. + + +For more than an hour there had been unbroken silence in the dingy old +law office of Mr. Worthington, where Henry Lincoln and William Bender +still remained, the one as a practising lawyer and junior partner of +the firm, and the other as a student still, for he had not yet dared +to offer himself for examination. Study was something which Henry +particularly disliked; and as his mother had trained him with the +idea, that labor for him was wholly unnecessary, he had never bestowed +a thought on the future, or made an exertion of any kind. + +Now, however, a different phase of affairs was appearing. His father's +fortune was threatened with ruin; and as, on a morning several weeks +subsequent to Mrs. Russell's party, he sat in the office with his +heels upon the window sill, and his arms folded over his head, he +debated the all-important question, whether it were better to marry +Ella Campbell, for the money which would save him from poverty, or to +rouse himself to action for the sake of Mary Howard, whom he really +fancied he loved! + +Frequently since the party had he met her, each time becoming more and +more convinced of her superiority over the other young ladies of his +acquaintance. He was undoubtedly greatly assisted in this decision by +the manner with which she was received by the fashionables of Boston, +but aside from that, as far as he was capable of doing so, he liked +her, and was now making up his mind whether to tell her so or not. + +At last, breaking the silence, he exclaimed, "Hang me if I don't +believe she's bewitched me, or else I'm in love.--Bender, how does a +chap feel when he's in love?" + +"Very foolish, judging from yourself," returned William; and Henry +replied, "I hope you mean nothing personal, for I'm bound to avenge my +honor, and t'would be a deuced scrape for you and me to fight about +'your sister,' as you call her, for 'tis she who has inspired me, or +made a fool of me, one or the other." + +"You've changed your mind, haven't you?" asked William, a little +sarcastically. + +"Hanged if I have," said Henry. "I was interested in her years ago, +when she was the ugliest little vixen a man ever looked upon, and +that's why I teazed her so,--I don't believe she's handsome now, but +she's something, and that something has raised the mischief with me. +Come, Bender, you are better acquainted with her than I am, so tell me +honestly if you think I'd better marry her." + +The expression of William's face was a sufficient answer, and with +something of his old insolence, Henry continued, "You needn't feel +jealous, for I tell you Mary Howard looks higher than you. Why, she'd +wear the crown of England, as a matter of course, any day." + +With a haughty frown, William replied, "You have my permission, sir, +to propose as soon as you please. I rather wish you would," then +taking his hat, he left the office, while Henry continued his +soliloquy, as follows:--"I wonder what the old folks would say to a +penniless bride. Wouldn't mother and Rose raise a row? I'd soon quiet +the old woman, though, by threatening to tell that she was once a +factory girl,--yes, a factory girl. But if dad smashes up I'll have +to work, for I haven't brains enough to earn my living by my wit. I +guess on the whole, I'll go and call on Ella, she's handsome, and +besides that, has the rhino too, but, Lord, how shallow!" and the +young man broke the blade of his knife as he struck it into the hard +wood table, by way of emphasizing his last words. + +Ella chanced to be out, and as Henry was returning, he overtook Ida +Selden and Mary Howard, who were taking their accustomed walk. Since +her conversation with William a weight seemed lifted from Mary's +spirits, and she now was happier far than she ever remembered of +having been before. She was a general favorite in Boston, where all of +her acquaintances vied with each other in making her stay among them +as agreeable as possible. Her facilities for improvement, too, were +great, and what was better than all the rest, George Moreland was to +return much sooner than he at first intended. While she was so happy +herself, Mary could not find it in her heart to be uncourteous to +Henry, and her manner towards him that morning was so kind and affable +that it completely upset him; and when he parted with her at Mr. +Selden's gate, his mind was quite made up to offer her his heart and +hand. + +"I shall have to work," thought he, as he entered his room to decide +upon the best means by which to make his intentions known. "I shall +have to work, I know, but for her sake I'd do any thing." + +There was a bottle of Madeira standing upon the table and as he +announced his determination of "doing any thing for the sake of Mary +Howard," his eye fell upon his favorite beverage. A deep blush mounted +to his brow, and a fierce struggle between his love for Mary and his +love for the wine-cup ensued. The former conquered, and seizing the +bottle he hurled it against the marble fire jamb, exclaiming, "I'll +be a _man_, a sober man, and never shall the light of Mary's eyes grow +dim with tears wept for a drunken husband!" + +Henry was growing eloquent, and lest the inspiration should leave him, +he sat down and wrote to Mary, on paper what he could not tell her +face to face. Had there been a lingering doubt of her acceptance, he +would undoubtedly have wasted at least a dozen sheets of the tiny +gilt-edged paper, but as it was, one would suffice, for _she_ would +not scrutinize his handwriting,--_she_ would not count the blots, or +mark the omission of punctuating pauses. She would almost say _yes_ +before she read it. So the letter, which contained a sincere apology +for his uncivil treatment of her in former years, and an ardent +declaration of love for her now, was written sealed, and directed, and +then there was a gentle rap upon the door. Jenny wished to come in for +a book which was lying upon the table. + +Henry had resolved to keep his family ignorant of his intentions, but +at the sight of Jenny he changed his mind,--Jenny loved Mary, too. +Jenny would be delighted at the prospect of having her for a sister, +and would help him brave the storm of his mother's displeasure. + +"Jenny," said he, grasping at her dress, as she passed him on her way +from the room, "Jenny, sit down here. I want to tell you something." +Jenny glanced at the fragments of the wine bottle, then at her +brother's flushed face, and instantly conjecturing that he had been +drinking, said reproachfully, as she laid her soft, white hand on his +brow "Oh, brother, brother!" + +He understood her meaning, and drawing her so closely to him that his +warm breath floated over her cheek, replied, "I'm not drunk, for see, +there is no scent of alcohol in my breath, for I have sworn to +reform,--sworn that no drop of ardent spirits shall ever again pass my +lips." + +The sudden exclamation of joy, the arms thrown so affectionately +around his neck, the hot tears upon his cheek, and the kisses that +warm-hearted sister imprinted upon his lips should have helped him to +ratify that vow. But not for her sake had it been made, and shaking +her off, he said, "Don't make a fool of yourself, Jenny, I wasn't in +any danger of disgracing you, for I was only a moderate drinker. But +really, I do want to talk with you on a very important subject. I want +to ask who of all your acquaintances you would prefer to have for a +sister, for I am going to be married." + +"To Ella?" asked Jenny, and Henry replied scornfully, "No, ma'am! my +wife must have a soul, a heart, and a mind, to make up for my +deficiency on those points. To be plain, how would you like to have me +marry Mary Howard?" + +"Not at all--Not at all," was Jenny's quick reply, while her brother +said angrily, "And why not? Are you, too, proud as Lucifer, like the +rest of us? I could tell you something, Miss, that would bring your +pride down a peg or two. But answer me, why are you unwilling for me +to marry Mary?" + +Jenny's spirit was roused too, and looking her brother fully in his +face, she unhesitatingly replied, "You are not worthy of her; neither +would she have you." + + +"And this from my own sister?" said Henry, hardly able to control his +wrath. "Leave the room, instantly,--But stay," he added, "and let me +hear the reasons for what you have asserted." + +"You know as well as I," answered Jenny, "that one as pure and gentle +as Mary Howard, should never be associated with you, who would +trample upon a woman's better nature and feelings, for the sake of +gratifying your own wishes. Whenever it suits your purpose, you +flatter and caress Ella Campbell, to whom your slightest wish is a +law, and then when your mood changes, you treat her with neglect; and +think you, that knowing all this, Mary Howard would look favorably +upon you, even if there were no stronger reason why she should refuse +you?" + +"If you mean the brandy bottle," said Henry, growing more and more +excited, "have I not sworn to quit it, and is it for you to goad me on +to madness, until I break that vow?" + +"Forgive me if I have been too harsh," said Jenny, taking Henry's +hand. "You are my brother, and Mary my dearest friend, and when I say +I would not see her wedded to you, 'tis not because I love you less, +but her the more. You are wholly unlike, and would not be happy +together. But oh, if her love would win you back to virtue, I would +almost beg her, on my bended knees, not to turn away from you." + +"And I tell you her love _can_ win me back, when nothing else in the +kingdom will," said Henry, snatching up the note and hurrying away. + +For a time after he left the room, Jenny sat in a kind of stupefied +maze. That Mary would refuse her brother, she was certain, and she +trembled for the effect that refusal would produce upon him. Other +thoughts, too, crowded upon the young girl's mind, and made her tears +flow fast. Henry had hinted of something which he could tell her if he +would, and her heart too well foreboded what that something was. The +heavy sound of her father's footsteps, which sometimes kept her awake +the livelong night, his pale haggard face in the morning, and her +mother's nervous, anxious manner, told her that ruin was hanging over +them. + +In the midst of her reverie, Henry returned. He had delivered the +letter, and now, restless and unquiet, he sat down to await its +answer. It came at last,--his rejection, yet couched in language so +kind and conciliatory, that he could not feel angry. Twice,--three +times he read it over, hoping to find some intimation that possibly +she might relent; but no, it was firm and decided, and while she +thanked him for the honor he conferred upon her, she respectfully +declined accepting it, assuring him that his secret should be kept +inviolate. + +"There's some comfort in that," thought he, "for I wouldn't like to +have it known that I had been refused by a poor unknown girl," and +then, as the conviction came over him that she would never he his, he +laid his head upon the table, and wept such tears as a spoiled child +might weep when refused a toy, too costly and delicate to be trusted +in its rude grasp. + +Erelong, there was another knock at the door, and, hastily wiping away +all traces of his emotion, Henry admitted his father, who had come to +talk of their future prospects, which were even worse than he had +feared. But he did not reproach his wayward son, nor hint that his +reckless extravagance had hastened the calamity which otherwise might +possibly have been avoided. Calmly he stated the extent to which they +were involved, adding that though an entire failure might be prevented +a short time, it would come at last; and that an honorable payment of +his debts would leave them beggars. + +"For myself I do not care," said the wretched man, pressing hard his +aching temples, where the gray hairs had thickened within a few short +weeks. "For myself I do not care but for my wife and children,--for +Rose, and that she must miss her accustomed comforts, is the keenest +pang of all." + +All this time, Henry had not spoken, but thought was busily at work. +He could not bestir himself; he had no energy for that now; but he +could marry Ella Campbell, whose wealth would keep him in the position +he now occupied, besides supplying many of Rose's wants. + +Cursing the fate which had reduced him to such an extremity, towards +the dusk of evening, Henry started again for Mrs. Campbell's. Lights +were burning in the parlor and as the curtains were drawn back, he +could see through the partially opened shutter, that Ella was alone. +Reclining in a large sofa chair, she sat, leaning upon her elbow, the +soft curls of her brown hair falling over her white arm, which the +full blue cashmere sleeve exposed to view. She seemed deeply engaged +in thought, and never before had she looked so lovely to Henry, who, +as he gazed upon her, felt a glow of pride, in thinking that fair +young girl could be his for the asking. + +"I wish she was not so confounded flat," thought he, hastily ringing +the door-bell. + +Instantly divining who it was, Ella sprang up, and when Henry entered +the parlor, he found her standing in the centre of the room, where the +full blaze of the chandelier fell upon her childish features, lighting +them up with radiant beauty. + +"And so my little pet is alone," said he, coming forward, and raising +to his lips the dainty fingers which Ella extended towards him. "I +hope the old aunty is out," he continued, "for I want to see you on +special business." + +Ella noticed how excited he appeared, and always on the alert for +something when he was with her, she began to tremble, and without +knowing what she said, asked him "what he wanted of her?" + +"Zounds!" thought Henry, "she meets me more than half-way;" and then, +lest his resolution should fail, he reseated her in the chair she had +left, and drawing an ottoman to her side, hastily told her of his +love, ending his declaration, by saying that from the first time he +ever saw her, he had determined that she should be his wife! And Ella, +wholly deceived, allowed her head to droop upon his shoulder, while +she whispered to him her answer. Thus they were betrothed,--Henry +Lincoln and Ella Campbell. + +"Glad am I to be out of that atmosphere," thought the newly engaged +young man, as he reached the open air, and began to breathe more +freely. "Goodness me, won't I lead a glorious life, with that jar of +tomato sweetmeats! Now, if she'd only hung back a little,--but no, she +said yes before I fairly got the words out; but money covereth a +multitude of sins,--I beg your pardon, ma'am," said he quickly, as he +became conscious of having rudely jostled a young lady, who was +turning the corner. + +Looking up, he met Mary Howard's large, dark eyes fixed rather +inquiringly upon him. She was accompanied by one of Mr. Selden's +servants, and he felt sure she was going to visit her sister. Of +course, Ella would tell her all, and what must Mary think of one who +could so soon repeat his vows of love to another? In all the world +there was not an individual for whose good opinion Henry Lincoln cared +one half so much as for Mary Howard's; and the thought that he should +now surely lose it maddened him. The resolution of the morning was +forgotten, and that night a fond father watched and wept over his +inebriate son, for never before had Henry Lincoln been so beastly +intoxicated. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE SHADOWS DEEPEN. + + +From one of the luxuriously furnished chambers of her father's elegant +mansion, Jenny Lincoln looked mournfully out upon the thick angry +clouds, which, the livelong day, had obscured the winter sky. Dreamily +for a while she listened to the patter of the rain as it fell upon the +deserted pavement below, and then, with a long, deep sigh, she turned +away and wept. Poor Jenny!--the day was rainy, and dark, and dreary, +but darker far were the shadows stealing over her pathway. Turn which +way she would, there was not one ray of sunshine, which even her +buoyant spirits could gather from the surrounding gloom. Her only +sister was slowly, but surely dying, and when Jenny thought of this +she felt that if Rose could only live, she'd try and bear the rest; +try to forget how much she loved William Bender, who that morning had +honorably and manfully asked her of her parents, and been spurned with +contempt,--not by her father, for could he have followed the dictates +of his better judgment, he would willingly have given his daughter to +the care of one who he knew would carefully shield her from the storms +of life. It was not he, but the cold, proud mother, who so haughtily +refused William's request, accusing him of taking underhanded means to +win her daughter's affections. + +"I had rather see you dead!" said the stony-hearted woman, when Jenny +knelt at her feet, and pleaded for her to take back the words she had +spoken--"I had rather see you dead, than married to such as _he_. I +mean what I have said, and you will never be his." + +Jenny knew William too well to think he would ever sanction an act of +disobedience to her mother, and her heart grew faint, and her eyes dim +with tears, as she thought of conquering the love which had grown with +her growth, and strengthened with her strength. There was another +reason, too, why Jenny should weep as she sat there alone in her room. +From her father she had heard of all that was to happen. The luxuries +to which all her life she had been accustomed, were to be hers no +longer. The pleasant country house in Chicopee, dearer far than her +city home, must be sold, and nowhere in the wide world, was there a +place for them to rest. + +It was of all this that Jenny was thinking that dreary afternoon; and +when at last she turned away from the window, her thoughts went back +again to her sister, and she murmured, "If _she_ could only live." + +But it could not be;--the fiat had gone forth, and Rose, like the fair +summer flower whose name she bore, must fade and pass away. For +several days after Mrs. Russell's party she tried to keep up, but the +laws of nature had been outraged, and now she lay all day in a +darkened room, moaning with pain, and wondering why the faces of those +around her were so sad and mournful. + +"Jenny," said she one day when the physician, as usual, had left the +room without a word of encouragement--"Jenny, what does make you look +so blue and forlorn. I hope you don't fancy I'm going to die? Of +course I'm not." + +Here a coughing fit ensued, and after it was over, she continued, +"Isn't George Moreland expected soon?" + +Jenny nodded, and Rose proceeded, "I must, and _will_ be well before +he comes, for 'twill never do to yield the field to that Howard girl, +who they say is contriving every way to get him,--coaxing round old +Aunt Martha, and all that. But how ridiculous! George Moreland, with +his fastidious, taste, marry a pauper!" and the sick girl's fading +cheek glowed, and her eyes grew brighter at the absurd idea! + +Just then Mr. Lincoln entered the room. He had been consulting with +his wife the propriety of taking Rose to her grandmother's in the +country. She would thus be saved the knowledge of his failure, which +could not much longer be kept a secret; and besides that, they all, +sooner or later, must leave the house in which they were living; and +he judged it best to remove his daughter while she was able to endure +the journey. At first Mrs. Lincoln wept bitterly for if Rose went to +Glenwood, she, too, must of course go and the old brown house, with +its oaken floor and wainscoted ceiling, had now no charms for the gay +woman of fashion who turned with disdain from the humble roof which +had sheltered her childhood. + +Lifting her tearful eyes to her husband's face, she said "Oh, I can't +go there. Why not engage rooms at the hotel in Glenwood village. +Mother is so odd and peculiar in her ways of living, that I never can +endure it," and again Mrs. Lincoln buried her face in the folds of her +fine linen cambric, thinking there was never in the world a woman as +wretched as herself. + +"Don't, Hatty, don't; it distresses me to see you feel thus. Rooms and +board at the hotel would cost far more than I can afford to pay, and +then, too,--" here he paused, as if to gather courage for what he was +next to say; "and then, too, your mother will care for Rose's _soul_ +as well as body." + +Mrs. Lincoln looked up quickly, and her husband continued, "Yes, +Hatty, we need not deceive ourselves longer. Rose must die, and you +know as well as I whether our training has been such as will best fit +her for another world." + +For a time Mrs. Lincoln was silent, and then in a more subdued tone, +she said, "Do as you like, only you must tell Rose. _I_ never can." + +Half an hour after, Mr. Lincoln entered his daughter's room, and +bending affectionately over her pillow, said, "How is my darling +to-day?" + +"Better, better,--almost well," returned Rose, raising herself in bed +to prove what she had said. "I shall be out in a few days, and then +you'll buy me one of those elegant plaid silks, won't you? All the +girls are wearing them, and I haven't had a new dress this winter, and +here 'tis almost March." + +Oh, how the father longed to tell his dying child that her next dress +would be a shroud. But he could not. He was too much a man of the +world to speak to her of death,--he would leave that for her +grandmother; so without answering her question, he said, "Rose, do you +think you are able to be moved into the country?" + +"What, to Chicopee? that horrid dull place! I thought we were not +going there this summer." + +"No, not to Chicopee, but to your grandma Howland's, in Glenwood. The +physician thinks you will be more quiet there, and the pure air will +do you good." + +Rose looked earnestly in her father's face to see if he meant what he +said, and then replied, "I'd rather go any where in the world than to +Glenwood. You've no idea how, I hate to stay there. Grandma is so +queer, and the things in the house so fussy and countrified,--and +cooks by a _fireplace_, and washes in a tin basin, and wipes on a +crash towel that hangs on a roller!" + +Mr. Lincoln could hardly repress a smile at Rose's reasoning, but +perceiving that he must be decided, he said, "We think it best for you +to go, and shall accordingly make arrangements to take you in the +course of a week or two. Your mother will stay with you, and Jenny, +too, will be there a part of the time;" then, not wishing to witness +the effect of his words, he hastily left the room, pausing in the hall +to wipe away the tears which involuntarily came to his eyes, as he +overheard Rose angrily wonder, "why she should be turned out of doors +when she wasn't able to sit up!" + +"I never can bear the scent of those great tallow candles, never," +said she; "and then to think of the coarse sheets and patchwork +bedquilts--oh, it's dreadful!" + +Jenny's heart, too, was well-nigh bursting, but she forced down her +own sorrow, while she strove to comfort her sister, telling her how +strong and well the bracing air of the country would make her, and how +refreshing when her fever was on would be the clear, cold water which +gushed from the spring near the thorn-apple tree, where in childhood +they so oft had played. Then she spoke of the miniature waterfall, +which not far from their grandmother's door, made "fairy-like music;" +all the day long, and at last, as if soothed by the sound of that +far-off falling water, Rose forgot her trouble, and sank into a sweet, +refreshing slumber, in which she dreamed that the joyous summer-time +had come, and that she, well and strong as Jenny had predicted, was +the happy bride of George Moreland, who led her to a grass-grown +grave,--the grave of Mary Howard, who had died of consumption and been +buried in Glenwood! + +While Rose was sleeping, Jenny stole softly down the stairs, and +throwing on her shawl and bonnet, went across the street, to confide +her troubles with Mary Howard; who, while she sympathized deeply with +her young friend, was not surprised, for, from her slight +acquaintance with Mrs Lincoln, she could readily believe that one so +ambitious and haughty, would seek for her daughter a wealthier +alliance than a poor lawyer. All that she could say to comfort Jenny +she did, bidding her to wait patiently, and hope for the best. + +"You are blue and dispirited," said she, "and a little fresh air will +do you good. Suppose we walk round a square or two; for see, the rain +is over now." + +Jenny consented, and they had hardly gone half the length of a street +when William himself joined them. Rightly guessing that her absence +would not be noticed, Mary turned suddenly into a side street, leaving +William and Jenny to themselves. From that walk Jenny returned to her +home much happier than she left it. She had seen William,--had talked +with him of the past, present, and future,--had caught from his +hopeful spirit the belief that all would be well in time, and in a far +more cheerful frame of mind, she re-entered her sister's room; and +when Rose, who was awake, and noticed the change in her appearance, +asked what had happened, she could not forbear telling her. + +Rose heard her through, and then very kindly informed her that "she +was a fool to care for such a rough-scuff." + +In a few days, preparations were commenced for moving Rose to +Glenwood, and in the excitement of getting ready, she in a measure +forgot the tallow candles and patchwork bedquilt, the thoughts of +which had so much shocked her at first. + +"Put in my embroidered merino morning gown," said she to Jenny, who +was packing her trunk, "and the blue cashmere one faced with white +satin; and don't forget my best cambric skirt, the one with so much +work on it, for when George Moreland comes to Glenwood I shall want to +look as well as possible; and then, too, I like to see the country +folks open their mouths, and stare at city fashions.' + +"What makes you think George will come to Glenwood?" asked Jenny, as +she packed away dresses her sister would never wear. + +"I know, and that's enough," answered Rose; "and now, before you +forget it, put in my leghorn flat, for if I stay long, I shall want +it; and see how nicely you can fold the dress I wore at Mrs. Russell's +party!" + +"Why, Rose, what can you possibly want of that?" asked Jenny, and Rose +replied, "Oh, I want to show it to grandma, just to hear her groan +over our extravagance, and predict that we'll yet come to ruin!" + +Jenny thought that if Rose could have seen her father that morning, +when the bill for the dress and its costly trimmings was presented, +she would have wished it removed for ever from her sight. Early in the +winter Mr. Lincoln had seen that all such matters were settled, and of +this bill, more recently made, he knew nothing. + +"I can't pay it now," said he promptly to the boy who brought it. +"Tell Mr. Holton I will see him in a day or two." + +The boy took the paper with an insolent grin, for he had heard the +fast circulating rumor, "that one of the _big bugs_ was about to smash +up;" and now, eager to confirm the report, he ran swiftly back to his +employer, who muttered, "Just as I expected. I'll draw on him for what +I lent him, and that'll tell the story. My daughters can't afford to +wear such things, and I'm not going to furnish money for his." + +Of all this Rose did not dream, for in her estimation there was no end +to her father's wealth, and the possibility of his failing had never +entered her mind. Henry indeed had once hinted it to her on the +occasion of her asking him "how he could fancy Ella Campbell enough to +marry her." + +"I'm not marrying _her_, but her _money_" was his prompt answer; "and +I assure you, young lady, we are more in need of that article than you +imagine." + +Rose paid no attention to this speech, and when she found that her +favorite Sarah was not to accompany her, she almost wept herself into +convulsions, declaring that her father, to whom the mother imputed the +blame, was cruel and hard-hearted, and that if it was Jenny instead of +herself who was sick, she guessed "she'd have forty waiting-maids if +she wanted them." + +"I should like to know who is to take care of me?" said she. "Jenny +isn't going, and grandma would think it an unpardonable extravagance +to hire a servant. I will not go, and that ends it! If you want to be +rid of me, I can die fast enough here." + +Mrs. Lincoln had nothing to say, for she well knew she had trained her +daughter to despise every thing pertaining to the old brown house, +once her childhood home, and where even now the kind-hearted +grandmother was busy in preparing for the reception of the invalid. +From morning until night did the little active form of Grandma Howland +flit from room to room, washing windows which needed no washing, +dusting tables on which no dust was lying, and doing a thousand things +which she thought would add to the comfort of Rose. On one room in +particular did the good old lady bestow more than usual care. 'Twas +the "spare chamber," at whose windows Rose, when a little girl, had +stood for hours, watching the thin, blue mist and fleecy clouds, as +they floated around the tall green mountains, which at no great +distance seemed to tower upward, and upward, until their tops were +lost in the sky above. At the foot of the mountain and nearer +Glenwood, was a small sheet of water which now in the spring time was +plainly discernible from the windows of Rose's chamber, and with +careful forethought Mrs. Howland arranged the bed so that the sick +girl could look out upon the tiny lake and the mountains beyond. Snowy +white, and fragrant with the leaves of rose and geranium which had +been pressed within their folds, were the sheets which covered the +bed, the last Rose Lincoln would ever rest upon. Soft and downy were +the pillows, and the patchwork quilt, Rose's particular aversion, was +removed, and its place supplied by one of more modern make. + +Once Mrs. Howland thought to shade the windows with the Venetian +blinds which hung in the parlor below; but they shut out so much +sunlight, and made the room so gloomy, that she carried them back, +substituting in their place plain white muslin curtains. The best +rocking chair, and the old-fashioned carved mirror, were brought up +from the parlor; and then when all was done, Mrs. Howland gave a sigh +of satisfaction that it was so well done, and closed the room until +Rose should arrive. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +GLENWOOD. + + +Through the rich crimson curtains which shaded Rose Lincoln's sleeping +room, the golden beams of a warm March sun wore stealing, lighting up +the thin features of the sick girl with a glow so nearly resembling +health, that Jenny, when she came to wish her sister good morning, +started with surprise at seeing her look so well. + +"Why, Rose, you are better," said she, kissing the fair cheek on which +the ray of sunlight was resting. + +Rose had just awoke from her deep morning slumber, and now remembering +that this was the day appointed for her dreaded journey to Glenwood, +she burst into tears, wondering "why they would persist in dragging +her from home." + +"It's only a pretence to get me away, I know," said she, "and you may +as well confess it at once. You are tired of waiting upon me." + +Mr. Lincoln now came in to see his daughter, but all his attempts to +soothe her were in vain. She only replied, "Let me stay at home, here +in this room, my own room;" adding more in anger than sorrow, "I'll +try to die as soon as I can; and be out of the way, if that's what you +want!" + +"Oh, Rose, Rose! poor father don't deserve that," said Jenny, raising +her hand as if to stay her sister's thoughtless words while Mr +Lincoln, laying his face upon the pillow so that his silvered locks +mingled with the dark tresses of his child, wept bitterly,--bitterly. + +And still he could not tell her _why_ she must leave her home. He +would rather bear her unjust reproaches, than have her know that they +were beggars; for a sudden shock the physician said, might at any time +end her life. Thoroughly selfish as she was, Rose still loved her +father dearly, and when she saw him thus moved, and knew that she was +the cause, she repented of her hasty words, and laying her long white +arm across his neck, asked forgiveness for what she had said. + +"I will go to Glenwood," said she; "but must I stay there long?" + +"Not long, not long, my child," was the father's reply, and Jenny +brushed away a tear as she too thought, "not long." + +And so, with the belief that her stay was to be short, Rose passively +suffered them to dress her for the journey, which was to be performed +partly by railway and partly in a carriage. For the first time since +the night of his engagement with Ella Campbell, Henry was this morning +free from intoxicating drinks. He had heard them say that Rose must +die, but it had seemed to him like an unpleasant dream, from which he +now awoke to find it a reality. They had brought her down from her +chamber, and laid her upon the sofa in the parlor, where Henry came +unexpectedly upon her. He had not seen her for several days, and when +he found her lying there so pale and still, her long eyelashes resting +heavily upon her colorless cheek, and her small white hands hanging +listlessly by her side, he softly approached her thinking her asleep, +kissed her brow, cheek and lips, whispering as he did so, "Poor girl! +poor Rosa! so young and beautiful." + +Rose started, and wiping from her forehead the tear her brother had +left there, she looked anxiously around. Henry was gone, but his words +had awakened in her mind a new and startling idea. Was she going to +die? Did they think so, and was this the reason of Henry's unwonted +tenderness? and sinking back upon her pillows, she wept as only those +weep to whom, in the full flush of youth and beauty, death comes a +dreaded and unwelcome guest. + +"I cannot die,--I will not die," said she at last, rousing herself +with sudden energy; "I feel that within me which says I shall not die. +The air of Glenwood will do me good, and grandma's skill in nursing is +wonderful." + +Consoled by these reflections, she became more calm, and had her +father now given his consent for her to remain in Boston, she would of +her own accord have gone to Glenwood. + + * * * * * + +The morning train bound for Albany stood in the depot, waiting the +signal to start; and just before the final "all aboard" was sounded, a +handsome equipage drove slowly up, and from it alighted Mr. Lincoln, +bearing in his arms his daughter, whose head rested wearily upon his +shoulder. Accompanying him were his wife, Jenny, and a gray-haired +man, the family physician. Together they entered the rear car, and +instantly there was a hasty turning of heads, a shaking of curls, and +low whispers, as each noticed and commented upon the unearthly beauty +of Rose, who in her father's arms, lay as if wholly exhausted with the +effort she had made. + +The sight of her, so young, so fair, and apparently so low, hushed all +selfish feelings, and a gay bridal party who had taken possession of +the ladies' saloon, immediately came forward, offering it to Mr. +Lincoln, who readily accepted it, and laying Rose upon the long +settee, he made her as comfortable as possible with the numerous +pillows and cushions he had brought with him. As the creaking engine +moved slowly out of Boston, Rose asked that the window might be +raised, and leaning upon her elbow, she looked out upon her native +city, which she was leaving for ever. Some such idea came to her mind; +but quickly repressing it, she turned towards her father, saying with +a smile, "I shall be better when I see Boston again." + +Mr. Lincoln turned away to hide a tear, for he had no hope that she +would ever return. Towards nightfall of the next day they reached +Glenwood, and Rose, more fatigued than she was willing to acknowledge, +now that she was so determined to get well, was lifted from the +carriage and carried into the house. Mrs. Howland hastened forward to +receive her, and for once Rose forgot to notice whether the cut of her +cap was of this year's fashion or last. + +"I am weary," she said. "Lay me where I can rest." And with the +grandmother leading the way, the father carried his child to the +chamber prepared for her with so much care. + +"It's worse than I thought 'twas," said Mrs. Howland, returning to the +parlor below, where her daughter, after looking in vain for the big +rocking-chair, had thrown herself with a sigh upon the chintz-covered +lounge. "It's a deal worse than I thought 'twas. Hasn't she catched +cold, or been exposed some way?" + +"Not in the least," returned Mrs. Lincoln, twirling the golden stopper +of her smelling bottle. "The foundation of her sickness was laid at +Mount Holyoke, and the whole faculty ought to be indicted for +manslaughter." + +Jenny's clear, truthful eyes turned towards her mother, who frowned +darkly, and continued: "She was as well as any one until she went +there, and I consider it my duty to warn all parents against sending +their daughters to a place where neither health, manners, nor any +thing else is attended to, except religion and housework." + +Jenny had not quite got over her childish habit of occasionally +setting her mother right on some points, and she could not forbear +saying that Dr. Kleber thought Rose injured herself by attending Mrs. +Russell's party. + +"Dr. Kleber doesn't know any more about it than I do," returned her +mother. "He's always minding other folks' business, and so are you. I +guess you'd better go up stairs, and see if Rose doesn't want +something." + +Jenny obeyed, and as she entered her sister's chamber, Rose lifted her +head languidly from her pillow, and pointing to a window, which had +been opened that she might breathe more freely, said, "Just listen; +don't you hear that horrid croaking?" + +Jenny laughed aloud, for she knew Rose had heard "that horrid croaking" +more than a hundred times in Chicopee, but in Glenwood everything must +necessarily assume a goblin form and sound. Seating herself upon the +foot of the bed, she said, "Why, that's the frogs. I love to hear them +dearly. It makes me feel both sad and happy, just as the crickets do +that sing under the hearth in our old home at Chicopee." + +Jenny's whole heart was in the country, and she could not so well +sympathize with her nervous, sensitive sister, who shrank from country +sights and country sounds. Accidentally spying some tall locust +branches swinging in the evening breeze before the east window, she +again spoke to Jenny, telling her to look and see if the tree leaned +against the house, "for if it does," said she, "and creaks I shan't +sleep a wink to-night." + +After assuring her that the tree was all right, Jenny added, "I love +to hear the wind howl through these old trees, and were it not for +you, I should wish it might blow so that I could lie awake and hear +it." + +When it grew darker, and the stars began to come out. Jenny was told +"to close the shutters." + +"Now, Rose," said she, "you are making half of this, for you know as +well as I, that grandma's house hasn't got any shutters." + +"Oh, mercy, no more it hasn't. What _shall_ I do?" said Rose, half +crying with vexation. "That coarse muslin stuff is worse than nothing, +and everybody'll be looking in to see me." + +"They'll have to climb to the top of the trees, then," said Jenny, +"for the ground descends in every direction, and the road, too, is so +far away. Besides that, who is there that wants to see you?" + +Rose didn't know. She was sure there was somebody, and when Mrs. +Howland came up with one of the nicest little suppers on a small +tea-tray, how was she shocked to find the window covered with her best +blankets, which were safely packed away in the closet adjoining. + +"Rose was afraid somebody would look in and see her," said Jenny, as +she read her grandmother's astonishment in her face. + +"Look in and see her!" repeated Mrs. Howland. "I've undressed without +curtains there forty years, and I'll be bound nobody ever peeked at +me. But come," she added, "set up, and see if you can't eat a mouthful +or so. Here's some broiled chicken, a slice of toast, some currant +jelly that I made myself, and the swimminest cup of black tea you +ever see. It'll eenamost bear up an egg." + +"Sweetened with brown sugar, ain't it?" said Rose sipping a little of +the tea. + +In great distress the good old lady replied that she was out of white +sugar, but some folks loved brown just as well. + +"Ugh! Take it away," said Rose. "It makes me sick and I don't believe +I can eat another mite," but in spite of her belief the food rapidly +disappeared, while she alternately made fun of the little silver +spoons, her grandmother's bridal gift, and found fault because the +jelly was not put up in porcelain jars, instead of the old blue +earthen tea-cup, tied over with a piece of paper! + +Until a late hour that night, did Rose keep the whole household (her +mother excepted) on the alert, doing the thousand useless things which +her nervous fancy prompted. First the front door, usually secured with +a bit of whittled shingle, must be _nailed_, "or somebody would break +in." Next, the windows, which in the rising wind began to rattle, must +be made fast with divers knives, scissors, combs and keys; and lastly, +the old clock must be stopped, for Rose was not accustomed to its +striking, and it would keep her awake. + +"Dear me!" said the tired old grandmother, when, at about midnight, +she repaired to her own cosy little bedroom, "how fidgety she is. I +should of s'posed that livin' in the city so, she'd got used to +noises." + +In a day or two Mr. Lincoln and Jenny went back to Boston, bearing +with them a long list of articles which Rose must and would have. As +they were leaving the house Mrs Howland brought out her black leathern +wallet, and forcing two ten dollar bills into Jenny's hand, whispered, +"Take it to pay for them things. Your pa has need enough for his +money, and this is some I've earned along, knitting, and selling +butter. At first I thought I would get a new chamber carpet, but the +old one answers my turn very well, so take it and buy Rose every thing +she wants." + +And all this time the thankless girl up stairs was fretting and +muttering about her grandmother's _stinginess_, in not having a better +carpet "than the old faded thing which looked as if manufactured +before the flood!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +A NEW DISCOVERY. + + +On the same day when Rose Lincoln left Boston for Glenwood, Mrs. +Campbell sat in her own room, gloomy and depressed. For several days +she had not been well, and besides that, Ella's engagement with Henry +Lincoln filled her heart with dark forebodings, for rumor said that he +was unprincipled, and dissipated, and before giving her consent Mrs. +Campbell had labored long with Ella, who insisted "that he was no +worse than other young men,--most of them drank occasionally, and +Henry did nothing more!" + +On this afternoon she had again conversed with Ella, who angrily +declared, that she would marry him even if she knew he'd be a +drunkard, adding, "But he won't be. He loves me better than all the +world, and I shall help him to reform." + +"I don't believe your sister would marry him," continued Mrs. +Campbell, who was becoming much attached to Mary. + +"I don't believe she would, either, and for a very good reason, too," +returned Ella, pettishly jerking her long curls. "But I can't see why +you should bring her up, for he has never been more than polite to +her, and that he assured me was wholly on my account." + +"She isn't pleased with your engagement!" said Mrs. Campbell; and Ella +replied, "Well, what of that? It's nothing to her, and I didn't mean +she should know it; but Jenny, like a little tattler, must needs tell +her, and so she has read me a two hours' sermon on the subject. She +acted so queer, too, I didn't know what to think of her, and when she +and Henry are together, they look so funny, that I almost believe she +wants him herself, but she can't have him,--no, she can't have +him,"--and secure in the belief that _she_ was the first and only +object of Henry's affection, Ella danced out of the room to attend to +the seamstress who was doing her plain sewing. + +After she was gone, Mrs. Campbell fell asleep, and for the first time +in many a long year dreamed of her old home in England. She did not +remember it herself, but she had so often heard it described by the +aunt who adopted her, that now it came up vividly before her mind, +with its dark stone walls, its spacious grounds, terraced gardens, +running vines and creeping roses. Something about it, too, reminded +her of what Ella had once said of her mother's early home, and when +she awoke, she wondered that she had never questioned the child more +concerning her parents. She was just lying back again upon her pillow, +when there was a gentle rap at the door, and Mary Howard's soft voice +asked permission to come in. + +"Yes, do," said Mrs. Campbell. "Perhaps you can charm away my +headache, which is dreadful." + +"I'll try," answered Mary. "Shall I read to you?" + +"If you please; but first give me my salts. You'll find them there in +that drawer." + +Mary obeyed, but started as she opened the drawer, for there, on the +top, lay a small, old-fashioned miniature, of a fair young child, so +nearly resembling Franky, that the tears instantly came to her eyes. + +"What is it?" asked Mrs Campbell, and Mary replied, "This +picture,--so much like brother Franky. May I look at it?" + +"Certainly," said Mrs. Campbell. "That is a picture of my sister." + +For a long time Mary gazed at the sweet childish face, which, with its +clustering curls, and soft brown eyes, looked to her so much like +Franky. At last, turning to Mrs. Campbell, she said, "You must have +loved her very much. What was her name?" + +"Ella Temple," was Mrs. Campbell's reply, and Mary instantly +exclaimed, "Why, _that was my mother's name_!" + +"Your mother, Mary!--your mother!" said Mrs. Campbell, starting up +from her pillow. "But no; it cannot be. Your mother is lying in +Chicopee, and Ella, my sister, died in England." + +Every particle of color had left Mary's face, and her eyes, now black +as midnight, stared wildly at Mrs. Campbell. The sad story, which her +mother had once told her, came back to her mind, bringing with it the +thought, which had so agitated her companion. + +"Yes," she continued, without noticing what Mrs. Campbell had said, +"my mother was Ella Temple, and she had two sisters, one her own, and +the other, a half sister,--Sarah Fletcher and Jane Temple,--both of +whom came to America many years ago." + +"Tell me more,--tell me all you know!" whispered Mrs. Campbell, +grasping Mary's hand; "and how it came bout that I thought she was +dead,--my sister." + +Upon this point Mary could throw no light, but of all that she had +heard from her mother she told, and then Mrs Campbell, pointing to her +writing desk, said, "Bring it to me. I must read that letter again." + +Mary obeyed, and taking out a much soiled, blotted letter, Mrs. +Campbell asked her to read it aloud. It was as follows--"Daughter +Jane,--I now take this opportunity of informing you, that I've lost +your sister Ella, and have now no child saving yourself, who, if you +behave well, will be my only heir. Sometimes I wish you were here, for +it's lonesome living alone, but, I suppose you're better off where you +are. Do you know any thing of that girl Sarah? Her cross-grained uncle +has never written me a word since he left England. If I live three +years longer I shall come to America, and until that time, adieu. Your +father,--Henry Temple Esq. M.P." + +"How short and cold!" was Mary's first exclamation, for her +impressions of her grandfather were not very agreeable. + +"It is like all his letters," answered Mrs. Campbell "But it was cruel +to make me think Ella was dead, for how else could I suppose he had +lost her? and when I asked the particulars of her death, he sent me no +answer; but at this I did not so much wonder, for he never wrote +oftener than once in two or three years, and the next that I heard, he +was dead, and I was heiress of all his wealth." + +Then, as the conviction came over her that Mary was indeed the child +of her own sister, she wound her arms about her neck, and kissing her +lips, murmured, "My child,--my Mary. Oh, had I known this sooner, you +should not have been so cruelly deserted, and little Allie should +never have died in the alms-house. But you'll never leave me now, for +all that I have is yours--yours and Ella's." + +The thought of Ella touched a new chord, and Mrs Campbell's tears were +rendered less bitter, by the knowledge that she had cared for, and +been a mother, to one of her sister's orphan children. + +"I know now," said she, "why, from the first, I felt so drawn towards +Ella, and why her clear, large eyes, are so much like my own lost +darling's, and even you, Mary--" + +Here Mrs. Campbell paused, for proud as she now was of Mary, there had +been a time when the haughty lady turned away from the sober, homely +little child, who begged so piteously "to go with Ella" where there +was room and to spare. All this came up in sad review, before Mrs. +Campbell, and as she recalled the incidents of her sister's death, and +thought of the noble little Frank, who often went hungry and cold that +his mother and sisters might be warmed and fed, she felt that her +heart would burst with its weight of sorrow. + +"Oh, my God!" said she, "to die so near me,--my only sister, and _I_ +never know it,--never go near her. _I_ with all my wealth, as much +hers as mine,--and she dying of starvation." + +Wiping the hot tears from her own eyes, Mary strove to comfort her +aunt by telling her how affectionately her mother had always +remembered her. "And even on the night of her death," said she, "she +spoke of you, and bade me, if I ever found you, love you for her +sake." + +"Will you, do you love me?" asked Mrs. Campbell. + +Mary's warm kiss upon her cheek, and the loving clasp of her arms +around her aunt's neck, was a sufficient answer. + +"Do you know aught of my Aunt Sarah?" Mary asked at last; and Mrs. +Campbell replied, "Nothing definite. From father we first heard that +she was in New York, and then Aunt Morris wrote to her uncle, making +inquiries concerning her. I think the Fletchers were rather peculiar +in their dispositions, and were probably jealous of our family for the +letter was long unanswered, and when at last Sarah's uncle wrote, he +said, that 'independent of _old Temple's_ aid she had received a good +education;' adding further, that she had married and gone west, and +that he was intending soon to follow her. He neither gave the name of +her husband, or the place to which they were going, and as all our +subsequent letters were unanswered, I know not whether she is dead or +alive; but often when I think how alone I am, without a relative in +the world, I have prayed and wept that she might come back; for though +I never knew her,--never saw her that I remember, she was my mother's +child, and I should love her for that." + +Just then Ella came singing into the room, but started when she saw +how excited Mrs. Campbell appeared, and how swollen her eyelids were. + +"Why, what's the matter?" said she. "I never saw you cry before, +excepting that time when I told you I was going to marry Henry," and +Ella laughed a little spiteful laugh, for she had not yet recovered +from her anger at what Mrs. Campbell had said when she was in there +before. + +"Hush--sh," said Mary softly; and Mrs. Campbell, drawing Ella to her +side, told her of the strange discovery she had made; then beckoning +Mary to approach, she laid a hand upon each of the young girls' heads, +and blessing them, called them "her own dear children." + +It would be hard telling what Ella's emotions were. One moment she was +glad, and the next she was sorry, for she was so supremely selfish, +that the fact of Mary's being now in every respect her equal, gave her +more pain than pleasure. Of course, Mrs. Campbell would love her +best,--every body did who knew her,--every body but Henry. And when +Mrs. Campbell asked why she did not speak, she replied, "Why, what +shall I say? shall I go into ecstasies about it? To be sure I'm +glad,--very glad that you are my aunt. Will Mary live here now?" + +"Yes, always," answered Mrs. Campbell; and "No never," thought Mary. + +Her sister's manner chilled her to the heart. She thoroughly +understood her, and felt sure they could not be happy together, for +Ella was to live at home even after her marriage. There was also +another, and stronger reason, why Mary should not remain with her +aunt. Mrs. Mason had the first, best claim upon her. She it was who +had befriended her when a lonely, neglected orphan, taking her from +the alms-house, and giving her a pleasant, happy home. She it was, +too, who in sickness and health had cared for her with all a mother's +love, and Mary would not leave her now. So when Mrs. Campbell began to +make plans for the future, each one of which had a direct reference to +herself, she modestly said she should never desert Mrs. Mason, stating +her reasons with so much delicacy, and yet so firmly, that Mrs. +Campbell was compelled to acknowledge she was right, while at the same +time she secretly wondered whether Ella for _her_ sake would refuse a +more elegant home were it offered her. + +All that afternoon the contrast between the two girls grew upon her so +painfully, that she would almost gladly have exchanged her selfish, +spoilt Ella, for the once despised and neglected orphan; and when at +evening Mary came to say "Good night," she embraced her with a +fervency which seemed to say she could not give her up. + +Scarcely had the door closed upon Mary, ere there was a violent bell +ring, and Henry Lincoln was ushered into the parlor, where Ella, +radiant with smiles, sat awaiting him. They were invited that evening +to a little sociable, and Ella had bestowed more than usual time and +attention upon her toilet, for Henry was very observant of ladies' +dresses, and now that "he had a right," was constantly dictating, as +to what she should wear, and what she should not. On this evening +every thing seemed fated to go wrong. Ella had heard Henry say that he +was partial to mazarine blue, and not suspecting that his preference +arose from the fact of his having frequently seen her sister in a +neatly fitting blue merino she determined to surprise him with his +favorite color. Accordingly, when Henry entered the parlor, he found +her arrayed in a rich blue silk, made low in the neck with loose, full +sleeves, and flounced to the waist. The young man had just met Mary at +the gate, and as usual after seeing her was in the worst of humors. + +His first salutation to Ella was "Well, Mother Bunch, you look pretty, +don't you?" + +"I don't know. Do I?" said Ella, taking him literally. + +"Do you?" he repeated, with an impatient toss of his head. "All but +the pretty. I advise you to take off that thing" (pointing to the +dress), "I never saw you look worse." + +Since Ella's engagement she had cried half the time, and now, as +usual, the tears came to her eyes, provoking Henry still more. + +"Now make your eyes red," said he. "I declare, I wonder if there's any +thing of you but tears." + +"Please don't talk so," said Ella, laying her hand on his arm. "I had +this dress made on purpose to please you, for you once said you liked +dark blue." + +"And so I do on your sister, but your complexion is different from +hers, and then those _ruffles_ and bag sleeves make you look like a +little barrel!" + +"You told me you admired flounces, and these sleeves are all the +fashion," said Ella, the tears again flowing in spite of herself. + +"Well, I do think Mary looks well in flounces," returned Henry, "but +she is almost a head taller than you, and better proportioned every +way." + +Ella longed to remind him of a time when he called her sister "a hay +pole," while he likened herself to "a little sylph, fairy;" &c., but +she dared not; and Henry, bent on finding fault, touched her white +bare shoulder, saying "I wish you wouldn't wear such dresses. Mary +don't except at parties, and I heard a gentleman say that she +displayed better taste than any young lady of his acquaintance." + +Ella was thoroughly angry, and amid a fresh shower of tears exclaimed, +"_Mary_,--_Mary_,--I'm sick of the name. It's nothing but Mary,--Mary +all day long with Mrs. Campbell, and now _you_ must thrust her in my +face. If you think her so perfect, why don't you marry her, instead of +me?" + +"Simply because she won't have me," returned Henry, and then not +wishing to provoke Ella too far, he playfully threw his arm around her +waist, adding "But come, my little beauty, don't let's quarrel any +more about her. I ought to like _my sister_, and you shouldn't be +jealous. So throw on your cloak, and let's be off." + +"Oh, no, not yet. It's too early" answered Ella, nothing loth to have +an hour alone with him. + +So they sat down together upon the sofa, and after asking about Rose, +and how long Jenny was to remain in Glenwood, Ella, chancing to think +of the strange discovery that day made with regard to herself and +Mary, mentioned it to Henry, who seemed much more excited about it +than she had been. + +"Mrs. Campbell, your mother's sister!" said he. "And Mary's aunt too? +Why didn't you tell me before?" + +"Because I didn't think of it," returned Ella. "And it's nothing so +very marvellous either, or at least it does not affect _me_ in the +least." Henry did not reply, but there was that passing through his +mind which might affect Ella not a little. As the reader knows, he was +marrying her for her money; and now if that money was to be shared +with another, the bride lost half her value! But such thoughts must +not be expressed, and when Henry next spoke, he said very calmly, +"Well, I'm glad on Mary's account, for your aunt will undoubtedly +share her fortune with her;" and Henry's eyes turned upon Ella with a +deeper meaning than she could divine. + +It was so long since Ella had felt the need of money that she had +almost ceased to know its value, and besides this, she had no +suspicion of Henry's motive in questioning her; so she carelessly +replied that nothing had been said on the subject, though she presumed +her aunt would make Mary heiress with herself, as she had recently +taken a violent fancy to her. Here the conversation flagged, and Henry +fell into a musing mood, from which Ella was forced to rouse him when +it was time to go. As if their thoughts were flowing in the same +channel, Mrs. Campbell that evening was thinking of Mary, and trying +to devise some means by which to atone for neglecting her so long. +Suddenly a new idea occurred to her, upon which she determined +immediately to act, and the next morning Mr. Worthington was sent for, +to draw up a new will, in which Mary Howard was to share equally with +her sister. + +"Half of all I own is theirs by right," said she, "and what I want is, +that on their 21st birth-day they shall come into possession of the +portion which ought to have been their mother's, while at my death the +remainder shall be equally divided between them." + +The will was accordingly drawn up, signed and sealed, Mr. Worthington +keeping a rough draft of it, which was thrown among some loose papers +in his office. A few afterwards Henry coming accidentally upon it, +read it without any hesitation. + +"_That_ settles it at once," said he, "and I can't say I'm sorry, for +I was getting horribly sick of her. Now I'd willingly marry Mary +without a penny, but Ella, with only one quarter as much as I +expected, and that not until she's twenty-one, is a different matter +entirely. But what am I to do? I wish Moreland was here, for though he +don't like me (and I wonder who does), he wouldn't mind lending me a +few thousand. Well, there's no help for it; and the sooner the old man +breaks now, the better. It'll help me out of a deuced mean scrape, for +of course I shall be _magnanimous_, and release Ella at once from her +engagement with a _ruined man_." + +The news that Mary was Mrs. Campbell's niece spread rapidly, and among +those who came to congratulate her, none was more sincere than William +Bender. Mary was very dear to him, and whatever conduced to her +happiness added also to his. Together with her he had heard the rumor +of Mr. Lincoln's downfall, and while he felt sorry for the family, he +could not help hoping that it would bring Jenny nearer to him. Of this +he told Mary, who hardly dared trust herself to reply, lest she should +divulge a darling secret, which she had cherished ever since Mrs. +Campbell had told her that, in little more than a year, she was to be +the rightful owner of a sum of money much larger than she had ever +dreamed it possible for her to possess. Wholly unselfish, her thoughts +instantly turned towards her adopted brother. A part of that sum +should be his, and with that for a stepping stone to future wealth, +Mrs. Lincoln, when poor and destitute, could no longer refuse him her +daughter Mrs. Campbell, to whom alone she confided her wishes, gave her +consent, though she could not understand the self-denying love which +prompted this act of generosity to a stranger. + +And now Mary was very happy in thinking how much good she could do. +Mrs. Mason, her benefactress, should never want again. Sally Furbush, +the kind-hearted old crazy woman who had stood by her so long and so +faithfully, should share her home wherever that home might be; while +better than all the rest, William Bender, the truest, best friend she +ever had, should be repaid for his kindness to her when a little, +unknown pauper. And still the world, knowing nothing of the hidden +causes which made Mary's laugh so merry and her manner so gay, said +that "the prospect of being an heiress had turned her head, just as it +always did those who were suddenly elevated to wealth." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE CRISIS. + + +Mr. Lincoln had failed. At the corners of the streets, groups of men +stood together, talking over the matter, and ascribing it, some to his +carelessness, some to his extreme good nature in indorsing for any one +who asked, and others, the knowing ones, winking slyly as they said +"they guessed he knew what he was about,--they'd known before of such +things as failing rich;" but the mouths of these last were stopped +when they heard that the household furniture, every thing, was given +up for the benefit of his creditors, and was to be sold at auction +during the coming week. + +In their parlors at home wives and daughters also discussed the +matter, always ending by accusing Mrs. Lincoln of unwarrantable +extravagance, and wondering how the proud Rose would bear it, and +suggesting that "she could work in the factory just as her mother +did!". It was strange how suddenly Mrs. Lincoln's most intimate +friends discovered that she had once been a poor factory girl, +remembering too that they had often noticed an air of vulgarity about +her! Even Mrs. Campbell was astonished that she should have been so +deceived, though she pitied the daughters, "who were really refined +and lady-like, considering--" and then she thought of Henry, hoping +that Ella would be now willing to give him up. + +But with a devotion worthy of a better object, Ella replied, that he +was dearer to her than ever. "I have not loved him for his wealth," +said she, "and I shall not forsake him now." And then she wondered why +he staid so long away, as day after day went by, and still he came +not. It was in vain that Mary, who visited the house frequently, told +her of many things which might detain him. Ella saw but one. He +fancied she, too, would desert him, like the cold unfeeling world. And +then she begged so imploringly of her sister to go to him, and ask him +to come, that Mary, loth as she was to do so, finally complied. She +found him in his office, and fortunately alone. He was looking very +pale and haggard, the result of last night's debauch, but Mary did not +know of this. She only saw grief for his misfortune, and her voice and +manner were far more cordial than usual as she bade him good +afternoon. + +"It is kind in you, Miss Howard, to come here," said he, nervously +pressing the hand she offered. "I knew _you_ would not forsake me, and +I'd rather have your sympathy than that of the whole world." + +Wishing to end such conversation, Mary replied, "I came here, Mr. +Lincoln, at Ella's request. Ever since your father's failure she has +waited anxiously for you--" + +She was prevented from saying more by Henry, who, with a feigned +bitterness of manner, exclaimed, "Ella need not feel troubled, for I +am too honorable to insist upon her keeping an engagement, which I +would to Heaven had never been made. Tell her she is free to do as she +pleases." + +"You are mistaken, sir," answered Mary; "Ella does not wish to be +free. But come with me; I promised to bring you." + +With an air of desperation, Henry took his hat, and started with Mary +for Mrs. Campbell's. Oh, how eagerly Ella sprang forward to meet him, +and burying her face in his bosom, she sobbed like a child. + +"Hush, Ella, this is foolish," said he; and then seating her in a +chair, he asked, "why he was sent for." + +"I was afraid,--afraid you might think I did not love you now," +answered Ella. + +"I could not blame you if you did not," said Henry. "Matters have +changed since we last met, and I am not mean enough to expect you to +keep your engagement." + +"But if _I_ expect it,--If _I_ wish it?" asked Ella, raising her +tear-wet eyes to his face. + +"You are excited now," said he, "but in a few days you'll thank me for +my decision. An alliance with poverty could be productive of nothing +but unhappiness to you; and while I thank you for your unselfish love, +I cannot accept it, for I am determined that, so long as I am poor, I +shall never marry; and the sooner you forget me, the better, for, +Ella, I am not deserving of your love." + +Then, with a cold adieu, he left her; and when, half an hour +afterwards, Mary entered the parlor, she found her sister lying upon +the sofa, perfectly motionless, except when a tremor of anguish shook +her slight frame. A few words explained all, and taking her head in +her lap, Mary tried to soothe her. But Ella refused to be comforted; +and as she seemed to prefer being alone, Mary ere long left her, and +bent her steps towards Mr. Lincoln's dwelling, which presented a scene +of strange confusion. The next day was the auction, and many people of +both sexes had assembled to examine, and find fault with, the numerous +articles of furniture, which were being removed to the auction room. + +"Where's them silver candlesticks, and that cake-basket that cost +up'ards of a hundred dollars?" asked one fussy, vulgar-looking old +woman, peering into closets and cupboards, and even lifting trunk +lids in her search. "I want some such things, and if they go for half +price or less, mebby Israel will bid; but I don't see 'em. I'll +warrant they've hid 'em." + +Mary was just in time to hear this remark, and she modestly replied, +that Mr. Lincoln's creditors had generously presented him with all the +silver, which was now at Mr. Selden's. + +The woman stared impudently at her a moment, and then said, "Now, +that's what I call downright cheatin'? What business has poor folks +with so much silver. Better pay their debts fust. That's my creed." + +Mary turned away in disgust, but not until she heard the woman's +daughter whisper, "Don't, mother,--that's Miss Howard,--Mrs. +Campbell's niece," to which the mother replied, "Wall, who cares for +that? Glad I gin her a good one. Upper crust ain't no better than I +be." + +Passing through the hall, where several other women were examining and +depreciating Mrs. Lincoln's costly carpets, pronouncing them "half +cotton," &c., Mary made her way up the stairs, where in a chamber as +yet untouched, she found Jenny and with her William Bender. Mrs. +Lincoln's cold, scrutinizing eyes were away, and Mr. Lincoln had +cordially welcomed William to his house, telling him of his own accord +where his daughter could be found. Many a time in his life for Mary's +sake had William wished that he was rich, but never had he felt so +intense a longing for money, as he did when Jenny sat weeping at his +side, and starting at each new sound which came up from the rabble +below. + +"Oh, Mary, Mary!" she said, as the latter entered the room, "to-morrow +every thing will be sold, and I shall have no home. It's dreadful to +be poor." + +Mary knew that from bitter experience, and sitting down by her young +friend, her tears flowed as freely as Jenny's had often flowed for +her, in the gray old woods near Chicopee poor-house. Just then there +was an unusual movement in the yard below, and looking from the +window, Jenny saw that they were carrying the piano away. + +"This is worse than all," said she. "If they only knew how dear that +is to me, or how dear it will be when--" + +She could not finish, but Mary knew what she would say. The piano +belonged to Rose, whose name was engraved upon its front, and when she +was dead, it would from that fact be doubly dear to the sister. A +stylish-looking carriage now drew up before the house, from which Mrs. +Campbell alighted and holding up her long skirts, ascended the stairs, +and knocked at Jenny's door. + +"Permeely," called out the old lady who had been disappointed in her +search for the silver candlesticks, "wasn't that Miss Campbell? Wall, +she's gone right into one of them rooms where t'other gal went. I +shouldn't wonder if Mr. Lincoln's best things was hid there, for they +keep the door locked." + +Accidentally Mr. Lincoln overheard this remark, and in his heart he +felt that his choicest treasure was indeed there. His wife, from whom +he naturally expected sympathy, had met him with desponding looks and +bitter words, reproaching him with carelessness, and saying, as in +similar circumstances ladies too often do, that "she had forseen it +from the first, and that had he followed her advice, 'twould not have +happened." + +Henry, too, seemed callous and indifferent, and the father alone found +comfort in Jenny's words of love and encouragement. From the first she +had stood bravely by him refusing to leave the house until all was +over; and many a weary night, when the great city was hushed and +still, a light had gleamed from the apartment where, with her father, +she sat looking over his papers, and trying to ascertain as far as +possible, to what extent he was involved. It was she who first +suggested the giving up of every thing; and when Henry, less upright +than his noble sister, proposed the withholding of a part, she firmly +answered, "No, father don't do it. You have lost your property, but do +not lose your self-respect." + +Always cheerful, and sometimes even gay in his presence, she had +succeeded in imbuing him with a portion of her own hopeful spirit, and +he passed through the storm far better than he could otherwise have +done. Mrs. Campbell's visit to the house was prompted partly from +curiosity, and partly from a desire to take away Jenny, who was quite +a favorite with her. + +"Come, my dear," said she, pushing back the short, thick curls which +clustered around Jenny's forehead, "you must go home with me. This is +no place for you. Mary will go too," she continued; and then on an +"aside" to Mary, she added, "I want you to cheer up Ella; she sits +alone in her room, without speaking or noticing me in any way." + +At first Jenny hesitated, but when William whispered that she had +better go; and Mrs. Campbell, as the surest way of bringing her to a +decision, said, "Mr. Bender will oblige me by coming to tea," she +consented, and closely veiled, passed through the crowd below, who +instinctively drew back, and ceased speaking, for wherever she was +known, Jenny was beloved. Arrived at Mrs. Campbell's, they found Ella, +as her mother had said, sitting alone in her room, not weeping, but +gazing fixedly down the street, as if expecting some one who did not +come! + +In reply to Jenny's anxious inquiries as to what was the matter, Mary +frankly told all, and then Jenny, folding her arms around the young +girl, longed to tell her how unworthy was the object of such love. But +Henry was her brother, and she could not. Softly caressing Ella's +cheek, she whispered to her of brighter days which perhaps would come. +The fact that it was _his_ sister--Henry's sister--opened anew the +fountain of Ella's tears, and she wept for a long time; but it did her +good, and for the remainder of the afternoon she seemed more cheerful, +and inclined to converse. + +The next day was the auction, and it required the persuasion of both +Mrs. Campbell and Mary to keep Jenny from going, she knew not whither +herself, but any where, to be near and take one more look at the dear +old furniture as it passed into the hands of strangers. At last Mrs. +Campbell promised that black Ezra, who had accompanied her from +Chicopee, should go and report faithfully all the proceedings, and +then Jenny consented to remain at home, though all the day she seemed +restless and impatient, wondering how long before Uncle Ezra would +return, and then weeping as in fancy she saw article after article +disposed of to those who would know little how to prize it. + +About five o'clock Uncle Ezra came home, bringing a note from Ida, +saying that the carriage would soon be round for Mary and Jenny, both +of whom must surely come, as there was a pleasant surprise awaiting +them. While Mary was reading this, Jenny was eagerly questioning Uncle +Ezra with regard to the sale, which, he said, "went off uncommon +well," owing chiefly, he reckoned, "to a tall, and mighty good-lookin' +chap, who kept bidding up and up, till he got 'em about where they +should be. Then he'd stop for someone else to bid." + +"Who was he?" asked Mary, coming forward, and joining Jenny. + +"Dun know, Miss; never seen him afore," said Uncle Ezra, "but he's got +heaps of money, for when he paid for the pianner, he took out a roll +of bills near about big as my two fists!" + +"Then the piano is gone," said Jenny sadly, while Mary asked how much +it brought. + +"Three hundred dollars was the last bid I heard from that young +feller, and somebody who was biddin' agin him said, 'twas more'n 'twas +wuth." + +"It wasn't either," spoke up Jenny, rather spiritedly, "It cost five +hundred, and it's never been hurt a bit." + +"Mr. Bender bought that _little fiddle_ of your'n," continued Uncle +Ezra, with a peculiar wink, which brought the color to Jenny's cheeks; +while Mary exclaimed, "Oh, I'm so glad you can have your guitar +again." + +Here the conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the carriage, +which came for the young ladies, who were soon on their way to Mr. +Selden's, Mary wondering what the surprise was, and Jenny hoping +William would call in the evening. At the door they met Ida, who was +unusually merry,--almost too much so for the occasion, it seemed to +Mary, as she glanced at Jenny's pale, dispirited face. Aunt Martha, +too, who chanced to cross the hall, shook Mary's hand as warmly as if +she had not seen her for a year, and then with her broad, white +cap-strings flying back, she repaired to the kitchen to give orders +concerning the supper. + +Mary did not notice it then, but she afterwards remembered, that Ida +seemed quite anxious about her appearance, for following her to her +room, she said, "You look tired, Mary. Sit down and rest you awhile. +Here, take my vinaigrette,--that will revive you." Then as Mary was +arranging her hair, she said, "Just puff out this side a little +more;--there, that's right. Now turn round, I want to see how you +look." + +"Well, how do I?" asked Mary, facing about as Ida directed. + +"I guess you'll do," returned Ida. "I believe Henry Lincoln was right, +when he said that this blue merino, and linen collar, was the most +becoming dress you could wear: but you look well in every thing, you +have so fine a form." + +"Don't believe all her flattery," said Jenny, laughingly "She's only +comparing your tall, slender figure with little dumpy me; but I'm +growing thin,--see," and she lapped her dress two or three inches in +front. + +"Come, now let's go down," said Ida, "and I'll introduce you, to +Jenny's surprise, first." + +With Ida leading the way, they entered the music room, where in one +corner stood Rose's piano, open, and apparently inviting Jenny to its +side. With a joyful cry, she sprang forward, exclaiming, "Oh, how kind +in your father; I almost know we can redeem it some time. I'll teach +school,--any thing to get it again." + +"Don't thank father too much," answered Ida, "for he has nothing to do +with it, except giving it house room, and one quarter's teaching will +pay that bill!" + +"Who _did_ buy it, then?" asked Jenny; and Ida replied, "Can't tell +you just yet. I must have some music first. Come, Mary, you like to +play. Give me my favorite, 'Rosa Lee,' with variations." + +Mary was passionately fond of music, and, for the time she had taken +lessons, played uncommonly well. Seating herself at the piano, she +became oblivious to all else around her, and when a tall figure for a +moment darkened the doorway, while Jenny uttered a suppressed +exclamation of surprise, she paid no heed, nor did she become +conscious of a third person's presence until the group advanced +towards her, Ida and Jenny leaning upon the piano, and the other +standing at her right, a little in the rear. Thinking, if she thought +at all, that it was William Bender, Mary played on until the piece was +finished, and then, observing that her companions had left the room, +she turned and met the dark, handsome eyes,--not of William Bender, +but of one who, with a peculiar smile, offered her his hand, saying, +"I believe I need no introduction to Miss Howard, except a slight +change in the name, which instead of being _Stuart_ is Moreland!" + +Mary never knew what she said or did. She only remembered a dizzy +sensation in her head, a strong arm passed round her, and a voice +which fully aroused her as it called her "Mary," and asked if she were +faint. Just then Ida entered the room, announcing tea, and asking her +if she found "Mr. Stuart" much changed? At the tea-table Mary sat +opposite George, and every time she raised her eyes, she met his fixed +upon her, with an expression so like that of the picture in the golden +locket which she still wore, that she wondered she had not before +recognized George Moreland in the Mr. Stuart who had so puzzled and +mystified her. After supper she had an opportunity of seeing why +George was so much beloved at home. Possessing rare powers of +conversation, he seemed to know exactly what to say, and when to say +it, and with a kind word and pleasant smile for all, he generally +managed to make himself a favorite, notwithstanding his propensity to +tease, which would occasionally show itself in some way or other. +During the evening William Bender called, and soon after Henry Lincoln +also came in, frowning gloomily when he saw how near to each other +were William and his sister, while he jealously watched them, still +keeping an eye upon George and Mary, the latter of whom remembered her +young sister, and treated him with unusual coldness. At last, +complaining of feeling _blue_, he asked Ida to play, at the same time +sauntering towards the music room, where stood his sister's piano. +"Upon my word," said he, "this looks natural. Who bought it?" and he +drummed a few notes of a song. + +"Mr. Moreland bought it. Wasn't he kind?" said Jenny, who all the +evening had been trying for a chance to thank George, but now when she +attempted to do so he prevented her by saying, "Oh don't--don't--I can +imagine all you wish to say, and I hate to be thanked. Rose and I are +particular friends, and it afforded me a great deal of pleasure to +purchase it for her--but," he added, glancing at his watch, "I must be +excused now, as I promised to call upon my ward." + +"Who's that?" asked Jenny, and George replied that it was a Miss +Herndon, who had accompanied him from New Orleans to visit her aunt, +Mrs. Russell. + +"He says she's an heiress, and very beautiful," rejoined Ida, seating +herself at the piano. + +Instantly catching at the words "heiress" and "beautiful," Henry +started up, asking "if it would be against all the rules of propriety +for him to call upon her thus early." + +"I think it would," was George's brief answer, while Mary's eyes +flashed scornfully upon the young man, who, rather crestfallen, +announced himself ready to listen to Ida whom he secretly styled "an +old maid," because since his first remembrance she had treated him +with perfect indifference. + +That night before retiring the three girls sat down by the cheerful +fire in Mary's room to talk over the events of the day, when Mary +suddenly asked Ida to tell her truly, if it were not George who had +paid her bills at Mount Holyoke. + +"What bills?" said Jenny, to whom the idea was new while Ida replied, +"And suppose it was?" + +"I am sorry," answered Mary, laying her head upon the table. + +"What a silly girl," said Ida. "He was perfectly able, and more than +willing, so why do you care?" + +"I do not like being so much indebted to any one," was Mary's reply, +and yet in her secret heart there was a strange feeling of pleasure in +the idea that George had thus cared for her, for would he have done +so, if--. She dared not finish that question even to herself,--dared +not ask if she hoped that George Moreland loved her one half as well +as she began to think she had always loved him. Why should he, with +his handsome person and princely fortune, love one so unworthy, and so +much beneath him? And then, for the first time, she thought of her +changed position since last they met. Then she was a poor, obscure +schoolmistress,--now, flattered, caressed, and an heiress. Years +before, when a little pauper at Chicopee, she had felt unwilling that +George should know how destitute she was, and now in the time of her +prosperity she was equally desirous that he should, for a time at +least, remain ignorant of her present condition. + +"Ida," said she, lifting her head from the table "does George know +that I am Mrs. Campbell's niece?" + +"No," answered Ida, "I wanted to tell him, but Aunt Martha said I'd +better not." + +"Don't then," returned Mary, and resuming her former position she fell +into a deep reverie, from which she was at last aroused, by Jenny's +asking "if she intended to sit up all night?" + +The news that George Moreland had returned, and bought Rose Lincoln's +piano, besides several other articles, spread rapidly, and the day +following his arrival Mary and Ida were stopped in the street by a +group of their companions, who were eager to know how George bore the +news that his betrothed was so ill, and if it was not that which had +brought him home so soon, and then the conversation turned upon Miss +Herndon, the New Orleans lady who had that morning appeared in the +street; "And don't you think," said one of the girls, "that Henry +Lincoln was dancing attendance upon her? If I were you," turning to +Mary, "I'd caution my sister to be a little wary of him. But let me +see, their marriage is to take place soon?" + +Mary replied that the marriage was postponed indefinitely, whereupon +the girls exchanged meaning glances and passed on. In less than +twenty-four hours, half of Ella's acquaintances were talking of her +discarding Henry on account of his father's failure, and saying "that +they expected it, 'twas like her." + +Erelong the report, in the shape of a condolence, reached Henry, who +caring but little what reason was assigned for the broken engagement, +so that he got well out of it assumed a much injured air, but said "he +reckoned he should manage to survive;" then pulling his sharp-pointed +collar up another story, and brushing his pet mustache, wherein lay +most of his mind, he walked up street, and ringing at Mrs. Russell's +door, asked for Miss Herndon, who vain as beautiful, suffered his +attentions, not because she liked him in the least, but because she +was fond of flattery, and there was something exceedingly gratifying +in the fact that at the North, where she fancied the gentlemen to be +icicles, she had so soon made a conquest. It mattered not that Mrs. +Russell told her his vows were plighted to another. She cared nothing +for that. Her life had been one long series of conquests, until now at +twenty-five there was not in the whole world a more finished or +heartless coquette than Evren Herndon. + +Days passed on, and at last rumors reached Ella, that Henry was +constant in his attendance upon the proud southern beauty, whose +fortune was valued by hundreds of thousands. At first she refused to +believe it, but when Mary and Jenny both assured her it was true, and +when she her self had ocular demonstration of the fact, she gave way +to one long fit of weeping; and then, drying her eyes, declared that +Henry Lincoln should see "that she would not die for him." + +Still a minute observer could easily have seen that her gayety was +feigned, for she had loved Henry Lincoln as sincerely as she was +capable of loving, and not even George Moreland, who treated her with +his old boyish familiarity could make her for a moment forget one who +now passed her coldly by, or listened passively while the sarcastic +Evren Herndon likened her to a waxen image, fit only for a glass case! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +A QUESTION + + +Towards the last of April, Mrs. Mason and Mary returned to their old +home in the country. On Ella's account, Mrs. Campbell had decided to +remain in the city during a part of the summer, and she labored hard +to keep Mary also, offering as a last inducement to give Mrs. Mason a +home too. But Mrs. Mason preferred her own house in Chicopee, and +thither Mary accompanied her, promising, however, to spend the next +winter with her aunt, who wept at parting with her more than she would +probably have done had it been Ella. + +Mary had partially engaged to teach the school in Rice Corner, but +George, assuming a kind of authority over her, declared she should +not. + +"I don't want your eyes to grow dim and your cheeks pale, in that +little pent-up room," said he. "You know I've been there and seen for +myself." + +Mary colored, for George's manner of late had puzzled her, and Jenny +had more than once whispered in her ear "I know George loves you, for +he looks at you just as William does at me, only a little more so!" + +Ida, too, had once mischievously addressed her as "Cousin," adding +that there was no one among her acquaintances whom she would as +willingly call by that name. "When I was a little girl," said she, +"they used to tease me about George, but I'd as soon think of marrying +my brother. You never saw Mr. Elwood, George's classmate, for he's in +Europe now. Between you and me, I like him and--" + +A loud call from Aunt Martha prevented Ida from finishing, and the +conversation was not again resumed. The next morning Mary was to +leave, and as she stood in the parlor talking with Ida, George came in +with a travelling satchel in his hand, and a shawl thrown carelessly +over his arm. + +"Where are you going?" asked Ida. + +"To Springfield. I have business there," said George. + +"And when will you return?" continued Ida, feeling that it would be +doubly lonely at home. + +"That depends on circumstances," said he. "I shall stop at Chicopee on +my way back, provided Mary is willing." + +Mary answered that she was always glad to see her friends, and as the +carriage just then drove up, they started together for the depot. Mary +never remembered of having had a more pleasant ride than that from +Boston to Chicopee. George was a most agreeable companion, and with him +at her side she seemed to discover new beauties in every object which +they passed, and felt rather sorry when the winding river, and the +blue waters of Pordunk Pond warned her that Chicopee Station was near +at hand. + +"I shall see you next week," said George, as he handed her from the +cars, which the next moment rolled over the long meadow, and +disappeared through the deep cut in the sandy hillside. + +For a week or more Judith had been at Mrs. Mason's house, putting +things to rights, and when the travellers arrived they found every +thing in order. A cheerful fire was blazing in the little parlor, and +before it stood the tea-table nicely arranged, while two beautiful +Malta kittens, which during the winter had been Judith's special +care, lay upon the hearth-rug asleep, with their soft velvet paws +locked lovingly around each other's neck. + +"Oh, how pleasant to be at home once more, and alone," said Mrs. +Mason, but Mary did not reply. Her thoughts were elsewhere, and much +as she liked being alone, the presence of a certain individual would +not probably have marred her happiness to any great extent. But _he_ +was coming soon, and with that in anticipation, she appeared cheerful +and gay as usual. + +Among the first to call upon them was Mrs. Perkins who came early in +the morning, bringing her knitting work and staying all day. She had +taken to dressmaking, she said, and thought may-be she could get some +new ideas from Mary's dresses, which she very coolly asked to see. +With the utmost good humor, Mary opened her entire wardrobe to the +inspection of the widow, who, having recently forsaken the Unitarian +faith, and gone over to the new Methodist church in River street, +turned conscientiously away from the gay party dresses, wondering how +sensible people, to say nothing of Christian people, could find +pleasure in such vanities! + +"But then," said she, "I hear you've joined the Episcopals, and that +accounts for it, for they allow of most any thing, and in my opinion +ain't a whit better than the Catholics." + +"Why, we are Catholic. Ain't you?" asked Mary. + +The knitting work dropped, and with a short ejaculatory prayer of +"Good Lord," Mrs. Perkins exclaimed, "Well, I'm glad you've owned up. +Half on 'em deny it,--but there 'tis in black and white in the Prayer +Book, 'I believe in the Holy Catholic Church.'" + +It was in vain that Mary referred her to the Dictionary for a +definition of the word 'Catholic.' She knew all she wanted to know, +and she shouldn't wonder, bein' 'twas Friday, if Miss Mason didn't +have no meat for dinner. + +The appearance of a nicely roasted bit of veal quieted her fears on +that subject, and as the effects of the strong green tea became +apparent, she said, "like enough she'd been too hard on the +Episcopals, for to tell the truth, she never felt so solemn in her +life as she did the time she went to one of their meetins'; but," she +added, "I do object to them two gowns, and I can't help it!" + +At last the day was over, and with it the visit of the widow, who had +gathered enough gossiping materials to last her until the Monday +following, when the arrival in the neighborhood of George Moreland, +threw her upon a fresh theme, causing her to wonder "if 'twan't Mary's +beau, and if he hadn't been kinder courtin' her ever since the time he +visited her school." + +She felt sure of it when, towards evening, she saw them enter the +school-house, and nothing but the presence of a visitor prevented her +from stealing across the road, and listening under the window. She +would undoubtedly have been highly edified, could she have heard their +conversation. The interest which George had felt in Mary when a little +child, was greatly increased when he visited her school in Rice +Corner, and saw how much she was improved in her manners and +appearance; and it was then that he conceived the idea of educating +her, determining to marry her if she proved to be all he hoped she +would. + +That she did meet his expectations, was evident from the fact that his +object in stopping at Chicopee, was to settle a question which she +alone could decide. He had asked her to accompany him to the +school-house, because it was there his resolution had been formed, and +it was there he would make it known. Mary, too, had something which +she wished to say to him. She would thank him for his kindness to her +and her parents' memory; but the moment she commenced talking upon the +subject, George stopped her, and for the first time since they were +children, placed his arm around her waist, and kissing her smooth +white brow, said, "Shall I tell you, Mary, how you can repay it?" + +She did not reply, and he continued, "Give me a husband's right to +care for you, and I shall be repaid a thousand fold." + +Whatever Mary's answer might have been, and indeed we are not sure +that she answered at all, George was satisfied; and when he told her +how dear she was to him, how long he had loved her, and asked if he +might not hope that he, too, had been remembered, the little golden +locket which she placed in his hand was a sufficient reply. Without +Ida's aid he had heard of the relationship existing between Mrs. +Campbell and Mary, but it made no difference with him. His mind had +long been made up, and in taking Mary for his wife, he felt that he +was receiving the best of Heaven's blessings. + +Until the shadows of evening fell around them they sat there, talking +of the future, which George said should be all one bright dream of +happiness to the young girl at his side, who from the very fulness of +her joy wept as she thought how strange it was that she should be the +wife of George Moreland, whom many a dashing belle had tried in vain +to win. The next morning George went back to Boston, promising to +return in a week or two, when he should expect Mary to accompany him +to Glenwood, as he wished to see Rose once more before she died. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +GOING HOME. + + +The windows of Rose Lincoln's chamber were open, and the balmy air of +May came in, kissing the white brow of the sick girl, and whispering +to her of swelling buds and fair young blossoms, which its breath had +wakened into life, and which she would never see. + +"Has Henry come?" she asked of her father, and in the tones of her +voice there was an unusual gentleness, for just as she was dying Rose +was learning to live. + +For a time she had seemed so indifferent and obstinate, that Mrs. +Howland had almost despaired. But night after night, when her daughter +thought she slept, she prayed for the young girl, that she might not +die until she had first learned the way of eternal life. And, as if in +answer to her prayers, Rose gradually began to listen, and as she +listened, she wept, wondering though why her grandmother thought her +so much more wicked than any one else. Again, in a sudden burst of +passion, she would send her from the room, saying, "she had heard +preaching enough, for she wasn't going to die,--she wouldn't die any +way." + +But at last such feelings passed away, and as the sun of her short +life was setting, the sun of righteousness shone more and more +brightly over her pathway, lighting her through the dark valley of +death. She no longer asked to be taken home, for she knew that could +not be, but she wondered why her brother stayed so long from Glenwood, +when he knew that she was dying. + +On her return from the city, Jenny had told her as gently as possible +of his conduct towards Ella, and of her fears that he was becoming +more dissipated than ever. For a time Rose lay perfectly still, and +Jenny, thinking she was asleep, was about to leave the room, when her +sister called her back, and bidding her sit down by her side, said, +"Tell me, Jenny, do you think Henry has any love for me?" + +"He would be an unnatural brother if he had not," answered Jenny, her +own heart yearning more tenderly towards her sister, whose gentle +manner she could not understand. + +"Then," resumed Rose, "if he loves me, he will be sorry when I am +dead, and perhaps it may save him from ruin." + +The tears dropped slowly from her long eyelashes, while Jenny, laying +her round rosy cheek against the thin pale face near her, sobbed out, +"You must not die,--dear Rose. You must not die, and leave us." + +From that time the failure was visible and rapid, and though letters +went frequently to Henry, telling him of his sister's danger, he still +lingered by the side of the brilliant beauty, while each morning Rose +asked, "Will he come to-day?" and each night she wept that he was not +there. + +Calmly and without a murmur she had heard the story of their ruin from +her father, who could not let her die without undeceiving her. Before +that time she had asked to be taken back to Mount Auburn, designating +the spot where she would be buried, but now she insisted upon being +laid by the running brook at the foot of her grandmother's garden, and +near a green mossy bank where the spring blossoms were earliest found, +and where the flowers of autumn lingered longest. The music of the +falling water, she said would soothe her as she slept, and its cool +moisture keep the grass green and fresh upon her early grave. + +One day, when Mrs. Lincoln was sitting by her daughter and, as she +frequently did, uttering invectives against Mount Holyoke, &c., Rose +said, "Don't talk so, mother. Mount Holyoke Seminary had nothing to do +with hastening my death. I have done it myself by my own +carelessness;" and then she confessed how many times she had deceived +her mother, and thoughtlessly exposed her health, even when her lungs +and side were throbbing with pain. "I know you will forgive me," said +she, "for most severely have I been punished." + +Then, as she heard Jenny's voice in the room below, she added, "There +is one other thing which I would say to you. Ere I die, you must +promise that Jenny shall marry William Bender. He is poor, I know, and +so are we, but he has a noble heart, and now for my sake, mother, take +back the bitter words you once spoke to Jenny, and say that she may +wed him. She will soon be your only daughter, and why should you +destroy her happiness? Promise me, mother, promise that she shall +marry him." + +Mrs. Lincoln, though poor, was proud and haughty still, and the +struggle in her bosom was long and severe, but love for her dying +child conquered at last, and to the oft-repeated question, "Promise +me, mother, will you not?" she answered, "Yes, Rose, yes, for your +sake I give my consent though nothing else could ever have wrung it +from me." + +"And, mother," continued Rose, "may he not be sent for now? I cannot +be here long, and once more I would see him, and tell him that I +gladly claim him as a brother." + +A brother! How heavily those words smote upon the heart of the sick +girl. Henry was yet away, and though in Jenny's letter Rose herself +had once feebly traced the words, "Come, brother,--do come," he still +lingered, as if bound by a spell he could not break. And so days went +by and night succeeded night, until the bright May morning dawned, the +last Rose could ever see. Slowly up the eastern horizon came the warm +spring sun, and as its red beams danced for a time upon the wall of +Rose's chamber, she gazed wistfully upon it, murmuring, "It is the +last,--the last that will ever rise for me." + +William Bender was there. He had come the night before, bringing word +that Henry would follow the next day. There was a gay party to which +he had promised to attend Miss Herndon, and he deemed that a +sufficient reason why he should neglect his dying sister, who every +few minutes asked eagerly if he had come. Strong was the agony at work +in the father's heart, and still he nerved himself to support his +daughter while he watched the shadows of death as one by one they +crept over her face. The mother, wholly overcome, declared she could +not remain in the room, and on the lounge below she kept two of the +neighbors constantly moving in quest of the restoratives which she +fancied she needed. Poor Jenny, weary and pale with watching and +tears, leaned heavily against William; and Rose, as often as her eyes +unclosed and rested upon her, would whisper, "Jenny,--dear Jenny, I +wish I had loved you more." + +Grandma Howland had laid many a dear one in the grave, and as she saw +another leaving her, she thought, "how grew her store in Heaven," and +still her heart was quivering with anguish, for Rose had grown +strongly into her affection. But for the sake of the other stricken +ones she hushed her own grief, knowing it would not be long ere she +met her child again. And truly it seemed more meet that she with her +gray hair and dim eyes should die even then, than that Rose, with the +dew of youth still glistening upon her brow, should thus early be laid +low. + +"If Henry does not come," said Rose, "tell him it was my last request +that he turn away from the wine-cup, and say, that the bitterest pang +I felt in dying, was a fear that my only brother should fill a +drunkard's grave. He cannot look upon me dead, and feel angry that I +wished him to reform. And as he stands over my coffin, tell him to +promise never again to touch the deadly poison." + +Here she became too much exhausted to say more, and soon after fell +into a quiet sleep. When she awoke, her father was sitting across the +room, with his head resting upon the window sill, while her own was +pillowed upon the strong arm of George Moreland, who bent tenderly +over her, and soothed her as he would a child. Quickly her fading +cheek glowed, and her eye sparkled with something of its olden light; +but "George,--George," was all she had strength to say, and when Mary, +who had accompanied him, approached her, she only knew that she was +recognized by the pressure of the little blue-veined hand, which soon +dropped heavily upon the counterpane, while the eyelids closed +languidly, and with the words, "He will not come," she again slept, +but this time 'twas the long, deep sleep, from which she would never +awaken. + + * * * * * + +Slowly the shades of night fell around the cottage where death had so +lately left its impress. Softly the kind-hearted neighbors passed up +and down the narrow staircase, ministering first to the dead, and then +turning aside to weep as they looked upon the bowed man, who with his +head upon the window sill, still sat just as he did when they told him +she was dead. At his feet on a little stool was Jenny, pressing his +hands, and covering them with the tears she for his sake tried in vain +to repress. + +At last, when it was dark without, and lights were burning upon the +table, there was the sound of some one at the gate, and in a moment +Henry stepped across the threshold, but started and turned pale when +he saw his mother in violent hysterics upon the lounge, and Mary +Howard bathing her head and trying to soothe her. Before he had time +to ask a question, Jenny's arms were wound around his neck, and she +whispered, "Rose is dead.--Why were you so late?" + +He could not answer. He had nothing to say, and mechanically following +his sister he entered the room where Rose had died. Very beautiful had +she been in life; and now, far more beautiful in death, she looked +like a piece of sculptured marble; as she lay there so cold, and +still, and all unconscious of the scalding tears which fell upon her +face, as Henry bent over her, kissing her lips, and calling upon her +to awake and speak to him once more. + +When she thought he could bear it, Jenny told him of all Rose had +said, and by the side of her coffin, with his hand resting upon her +white forehead, the conscience-stricken young man swore, that never +again should ardent spirits of any kind pass his lips, and the father +who stood by and heard that vow, felt that if it were kept, his +daughter had not died in vain. + +The day following the burial. George and Mary returned to Chicopee, +and as the next day was the one appointed for the sale of Mr. +Lincoln's farm and country house, he also accompanied them. + +"Suppose you buy it," said he to George as they rode over the +premises. "I'd rather you'd own it than to see it in the hands of +strangers." + +"I intended doing so," answered George, and when at night he was the +owner of the farm, house and furniture, he generously offered it to +Mr. Lincoln rent free, with the privilege of redeeming it whenever he +could. + +This was so unexpected, that Mr. Lincoln at first could hardly find +words to express his thanks, but when he did he accepted the offer, +saying, however, that he could pay the rent, and adding that he hoped +two or three years of hard labor in California, whither he intended +going, would enable him to purchase it back. On his return to +Glenwood, he asked William, who was still there, "how he would like to +turn farmer for a while." + +Jenny looked up in surprise, while William asked what he meant. + +Briefly then Mr. Lincoln told of George's generosity, and stating his +own intentions of going to California, said that in his absence +somebody must look after the farm, and he knew of no one whom he would +as soon trust as William. + +"Oh, that'll be nice," said Jenny, whose love for the country was as +strong as ever. "And then, Willie, when pa comes back we'll go to +Boston again and practise law, you and I!" + +William pressed the little fat hand which had slid into his, and +replied, that much as he would like to oblige Mr. Lincoln, he could +not willingly abandon his profession, in which he was succeeding even +beyond his most sanguine hopes. "But," said he, "I think I can find a +good substitute in Mr. Parker, who is anxious to leave the poor-house. +He is an honest, thorough-going man, and his wife, who is an excellent +housekeeper, will relieve Mrs. Lincoln entirely from care." + +"Mercy!" exclaimed the last-mentioned lady, "I can never endure that +vulgar creature round me. First, I'd know she'd want to be eating at +the same table, and I couldn't survive that!" + +Mr. Lincoln looked sad. Jenny smiled, and William replied, that he +presumed Mrs. Parker herself would greatly prefer taking her meals +quietly with her husband in the kitchen. + +"We can at least try it," said Mr. Lincoln, in a manner so decided +that his wife ventured no farther remonstrance, though she cried and +fretted all the time, seemingly lamenting their fallen fortune, more +than the vacancy which death had so recently made in their midst. + +Mr. Parker, who was weary of the poor-house, gladly consented to take +charge of Mr. Lincoln's farm, and in the course of a week or two Jenny +and her mother went out to their old home, where every thing seemed +just as they had left it the autumn before. The furniture was +untouched, and in the front parlor stood Rose's piano and Jenny's +guitar, which had been forwarded from Boston. Mr. Lincoln urged his +mother-in-law to accompany them, but she shook her head, saying, "the +old bees never left their hives," and she preferred remaining in +Glenwood. + +Contrary to Mrs. Lincoln's fears, Sally Ann made no advances whatever +towards an intimate acquaintance, and frequently days and even weeks +would elapse without her ever seeing her mistress, who spent nearly +all her time in her chamber, musing upon her past greatness, and +scolding Jenny, because she was not more exclusive. While the family +were making arrangements to move from Glenwood to Chicopee. Henry for +the first time in his life began to see of how little use he was to +himself or any one else. Nothing was expected of him, consequently +nothing was asked of him, and as his father made plans for the future, +he began to wonder how he himself was henceforth to exist. His father +would be in California, and he had too much pride to lounge around the +old homestead, which had come to them through George Moreland's +generosity. + +Suddenly it occurred to him that he too would go with his father,--he +would help him repair their fortune,--he would not be in the way of so +much temptation as at home,--he would be a man, and when he returned +home, hope painted a joyful meeting with his mother and Jenny, who +should be proud to acknowledge him as a son and brother. Mr. Lincoln +warmly seconded his resolution, which possibly would have never been +carried out, had not Henry heard of Miss Herndon's engagement with a +rich old bachelor whom he had often heard her ridicule. Cursing the +fickleness of the fair lady, and half wishing that he had not broken +with Ella, whose fortune, though not what he had expected, was +considerable, he bade adieu to his native sky, and two weeks after the +family removed to Chicopee, he sailed with his father for the land of +gold. + +But alas! The tempter was there before him, and in an unguarded moment +he fell. The newly-made grave, the narrow coffin, the pale, dead +sister, and the solemn vow were all forgotten, and a debauch of three +weeks was followed by a violent fever, which in a few days cut short +his mortal career. He died alone, with none but his father to witness +his wild ravings, in which he talked of his distant home, of Jenny and +Rose, Mary Howard, and Ella, the last of whom he seemed now to love +with a madness amounting almost to frenzy. Tearing out handfuls of his +rich brown hair, he thrust it into his father's hand, bidding him to +carry it to Ella, and tell her that the heart she had so earnestly +coveted was hers in death. And the father, far more wretched now than +when his first-born daughter died, promised every thing, and when his +only son was dead, he laid him down to sleep beneath the blue sky of +California, where not one of the many bitter tears shed for him in his +far off home could fall upon his lonely grave. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +CONCLUSION. + + +Great was the excitement in Rice Corner when it was known that on the +evening of the tenth of September a grand wedding would take place, at +the house of Mrs. Mason. Mary was to be married to the "richest man in +Boston," so the story ran, and what was better yet, many of the +neighbors were to be invited. Almost every day, whether pleasant or +not, Jenny Lincoln came over to discuss the matter, and to ask if it +were not time to send for William, who was to be one of the groomsmen, +while she, together with Ida, were to officiate as bridesmaids. In +this last capacity Ella had been requested to act, but the tears came +quickly to her large mournful eyes, and turning away she wondered how +Mary could thus mock her grief! + +From one fashionable watering place to another Mrs. Campbell had taken +her, and finding that nothing there had power to rouse her drooping +energies, she had, towards the close of the summer, brought her back +to Chicopee, hoping that old scenes and familiar faces would effect +what novelty and excitement had failed to do. All unworthy as Henry +Lincoln had been, his sad death had cast a dark shadow across Ella's +pathway. Hour after hour would she sit, gazing upon the locks of +shining hair, which over land and sea had come to her in a letter from +the father, who told her of the closing scene, when Henry called for +her, to cool the heat of his fevered brow. Every word and look of +tenderness was treasured up, and the belief fondly cherished that he +had always loved her thus, else why in the last fearful struggle was +she alone remembered of all the dear ones in his distant home? + +Not even the excitement of her sister's approaching marriage could +awaken in her the least interest, and if it were mentioned in her +presence she would weep, wondering what she had done that Mary should +be so much happier than herself, and Mrs. Campbell remembering the +past, could but answer in her heart that it was just. Sometimes Ella +accused her sister of neglect, saying she had no thought for any one, +except George Moreland, and his elegant house in Boston. It was in +vain that Mary strove to convince her of her mistake. She only shook +her head, hoping her sister would never know what it was to be +wretched and desolate as she was. Mary could have told her of many +weary days and sleepless nights, when there shone no star of hope in +her dark sky, and when even her only sister turned from her in scorn; +but she would not, and wiping away the tears which Ella's unkindness +had called forth, she went back to her home, where busy preparations +were making for her bridal. + +Never before had Mrs. Perkins, or the neighborhood generally, had so +much upon their hands at one time. Two dressmakers were sewing for +Mary. A colored cook, with a flaming red turban, came up from +Worcester to superintend the culinary department, and a week before +the wedding Aunt Martha also arrived, bringing with her a quantity of +cut glass of all sizes and dimensions, the uses of which could not +even be guessed, though the widow declared upon her honor, a virtue by +which she always swore, that two of them were called "cellar dishes," +adding that the "Lord only knew what that was!" + +With all her quizzing, prying, and peeking, Mrs. Perkins was unable to +learn any thing definite with regard to the wedding dress, and as a +last resort, she appealed to Jenny, "who of course ought to know, +seein' she was goin' to stand up with 'em." + +"O, yes, I know," said Jenny, mischievously, and pulling from her +pocket a bit of brown and white plaid silk,--Mary's travelling +dress,--she passed it to the widow, who straightway wondered at Mary's +taste in selecting "that gingham-looking thing!" + +Occasionally the widow felt some doubt as she heard rumors of pink +brocades, India muslins, heavy silks, and embroidered merino +morning-gowns; "but law," thought she "them are for the city. Anything +'ll do for the country, though I should s'pose she'd want to look +decent before all the Boston top-knots that are comin'." + +Three days before the wedding, the widow's heart was made glad with a +card of invitation, though she wondered why Mrs. Mason should say she +would be "at home." "Of course she'd be to hum,--where else should she +be!" + +It was amusing to see the airs which Mrs. Perkins took upon herself, +when conversing with some of her neighbors, who were not fortunate +enough to be invited. "They couldn't ask every body, and 'twas natural +for them to select from the best families." + +Her pride, however, received a fall when she learned that Sally +Furbush had not only been invited, and presented with a black silk +dress for the occasion, but that George Moreland, who arrived the day +preceding the wedding, had gone for her himself, treating her with all +the deference that he would the most distinguished lady. And truly for +once Sally acquitted herself with a great deal of credit, and +remembering Miss Grundy's parting advice, to "keep her tongue between +her teeth," she so far restrained her loquacity, that a stranger would +never have thought of her being crazy. + +The bridal day was bright, beautiful, and balmy, as the first days of +September often are, and when the sun went down, the full silvery moon +came softly up, as if to shower her blessings upon the nuptials about +to be celebrated. Many and brilliant lights were flashing from the +windows of Mrs. Mason's cottage, which seemed to enlarge its +dimensions as one after another the guests came in. First and foremost +was the widow with her rustling silk of silver gray, and the red +ribbons which she had sported at Sally Ann's wedding. After a series +of manoeuvres she had succeeded in gaining a view of the supper table, +and now in a corner of the room she was detailing the particulars to +an attentive group of listeners. + +"The queerest things I ever see," said she, "and the queerest names, +too. Why, at one end of the table is a _muslin de laine puddin'_--" + +"A what?" asked three or four ladies in the same breath, and the widow +replied,--"May-be I didn't get the name right,--let me see:--No, come +to think, it's a _Charlotte_ somebody puddin' instead of a muslin de +laine. And then at t'other end of the table is what I should call a +dish of _hash_, but Judith says it's 'chicken Sally,' and it took the +white meat of six or seven chickens to make it. Now what in the world +they'll ever do with all them legs and backs and things, is more'n I +can tell, but, land sake there come some of the _puckers_. Is my cap +on straight?" she continued, as Mrs. Campbell entered the room, +together with Ella, and a number of Boston ladies. + +Being assured that her cap was all right, she resumed the +conversation by directing the attention of those nearest her to Ella, +and saying in a whisper, "If she hain't faded in a year, then I don't +know; but, poor thing, she's been disappointed, so it's no wonder!" +and thinking of her own experience with Mr. Parker, the widow's heart +warmed toward the young girl, who, pale and languid, dropped into the +nearest seat, while her eyes moved listlessly about the room. The +rich, showy dresses of the city people also, came in for observation, +and while the widow marvelled at their taste in wearing "collars as +big as capes," she guessed that Mary'd feel flat in her checkered +silk, when she came to see every body so dressed up. + +And now guest after guest flitted down the narrow staircase and +entered the parlor, which with the bedroom adjoining was soon filled. +Erelong Mr. Selden, who seemed to be master of ceremonies appeared, +and whispered something to those nearest the door. Immediately the +crowd fell back, leaving a vacant space in front of the mirror. The +busy hum of voices died away, and only a few suppressed whispers of, +"There!--Look!--See!--Oh, my!" were heard, as the bridal party took +their places. + +The widow, being in the rear, and rather short, slipped off her shoes, +and mounted into a chair, for a better view, and when Mary appeared, +she was very nearly guilty of an exclamation of surprise, for in place +of the "checkered silk" was an elegant _moire antique_, and an +expensive bertha of point lace, while the costly bridal veil, which +swept the floor, and fell in soft folds on either side of her head, +was confined to the heavy braids of her hair by diamond fastenings. A +diamond necklace encircled her slender throat, and bracelets of the +same shone upon her round white arms. The whole was the gift of George +Moreland, who had claimed the privilege of selecting and presenting +the bridal dress, and who felt a pardonable pride when he saw how well +it became Mary's graceful and rather queenly form. + +At her left stood her bridesmaids, Ida and Jenny, while at George's +right, were Mr. Elwood and William Bender the latter of whom looked on +calmly while the solemn words were spoken which gave the idol of his +boyhood to another and if he felt a momentary pang when he saw how +fondly the newly made husband bent over his young bride, it passed +away as his eye fell upon Jenny, who was now dearer to him, if +possible, than Mary had ever been. + +Among the first to congratulate "Mrs. Moreland," was Sally Furbush, +followed by Mrs. Perkins, who whispered to George that "she kinder had +a notion how 'twoud end when she first saw him in the school-house; +but I'm glad you've got him," turning to Mary, "for it must be easier +livin' in the city than keepin' school. You'll have a hired girl, I +s'pose?" + +When supper was announced, the widow made herself very useful in +waiting upon the table, and asking some of the Boston ladies "if +they'd be helped to any thing in them dishes," pointing to the _finger +glasses_, which now for the first time appeared in Rice Corner! The +half suppressed mirth of the ladies convinced the widow that she'd +made a blunder, and perfectly disgusted with "new-fangled fashions" +she retreated into the kitchen, were she found things more to her +taste, and "thanked her stars, she could, if she liked, eat with her +fingers, and wipe them on her pocket handkerchief!" + +Soon after her engagement, Mary had asked that Sally should go with +her to her city home. To this George willingly consented, and it was +decided that she should remain with Mrs. Mason until the bridal party +returned from the western tour they were intending to take. Sally +knew nothing of this arrangement until the morning following the +wedding, when she was told that she was not to return to the +poor-house again. + +"And verily, I have this day met with a great deliverance," said she, +and tears, the first shed in many a year mingled with the old +creature's thanks for this unexpected happiness. As Mary was leaving, +she whispered in her ear "If your travels lead you near Willie's +grave, drop a tear on it for my sake. You'll find it under the buckeye +tree, where the tall grass and wild flowers grow." + +George had relatives in Chicago, and after spending a short time in +that city, Mary, remembering Sally's request, expressed a desire to +visit the spot renowned as the burial place of "Willie and Willie's +father." Ever ready to gratify her slightest wish, George consented, +and towards the close of a mild autumnal day, they stopped at a small +public house on the border of a vast prairie. The arrival of so +distinguished looking people caused quite a commotion, and after duly +inspecting Mary's handsome travelling dress, and calculating its +probable cost, the hostess departed to prepare the evening meal, which +was soon forthcoming. + +When supper was over, and the family had gathered into the pleasant +sitting room, George asked if there was ever a man in those parts by +the name of "Furbush." + +"What! Bill Furbush?" asked the landlord. + +George did not know, but thought likely that might have seen his name, +as his son was called William. + +"Lud, yes," returned the landlord. "I knowed Bill Furbush well,--he +came here about the same time I did, he from Massachusetts, and I from +Varmount; but, poor feller, he was too weakly to bear much, and the +first fever he took finished him up. His old woman was as clever a +creature as ever was, but she had some high notions." + +"Did she die too?" asked George. + +Filling his mouth with an enormous quid of tobacco, the landlord +continued, "No, but it's a pity she didn't, for when Bill and the boy +died, she went ravin' mad, and I never felt so like cryin' as I did +when I see her a tearin' her hair an goin' on so. We kept her a spell, +and then her old man's brother's girl came for her and took her off; +and the last I heard, the girl was dead, and she was in the poor-house +somewhere east. She was born there, I b'lieve." + +"No she warn't, either," said the landlady, who for some minutes had +been aching to speak. "No she warn't, either. I know all about it. She +was born in England, and got to be quite a girl before she came over. +Her name was Sarah Fletcher, and Peter Fletcher, who died with the +cholera, was her own uncle, and all the connection she had in this +country;--but goodness suz, what ails you?" she added, as Mary turned +deathly white, while George passed his arm around her to keep her from +falling. "Here, Sophrony, fetch the camphire; she's goin' to faint." + +But Mary did not faint, and after smelling the camphor, she said, "Go +on, madam, and tell me more of Sarah Fletcher." + +"She can do it," whispered the landlord with a sly wink. "She knows +every body's history from Dan to Beersheby." + +This intimation was wholly lost on the good-humored hostess, who +continued, "Mr. Fletcher died when Sarah was small, and her mother +married a Mr. ----, I don't justly remember his name" + +"Temple?" suggested Mary. + +"Yes, Temple, that's it. He was rich and cross, and broke her heart by +the time she had her second baby. Sarah was adopted by her Grandmother +Fletcher who died, and she came with her uncle to America." + +"Did she ever speak of her sisters?" asked Mary, and the woman +replied, "Before she got crazy, she did. One of 'em, she said, was in +this country somewhere, and t'other the one she remembered the best, +and talked the most about, lived in England. She said she wanted to +write to 'em, but her uncle, he hated the Temples, so he wouldn't let +her, and as time went on she kinder forgot 'em, and didn't know where +to direct, and after she took crazy she never would speak of her +sisters, or own that she had any." + +"Is Mr. Furbush buried near here?" asked George; and the landlord +answered, "Little better than a stone's throw. I can see the very tree +from here, and may-be your younger eyes can make out the graves. He +ought to have a grave stun, for he was a good feller." + +The new moon was shining, and Mary, who came to her husband's side, +could plainly discern the buckeye tree and the two graves where +"Willie and Willie's father" had long been sleeping. The next morning +before the sun was up, Mary stood by the mounds where often in years +gone by Sally Furbush had seen the moon go down, and the stars grow +pale in the coming day, as she kept her tireless watch over her loved +and lost. + +"Willie was my cousin--your cousin," said Mary, resting her foot upon +the bit of board which stood at the head of the little graves. George +understood her wishes, and when they left the place, a handsome marble +slab marked the spot where the father and his infant son were buried. + + * * * * * + +Bewildered, and unable to comprehend a word, Sally listened while Mary +told her of the relationship between them; but the mists which for +years had shrouded her reason were too dense to be suddenly cleared +away; and when Mary wept, winding her arms around her neck and calling +her "Aunt;" and when the elegant Mrs. Campbell, scarcely less +bewildered than Sally herself, came forward addressing her as +"sister," she turned aside to Mrs. Mason, asking in a whisper "what +had made them crazy." + +But when Mary spoke of little Willie's grave, and the tree which +overshadowed it, of the green prairie and cottage by the brook, once +her western home, Sally listened, and at last one day, a week or two +after her arrival in Boston, she suddenly clasped her hands closely +over her temples, exclaiming, "It's come! It's come! I remember +now,--the large garden,--the cross old man,--the dead mother,--the +rosy-cheeked Ella I loved so well--" + +"That was my mother,--my mother," interrupted Mary. + +For a moment Sally regarded her intently, and then catching her in her +arms, cried over her, calling her, "her precious child," and wondering +she had never noticed how much she was like Ella. + +"And don't you remember the baby Jane?" asked Mrs Campbell, who was +present. + +"Perfectly,--perfectly," answered Sally. "He died, and you came in a +carriage; but didn't cry,--nobody cried but Mary." + +It was in vain that Mary tried to explain to her that Mrs. Campbell +was her sister,--once the baby Jane. Sally was not to be convinced. To +her Jane and the little Alice were the same. There was none of her +blood in Mrs. Campbell's veins, "or why," said she, "did she leave us +so long in obscurity, me and my niece, _Mrs. George Moreland, Esq.!_" + +This was the title which she always gave Mary when speaking of her, +while to Ella, who occasionally spent a week in her sister's pleasant +home, she gave the name of "little cipher," as expressing exactly her +opinion of her. Nothing so much excited Sally, or threw her into so +violent a passion, as to have Ella call her aunt. + +"If I wasn't her kin when I wore a sixpenny calico," said she, "I +certainly am not now that I dress in purple and fine linen." + +When Sally first went to Boston, George procured for her the best +possible medical advice, but her case was of so long standing that but +little hope was entertained of her entire recovery. Still every thing +was done for her that could be done, and after a time she became far +less boisterous than formerly, and sometimes appeared perfectly +rational for days. She still retained her taste for literature, and +nothing but George's firmness and decision prevented her from sending +off the manuscript of her grammar, which was now finished. It was in +vain that he told her she was not now obliged to write for a living, +as he had more than enough for her support. + +She replied it was not _money_ she coveted, but _reputation_,--a +name,--to be pointed at as Mrs. Sarah Furbush, authoress of "Furbush's +Grammar," &c.,--_this_ was her aim! + +"You may write all you choose for the entertainment of ourselves and +our friends," said George, "but I cannot allow you to send any thing +to a publisher," + +Sally saw he was in earnest, and at last yielded the point, telling +Mary in confidence that "she never saw any one in her life she feared +as she did Esquire Moreland when he set his foot down!" + +And George did seem to have a wonderful influence over her, for a +single look from him would quiet her when in her wildest moods. In +spite of the desire she once expressed of finding her sister, Mrs. +Campbell's pride at first shrank from acknowledging a relationship +between herself and Sally Furbush, but the fact that George Moreland +brought her to his home, treating her in every respect as his equal, +and always introducing her to his fashionable friends as his aunt, +gradually reconciled her to the matter, and she herself became at last +very attentive to her, frequently urging her to spend a part of the +time with her. But Sal always refused, saying that "for the sake of +her niece she must be very particular in the choice of her +associates!" + +True to her promise, on Mary's twenty-first birth-day, Mrs Campbell +made over to her one fourth of her property, and Mary, remembering her +intentions towards William Bender, immediately offered him one half of +it. But he declined accepting it, saying that his profession was +sufficient to support both himself and Jenny, for in a few weeks +Jenny, whose father had returned from California, was coming, and +already a neat little cottage, a mile from, the city, was being +prepared for her reception. Mary did not urge the matter, but many an +article of furniture more costly than William was able to purchase +found its way into the cottage, which with its overhanging vines, +climbing roses, and profusion of flowers, seemed just the home for +Jenny Lincoln. + +And when the flowers were in full bloom, when the birds sung amid the +trees, and the summer sky was bright and blue, Jenny came to the +cottage, a joyous, loving bride, believing her own husband the best in +the world, and wondering if there was ever any one as happy as +herself. And Jenny was very happy. Blithe as a bee she flitted about +the house and garden, and if in the morning a tear glistened in her +laughing eyes as William bade her adieu, it was quickly dried, and all +day long she busied herself in her household matters, studying some +agreeable surprise for her husband, and trying for his sake to be very +neat and orderly. Then when the clock pointed the hour for his return, +she would station herself at the gate, and William, as he kissed the +moisture from her rosy cheek, thought her a perfect enigma to weep +when he went away, and weep when he came home. + +There was no place which Ella loved so well to visit, of where she +seemed so happy, as at the "Cottage," and as she was of but little use +at home, she frequently spent whole weeks with Jenny, becoming +gradually more cheerful,--more like herself, but always insisting that +she should never be married. + +The spring following Mary's removal to Boston, Mrs. Mason came down to +the city to live with her adopted daughter, greatly to the delight of +Aunt Martha, whose home was lonelier than it was wont to be, for +George was gone, and Ida too had recently been married to Mr. Elwood, +and removed to Lexington, Kentucky. + +And now a glance at Chicopee, and our story is done. Mr. Lincoln's +California adventure had been a successful one, and not long after his +return he received from George Moreland a conveyance of the farm, +which, under Mr. Parker's efficient management, was in a high state of +cultivation. Among the inmates of the poor-house but few changes have +taken place. Miss Grundy, who continues at the helm, has grown +somewhat older and crosser; while Uncle Peter labors industriously at +his new fiddle, the gift of Mary, who is still remembered with much +affection. + +Lydia Knight, now a young lady of sixteen, is a pupil at Mount +Holyoke, and Mrs. Perkins, after wondering and wondering where the +money came from, has finally concluded that "some of _George's folks_ +must have sent it!" + +THE END. + + + + + +NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS, RECENTLY ISSUED BY THE PUBLISHER + + +The Publishers, upon receipt of the price in advance, will send any +book on this Catalogue by mail, _postage free_, to any part of the +United States. + +All books in this list [unless otherwise specified] are handsomely +bound in cloth board binding, with gilt backs, suitable for libraries. + + + Mrs. Mary J. Holmes' Works. + + Tempest and Sunshine $1.50 + + English Orphans $1.50 + + Homestead on the Hillside $1.50 + + 'Lena Rivers, $1.50 + + Meadow Brook $1.50 + + Dora Deane $1.50 + + Cousin Maude $1.50 + + Marian Grey $1.50 + + Edith Lyle (New) $1.50 + + Darkness and Daylight $1.50 + + Hugh Worthington $1.50 + + Cameron Pride $1.50 + + Rose Mather $1.50 + + Ethelyn's Mistake $1.50 + + Millbank $1.50 + + Edna Browning $1.50 + + West Lawn (New) $1.50 + + + Marion Harland's Works. + + Alone $1.50 + + Hidden Path $1.50 + + Moss Side $1.50 + + Nemesis $1.50 + + Miriam $1.50 + + At Last $1.50 + + Helen Gardner $1.50 + + True as Steel (New) $1.50 + + Sunnybank $1.50 + + Husbands and Homes $1.50 + + Ruby's Husband $1.50 + + Phemie's Temptation $1.50 + + The Empty Heart $1.50 + + Jessamine $1.50 + + From My Youth Up $1.50 + + My Little Love (New) $1.50 + + + Charles Dickens--15 Vols.-"Carleton's Edition." + + Pickwick, and Catalogue $1.50 + + Dombey and Son $1.50 + + Bleak House $1.50 + + Martin Chuzzlewit $1.50 + + Barnaby Rudge--Edwin Drood $1.50 + + Child's England--Miscellaneous $1.50 + + David Copperfield $1.50 + + Nicholas Nickleby $1.50 + + Little Dorrit $1.50 + + Our Mutual Friend $1.50 + + Curiosity Shop--Miscellaneous $1.50 + + Sketches by Boz--Hard Times $1.50 + + Oliver Twist--and--The Uncommercial Traveler $1.50 + + Great Expectations--and--Pictures of Italy and America $1.50 + + Christmas Books--and--A Tale of Two Cities $1.50 + + Sets of Dickens' Complete Works, in 15 vols.--[elegant $60.00 + half calf bindings] + + + Augusta J. Evans' Novels. + + Beulah $1.75 + + Macaria $1.75 + + Inez $1.75 + + St. Elmo $2.00 + + Vashti $2.00 + + Infelice (New) $2.00 + + + Miriam Coles Harris. + + Rutledge $1.50 + + Frank Warrington $1.50 + + Louie's Last Term, etc $1.50 + + Richard Vandermarck $1.50 + + The Sutherlands $1.50 + + St. Philip's $1.50 + + Round Hearts, for Children $1.50 + + A Perfect Adonis. (New) $1.50 + + + May Agnes Fleming's Novels. + + Guy Earlacourt's Wife $1.75 + + A Terrible Secret $1.75 + + Norine'a Revenge $1.75 + + A Wonderful Woman $1.75 + + A Mad Marriage $1.75 + + One Night's Mystery $1.75 + + Kate Canton. (New) $1.75 + + + Parlor Table Companion. + + A Home Treasury of Biography, Romance, $1.50 + Poetry, History, etc. + + + Julie P. Smith's Novels. + + Widow Goldsmith's Daughter $1.75 + + Chris and Otho $1.75 + + Ten Old Maids $1.75 + + His Young Wife. (New) $1.75 + + The Widower $1.75 + + The Married Belle $1.75 + + Courting and Farming $1.75 + + + Captain Mayne Reid--Illustrated + + The Scalp Hunters $1.50 + + The Rifle Rangers $1.50 + + The War Trail $1.50 + + The Wood Rangers $1.50 + + The Wild Huntress $1.50 + + The White Chief $1.50 + + The Tiger Hunter $1.50 + + The Hunter's Feast $1.50 + + Wild Life $1.50 + + Osceola, the Seminole $1.50 + + + A.S. Roe's Select Stories. + + True to the Last $1.50 + + The Star and the Cloud $1.50 + + How Could He Help It? $1.50 + + A Long Look Ahead $1.50 + + I've Been Thinking $1.50 + + To Love and to be Loved $1.50 + + + Charles Dickens. + + Child's History of England.--Carleton's New $1.25 + "_School Edition_." Illustrated + + + Hand-Books of Society. + + Habits of Good Society.--The nice points of taste $1.50 + and good manners + + Art of Conversation.--For those who wish to be $1.50 + agreeable talkers or listeners + + Arts of Writing, Reading, and Speaking.--For $1.50 + self-improvement + + New Diamond Edition.--Small size, elegantly $3.00 + bound, 3 volumes in a box + + + Mrs. Hill's Cook Book. + + Mrs. A.P. Hill's New Cookery Book, and family $2.00 + domestic receipts + + + Famous Books--"Carleton's Edition." + + Robinson Crusoe.--New 12mo edition, _with $1.00 + illustrations_ by ERNEST GRISET + + Swiss Family Robinson.--New 12mo edition, with $1.00 + illustrations by MARCEL + + The Arabian Nights.--New 12mo edition, with $1.00 + illustrations by DEMORAINE + + Don Quixote.--New 12mo edition, with illustrations $1.00 + by GUSTAVE DORÉ + + + Victor Hugo. + + Les Miserables.--An English translation from the $2.50 + original French. Octavo + + Les Miserables.--In the Spanish Language. Two volumes, $5.00 + cloth bound + + + Popular Italian Novels. + + Doctor Antonio.--A love story of Italy. By Ruffini $1.75 + + Beatrice Cenci.--By Guerrazzi. With a steel $1.75 + engraving from Guido's Picture + + + M. Michelet's Remarkable Works. + + Love (L'amour),--English translation from the $1.50 + original French + + Woman (La Femme)--English translation from the $1.50 + original French + + + Joaquin Miller. + + The One Fair Woman--A new novel, the scene $2.00 + laid chiefly in Italy + + + Joseph Rodman Drake. + + The Culprit Fay.--The well-known fairy poem, with 100 $2.00 + illustrations + + + Artemus Ward's Comic Works. + + A New Stereotype Edition.--Embracing the whole of his $2.00 + writings, with a Biography of the author, and + profusely illustrated by various artists + + + Josh Billings. + + His Complete Writings--with Biography, steel portrait, $2.00 + and 100 illustrations + + "New York Weekly" Series. + + Thrown on the World $1.50 + + Peerless Cathleen $1.50 + + Faithful Margaret $1.50 + + Curse of Everleigh (In press) $1.50 + + Love Works Wonders do $1.50 + + Nick Whiffles $1.50 + + Lady Leonora $1.50 + + The Grinder Papers $1.50 + + A Bitter Atonement. (In press) $1.50 + + A New Novel. do $1.50 + + + Carleton's Popular Quotations. + + A New Hand-Book--The most popular Quotations, $1.50 + with original authorship + + Frank Lee Benedict's Novels. + + 'Twixt Hammer and Anvil $1.75 + + Madame $1.75 + + + Violet Fane's Poems. + + Constance's Fate; or Denzil Place $1.50 + + From Dawn to Noon $1.50 + + + P.T. Barnum. + + Lion Jack. For young folks $1.50 + + Jack in the Jungle (In press) $1.50 + + + M.M. Pomeroy ("Brick.") + + Sense--(a serious book) $1.50 + + Gold-Dust Do $1.50 + + Our Saturday Nights $1.50 + + Nonsense--(a comic book) $1.50 + + Brick-Dust Do $1.50 + + Home Harmonies (New) $1.50 + + + Celia E. Gardner's Novels. + + Stolen Waters--(in verse) $1.50 + + Broken Dreams. Do $1.50 + + A New Novel. (In press) + + Tested (In prose) $1.75 + + Rich Medway's Two Loves. Do $1.75 + + A Woman's Wiles. (New) $1.75 + + + Ernest Renan's French Works. + + The Life of Jesus $1.75 + + Lives of the Apostles $1.75 + + The Life of St. Paul $1.75 + + The Bible in India.--By Jacolliot $2.00 + + + Geo. W. Carleton. + + Our Artist in Cuba.--Pictures $1.50 + + Our Artist in Peru.--Do $1.50 + + Our Artist in Africa.(In press) $1.50 + + Our Artist in Mexico. Do $1.50 + + + Verdant Green. + + A Racy English College Story--with numerous $1.50 + original comic illustrations + + + Allan Pinkerton. + + Model Town and Detectives $1.50 + + A new book, in press $1.50 + + Spiritualists and Detectives $1.50 + + Mollie Maguires and Detectives $1.50 + + + + Robert Dale Owen. + + The Debatable Land Between this World and the Next $2.00 + + Threading My Way.--Twenty-five years of Autobiography $1.50 + + The Game of Whist. + + Pole on Whist.--The late English standard work. $1.00 + New enlarged edition + + Miscellaneous Works. + + Milly Darrell--A Novel by Miss M. E. Braddon, author $1.50 + "Aurora Floyd," etc + + Me; July and August--A New York lady's trials on a $1.00 + Country Farm + + Lights and Shadows of Spiritualism--By D.D. Home $2.00 + + West India Pickles--Journal of a Tropical Yacht Cruise, $1.50 + by W.P. Talboys + + G.A. Crofutt's Trans-Continental Tourist--New York to S. $1.50 + Francisco + + Laus Veneris and other Poems--By Algernon Charles $1.50 + Swinburne + + Parodies and Poems and My Vacation--By C.H. Webb (John $1.50 + Paul) + + Comic History of the United States--Livingston Hopkins. $1.50 + Illustrated + + Mother Goose Melodies Set to Music--with comic $1.00 + illustrations + + Morning Glories--By Louisa Alcott, author of "Little $1.50 + Women," etc + + Offenbach in America.--Translated from the Paris edition $1 50 + + The Annals of a Baby.--A companion to "Helen's Babies" $1.00 + + Betsy and I are Out.--And other Poems, by N.S. Emerson $1.50 + + A Woman in the Case.--A novel by Miss Bessie Turner. $1.50 + With portrait + + How to Make Money; and How to Keep It.--By Thomas A. $1.50 + Davies + + Our Children.--Teaching Parent's how to keep them in $2.00 + Health. Dr. Gardner + + Watchman; What of the Night.--By Dr. John Cumming, of $1.50 + London + + St. Jude's Assistant.--A new satirical novel of City $1.50 + Clerical Life + + Johnny Ludlow.--A collection of entertaining English $1.50 + Stories + + Glimpses of the Supernatural.--Facts, Records, and $2.00 + Traditions + + Fanny Fern Memorials.--With a Biography by James Parton $2.00 + + Tales From the Operas.--A collection of Stories based $1.50 + upon the opera plots + + New Nonsense Rhymes--By W.H. Beckett, with illustrations $1.00 + by C.G. Bush + + Wood's Guide to the City of New York.--Beautifully $1.00 + illustrated + + The Art of Amusing.--A book of home amusements, with $1.50 + illustrations + + A Book About Lawyers.--A curious and interesting volume. $2.00 + By Jeaffreson + + A Book About Doctors. Do. $2.00 + + The Birth and Triumph of Love.--Full of exquisite tinted $1.00 + illustrations + + Progressive Petticoats.--A satrical tale by Robert B. $1.50 + Roosevelt + + Ecce Femina; or, the Woman Zoe.--Cuyler Prime, author $1.00 + "Mary Brandegee" + + Souvenirs of Travel.--By Madame Octavia Walton Le Vert, $2.00 + of Mobile, Ala. + + Woman, Love and Marriage.--A spicy little work by Fred $1.50 + Saunders + + Shiftless Folks.--A new novel by Fannie Smith, "Widow $1.75 + Goldsmith's Daughter" + + A Woman in Armor.--A powerful new novel by Mary Hartwell $1.50 + + The Fall of Man.--A Darwinian satire. Author of "New .50 + Gospel of Peace" + + The Chronicles of Gotham.--A modern satire. Do. .25 + + Phemie Frost's Experiences.--By Mrs. Ann S. Stephens $1.75 + + Ballad of Lord Bateman.--With illustrations by .25 + Cruikshank, (paper) + + The Yachtman's Primer.--For amateur sailors. T.R. .50 + Warren, (paper) + + Rural Architecture.--By M. Field. With plans and $2.00 + illustrations + + Transformation Scenes in the United States.--By Hiram $1.50 + Fulier + + Marguerite's Journal.--Story for girls. Introduction by $1.50 + author "Rutledge" + + Kingsbury Sketches.--Pine Grove Doings, by John H. $1.50 + Kingsbury. Illustrated + + + Miscellaneous Novels. + + Led Astray.--By Octave Feuillet $1 75 + + She Loved Him Madly.--Borys $1.75 + + Through Thick and Thin.--Mery $1.75 + + So Fair Yet False.--Chavette $1.75 + + A Fatal Passion.--C. Bernard $1.75 + + Manfred.--F.D. Guerazzi $1.75 + + Seen and Unseen $1.50 + + Purple and Fine Linen.--Fawcett $1.75 + + Pauline's Trial.--L.L.D. Courtney $1.50 + + A Charming Widow.--Macquoid $1.75 + + True to Him Ever.--By F.W.R. $1.50 + + The Forgiving Kiss.--By M. Loth $1.75 + + Loyal Unto Death $1.75 + + Kenneth, My King.--S.A. Brock $1.75 + + Heart Hungry.--M.J. Westmoreland $1.75 + + Clifford Troupe. Do. $1.75 + + Silcott Mill.--Maria D. Deslonde $1.75 + + John Maribel. Do. $1.75 + + Ebon and Gold.--C.L. McIlvain $1.50 + + Passing the Portal.--Mrs. Victor $1.50 + + Out of the Cage.--G.W. Owen $1.50 + + Saint Leger.--Richard B. Kimball $1.75 + + Was He Successful? Do. $1.75 + + Undercurrents of Wall St. Do. $1.75 + + Romance of Student Life. Do. $1.75 + + To-Day.--Richard B. Kimball $1.75 + + Life in San Domingo. Do. $1.50 + + Henry Powers, Banker. Do. $1.75 + + Bessie Wilmerton.--Westcott $1.75 + + Cachet.--Mrs. M.J.R. Hamilton $1.75 + + Romance of Railroad.--Smith $1.50 + + Charette.--An American novel $1.50 + + Fairfax.--John Esten Cooke $1.50 + + Hilt to Hilt. Do. $1.50 + + Out of the Foam. Do. $1.50 + + Hammer and Rapier. Do. $1.50 + + Warwick.--By M.T. Walworth $1.75 + + Lulu. Do. $1.75 + + Hotspur. Do. $1.75 + + Stormcliff. Do. $1.75 + + Delaplaine. Do. $1.75 + + Beverly. Do. $1.75 + + Beldazzle's Bachelor Studies $1.00 + + Antidote to Gates Ajar .25 + + The Snoblace Ball .25 + + Northern Ballads.--Anderson $1.00 + + O.C. Kerr Papers.--4 vols. in 1 $2.00 + + Victor Hugo.--His life $2.00 + + Sandwiches.--Artemus Ward .25 + + Widow Spriggins.--Widow Bedott $1.75 + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13878 *** |